2017, Full of Promises

Wishing all a very Happy New Year!

What are your goals for the year 2017?

Make a list, put it in order from most to least important goal to obtain...

I see the new year as a time to prioritize what I want in life. My list is pretty short this year, it is full of "making time for my family" or "getting organized"... But in years past, I have had many different objectives. One year, it was creating a garden from scratch. another year it was finding a new job.

What one goal is top of the list for you?

 

It's Nearly WInter!

This is our last full week before the holidays. Use the time to finish up any class work that may be lagging.

We are working on a revised Resume Cover Letter. Do the cover sheet in WordPAD today. It is crucial that you follow directions! The spacing, margins, indentation as well as spelling, grammar and punctuation should correct today. Print out.

I am adding a page on Employment skills, you can visit it to see what has been posted.

Thursday is our Christmas Party, your homeroom teacher should have a list of what to bring.

The 12th and 13th are GED Institute days, you are expected to attend. Use this time wisely to get ahead in your classes and move one more step closer to graduation.

We had three students in the past week to graduate!

Amanda C.
Georgia C.
Christina N.

Please congratulate them on their accomplishment!

Welcome back from the Holidays!

We are continuing our computer literacy with creating a Resume Cover Letter. They will need to be printed out. The format is on the white board in the Lab 203 and I will give an example here at the bottom of the page.

Also, we have an Active Shooter Drill on campus, remember what we discussed in classes, we will go over the subject during computer classes.

SUBJECT: ACTIVE SHOOTER DRILL – Wednesday, November 30th on the OC Campus

 

Odessa College will conduct an active shooter drill on Wednesday, November 30^th. During this drill, students, faculty and staff are reminded of the OC active shooter protocol: RUN. HIDE. FIGHT.

 

RUN – evacuate  if possible.

HIDE – get silently out of view.

FIGHT – take action to disrupt or incapacitate the shooter if your life is in imminent danger.

 

During the drill, you will receive a TEST Wrangler Alert test message. In the event of an actual shooting the text message will read: WRANGLER ALERT: Active Shooter on campus. Run Hide Fight. LOCATION. An all clear Wrangler Alert text message will be sent once the emergency has passed. 

we encourage you to watch Run. Hide. Fight.® Surviving an Active Shooter Event produced by Houston Ready.  Additionally, the US Department of Homeland Security has produced a Run. Hide. Fight.® pocket guide for quick reference.

OCPD reminds all students, faculty, staff and campus visitors to:

·         If you suspect any situation as potentially threatening to your personal safety or are victimized yourself, call 911 immediately.

·         Report suspicious activity or suspicious people immediately.

·         Stay alert and tuned in to your surroundings. Be aware and prepared.

·         Trust your instincts, and if you do not feel comfortable in place or situation, leave. 

·         Use caution when walking alone at all times, and travel in groups whenever possible.

***IN WORDPAD***

The Resume Cover Sheet should look like this.

Your Name

1234 Main Street

Odessa, Tx 79762

(333)333-3333

null@null.com

M. Covert

Computer Lit. 

Odessa College

Odessa, Tx 79764

Dear Ms. Covert, 

I am applying for the job as Computer Lab Assistant. I have skills in Computer Literacy from my GED classes and I believe I would fill the job well.

I am looking forward to meeting with you about this job.

Sincerely, 

Your Name

You will print this out and turn in to me. 

Holiday wishes

Thanksgiving Week

As you know, this is a short week for GED classes. Today, Monday, and Tuesday are the GED Institute classes.
 Wednesday, Thursday and Friday The campus is closed.


Have a wonderful Thanksgiving week! 

November 15, 2016

Below, there is a post that tells you what is going on this week.

This post is to let you know that there are more submissions under the tab "Writing".

I have had to go through and remove last names because of FERPA. We are not allowed to use last names or images that will personally identify students, so if you are wondering why the change... that's it.

I am still entering paragraphs from class. I know that this is taking forever it seems... patience please.

REMINDER:

      ****Thursday is our Class Thanksgiving Dinner... We are hosting the ESOL classes, please make them feel welcome!

We will meet in our homeroom classes, then join the ESOL classes for the "Ice Breaker" and see their classrooms. After this, we will come back upstairs to room 216. We are hosting the dinner, so everyone can visit one on one with the ESOL students, let them know what you are studying, what you like about the classes. Please make them feel at home. 

Week of November 14-17

Remember that we are working on emails this week. Please have a working email, know your password... so during class we can create folders within your email account.

Think about these questions:

Why would you need to have folders in your email account?

How would you keep important messages or receipts in your email?

What type of messages would you receive that would be important?

Who do you think would send emails that you might need to keep track of?

November 17 is going to be the  Thanksgiving Dinner~ ESOL will be having an Ice Breaker, GED is hosting. the dinner. Food will be in room 216.  We'll be eating in the rooms.

Not to dampen spirits, but we will also be progress testing this week... Tuesday will be the main day that we test. When you are done, or if you do not have enough hours, you will be in Room 203.

If you have not worked in your DOS... you will be working during this time.

If you have not spent time working in DOS, I mean rushing through lessons without actually doing the work, you will be asked to speak with myself and Ms Pina.

The lessons in Aztec are there to help you. Working in Aztec will help you get through the GED faster. Please try to remember that.  I do not assign fruitless lessons to you. Every lesson is geared to help you in your DOS and with other parts of the GED.

Every lesson in Computer Literacy will help you either in the GED or in life itself.  This is now the computer age. Every part of our lives are governed by computers. Learning to use a computer gives you power to help control your life.

Learning how to use a computer for daily tasks is our goal.

Be powerful!

Parking at Odessa College

The new parking area between Administration and Fine Arts is now open for parking!

 .... The Police Department will begin increased enforcement of parking regulations. This will apply to staff parking in Visitor (white) spaces as well as students parking in staff (blue) spaces.

 The additional parking that is now available should limit the parking challenges that we have seen in the past several months. The increased enforcement initiative will apply to parking areas across the entire campus and will aim to further alleviate the challenging parking situation.

 

As always, please feel free to contact our department for any safety or security needs you may have.

Keep in mind that we offer vehicle assistance that includes tire inflation, door unlock and battery jump starting as well as courtesy escorts to and from buildings for faculty, staff and students as needed.

Our mission is to ensure that our campus remains a safe place to live, work, learn and play. We appreciate your continued support of that mission!

 

Regards,

 

Nick Holbrook

How to Succeed!

We have new submissions posted on the Writing page, please review your own submission and read those of your classmates. You will get an idea of what others think about Success.

There is also a Poll at the right of this page, please enter your answer to the question: What does it take to Succeed?

It is the beginning of a new week, and we will be working on WordPad during Monday/Tuesday class. 

The subject for the Paragraph you will write is: How do you Succeed?

Think about ways that you can succeed. What are some of the things you need to do, some of the things you need to think about to get ahead not only in school, but in day to day life.

It might be certain things for which you take responsibility, like being on time, like knowing what is expected of you, or how to ask for help...


 essential qualities:

1) personal responsibility, 

2) self-motivation, 

3) self-management, 

4) independence,

5) interdependence, 

6) self-awareness, 

7) thirst for learning, 

8) emotional intelligence,

9) realistic self-confidence.  

To me, several of these traits stand out above the others.
 
What is responsibility?  

 The state of being answerable, or accountable for something within one's power, control, or management.
This is, for me, one of the most important traits in any person.  
Being on time, keeping up with paperwork, turning in lessons on time, paying bills on time, in general, taking care of business.  Finding a way to achieve what you need to do, on time, brings self-management, self-confidence, independence, and
Those are qualities

Emotional intelligence? How do you obtain emotional intelligence? 

Psychology Today explains the term as: 

1. Emotional awareness, including the ability to identify your own emotions and those of others;
2. The ability to harness emotions and apply them to tasks like thinking and problems solving;
3. The ability to manage emotions, including the ability to regulate your own emotions, and the ability to cheer up or calm down another person.

Wow! Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all could be aware of our emotions? Even better if we could regulate them and to be aware enough to help other people?

I suppose, the way to achieve it is to stop and think about what you are feeling at the time, what would be the correct way to handle the emotions... like if you are angry, you could try to understand why you are feeling that way, what brought on the anger, and how to deal with it. Is there a way you could have avoided the situation you are in? Is there something you could have said or done that would have helped the situation?

Another important, but really difficult attribute is thirsting for knowledge... Wanting to learn, striving to learn, wanting to better yourself, your situation, is necessary to achieving any goal. 

Thirsting for learning comes easy for some people, but not for others... It can be learned, though. Think about learning as gaining power... We all want more power, right? We all want to be able to guide our destiny, and learning does that... the more you know, the more you are able to use that knowledge to control your own life. 

Interdependence is an amazing subject, being able to rely on someone else as well  as being independent, is hard to achieve. Trusting someone else takes time and effort, and is important to being able to grow your self confidence, your ability to work with others, and in your own ability to see yourself to succeed.  

We tend to close ourselves off from other people, especially when we have been hurt, betrayed, or treated wrongly. It takes time to gain the confidence to allow someone else to help you, but what better way to do that very thing, to allow a teacher or person you can look up to, to help you. 

One of the best lessons I ever learned was to find someone that I thought was doing well for themselves, and to ask what it was that helped them succeed. 

I asked several people. 

Things that they did were pretty much the same...

They worked hard

They asked for help when they needed it, and 

They worked harder. 

Is that it? Does working hard mean you will succeed?  Some people work hard their whole lives but don't end up rich, maybe they have problems off and on their whole lives... 

But most will tell you, in the end, it isn't about having riches, glory, or fame. 

It is about who you have around you, what you do during your lifetime that makes you happy, and helping others along the way. 

Sounds easy, huh?

There are no easy answers as to how to succeed... but... Having a plan will start you on the way. 

Think about it! 

Write the paragraph, it will be included on the blog, so you can either email me or if you are not on a computer that will send to printer (along the back wall) you will save as * your name, and to desktop!


Our goal in class is to have the ability to  use the keyboard with confidence, thoughtfulness in writing, and  ease of using email to communicate. 

We will also discuss internet safety during the week.  

The close of another week.
Our first week of actual classes went pretty well, maybe a few mix ups with finding your classes and learning your schedules, but you did great!

This week was pretty hectic in the Computer Lab. Everyone knows that we have x amount of computers, and y amount of students, which equals more than the amount of z(the total of computers+Kindles available)  So it was quite disorganized for a couple of days.

I am happy to say, we now have access to more Kindles and more of you are bringing your own laptops to be able to work on Aztec!  Thank you for your patience.

Having a large class is great! I love to see each and every one of you, but I'm also sad that we are unable to accommodate all with a terminal, so we will have a seating arrangement beginning next week. This will help rotate computer use.

 Will you bring your computer each week? If so, you will sign in to our class... and then take a seat in Room 202. You are on your honor to continue to do your work for the day.

The daily assignments will be written on the board in the Computer Lab.

 Using a Kindle?---

                  Check out the Kindle, using the sign out sheet, then either sit at the middle aisle or take the Kindle to Room 202.
                    
Please remember,  you are on the honor system.

 Using the Aztec Software is for your benefit... The more you use it, the faster and better you will get through the GED test. 

Long Weekend!

Hope you all enjoy the long weekend, remember to spend a few minutes a day learning something new.

If you have a Facebook account, stop by to see our new social page. There will be posts updating our assignments and you may comment and post news and events or questions that you might have.

www.facebook.com/ComputerLitOC/

Last Day of Orientation Schedule

Today is the last day of the orientation schedule, we will resume regular class schedule on Monday, October 17th. Thank you for your patience and willingness to work on your own.

On October 10th and 11th, returning students will be in room 216 with Ms Pina, New students will be in classrooms with teachers.

Returning students: You will not have classes on Wednesday, October 12.

Returning students: You will not have class on Thursday, October 13. 

We have a new social media page, please follow  if you are on Facebook.

 https://www.facebook.com/ComputerLitOC/

I will post daily lessons and you may comment or add news, pictures, or questions to the page.

If this page helps, I may start a Twitter page as well.

Thank you for taking time to check in!

 Remember you are on the honor system tomorrow, Thursday, October 5th, for the last day of new student orientation.
Please go to typing.com to work for 5 minutes on keyboard skills... then on to Aztec to work the remainder of class.

GED Prep: work in Science
Pre-HSE: work in Math
Foundations: work in Math

Thank you for working so hard, you are changing your life with each bit of knowledge you put into your brain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We are still having blog submissions trickle in. Thank you for putting in the effort to get them to me.

We have had a problem with email at the college... so please be patient if you have submitted yours and do not see it.

We have also had a problem with attaching a few. If you have used One Note to write your submission... see me.  I will be in 203 tomorrow, Thursday, Oct. 5 just after class is out. Be patient, I'm in Wilkerson Hall testing the new students.

All Blog Submissions are due today.

There are so many wonderful submissions to this project! I am very proud of all of you for taking the time to actually send them in.
There are several that are superb. Those students have taken time to really delve deeper into writing and have taken the time to really boost their skills.

If you do not see your post by tomorrow, check with me.
There were several people that I know sent submissions and they didn't go through for whatever reason. We will work on that.

Thank you for your work!
Ms Covert

Wednesday Submissions

Happy Wednesday to you all!


We have new submissions in several categories today, please go by and visit the different pages (click on the tabs above to navigate the blog)


Writing
Artwork/Photos
Poetry
Upcoming Events
Interviews


Give a big round of applause to those who have struggled with learning how to use WordPad, Word2013, Paint, and emails! It's tough when you first learn to work with these, and you have really stepped up and tried hard!

Submissions to the Blog!

We are seeing submissions trickle in. So far, we have one in each of the following catagories:
Artwork/Photography
Poetry
Interviews

Thank you for working on this, I hope that you are enjoying the project... remember, submissions are due on Thursday, Sept. 29. I know that ECISD is out of school that day, but we are in class! Submissions are due!

First Article entered!

We have our first blog post by a student. Thank you to Sylvia Moreno for her interview with Fernando Moreno. You can read the interview in it's entirety on the "Interview Page"
                                                                                   ~ Ms. Covert

Reminder about Blog entries

Remember!

 You can subscribe to the blog

 using the subscribe button  that says

 "Follow by Email" 

on the left hand side.

 Simply enter your email and click "Submit"... 

 Updates will be sent to your email address.

 Easy!

Another reminder... the first submissions for the blog are due by Sept 29th.  No exceptions.


We will go over the use of WordPad, Word 2013, and Paint in class on Monday and Tuesday.  Be in class on time!



Tip of the Day:

Make a graphic using Canva or PicMonkey...

Both sites  are free, fun and simple to use. 

Starting Our Blog

Here it is the middle of September already. The weather is cooling off, classes are well underway, and you are already progress testing. 

It’s time to have some fun in Computer Lab. 

You will be working in Aztec still, you need to continue working in your DOS, but we will, as discussed in class, start contributing to your class “blog”.

If you have not read a blog, it is time to start now. There are some really great, informational and fun blogs out there, and you can begin with looking at different blogs at Blogger, Wordpress or Weebly. 

A great idea for those of you who love to write… start your own blog, you will be able to link an article or graphic to your own site on this page. I will help you set up your own blog, you basically only need an email to start one. There are several platforms that you can use that are totally free, no strings attached.

Another great idea for those who love to write… join the 31Days writing challenge. It begins October 1^st and runs through October 31… You don’t have to have a blog to do this, but if you want to join the community, it is a great way to share… or have a Facebook or other Social media page to post to…. you can find the information at Write31Days.com or ask me for more information. 

Some ideas to get you started:


1. Write an article:

•    Write an article about a subject that you are studying that is very thought provoking.

•           A review of a book 

•            A review of a movie that you really like, it  doesn't have to be a recent film, it can be vintage.

•     Write about what you want to do after you have completed this course.

•            Write an article on the upcoming election. **Needless to say, keep it fact based, no name calling, and nothing distasteful. 

•              An article on what type of classes you would like to see added to this program.  

2. Interview Someone:

·               Teacher
·         Director
·         Boss
·         Nurse
·         Police
·         Fire
·         Coach
·         Weatherman
·         Reporter
·         Welder
·         Oilfield worker

·         Artist

           Librarian
~Ask different questions  but ascertain how long they have had their job,  What one thing makes them happy about their job,  what one specific class helped them in their work,  How much schooling do they have and  do they still take classes?

Permian/OHS Game 2013

3. Write or report 
  a Sports Story:


·         Write two paragraphs on the reason the UTPB football game was cancelled on Sept.17, 2016 and how they rescheduled.
·         Write a summary of a game you recently watched.
·         Write the scores for 5 different events (can be local, state, national)

Drawn in Paint, by Marie Covert

4. Draw a graphic:

•  Draw a Venn Diagram  to illustrate how your classes overlap...use Paint to create.

•   Draw a picture using Paint. **You don’t have to be Rembrandt, just try out the program. 

•   Draw a graphic  or…Make a graphic for the Blog header or for a graphic on the sidebar to link to a different page.

**If making a header for the page-the size should be 1300x250 px
If making a graphic for the sidebar, use 700x500px

Picture edited in PicMonkey by Marie Covert

Use Canva.com or PicMonkey to create graphics

•      Edit a picture using an online program like PicMonkey include a frame and at least two other  elements to change the look of the picture.

5. Submit a Picture:

•  Your class working hard on a project

Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol, England

•   A project you made for a class

•  The campus

•  Local park
•  A group of your classmates studying together

•  Weather Event

•    Sports Event on or off campus.

6. A Cartoon:

•  Of the election  *Keep it within good taste
•  On raising kids
•  Relating to test taking
•  About a subject in school

 ***After consideration, I will allow your contribution to Write 31 Days to be part of the class project. You must contribute each day, without missing, and you must submit to me what media that you are using (if it is on a blog, twitter, facebook, etc... or if you are writing in a journal, it must be where I can scan it  from time to time. I will not take scans daily, but will check up on you. ***
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 *First contributions are due by Sept 28th for Mon/Wed. classes, on Sept 29 for Tue/Thurs. classes.

If you are having problems working in WordPad or Word, let me know. 
If you are having problems working in Paint... let me know
If you are working in a any of the graphic software and have problems... Let me know. 


I am here to help you.

Whatever you choose, remember to include your name, date of submission and any links that you have to include with the article or graphic.

Send  all submissions to me, at the email address that I have given you… if you need it again, please see me.  We will keep all personal emails off this page please (This is a safety issue).  

Do not include even a business email for anyone unless you have their written permission first, and secondly, clear it with me.  

Links can be to pages such as Facebook, Imgur, Twitter, Flicker, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumbler, Google+, Youtube, LinkedIn, Reddit, Vine, FourSquare, Digg, Yelp, or other social media. (use google search to find those without links)

Enjoy this!  
Make it something you would be proud of other people reading.

Marie Covert

 Computer Literacy

Odessa College ABE/GED Dpt.