May 1-4, 2017

Happy May Day to you all!     

Notice there is a new 'button' next to the 'Home' button on the ribbon above. This 'RESUME Tips' page is to help with examples, snippets of articles, and links to pages filled with templates, examples, and hints... USE IT!


For anyone who has not completed the resume, that will be the challenge this week... finish it! 

 Turn in your Flash Drive or CD-R at the end of the class so I am able to comment or add information, this is an assignment.

I've had questions about no work experience, which is valid if you are still in school. There are several links at the bottom of this article to take you to examples, one with a lot of explanation, a lot is reiterating what I have shared in class.

For those who are finished, AZTEC

Foundations: Math>Preparing for Algebra> Writing Basic Equations

Pre-HSE: Mathematics>Solving Linear Equations and Inequalities> Understanding Algebra

GED Prep: Mathematical Reasoning>Algebraic Problem Solving with Graphs and Functions> Functions 

Thank you so much for making the effort, I do understand that it is getting close to the end of the school year, some of you are anxious to finish your lessons and get the testing over with. 

We will work in the Aztec Software as much as possible after the resumes are completed.

Links for the week:

Aztec Learning Software

Resume examples

Resume example for no experience with explanation

Another Resume example for no work experience

Resume example for lots of experience

Cover Letter example    
 *Don't get sidelined on these pages. * Look at the example, don't start looking around and downloading things. Just scroll down to read the examples!

April 24- 27, 2017

Since the resume work is taking shape, we will continue to work on them. I have looked at many of the beginnings on your disks or flash drives, and they are looking good. 

The Cover Letters are important, they catch the eye of the potential hiring agent.  I recently spoke with several people that I admire, from different businesses. Each one responsible for hiring, whether as Personnel Director or as the actual owner of a company. They all say the same thing, the Cover Letter is what they notice, what makes or breaks the hire. 

So, we will go over your cover letters a bit more, hone them. You may have an extra file on your disk. If it has my name on it, open it before you do anything else. Read it!

If you do have something from me, it is because I  am trying to go through and comment on anything that I have to offer to you about your cover letter or resume. This seemed like a simple way to do it. 

You still need to work in Aztec, whether it is before or after classes, or at home, the Learning Resource Center or wherever you have access to a computer. 

This week the Aztec Lesson is:

Foundations: Math> Everyday Math Skills> Math Problems with Multiple Operations

Pre-HSE:  Mathematics>Function and Graphs>basics of Functions

GED-Prep:  Social Studies> History and Economics>Macro, Micro, and Consumer Economics

Links for this week:


What is a Resume?
 
Writing a Cover Letter- Tips

Cover Letter Builder (good site!)

Resume.com- Good examples

Chronological format Resume(Most common)


School to Work Resume Sample (yes, you need one! Keeping your educational gains organized will show your potential. Keeping track of teachers and staff that can give you references is great, as well as certificates you have earned (think about the Ready for Work section of Aztec! There are certificates to earn for completing each section and for completing the whole RFW!)


Combinations Resume- No Paid Work Experience (yep, even one for this! If you have volunteered a lot, whether it is within schools, churches, other organizations, you need to keep track of those experiences. Record names of people that can vouch for your work: School staff; secretaries, teachers, civic leaders, organization members and staff)

Bookkeeper resume sample

Entry Level Nursing Assistant Resume
Yes, you need a resume, and if you work as an aid, you will want to keep up with all of the personal development that you have. Put it on the resume! Keep track of supervisors, etc on the reference pages!
 Construction/Carpenter's Assistant Resume (yes, you need one!)

Housekeeping or Janitor resume (yes, you need one! especially for the references. Keep track of people you have worked for on the reference sheet! It truly does help to keep things like this organized instead of relying on memory)

April 17-20, 2017 IMPORTANT INFO! check several times during the week

This week we are all working on our resume!

This is an important step for your future, please be prepared to come to class and spend as much time as possible creating and editing your resume. 

Have your work experience, schooling, certificates if any listed. Think about your attributes. What is it that you can bring to the employer that they need? 

Remember if you have or want to purchase a flash drive, you do not have to have a large one. If you cannot or do not wish to have a flash drive, we will have CD-R (thanks to Ms. Piña who is going to provide them for us at no cost). I need to know ahead of time so that we can make sure there are enough to go around. 

The lesson is going to revolve around creating your cover letter and the actual resume. On Monday, we are going to read from this site, ResumeGuys, which is marvelous at explaining what you need and what you don't in your resume. 

Most of us will create a chronological resume. You can choose a different format if you think it will benefit you, this will become clear when we are reading and working during class. 

This is a real resume  so make it neat, tidy, naturally truthful. 

If you already have a resume- 
Bring it to class. If it is on a disk or a flash drive that is great, it can be printed as well. 
We will go over it and polish it up to make it look it's best!

👷 Remember, this site is under construction👷 Come back often!

***I've added a few links to my Live Binders (remember that you can access this by the link at the left of this page). The links are under Computer Literacy and deal with resumes. 

Check out Youtube for any videos on creating resumes.

LINKS for this week:

Interview Guys- Resume 101 - GREAT SITE!

Writing a Cover Letter- Tips


What is a Resume?


Resume.com- Good examples

Chronological format Resume(Most common)

Housekeeping or Janitor resume (yes, you need one!)

School to Work Resume Sample (yes, you need one!)


Combinations Resume- No Paid Work Experience (yep, even one for this!)

April 10-13, 2017-----Important information!

All Students~ You will need to bring ---NEXT WEEK (April 17-20)--- a USB Flash Drive. It can be the smallest possible (32MB).  If you do not have or cannot buy a flash drive, you can use a CD-R disk,  Ms. Piña has graciously offered to donate some.
If you are unable to buy the flash drive, please let me know in advance.

We will be working on our Resumes next week (April 17-20) So be prepared to write out all of your jobs, from current back, have phone numbers and/or addresses for your previous employers... as well as a list of your education, any certificates you have earned, and think about your skills... what are the skills that you think an Employer would like to have in a worker?

New Students~ You will be working in your Aztec DOS again this week, do as much work as possible, next week you will join the returning students in all of the work that is assigned.


Returning Students~ 

AZTEC~ Language:

Foundations:  Aztec's Foundations Reading> Looking at Stories>  Point of View

Pre-HSE: Reading> General Reading Skills>  Drawing Conclusions in Reading

GED Prep –Reasoning Through Language Arts > Analyzing Texts>The Structure of Texts


LINKS for this week:

AZTEC

April 3-6, 2017 VISIT THIS PAGE MORE THAN ONCE THIS WEEK!

All Students! There is a survey to fill out at Odessa-tx.gov.
It is a survey on our cities water supply. Please go to the site, choose the link that reads: "Survey for Residential Input" and fill out the survey. You DO NOT have to fill in your email address unless you would like to have the survey results sent to you. 
There is a "CAPTCHA" to fill in, this is a code to verify that you are not a robot.  Fill that in and submit. 

New Students: 

You will be moved from the Ready for Work today, into your assigned lesson plan in Aztec. You have your specific DOS and lesson on your Log-In sheet, that is where you will work this week.

Thank you to all of you who actually finished the lesson assigned. 

Returning Students:

You will be working on this lesson:

Readworks.org/books/passages

The  Tang and Song Dynasties in China

Log in to your account and go to this passage. 

Read this passage,  IF you do not have an account, please create one!


The rest of the week you will be working in:

 Aztec: Math

Foundations:Math> Preparing for Algebra>Writing Basic Equations

Pre HSE: Mathematics>The Cost of Living> Introduction to Math Problem Solving

GED Prep-Mathematical Reasoning> Algebraic Problem Solving with Expressions> Interpreting and Writing Expressions

LINKS for this week:

Odessa-tx.gov 
Readworks.org/books/passages

Aztec

Return to Classes March 27th, 2017

It's that time again! 💝

All students will return to classes on March 27th☺.  Remember that this week the computer lab will be packed to the brim. PLEASE, please be patient. 

 We do have Kindles to help ease the overflow. I will try to have tables and chairs for all in class this first week. After this week, we will employ Room 2o2 to help ease the overcrowding.

If you have a laptop, Ipad, or Kindle that you are comfortable with bringing to class, it would help.  There is free wi-fi at the college, all you have to do is click on "agree" to use it (it's just saying you will not upload anything malicious or viral). 

This first week, New Students will receive their Log-In IDs and their RFW and DOS assignments, we will go over the class syllabus,  usage of Aztec, how it is changing, and for the new students, all about our class. It will be a good thing for everyone to listen. Some students still do not use Aztec the way it is intended to be used. A refresher would help. 

Aztec is one of the main ways of completing your GED.  Each lesson is designed to help you towards that goal. Each lesson helps in explaining what will be asked of you on the GED test. 

Using Aztec has facilitated the completion of the testing for many students.  We have many that have gone through this course and have come back to say how much it helped to use the software. 

If you are serious about completing and earning your Texas Certificate of High School Equivalency, then use AZTEC to it's fullest. 

Our only link this week is Aztec:

Aztec 👀

Spring Break **Added a couple of links

😊I know it is hard to be motivated during Spring Break. I do. Honestly.

The more that you are able to work in Aztec, the more prepared for the GED exam you will be...

So I am asking that you work at least 30 minutes during this week in AZTEC 😍 Because I want you to succeed!

There are numerous places you can find items that will help you with the GED, they may be disguised as other lessons, but every time you work on Math, Science, Social Studies, or Language, you are working toward your goal of completing your studies. I am adding my link to Live Binders for you to check out the links for learning. You can find it here: Live Binders
Please enter code: Deadrick203 There are a number of sites that are listed for GED practice on my LiveBinder page, it is possible to get to that page with the link to the left of the page. ⇚ Check it out. I will add a few more onto the GED tab this weekend.

*Something to help your reading skills and to boost your knowledge is to go to Digital Readworks. I have set up an account that has assignments to read. This is different than going to readworks.org. I set this up so that if you do not have an email yet (which you should already, but some still do not) you can access the lessons I assign.

There is a class code (XZB3NW) . You look down the list, it is alphabetized by Last Name, but I haven't written in your last name... so use your brain on how to find your own name! 

When you have found it, click on it, you will be asked for a password (1234) You can change the password if you would like. 

Here is the link: digital.readworks.org/student
  
You should already have an account with Readworks, it is a great place to look for articles

I am giving you a list of options for writing practice to help with your essay skills. This is a list of subjects that you can write out in Word, Wordpad or simply in an Email and send to me... If you want to actually send them, I will add the addresses of the actual entities listed.

OPTIONS for Writing:

Dear Future Me - Write a letter to yourself on the subject of what you want to accomplish this Semester. You can write it out in an email if you don't have a computer, email it to me.
This is a great opportunity to set a goal, put it away and then look at it again in a few months to see if you have met that goal.

 You can do this as well for weekly goals, long term goals, you can simply print out what you want to accomplish and put it into an envelope, set it aside and then open it later on.

Write an Editorial for the Newspaper:  Write a letter for the local newspaper telling them about the Mardi Gras festivities here at OC. Include what you learned in classes, the activities that you did, the parade, and what type of food was included. Many people do not know that we have this program, or that we do activities along with the students at OC. This would be a great opportunity to enlighten our community that we are hard working and also active.
Make an outline,
Write a rough draft,
Revise your letter,
You can mail to the paper if you want,
Letters to the Editor
Odessa American
PO Box 2952
Odessa, TX 79760
REMEMBER to Email a copy to me.

Letter to the President:  - Write a letter to the President about our classes. It should be written in the same format that you wrote the letter to Congress. Formal, and polite. Tell him about what we are doing in class, how Computer Literacy has helped you, and what you plan to do in the future with your Texas Certificate of High School Equivalency.
Remember to write a rough  draft and to read over it several times, revising each time until it is what you want it to be.
If you want to actually send it, please do.
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington,
DC 20500
Remember to Email a copy of it to me.

If you are serious about contacting President Trump, there is a page that you can fill out for doing just that. The page is called Get in Touch with the White House.
Remember to always be polite, respectful, and stick to facts. Also remember to use Spell Check!


This is a fun Venn Diagram to fill out, go to the link and use it to create a goal for the week.

This week would be a great time to work on your resume. this is a link to help you out, it is Resume 101

LINKS:

Sample of a formal letter to the President

Get in Touch with the White House

Sample of a letter to the Editor of a Newspaper

The Odessa American Online

Aztec Software

Venn Diagram

Resume 101

Live Binders 

Digital Readworks