Personal Post 2

            When I first became interested in learning how to play the guitar, just like any other hobby, activity, etc., I knew it was going to take a lot of my time, effort, determination, patience, and money. I told my grandmother I wanted a guitar because I was very interested in learning how to play. I love the sounds a guitar can make, and I wanted to learn how to play those beautiful sounds and notes. Then, maybe, I could make up my own notes and sounds. She smiled at me and told me, “You’ll be grown out of those dreams a year from now.” But I knew this wasn’t just a silly, childish phase or a dream, it was more, and the desire I had to play guitar was strong. So, being the independent person I am, I saved up $150 dollars within the next three months. I bought my first guitar at a pawn shop in Alexandria, Louisiana with my own money I had earned over the previous three months. I could barely contain my excitement walking back to our vehicle. I was so proud of myself and ecstatic to finally have my very own guitar to play! I began taking lessons soon after proving to my family that I was serious about my passion for guitar. Therefore, you should never give up on your dreams and desires, no matter how big they are.

Personal Post 1

            Admit it, at one point in your life, whether at a young age or older age, you wanted to be a rock star. You fantasized about looking out into a crowd full of a thousand screaming fans cheering your name and/or cheering, “ENCORE!” Or maybe you’ve dreamed of playing an instrument like it’s a sixth sense to you. Four years ago, I had those dreams. I became very fascinated with the guitar at age eleven. I saved up my money, and at age twelve, I had enough to buy my first guitar. My first guitar wasn’t very expensive, therefore it wasn’t the best quality, but it had six strings and a body. That was all I needed to begin fulfilling my dreams, hopes, and plans.  

How I feel about Blogging

            Personally, I really have acquired an interest in blogging. Over the last few weeks, I have been able to express my opinion and create, share, and exchange information and ideas in a virtual community. I am a pretty reserved and quiet person, and blogging helps for me to share my opinion and feelings through writing and posting my blogs. Writing is a stress management tool for me. Therefore, blogging is an efficient and effective way for me to manage stress. I hope that in the future I will have time to blog and keep up my blog. 

Class without my teacher

            Have you ever heard the old adage, “You don’t know what you have until it’s gone.”? This phrase kept appearing in my mind the day we had class without my teacher. Ms. Guidry, my computer literature teacher, never misses school. She’s a very organized, consistent, and responsible teacher. But we can’t help that certain situations occur in life, so sometimes we have to take a day or two off work, school, and/or our busy schedules. The day Ms. Guidry was absent, our class, in my opinion, felt unorganized, and our assignments were a little confusing. Yes, we had our assignments from Ms. Guidry posted, but our substitute teacher said otherwise. Therefore, we weren’t sure what to do. I went ahead and did the assignments Ms. Guidry had posted to her blog for us to read because I knew this was a first-hand account written by her. Another reason I went ahead and did the posted assignments was because I took into consideration that maybe our substitute misunderstand Ms. Guidry’s assignments for us. Over all, I never realized just how important Ms. Guidry is to our class until the day we had class without our teacher. Now, I am very grateful for the time and effort she puts into her job to better educate her students, because we are lost in class without her. 

Youtube Video 3

Youtube Video 2

Youtube Video 1

Group Word Document on Country/Class Activity

Germany

The country Germany is located in central Europe. This country is bordered by Netherland in northwest, Belgium, Luxembourg and France in the west and southwest, Denmark in the north, Czech Republic and Poland in the east and Switzerland and Austria in the south and southeast. The country shares its coastline with Baltic Sea in the north and North Sea in the northwest. It has 2389 km long coastline. Germany span over an area of 357,022 sq. km.

            Historically, Germany was founded on January 18, 1871. The Celts are believed to have been the first inhabitants of Germany. The first war Germany was involved in was World War I. The assassination of Austria’s crown prince on June 28, 1914, triggered World War I. In total, approximately two million soldiers were killed in this war. A couple years later, in the beginning of the 1930s, Adolf Hitler (leader of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945) initiated World War II and oversaw fascist policies that resulted in millions of deaths.

            Another important attribute to Germany’s history includes the origin and design of its country’s flag. The flag of Germany has not always used black, red, and gold as its colors. After the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, the Prussian-dominated North German Confederation adopted a tricolor of black-white-red as its flag. This flag later became the flag of the German Empire, formed following the unification of Germany in 1871, and was used until 1919. Then, the black-red-gold tricolor first appeared in the early nineteenth century. It was soon adopted as the national flag of modern Germany in 1919.

            Germany’s culture began long before the rise of Germany as a nation-state and spanned the entire German-speaking world. From its roots, culture in Germany has been shaped by major intellectual and popular currents in Europe both religious and secular. Historically, Germany has been called Das Land der Dichter (the country of poets and thinkers). With that being said, there are 240 subsidized theatres, hundreds of symphonic orchestras, thousands of museums, and more than 25,000 libraries spread across Germany. These cultural opportunities are enjoyed by many: there are over 91 million German museum visits every year; annually, 20 million go to theatres and operas; 3.6 million per year listen to the symphonic orchestras.

Sports Document/Class Activity

Los Angeles Clippers

The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California, that competes in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They play in the Pacific Division of the league's Western Conference. The Clippers play their home games at the Staples Center, an arena shared with the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA, the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL).

The Clippers were founded 1970 originally as the Buffalo Braves. The Braves moved to San Diego in 1978 and changed their name to the San Diego Clippers. Later, they moved back to Los Angeles in 1984. The Clippers' early days in Los Angeles were marred with many seasons of hapless performances. Despite fielding a squad of talented veterans, the organization suffered systematic injuries to many of its star players. The phenomenon was dubbed the "Clipper Triangle" by some sports writers.

However, things began to appear promising at the start of the 1989–90 season shortly after the Clippers traded the rights of the recently drafted Danny Ferry and Reggie Williams for the high scoring shooting guard Ron Harper. Midway through the 1991–92 season, the Clippers made yet another coaching change. To improve upon the previous seasons, the Clippers acquired high-scoring and rebounding power forward Elton Brand from the Chicago Bulls in exchange for the draft rights to Tyson Chandler. Brand earned a spot on the 2002 NBA Western Conference All-Star team as an injury replacement for Shaquille O'Neal of the Lakers.

 After seasons and seasons of slow improvement, the Clippers eventually made their way to the top. In 2013, the LA Clippers won their first ever division title. They didn’t disappoint their fans the following year either. In 2014, they won the Pacific Division title, yet again. The Clippers beat the Golden State Warriors 4 games to 3. In the semi-finals, the LA Clippers played Oklahoma City Thunder, and Oklahoma won 2 games over 3.

Twitter 101

Most people know that Twitter is a micro-blogging network of real-time posts that are limited to 140 characters or less. Few people understand how they might benefit from Twitter. The truth is that Twitter is used by many people for many different things. Twitter is more about “What’s going on?” than “What are you doing?” It has emerged as a source for discovery, with a focus on sharing relevant information and engaging in conversation. Many people now think of Twitter as a news source rather than a social network, using it for networking and discussion based on their own interests.

Facebook 101

Facebook is a social networking website that makes it easy for you to connect and share with your family and friends online. Originally designed for college students, Facebook was created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg while he was enrolled at Harvard University. By 2006, anyone over the age of 13 with a valid email address could join Facebook. Today, Facebook is the world's largest social network, with more than 1 billion users worldwide. Facebook allows you to send messages and post status updates. You can also share different types of content such as photos, links, and more. But sharing something on Facebook is a bit different from other types of online communication. Unlike email or instant messaging, which are relatively private, the things you share on Facebook are more public, which means they'll usually be seen by lots of other people. It is important for Facebook account users to understand how to use the privacy settings on Facebook so that they may be safe while using the Internet and  their Facebook account. 

Social Media

Social media is the social interaction among people in which they create, share or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks. Social media can be used for many things: staying in touch with friends and family, promoting your cause, and keeping up with trending topics and news; knowing how to use social media is an essential 21st century skill. One example of social media is blogs or blogging. A blog is a type of website that is updated regularly with new content. Most blogs contain short, informal articles called blog posts. These posts usually contain some combination of text, photos, videos, and other media. At its core, a blog is just a space on the Web that you can create to record and express your opinions, experiences, and interests. Facebook, Pinterst, Skype, Instagram, and Twitter are also examples of social media. Each media application allows social interaction among people in which they create, share, or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks. 

Email

Other than sending and receiving messages and pictures, email serves so many other purposes. The main function of email transfers written word with the speed of a telephone. You can inform many people of the same thing featuring pictures and reports much easier and quicker than via a face-to-face meeting, which can be very useful in a work or class setting. You can make hundreds of people aware of business meetings or anything else with the click of the mouse. Email also has no time or place constraints. You can check, send and view emails anytime you need to. The main benefit of email is the low to no cost to use it.

Ipad/Iphone Basics

IPad is an iOS-based line of tab let computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Whereas, iphone is a line of smartphones designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It runs Apple's iOS mobile operating system. Ipads and iphones can be very beneficial to everyday life. To begin with, mobile devices (such as iphones and ipads) can be beneficial to students. The mobile approach can encourage student engagement with the content. For example, students can answer polls, tweet questions, and look up information during lectures. Another beneficial aspect of iphones and ipads includes having access to the Internet at our convenience. Today, many people in the work or school environment are always “on-the-go,” so having easy, fast Internet access is very beneficial for such a busy schedule. Also, all mobile devices have a number of features in common, but manufacturers also try to differentiate their own products by implementing additional functions to make them more attractive to consumers. Iphones and ipads, for example, have touch screen capabilities. This is an input mechanism to allow the user to interact with the phone. Another iphone and ipad feature involves the applications like a clock, alarm, calendar, calculator, and a few games.

Power Points

PowerPoint 2013 is a presentation software that allows you to create dynamic slide presentations. PowerPoint is regarded as the most useful, accessible way to create and present visual aids; others believe it has its own mind-set which forces presenters to spend countless hours thinking in PowerPoint and developing slides. Slideshows can include animation, narration, images, videos, and much more. There are many ways PowerPoint presentations can be useful and helpful in work or school. Before you can use PowerPoint presentation, you have to understand buying Office 13 and working with your Microsoft account and Onedrive. Then, you can start getting to know PowerPoint, and learn how to create presentations that benefit your work and/or school work. 

Internet Basics

The Internet is an integral part of our everyday lives. Today's Internet is a constantly evolving tool that not only contains an amazing variety of information but that also provides new ways of accessing, interacting, and connecting with people and content. The Internet is the largest computer network in the world, connecting millions of computers. A network is a group of two or more computer systems linked together. A few common terms you may encounter while using the Internet include Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), email, blog, web feed, wiki, streaming, social networking, online chat, and more. Also, it is important to use Internet safety precautions while on the Internet.

Email Basics

Email (electronic mail) is a way to send and receive messages across the Internet. To receive emails, you will need an email account and an email address. Also, if you want to send emails to other people, you will need to obtain their email addresses. Email and email accounts are usually packaged with a calendar, address book, instant messaging, and more for convenience and productivity. Email services providers have tools that allow you to file, label, prioritize, find, group, and filter your emails for easy management. There are many advantages of email. For example, one advantage of email can be to access web services. If you want to sign up for accounts like Facebook, or order products from services like Amazon, you will need an email address, so that you can be safely identified and contacted. 

Blogs

A blog is a type of website that is updated regularly with new content. Most blogs contain short, informal articles called blog posts. These posts usually contain some combination of text, photos, videos, and other media. At its core, a blog is just a space on the Web that you can create to record and express your opinions, experiences, and interests. With that being said, blogging is important to share experiences and fields of expertise, to speak up about an issue you care about, become more involved with your hobbies and passions, be part of the community, advance a career or start a career in writing, or to keep family and friends updated about your life. After this class, I’m not sure if I will keep my blog. Although I love writing, sharing, and expressing my ideas, opinions, etc., I’m not sure if I will have the time to keep up my blog. However, I may make time to blog if I become more interested and passionate about blogging. 

Windows XP

Windows XP is an operating system that lets you use different types of applications or software. For example, it allows you to use a word processing application to write a letter and a spreadsheet application to track your financial information. This operating system has multi-tasking capabilities, meaning it can run several applications at the same time. Using different types of applications or software at the same time can be very helpful and useful for work or school in many ways. Windows XP is a graphical user interface (GUI). It has pictures (graphical) that you use (user) to communicate (interface) with the computer. This type of system is popular because it's logical, fun, and easy to use.

Windows 98

Windows 98 is an operating system that lets you use different types of applications or software. Windows 98 can be a very useful and helpful that can help with work or school. For example, it allows you to use a word processing application to write a letter and a spreadsheet application to track your financial information. Also, this operating system has multi-tasking capabilities, meaning it can run several applications at the same time. Multi-tasking can be very useful for work or school work assignments when comparing two different applications at the same time.

Windows 7

Windows 7 is an operating system that Microsoft has produced for use on personal computers. It is the follow-up to the Windows Vista Operating System, which was released in 2006. An operating system allows your computer to manage software and perform essential tasks. It is also a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that allows you to visually interact with your computer’s functions in a logical, fun, and easy way. In addition, Windows 7 is designed to help make my school work easier by sleeping and resuming faster, using less memory, and recognizing USB devices faster. There are also new possibilities with media streaming and touch-screen capabilities.  

Internet Safety

The Internet can be very helpful, but also very harmful. Therefore, Internet safety is critical and taking precautions while on the Internet is essential to keep you out of danger. We all know we need to stay safe while using the Internet, but we may not know just how to do that. “Internet Safety” taught me safety precautions while using the Internet and how to be safe while on the Internet. To begin with, “Internet Safety” taught me that there are many different types of threats you may encounter while online. Before we can learn how to protect ourselves online, we need to understand what the threats are on the Internet. Some of these treats include pharming, browser hijacking, hoax, virus, spyware, malware, phishing, mousetrapping, spam, etc. In the past, Internet safety generally referred to threats to computer hardware or identity theft, but now with the Internet becoming more and more social, privacy has become a significant safety concern. You should use the privacy settings of all social networking sites. I also learned from “Internet Safety” about how to safely set up a strong password, protecting your computer from Internet threats, and about cyber harassment, stalking, and addition. 

Computer Basics

            Before reading “Computer Basics,” I was not very educated on computers at all. However, “Computer Basics” began with the foundation of computers and broke it down, so it was easier for me to understand and learn. First, “Computer Basics” simplified what a computer is and how it worked and operated by teaching me about the hardware (physical structure) and the software (set of instructions that tells the hardware what to do). After reading the introduction, which included “Getting to Know Computers,” “Understanding Operating Systems,” “Understanding Applications,” and “Web Apps and Clouds,” I began to become more and more interested in learning about computers and their basics. I read and learned more about desktop computers, laptop computers, mobile devices, getting started with a computer, doing more with computers, etc. While reading and absorbing all this information, I discovered that there is a lot more to computers than I could have ever imaged, had I not read “Computer Basics.” Now, I am well educated on computer basics and have an interest in computers. 

Photos and Graphics

While skimming through and reading “Photos and Graphics,” I learned about digital photography, image editing, and photoshop basics. In “Digital Photography,” I learned that the most important factor is the skill of the photographer. I also learned about the different types of digital cameras, special features, memory cards, batteries, etc. In “Image Editing 101,” I learned about getting started with image editing, image editing software. Also, I learned how to make basic adjustments, how to fix common problems, sharing photos online, and printing photos. “Photoshop Basics” taught me about what photoshop is, buying photoshop, and photoshop alternatives. Some more helpful topics I learned about include basic tasks, saving images, understanding layers, etc. 

5 Questions I Would Like to See on the Mid-term

5 questions I would like to see on the mid-term include:

1.      What is computer software?

2.      What does computer hardware consist of?

3.      Why is Internet safety important?

4.      Why do you use a computer?

5.      What have you learned in class so far?

Introduction

My name is Kayla Sasser: I am a fourteen-year-old freshman attending University Academy of Cenla. I am a very motivated student with high expectations for myself and my student body. Not only am I motivated to succeed academically, but I am also motivated to succeed athletically. I play basketball for UAC (University Academy of Cenla), and I am also interested in running track in the spring of 2015. Some more of my interest includes playing guitar, reading, writing, photography, and spending time with my friends.