It's been a fast rising February in IS101-3003/5, Spring 2026!
Ninety percent of the forty students have been doing the coursework consistently as they transition from the grey bar to the blue bar in Phase 1 (see my previous blog post). Phase 1 will end with the first milestone: the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) MO-110 Word certification exam.
Viviana led the charge by completing Chapter 4 Microsoft Word and the preparation materials for MO-110 Word certification exam way ahead of schedule -- the earliest I have ever seen! Three days into February, the first MOS certificate was earned :-)
Ten days later, Kevin followed suit. Seven days more, Zakiyyah joined the club. Seven days afterward, Josias rounded out the quartet of early achievers. MOS certificates are not the only source of recognitions of student achievements in February.
Twenty-eight students challenged Bonus Quiz 3 – File E. & A. and Special Characters in File Name. Kevin, JD, and Scott earned a perfect score while Nicholas, Izabelle, Avery, Gian, and Ivette eared a near-perfect score.
Twenty-one students challenged Bonus Quiz 4 – Display, Shift/Ctrl, Boot-up, Binary, IPOS. Nicholas, Kevin, Scott, JD, and Ivette earned the highest score.
Seventeen students challenged Bonus Quiz 5 – Social Engineering & Purchasing Rationale. Zakiyyah, Kevin, and Ivette eared a near-perfect score.
Twelve students challenged Bonus Quiz 6 – Shortcut, Recycle Bin, and File Types. Kevin alone earned a perfect score while Scott, Nicholas, JD, Gian, Zakiyyah, and Ivette earned a near-perfect score.
Bonus quizzes 2 (January) through 6 (February) form the first of two major bonus quiz blocks. In this block, Kevin earned the highest cumulative score while one point separates The Pessimistic Hedgehog and Scott & Ivette while one point separates the duo and twenty-one others. The twenty-one students are clustered together with only half a point separating each layer of cumulative score ranking.
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I lead by example for A5 Slideshow Presentation by giving Lecture 3: Hardware, Troubleshooting, Social Engineering, Purchasing Rationale. Nineteen students have presented their A5 to the class where each student showcased interests, favorite food, homeland, and passion.
Vania, Ivette, and Kevin were the first trio to send in their drafts. Josias, Zakiyyah, Nicholas kicked off the Friday evening student presentations while Vania, Ivette, and Kevin kicked off the Saturday morning student presentations. All six students received bonus credit for being the first presenters.
Chae earned bonus credit by (a) sending in a draft slideshow that required only a minute (extremely small) cosmetic touch-up from me, (b) despite having double the suggested number of slides, the quiet young lady managed to stay with the allotted presentation time window, and most critically, (c) her intuitive way of visually illustrating 6,000+ ft instead of simply stating over six thousand feet.
Honorable mentions go to Kevin and Josias who almost achieve the same feat (a) as Chae except both left off their own names on their draft slideshows. A different honorable mention goes to JD whose meticulous attention to details and creative recruitment approach prompted me to ask "How do I join the Jaeger Training Program"?
The remaining fifteen students' title slides are arranged in the order of presentation. Rafa surprised me with his addition of an "Expected Learning Outcome" slide. Josephine piqued my and many classmates' interest about where she grew up.
Click on the image for a larger/clearer view
Next week begins the MO-110 Word certification exam. Majority of the students are primed to finish Chapter 4 Microsoft Word and the preparation materials. I see Kevin, Viviana, and Zakiyyah are working through Chapter 5 Microsoft Excel. Next class session, I will also give my Lecture 4: The Internet. I am excited ^_^
Until then, here are the slideshows (click on an image for a larger view):
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February honestly went by faster than I expected in IS101. At the start the assignments and LabSim chapters felt like a lot, and I remember looking at the progress bar thinking this might take a while. But once I settled into a rhythm, the grey slowly turned into blue and things started to click. Preparing for the MOS Word certification also made me realize how many small details in Microsoft Word I usually ignore, especially things like formatting, headers, and document structure.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the blog post and seeing all the slides side by side was also pretty interesting. You can clearly see how everyone had their own style when making their PowerPoint. JD’s slides really stood out to me because the photos were extremely sharp and polished. For a moment I honestly wondered if this was made by a student or by someone producing a movie trailer.
I have not actually heard his presentation yet since I only looked at the PowerPoint, but the visuals alone already made the topic look interesting. I did not even know anything about the Jaeger pilot training program before seeing his slides. Overall, Phase 1 really feels like an adjustment period. It can be difficult trying to juggle all the activities, assignments, and quizzes while keeping everything on track, but slowly getting into a rhythm makes it more manageable.
I really enjoy seeing everyone's presentation, I find them interesting no matter what the topic is. I know being up there presenting is nerve-racking so anyone that presents is brave in my eyes. I'm looking forward to seeing more people present in the future.
ReplyDeleteAfter the MO-110 Word Certification Exam I kind of lost my groove, but I'm trying to catch up again. I'm going to try and do more bonus quizzes in the future, too.
Honestly, I had a different idea for my presentation, but since I was limited to six slides, I had to avoid using morph with scheduled animations.
ReplyDeleteGood evening, after the first quarter I have a better understanding of how I should manage my time while taking this class. I didn't like how I finished the first phase I didn't finish assignments in a timely manner in my likely fashion. Overall, I'm excited for the next chapter of Excel and want to get ahead and do what needs to be done.
ReplyDeleteThese weeks went by really fast. At the beginning it was a bit difficult to adjust to the pace of the class, but once you organize your schedule and manage your time better, everything becomes easier. It’s motivating to see classmates earning certifications and doing well on the quizzes.
ReplyDeleteI loved engaging with the slideshow presentations in class. All of them did an incredible job using visuals. I was intrigued by the “Pacific Rim” presentation the most. One of the visuals that I liked in that one was the comparison chart that ranks how difficult it is to fight each category of kaiju (Japanese giant monsters) in the movie. I am looking forward to seeing more presentations in the future.
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon, it was my first time ever using Microsoft PowerPoint and presenting it. Honestly, I sometimes struggle with anxiety especially when it comes to presentations and public speaking, but you managed to help me get through it. I was glad to pass MO-110, however, I still need to improve on attention to detail, definitely not my strong point. So far I'm learning a lot with Excel and finding it very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI really like the presentations. I haven't presented myself, but I am looking forward to presenting. I have seen all the class present, so I know what I should do and what I should do
ReplyDeleteEveryone's slide presentations look creative and lovely! I'm glad that I got the chance to see Friday slide presentations here since I have been curious about a lot of their topics and how they made their slides look like. Very interesting. I am excited and look forward to seeing everybody's improved slideshow presentation :)
ReplyDeleteI had a great time creating my presentation. I also loved the feedback I got, I agree that dead space doesn't do justice in PowerPoints. The polishing process was a great learning experience. I loved all the presentations as well!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this assignment. Mostly because I got to talk about a topic I’m passionate about. I also liked interacting with my classmates and learning more about each other. Everyone did a great job.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I really enjoyed this assignment, as I was able to talk about a topic I'm truly passionate about and share it with my classmates—not to mention that they, too, get to talk about topics they are passionate about.
ReplyDeleteI found the presentations entertaining to listen to! I also learned a lot from them as well. The MO 110 exam wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but at the same time I did take my time with it. Definitely worried about the MO 210 exam.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy watching my classmates present things they enjoy. Now on the other hand I hate presenting so it's not my favorite part we've done in class.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the class presentations, and I believe they were a valuable lesson for most of us on how to prepare an effective slideshow. When I saw the polished slideshows, I was impressed and realized how the same content can be presented in a concise and easily understandable way by using PowerPoint effectively.
ReplyDeleteI am hoping I become eligible to do the 2nd presentation but overall, the presentations have been really fun. I like being able to interact a bit more with my classmates, learn something about their chosen topic and also learn something about how to advance a PowerPoint Presentation. Kevins blog looks really awesome! I want to spruce mine up a bit.
ReplyDeleteThe presentations have been what I look forward to the most when coming to class. I have never had a teacher give free rein to students when picking a presentation topic. It was very cool to see everyone's ideas, artistic visions, hobbies, and more. Very insightful! I would love to do a second presentation if I have the time! The first presentation really got my out of my comfort zone, and doing it again will help further my improvement of getting over my social phobias!
ReplyDeletePresenting was really nerve-wracking, but it was fun getting to a choose a topic. Watching everyone chose to present on their topics was also really fun, I learned something new from each presenter.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed watching my classmates’ presentations because everyone had a completely different topic and style. I saw slides that looked super creative, and honestly it intimidated me a little because I kept thinking, “wow, how did they do that?”
ReplyDeleteThe idea of presenting in English makes me really nervous because I overthink a lot when speaking in front of other people, but I feel like this activity helped me improve a little bit. I also learned that I should stop making fun of PowerPoint haha. Before, I thought making slides there was almost a joke. Honestly, I did not even use PowerPoint before, I only used Canva because I liked the designs there more and I felt like PowerPoint was boring because it looked too serious.
But now I realize that PowerPoint is much more complicated than it seems, because things like animations, formatting, and organization can completely change a presentation.
But overall, this activity was stressful, although also really fun, because we got to learn more about our classmates :)
I always looked forward for the presentations that my peers come up to. Starting the first week of presentation down to the last was interesting to see how people use PowerPoint presentation and how they present themselves. The pressure of being in front of the class talking about a certain topic could be nerve wracking but overall a good experience. Also, seeing the Saturday class presentation makes me curious on how they performed in the morning. Couldn't be me, I'm always groggy in the mornings.
ReplyDeleteIt was really interesting to see how quickly the class was and is progressing. I enjoyed all of my classmate's presentation they were really fun and full of new places, goals, hobbies and preferences. I’m also really glad for the recognitions; it feels motivating to see everyone’s efforts being noticed and appreciated.
ReplyDeleteIt’s really motivating seeing how many students are already earning certifications and doing well on the bonus quizzes. The workload in IS101 can definitely feel intense sometimes, so it’s cool seeing everyone’s progress throughout the semester. Reading these updates also makes me want to stay more consistent and keep improving my own skills. Congrats to everyone who earned certifications and high scores!
ReplyDeleteIt was pretty cool seeing my name mentioned in the bonus quiz results ðŸ˜. The class has definitely been competitive lately, but it’s motivating seeing everyone keep improving and pushing toward the certifications.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the commendation of my BQ score, this class has been great and am glad that I tried my best to stay on track with my assignments and other obstacles.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed everyone's presentation, but the ones that stood out to me were, Chae's presentation on Deep sea creatures, and Lovelle's presentation of an animated tragic comedy called, Bojack Horseman. This week, I presented my hometown of American Samoa. I was nervous, and am not a huge fan of public speaking. At the end of my presentation, my fellow classmates had lots of questions, and most of them enjoyed my topic of choice.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the presentation part of this class. Seeing everyone present their own interests and topics was very exciting. My personal favorite was JD's presentation on Pacific Rim, I loved the uniqueness of doing it "in-universe." I also appreciate the class recognitions throughout the semester, I found them really motivating.
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