I know that the lab is not new to most of you, but this year I will require you to use it more often and in more complicated ways than many of your previous teachers have. This assignment will help you practice the essential computer skills you will need to complete many of the assignments for this class.

Seating Chart: There is a seating chart for the lab, and you are expected to abide by it. If you are not sitting in your assigned seat right now, log off and move to where you should be. Don't let it happen again!

Log in to School System: If you can read this now, you probably already know how to log in. If, however, you are reading over a classmate's shoulder right now (or looking at a projection of this page on a big screen at the front of the room) then you might need to know this:

• Login Name: For most of you, your log-in name is the last two digits in your year of graduation, your first initial, your entire last name. For example, if your name is Bubba Jones and you will graduate in 2011, your log-in name would be 11BJONES. (Common last names like Smith and Jones sometimes cause confusion because there might be other BJONESes who graduate in 2011, and therefore each will be assigned a separate login with extra numbers after the the name. Those exceptions will not perfectly match the pattern I have just described, but if this is the case for you, you would already be aware of this.)
• Password: Your password is your student identification number. (If you do not know your student identification number, you need to find it and memorize it immediately. You'll need it to do other parts of this assignment.)

Programs We'll Use Often: When we come to the computer lab, I will usually have you using at least two of the following programs, often at the same time. It is important that you understand how to "toggle" back and forth between "windows" (without closing them) or resize the windows so you can see them both at once.

• Internet: This is the program we'll use the most. The school computers right now run Microsoft Internet Explorer, and when I want you to run this program, I will tell you to click "the Big Blue e". Whenever we come to the lab, start by logging in and going to the Internet to look at the Classroom Calendar to see what the assignment will be. The Internet is also needed to send e-mail and check your grades, both of which I expect you to do regularly. Speaking of which....
• MyDSD: Whether you know it or not, you have a district-sponsored e-mail account. You can also check your grades in all your classes (as well as your lunch account balance) at any time via the Internet. In order to log in to MyDSD, you will need your Student ID number and your Student PIN (personal identification number). If you do not know your PIN, you can request it from this web site. (Write it down!)
• E-mail: Many of you already have an e-mail account with Gmail, Hotmail, or AOL. If not, you can always use your student account with the district, although the student accounts do not allow you to do some important functions without special permission. (Maybe by the time you read this the district will have switched to student Google accounts. If so, all the better...as long as those accounts allow you to do everything a regular Google account does.
• Microsoft Word: Since this is the word processing program in our lab, this is the one we will use for formal writing assignments.

Things You Need to Be Able to Do Without Being Reminded Every Time We Come to the Lab

• Navigate the Classroom Web Site:
  • The home page (sometimes called the index page): This page has links to all the other important pages within the classroom website. This is the one to bookmark when you get home because you can get to everything else from the home page. "Poking" the blinking eye from any page within the site will return you to the home page.
  • The Classroom Calendar (also called "Daily Assignments"): This is where you can find...everything. Everything we do will end up on this page. The previous week always moves to the very bottom of the page, so you have to scroll ALL THE WAY DOWN to find it. The reason I move it to the bottom is so that at the end of the term, all the days and assignments are in chronological order from top to bottom. Each term I build a new page and move the previous term's calendar to the left margin of the page....speaking of which...
  • The Navigation Bar: These are the links at the left margin of the home page and the calendar. Lots of useful stuff there! Look into it!
• Open the "Windows": You will usually be running more than one program at a time! (Get used to it!)
• Save Files to Your Own Space on the School Server: When you save a file for the first time, the computer will require you to name it and select a location in which to save it. Do not save your files to the hard drive of the computer you happen to be sitting at that day, or you will not be able to find them later from a different computer. If necessary, change the file path by clicking the "Browse" button next to the "Save in" field on the Save interface. Your file space will contain at least part of your login name (year of graduation, first initial, last name).
• Submit Assignments via E-mail: There are two ways to do this. I prefer the first one.
  • Attach a saved file to an e-mail and send it to mrthompson@dsdmail.net: If you have completed and saved your assignment in Word, for example, you can open your e-mail account, address a message to me, and use the "attach" function to send me an exact copy of the file. (The student system may not allow you to do this, so you might need to access another e-mail account.) You can attach PowerPoints, graphics, PDFs, and Flash animations as well. This is the best way to submit assignments by electronically because I will see the assignment exactly as you completed it (unless I don't have the right software to open it). Don't forget the r (after the m) in my e-mail address: mrthompson@dsdmail.net.
  • Using the district form to e-mail teachers: This system was set up so that parents and students could contact students by way of the Student Information System. Here is what the form looks like. It's convenient, but you cannot attach files. To submit something this way, you either have to type the whole assignment into that little box on the form or copy and paste the assignment from a separate program into the little box. You have no control over spacing or formatting, so what usually arrives is a big mess. Also, you can't spell check anything after pasting it into the e-mail form. Finally, you need to fill in all the blanks on the form, including a return e-mail address. Make sure you type yours correctly before you click "Send Message."

Now let's practice! Here is your assignment:

1. Open Microsoft Word.
   1. Click "Save."
   2. Save the file to your own server space. Name it "Computer Lab Review".
   3. Type a heading (name, period, date--all properly formatted, spelled, capitalized, and spaced), right-justified in the upper-right hand corner of the page.
   4. Center this title: Computer Lab Review. Make the title bold (but not the heading or any of the rest of the text on the page).
   5. Click "Save" again just for good measure.
   6. Minimize the Word window, but don't close it.
2. Open another instance of the Internet (i.e., Click the "big blue e" again, but leave this page open too so you can still see these instructions.) The window should open to the school home page. From there, use the links to find my classroom web site. Use the information and links on the classroom web site to answer the following questions. Type the answers on the Word document you saved in the first step:
   1. What is the minimum number of mouse clicks to get from the school home page to Thompson's home page?
   2. What are the names of the links you must click?
   3. According to the Independent Reading link, what are three (3) advantages to reading well?
   4. How will reading credit be given in this class?
   5. According to the information found in 9th Grade Links, what is the first rule of punctuation?
   6. Why is the apostrophe the most misunderstood rule of punctuation? (What is the difference between its and it's?)
   7. When should you capitalize the names of classes you take in school?
   8. What are "Word Cells"?
   9. Name three things students need to succeed in Honors English?
   10. How many paragraphs does the sample essay in the Fairfield Writing Guide contain?
   11. According to my gradebook, what was the name of the first assignment you were supposed to turn in?
   12. What is the message at the top of the school home page?
   13. When did my classes read The Pigman in the 2004-2005 school year?
   14. Which member of the Art Department do you know for sure wore braces when s/he was in junior high?
   15. What number was on Mr. Davis's little league football jersey?
   16. Which science teacher has a website that is not the same as most other teacher web pages?
   17. Which teacher has the best website at Fairfield?
3. Save your answers in Microsoft Word.
4. Close the document.
5. Open your e-mail account.
6. Submit the assignment to me by e-mail using one of the two methods noted above. If you aren't finished, e-mail the assignment to yourself so you can finish it at home and submit it from there. (If you don't have a computer at home, you can use one of the computers in my classroom before or after school.)

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