Wednesday, August 30, 2017

EMAILS AND DOCUMENTS

Many students are concerned.  They are not clear on how to complete their assignment "Hidden Figures", because they are having problems with electronic documents.   They may be unsure what software to use to create their document, or they may be unclear about how they should save their documents, or have trouble figuring out how to attach those documents to email.

This post attempts to address all of these problems.

Mr. Hatfield recommends that his students use the program Microsoft Word to create electronic documents.   This program is part of a group of programs sometimes called 'Microsoft Office', but more commonly-called Office 365.

Not only is Office 365 available on all FUSD-supplied computers, FUSD students can get up to five FREE copies for their home computer or mobile device.   However, some students are either not aware of this, or they do not know where to go to obtain their free software package.

So let's show you "where to go".   First, go to a search engine and enter this character string:

portal.office.com

This may take you right to Office 365.  But sometimes, instead, it takes you to your student account with OneDrive, and you'll see this screen:




If that happens, look in the upper corner, where it says 'Office 365', and click on that.   When you do that, you should definitely arrive at THIS screen:




Now, a key point about all of this, is that once you have a word processing program on your home computer, you need to be able to save and email the documents you create.   The GREAT advantage of electronic documents is that they can be easily reedited in any way you want without either destroying the original or completely re-doing the assignment!   So, on your home computer, dedicate a folder where you store your classwork, so you can easily find previous work when you need to edit it, or attach it to an email.

And as far as emailing goes....look for one of these:



OK, actually not a literal paper clip.  But virtually all email programs use a "paper clip" icon as a means of attaching documents to an email.   I'm going to share some screen shots of some of the most popular email services below to make that point.....



So, if you've created your document....and you know where it's at on the computer you're using...look for the word 'attach' or a 'paperclip' icon in your email, and click on that item.   A window will open that will allow you to select the location on your computer where you've saved your document.   Find your document, select it, and it should be attached to your email...

"BUT WHAT IF I DON'T HAVE EMAIL?"


Ah, but every FUSD student has free email through the district.

You just have to know how to access your email account.   This post tells you how to do that.







So...all of Mr. Hatfield student's should know:

  • how to get FREE copies of 'Office 365'
  • how to store and attach electronic documents
  • how to access their FREE email through the district
THUS....there should be NO EXCUSES.   Students who don't complete their 'Twist of Fate' assignment may be assigned Saturday School, and there WILL be similar assignments in this course in the future, worth even more.




Tuesday, August 22, 2017

2017: UNIT 1 SYLLABUS

Students:

This is your first SYLLABUS of the Fall Semester.   In this course, a syllabus is simply a list of major assessments you can expect to find in the current unit, with due dates and point values, intended to help you manage your time and complete all your work.


Tuesday, August 15, 2017

VIDEO: "HIDDEN FIGURES"

Welcome to the 2017-2018 school year, students!  We will spend the next 182 days of instruction studying the fundamentals of Chemistry.

A major focus of interest for chemists is pursuing all the different ways that matter and energy can be arranged.  Much of that knowledge can not be predicted in advance by any theory, but instead can only be determined by experimental investigation.   For this reason, Chemistry is an 'in-between science' focused tightly on the design, performance and analysis of experiments.  This emphasis on the experiment requires chemists to use math constantly:  in a sense, Chemistry is a math course with scientific application.

To help students understand the importance of math to science, and how mastering mathematics opens doors for tackling all kinds of problems, students will be asked to consider the true story of the West End Computer Section in U.S. space program, as shown in the film 'Hidden Figures.'   They will see how an unappreciated group of human 'computers' used their abilities to approach scientific and social problems, and how they did their part to achieve great things.

Here is a brief trailer for the film.  It shows an outline of the film's story:



Also, here is a short feature about the making of the film. In this feature, you will learn how author Margo Lee Shetterly, who wrote the book on which the film was based, grew up learning about the 'human computers' at West End, and how she became convinced that she needed to tell the story of women like Katherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughn: