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.
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