CDD Class Report Walden 8-22-09

WEEKLY CLASS REPORT
Walden House /08-22-2009

Opening Comments:
Class started on time with all remaining students getting in on time. Attendance: We had 6 students in attendance.

INTRODUCTIONS OR OVERVIEW:
In the interest of time, we did presentations first.

1ST TOPIC COVERED:
Four students -- Greg, Mario, Michael, and Johnny -- gave presentations. All of the presentations were very well done. It was clear from the presentations that all four speakers had taken the assignment seriously. All of the presentations were mostly focused on the future and on specific goals, and the steps necessary to achieve those goals. But all of the presentations were also heartfelt and showed a lot of character and hard-earned wisdom. The class favorite was Greg, who was very creative with his paper/presentation. But Chris and Eric agreed that Michael was the most faithful to the spirit of the assignment. Michael's presentation was hopeful and determined, yet pragmatic and focused on specific steps and how to stay positive. It was a tough decision, especially with the class having a favorite. I explained the reasoning behind choosing Michael -- that his paper was highly focused on taking very specific, practical steps toward getting a job. The class understood.

2ND TOPIC COVERED:
Eric introduced the topic of email and discussed it's importance as a communication tool. Chris covered the bulk of the concepts and terms. We then led a class demonstration. We opened up several different email accounts and sent mail back and forth between the two accounts. We focused on Gmail, but also used hotmail, to show the similarities and differences between the two companies. Tony asked how the companies make money and Chris explained that it was an ad-based business. We went on a short 10 minute break.

ADDITIONAL TOPICS LAB TIME:
Three students (Mario, Tony, and Albert) were finished with all work and used the time to work on Mavis Beacon (which all of the class enjoys). Thus our focus was on helping Greg and Michael finish typing their papers, and on getting Michael prepared for his Graduation presentation. Greg spent the entire lab time typing his paper. Eric helped Michael polish up his paper. Due time constraints -- we were very pressed for time -- we were unable to go over the Antioch stuff. Eric will print out the relevant information/forms and bring it to the graduation, if appropriate.

FINAL NOTES:
This was a great class. The presentation were awesome. Chris and Eric got a chance to talk casually with the guys after the presentation. We definitely bonded and everyone left the class with positive, supportive feelings about each other and about the class and computers in general.