Graduation Event Wrap Up
Session Beginning Date: February 16, 2010
Graduation Date: March 23, 2010
Location: Santa Monica Recreational Center
1450 Ocean Avenue
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Time: 7pm
Emcee: Loryn Napala
Guest Speakers: Caroline Corser
Names of Instructors:
Cri-Help- Smriti , Tyson , Kenneth , Robert
Houe of Uhuru-Chris, Juan, Loryn, Mark
Walden House-Gritt, Soni, Ethan
The first teaching session of 2010 culminated on March 23, 2010 as Crossing the Digital Divide celebrated with a Graduation Ceremony held at the Santa Monica Recreational Center. There were nearly a hundred guests in attendance to honor the 28 graduates from the three computer centers:Cri-Help, House of Uhuru and Walden House.
Beginning just after 7pm, the emcee, Loryn Napala, welcomed guests and congratulated students for their dedication and hard work. To inspire the students, keynote speaker Caroline Corser, contributing author to the book, “Happiness is a Decision of the Heart” was introduced. Enlivening the crowd with her witty accounts of her computer interactions, she had the crowd amused with her important message of finding laughter in timesof perplexity.
Richard Rojas, graduating student from Cri-Help, then started the ‘Student Stories’ section of the ceremony. Elaborating upon his Plan for Success, he spoke of the skills gained from being diligent in computer class and spoke of his hopes to better the future for himself and for his family. Christopher McCowen, graduation representative for the House of Uhuru then spoke, telling of his goal to become a linguist, taking the opportunity to show his gratitude to CDD in a colorful array of languages. Lastly, Kenneth Slocum of Walden House, spoke of his appreciation for the computer class and his plans to use the skills learned for his Custom Bike Business.
Graduation certificates were then presented to the proud students, touching the crowd with their enthusiasm and success. The ceremony concluded with closing remarks, wrapping a beautiful Session One highlight for both the teacher volunteers and for CDD.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
CDD Course Report Uhuru 4-23-10
Instructor End of Course Report
Center Name: House of Uhuru
Beginning Date: 2/16/2010
Graduation Date: 3/23/2010
Names of the four Instructors: Loryn, Mark, Juan, Chris
The session started out with 15 students with many students having had experience using computers and a few being newbies on the computer. The session started off with instructors Juan and Chris teaching the Computer Discovery terms to some very enthusiastic students. The students were happy to learn the difference between a video card and a sound card, as well as seeing a motherboard for the first time. Loryn and Mark made an effective team introducing the students to computing concepts. Throughout the course, students were able to learn the basics – minimizing, resizing, and maximizing Windows; the desktop; cutting and pasting, copying and dragging; MS Word; and the class favorite - the Internet. As graduation drew near, students were ready to jump onto the Internet to search for various items to help their journey to recovery – apartments, jobs, schools, as well as social networking tools to keep in touch.
David was inspired to seriously start pursuing his dream of going into real estate. Jeffrey, who did not know much about computers at the start of course, was happy to be able to type up his paper by the end of the course.
Christopher always loved learning about different languages and cultures. With the help of the instructors, Christopher was able to see how the Internet could help him research what it takes to become a linguistic specialist. In his paper, he discusses with enthusiasm how he intends to pursue his hobby of learning languages and parlay it into a career in linguistics – Christopher passionately read his paper at the graduation.
Lisa, a quiet student who was intimidated by the computer, has never finished anything of significance in her life – drugs always got in the way. This class was the first time she has actually taken something to completion. Her sense of accomplishment will be her first step to completing other endeavors in her life.
Using the Internet, Simone was astonished to be able to check the weather of her hometown in Germany. She has not been back to her hometown in over 20 years but she was able to feel just a little bit closer. She said that she intends to use something she learned about in the course - e-mail - to communicate with hometown friends.
Sharanda was able to improve her typing skills from 17 wpm to 21 wpm during the course of the class. Other students did similarly well, building on their existing knowledge of computers. Reggie learned how to change his mouse settings to accommodate his being left-handed. Juana, Dennis, Orlando, and Oscar were excited to tile their windows so that they can see more than one window at a time.
Most students also improved their typing skills, utilizing the class to practice on the Mavis Beacon typing software. Many students were also thrilled to learn the basics of MS Word.
All in all 10 students graduated, each with new skills developed in the class. Even though we started out with one of the largest groups, three students left the facility and other students could not complete the class for personal reasons. But that did not diminish the work that the students accomplished. We were very proud of the students who week after week strived to gain some computing skills. Both the staff at House of Uhuru and the CDD instructors (Loryn, Mark, Juan, and Chris) gave them huge congratulations for graduating.
Center Name: House of Uhuru
Beginning Date: 2/16/2010
Graduation Date: 3/23/2010
Names of the four Instructors: Loryn, Mark, Juan, Chris
The session started out with 15 students with many students having had experience using computers and a few being newbies on the computer. The session started off with instructors Juan and Chris teaching the Computer Discovery terms to some very enthusiastic students. The students were happy to learn the difference between a video card and a sound card, as well as seeing a motherboard for the first time. Loryn and Mark made an effective team introducing the students to computing concepts. Throughout the course, students were able to learn the basics – minimizing, resizing, and maximizing Windows; the desktop; cutting and pasting, copying and dragging; MS Word; and the class favorite - the Internet. As graduation drew near, students were ready to jump onto the Internet to search for various items to help their journey to recovery – apartments, jobs, schools, as well as social networking tools to keep in touch.
David was inspired to seriously start pursuing his dream of going into real estate. Jeffrey, who did not know much about computers at the start of course, was happy to be able to type up his paper by the end of the course.
Christopher always loved learning about different languages and cultures. With the help of the instructors, Christopher was able to see how the Internet could help him research what it takes to become a linguistic specialist. In his paper, he discusses with enthusiasm how he intends to pursue his hobby of learning languages and parlay it into a career in linguistics – Christopher passionately read his paper at the graduation.
Lisa, a quiet student who was intimidated by the computer, has never finished anything of significance in her life – drugs always got in the way. This class was the first time she has actually taken something to completion. Her sense of accomplishment will be her first step to completing other endeavors in her life.
Using the Internet, Simone was astonished to be able to check the weather of her hometown in Germany. She has not been back to her hometown in over 20 years but she was able to feel just a little bit closer. She said that she intends to use something she learned about in the course - e-mail - to communicate with hometown friends.
Sharanda was able to improve her typing skills from 17 wpm to 21 wpm during the course of the class. Other students did similarly well, building on their existing knowledge of computers. Reggie learned how to change his mouse settings to accommodate his being left-handed. Juana, Dennis, Orlando, and Oscar were excited to tile their windows so that they can see more than one window at a time.
Most students also improved their typing skills, utilizing the class to practice on the Mavis Beacon typing software. Many students were also thrilled to learn the basics of MS Word.
All in all 10 students graduated, each with new skills developed in the class. Even though we started out with one of the largest groups, three students left the facility and other students could not complete the class for personal reasons. But that did not diminish the work that the students accomplished. We were very proud of the students who week after week strived to gain some computing skills. Both the staff at House of Uhuru and the CDD instructors (Loryn, Mark, Juan, and Chris) gave them huge congratulations for graduating.
Friday, April 16, 2010
CDD Course Report Cri-Help 3-23-10
Instructor End of Course Report
Center Name: CRI-HELP
Beginning Date: February 16, 2010
Graduation Date: March 23, 2010
Names of the four Instructors: Smriti, Tyson, Robert, Kenny
The course spanned six weeks with classes twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays. At the beginning of the course the instructors were given a handout outlining the lesson plan for each of the classes during the six weeks. In addition, after each class the instructors had to email an attendance sheet and a report for that class to the entire team. Since there was a different set of instructors for the Tuesday and Saturday classes the handout and reports were very helpful as they helped keep the entire team on the same page with regard to the progression of the course.
The course involved teaching students the absolute basics in computers, showing them how to access the Internet, and how to type in Microsoft Word. During the course, students had to complete a number of assignments. However, to pass the course they had to complete and present a 500-page paper (preferably typed in Microsoft Word) about their future plans once they have completed their rehabilitation program. Students in the class came from different backgrounds with different levels of experience with computers. While some had never touched a computer in their lives, others had some experience typing reports and memos. Trying to get the entire class on the same level while making sure that everyone found it interesting and gained something from the course was, in my opinion, the biggest challenge the instructors faced.
Another challenge that the instructors faced was getting the students to be obedient and respectful of the teachers and each other. On some days some of the students would be in a bad mood and on other days the same students would be very polite and obedient. Also, Cri-Help has students from Cri-Help and Socorro, and it was the tendency of the students to stick together based on their rehab center. This problem was overcome by dividing them into two groups with each group containing students from both centers. This forced them to work with each other and get to know students from the other rehab center. In addition, the instructors had to be strict with them and had to reinforce the idea that if class rules were not followed and they were not obedient, they shall not be allowed to graduate.
Center Name: CRI-HELP
Beginning Date: February 16, 2010
Graduation Date: March 23, 2010
Names of the four Instructors: Smriti, Tyson, Robert, Kenny
The course spanned six weeks with classes twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays. At the beginning of the course the instructors were given a handout outlining the lesson plan for each of the classes during the six weeks. In addition, after each class the instructors had to email an attendance sheet and a report for that class to the entire team. Since there was a different set of instructors for the Tuesday and Saturday classes the handout and reports were very helpful as they helped keep the entire team on the same page with regard to the progression of the course.
The course involved teaching students the absolute basics in computers, showing them how to access the Internet, and how to type in Microsoft Word. During the course, students had to complete a number of assignments. However, to pass the course they had to complete and present a 500-page paper (preferably typed in Microsoft Word) about their future plans once they have completed their rehabilitation program. Students in the class came from different backgrounds with different levels of experience with computers. While some had never touched a computer in their lives, others had some experience typing reports and memos. Trying to get the entire class on the same level while making sure that everyone found it interesting and gained something from the course was, in my opinion, the biggest challenge the instructors faced.
Another challenge that the instructors faced was getting the students to be obedient and respectful of the teachers and each other. On some days some of the students would be in a bad mood and on other days the same students would be very polite and obedient. Also, Cri-Help has students from Cri-Help and Socorro, and it was the tendency of the students to stick together based on their rehab center. This problem was overcome by dividing them into two groups with each group containing students from both centers. This forced them to work with each other and get to know students from the other rehab center. In addition, the instructors had to be strict with them and had to reinforce the idea that if class rules were not followed and they were not obedient, they shall not be allowed to graduate.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
CDD Class Report Walden House 3-20-10
WEEKLY CLASS REPORT
Walden House /03-20-2010
1ST TOPIC COVERED:
Students worked on their papers for the first half of class. Those who finished were shown how to make a blog post. There was a formatting problem with the submission form that I'll look into, but it didn't stop the students from posting. All remaining students finished their papers and some were able to type them as well.Unfortunately the CDD site went down (i.e. the Internet was working, but pages on the CDD site wouldn't load) after only three or four students made their blog posts. We checked several times during class to see if the site came back online, but it remained down for the whole class, so we gave all the students credit.
2ND TOPIC COVERED:
After break, Marlaina reviewed the email vocabulary words.
3RD TOPIC COVERED:Students then gave their presentations. I didn't think any of the presentations were fantastic, but they were all very solid, and many students had more concrete, actionable papers than those I've heard in the past.Kenneth was chosen to present since his paper was good, he was the most comfortable speaking in groups, and he was willing (wanted actually) to do it. William, who's paper was also very good, was chosen as the alternate.
The presentations actually ran until s few minutes after one, so although we were able to finish them, the papers, the blogs, and the email, we didn't have time to talk about graduation or do book project signups. But, I think the center will give them the graduation details and I know they can sign up for the book project at the ceremony.
Walden House /03-20-2010
1ST TOPIC COVERED:
Students worked on their papers for the first half of class. Those who finished were shown how to make a blog post. There was a formatting problem with the submission form that I'll look into, but it didn't stop the students from posting. All remaining students finished their papers and some were able to type them as well.Unfortunately the CDD site went down (i.e. the Internet was working, but pages on the CDD site wouldn't load) after only three or four students made their blog posts. We checked several times during class to see if the site came back online, but it remained down for the whole class, so we gave all the students credit.
2ND TOPIC COVERED:
After break, Marlaina reviewed the email vocabulary words.
3RD TOPIC COVERED:Students then gave their presentations. I didn't think any of the presentations were fantastic, but they were all very solid, and many students had more concrete, actionable papers than those I've heard in the past.Kenneth was chosen to present since his paper was good, he was the most comfortable speaking in groups, and he was willing (wanted actually) to do it. William, who's paper was also very good, was chosen as the alternate.
The presentations actually ran until s few minutes after one, so although we were able to finish them, the papers, the blogs, and the email, we didn't have time to talk about graduation or do book project signups. But, I think the center will give them the graduation details and I know they can sign up for the book project at the ceremony.
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