MS Office - 2/28/2006

MS Office was devoted to Excel Chapter 4, in which we covered a variety of Excel topics that dealt with worksheet enhancement, such as margins, borders, creating filters, etc.  This is the end of the Excel unit, and next week we will be having an exam over Excel Chapters 1-4.  I passed out a study sheet for the test, please let me know (bbedo@draughons.edu) if you need one.

Homework:

• Completion Questions 1-16


• Skill Assessments 1, 3, 4, 5

CompTIA Network+ Training - 2/28/2006

Net+ was divided into two sections today… the first section involved us taking exam #2 (chapters 7-14).  The second section involved us talking about chapter 15 – which was more stuff about TCP/IP.  

Homework:

• Questions 1-10.

CompTIA A+ OS/Hardware - 2/27/2006

Tonight we crammed crammed crammed!  Test on Tuesday!

Homework:

• Study!

MS Word - 2/27/2006

Welcome back!  After a brief reintroduction, we recovered Chapter 1 – which dealt with mail merge and sorting mechanisms inside Word.  Hopefully, after today, you will have figured out some ways to really save yourself some time next in Word.  Next week, we’ll talk about some custom formatting features.  At the risk of sounding like a total dork, I think you’ll really like them.

Homework:

• Completion 1-16 (pg 43)


• Skill Assessments 1, 4, 8.

Small Business Management - 2/23/2006

Today we had a free day as I let you continue work on your business plans.  I will do my absolute best to have a sample for you next week.

MS Access - 2/22/2006

Today we covered the Forms chapter of our book – Chapter 5!  Remember that a form is simply a user-friendly interface to a table or to a query, both of which we already know how to make.

Homework:

• Chapter 5 – Completion


• Chapter 5 – Skill Assessment #4

CompTIA A+ OS/Hardware - 2/21/2006

Your instructor is a wuss.

Remember the blood-drive-extra-credit thing?  Yeah, well, I gave my pint today.

Now, I can’t stand up without seeing stars.  That being said, I’m going to go against my better judgment and cancel class.  I know some of you are probably quite happy about that, but I am extremely sorry! Anyway, in order for us to remain on task, I need you guys to read and answer the questions at the end of chapters 21 and 22, which are on portable computers and printers.  Pay extra attention to the care instructions of a laptop, and the various parts of a laser printer and how to diagnose problems with them.  

Again, sorry for not being able to make it in tonight – I still plan on going over the material that will be on the test before giving it.  We will review Monday night, and then have the test on Tuesday.  How’s that work?

Thanks guys, and see you next week!

Homework:

• Chapter 21 – Questions 1-10


• Chapter 22 – Questions 1-10

MS Office - 2/21/2006

Today we (sorta) covered Chapter 3 in the Excel section.  The sorta comes from the fact that I was out on the bloodmobile donating some of my precious blood to the cause.  Anyway, thanks for being patient with me and thanks to everyone that donated today – it really does make a difference (up to 3 lives saved from one donation!  And a free t-shirt!).

Homework:

• Completion


• Skill Assessments 4 and 6.

CompTIA Network+ Training - 2/21/2006

Today’s class covered Chapter 14, which dealt with implementing TCP/IP in large networking situations.  The two main topics we dealt with were DNS and DHCP.  DNS is what gives us “English” names to go along with IP addresses (Draughons Junior College vs. 2421 Fitzgerald-Industrial Drive).  DHCP is what allows a client computer to auto-configure and get its own IP address, DNS Server Information, Gateway information, etc.  Remember, we’re having a test next week on chapters 7-14 (! ACK !) so make sure you study that.

Homework:

• Questions 1-10


• Lab 15.01


• Study for your test!

CompTIA A+ OS/Hardware - 2/20/2006

Once again, we missed our Monday night class because of the amount of snow we received last night and this morning.  See you guys Tuesday!

MS Word - 2/20/2006

Well, once again we are snowed out today – we’ll pick back up next week.  Think about it.  It will be Feb. 27 and we’ll still be on Chapter 1!

Small Business Management - 2/16/2006

Today we talked about the marketing plan.  Remember that there are two parts of the marketing plan that I’ll be looking for: a detailed plan of marketing research and a detailed application of the marketing mix (the 4 Ps: Products, Place, Price, Promotion).  Continue working on those business plans!!

MS Access - 2/15/2006

As I type this, I’m watching everyone quietly taking their first exam.  It’s weird having this group be so quiet!  Ha ha ha ha ha ha.

See you guys next week!

Homework:

• Pray for a quick arrival of spring!!

Microsoft Office - 2/14/2006

Today’s class dealt with Excel’s Chapter 2 – formatting our worksheets.  We learned how to change our fonts, our column sizes, apply borders and shading and other fun stuff too.

On your homework, I failed to assign one of the skill assessments that you will need to do in order to do the skill assessment I happened to assign.  Oops.  Make sure that you note the change…

Homework:

• Completion 1-13


• Skill Assessments 1 & 5

CompTIA Network + Training - 2/14/2006

This morning, we covered Chapters 12 and 13.  We also installed Windows 2000, which we’ll be using off and on for the remainder of the semester.  

Homework:

• Chapter 12: Questions 1-10


• Chapter 13: Questions 1-10

CompTIA A+ OS/Hardware - 2/13/2006

Due to this morning’s snow, we will NOT be having class tonight, Monday, February 13.  As of this moment, we WILL be having class tomorrow, Tuesday, February 14.  I can’t think of a better way to spend Valentine’s Day, can you?  

Homework:

• No class, no homework.  See ya tomorrow night!

MS Word - 2/13/2006

Due to the HUGE amount of snow that we got and the blistering conditions following that snow, we did not have class today.  Woo-hoo!

Next week, we’ll pick up right where we left off and finish up our chapter on mail merge, etc.  

Homework:

• No class, no homework.  See ya next week!

Small Business Management - 2/9/2006

Class today was a DIY class, in which you had the entire time to focus on your business plans.  It seems like everyone is doing pretty well with them and I’m excited to see them grow some more.  We’ll pick up and talk about the marketing plan next week.

Your Mailman Will Hug You

I somehow or another mentioned this today in my Access class about signing up for an “opt-out” for credit card companies, and I figured I’d share the information with anyone who wants to read it.  

Basically what happens is if you go to this website and plug all of your information in, your credit report carries a flag that prohibits credit card companies from using your report for marketing purposes.  What does this mean exactly?  It means that you’ll stop getting mounds and mounds of credit card offers!

www.optoutprescreen.com

I put signed up for this on December 9, and my junk mail has since nearly disappeared.  It definitely works!!!

Sorry Charlotte, no extra credit for signing up :p

MS Access - 2/8/2006

Today we finished up Chapter Four (Queries).  We covered lovely topics such as the filter (the little tornado buttons) and the Unmatched query (finding records in one table that don’t have buddies in the other table).  

Next week we’re having a test on Chapter 1-4.  Make sure you know all about queries – they are very important in the design of databases, so I’ve made the test a little heavy on them.  The test has 21 M/C questions and 3 Skill Assessment questions.  When you’re studying, make sure that you go over the questions I reviewed with you, and make sure that you work your way through the ten skill assessment questions that start on page 131.  If you know those, you should do fine.

Oh, and thank you guys so much for the Bowl for Kids’ Sake support!  Seriously, that means a lot to me!

Homework:

• No homework in lieu of studying for the test!


• Good luck!

CompTIA A+ OS/Hardware - 2/7/2006

Tonight’s topic was Chapter 19, SCSI.

Homework:

• Questions 1-10

MS Office - 2/7/2006

Today’s class consisted of a Word test, which everyone did really well on, and the first chapter of the Excel section of your book.  Chapter One was basically just an overview of the Excel program – covering things like where things are and how to get around.  We also were introduced to the fill handle, which I predict will become your best friend in Excel.  

Next week, we’ll dive into Chapter Two!

Homework:

• Identifying (pg 29)


• Skill Assessments 1-3 (pg 29-31)

CompTIA Network+ Training - 2/7/2006

We covered Chapters 10 and 11, covering protocols and TCP/IP.  Make sure you know which layers (generically) a protocol is designed to cover (Network – Session) and also make sure you know about the most common protocols that are out there (TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, Appletalk, etc.)  As far as TCP/IP is concerned, make MEGA SURE that you know how to convert a binary number into an IP address and vice versa.  The handout that I gave you should help with that.  Drop me an e-mail if you need a copy of that sheet (bbedo@draughons.edu)

Homework:

• Chapter 10 – Questions 1-10


• Chapter 11 – Questions 1-10; Lab 12.04 (yes, 12!)

CompTIA A+ OS/Hardware - 2/6/2006

We had a slightly disturbing discussion tonight on video.  Jonathan (or was it Tony?) made me turn red, which is a pretty big accomplishment!  Anyway, remember that video is comprised of two things: the video card and the video display device.  Make sure that you know the main differences between a CRT monitor and an LCD monitor and can describe the pros and cons of each.  Also, be able to describe what an AGP slot is and why it is so much better than running a video card in a PCI slot.

I had fully intended on discussing Chapter 19 (SCSI) tonight, but as video went just a little longer than I thought, I pushed it off until tomorrow night.  Remind me to tell an interesting story on SCSI that someone brought up last semester…

Homework:

• Chapter 18 – Questions 1-10

MS Word - 2/6/2006

MS Word class shifted gears today and, after taking our first exam, we actually had a real-live class!  Unfortunately, due to a few delays, we were unable to actually finish the first chapter, so we’ll do that next week.

Homework:

• No homework!!

Small Business Management - 2/2/2006

We today talked about the various types of businesses – sole proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations.  Continue work on your business plans!!!

MS Access - 2/1/2006

Today we covered Chapter Four, the chapter which deals with queries.  We went through exercise 11, and we’ll pick up next week and finish exercises 12-17.

Homework:

• No homework this week, we’ll pick up Ch 4 homework next week.