Vocabulary - Technology Terms

Here are a set of technology terms http://www.tekmom.com/buzzwords/ to review. Please select 5 words that you aren't familiar with, click on each word, and look at the definition. Then come back & post what you learned!


field
gigabyte (GB)
hard disk/hard drive
hardware
HTML
icon
initialize
Internet
kilobyte (K)
megabyte (MB)
memory
modem
monitor
network
peripheral
pixel
processor (micro-)
RAM
RAM vs. Hard Disk
record
scanner
software
spreadsheet
URL
USB
virus

Writing-Turning Your Brainstorming Into More

The last blog post asked you to do some brainstorming on things that came to mind when you thought of the season of "summer". I'd like you to make sure that you participated on that topic and then, once you've done that, think about one of your brainstorming ideas. Turn that into a sentence or two where you're giving more detail about that item.

I'll start!

Brainstorming: warmer weather

Sentences: The summer brings hot weather. Instead of having cold fronts that bring chilly air, you can count on summer on having temperatures that range from 85 to 95 degrees. It is not always nice to be outside in Florida.

Using your brainstormingNow you try

Writing- Brainstorming

Any good writing has some planning, pre-writing, and/or brainstorming that happens before the actual writing starts. Did you know that this part of the writing process only needs a few minutes and can be as short as just some words & phrases?

Let's practice this now! Brainstorm some words or phrases that come to mind when you think of the season of summer. (Note: there's no right or wrong answers when doing brainstorming!)

Here are a few things that come to mind for me. Your list may be similar or different!

warmer weather
greener grass
rain storms
flowers

Now let's see your brainstorming list for some summer terms.

Vocabulary - Use it or Lose It

Look at a set of vocabulary terms (with meanings).


apparel- clothing
beseige- blockade
compress- shrink
denounce- to condemn openly
dispatch- report, kill
douse- soak
expressly- plainly
famished- starving
forsake- to give up, to leave
gainful- profitable
immense- very large or great
inept- totally without skill
ingenious- imaginative
instantaneous- done in an instant
irk- to annoy

Which words did you already know? Which 2-3 words did you not know that well (prior to this activity)? Please post those words with their meanings. Then, challenge yourself to use two of them in a correctly written sentence!

Writing- Idioms (Part 3)

Let's continue our exploration of idioms. The last blog post focused on some medical idioms. This time, we'll focus on idioms dealing with color.


Did you ever hear (or read) that a person's face was "as red as a cherry" after a certain event? That saying implies that a person's face was red, possibly from embarrassment or maybe a severe sunburn. That idiom helps you imagine just how red the person's face it. It may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it certainly helps to convey the point!


Take a look at this list of idioms dealing with color.
http://www.idiomconnection.com/color.html#B


Then, once you've reviewed them, try the quiz to see how well you know them!
http://www.idiomconnection.com/color.html#BQ


Lastly, come back to the blog, write your favorite color idiom, the meaning of it, and tell us how you did on the quiz!!!

Writing- Idioms Part 2

Let's continue our exploration on idioms. Use the link below to access a website that talks about some medical idioms. Remember that an idiom is a phrase or saying that is not meant to be interpreted literally.

Have you ever heard the phrase "under the weather" stated by someone? Since that's a pretty common saying, I bet you already know that it means "not feeling well."

After you review the medical idioms on that page, try the short 10-question quiz that follows and check your answers! Then, return to the blog to tell us your favorite medical idiom, what it means, and how you did on the quiz.

Medical idioms: http://www.idiomconnection.com/medical.html#B

Writing- Using a Thesaurus

Have you ever used a thesaurus to find a similar word? Imagine that you're writing a paragraph (or more) about a specific topic, such as "running." However, you feel that you've used the term "running" too much and want to vary your terms. If you'd like some suggestions, a thesaurus is the perfect place to go!

Here's a link to an online thesaurus.

http://thesaurus.reference.com/

Visit that site, type in a words up top, and click "search." Do this with 4 different words. The thesaurus will do the word and give you a list of synonyms (similar words). Then, come back here, tell us what words (4) you picked and what results the thesaurus gave.

I'll start!

My word was "run." The thesaurus gave me the following similar terms: abscond, amble, barrel, beat it, bolt, bound. (There were more words listed, but for the purposes of this blog post, you don't need to list them all.)

Now you try!

Writing- 100 Essential Business Nouns

Today, we'll look at 100 essential business nouns. Visit this site (http://www.speakspeak.com/html/d2e_resources_top_100_nouns_library.htm) and review the list.

Pick out 6 words that you're not familiar with and go look up those terms in an online dictionary, such as Dictionary.com or Merriam-Webster.com. Then, once you've gotten the definitions, please come back here, post each word & its definition.

Be sure to return to this blog topic to see what other students have added after your response. It's a quick way to learn more words and to help others learn new terms too!

Goal Setting-Important Decision

Every once in a while we need to take an inventory of our life. Unfortunately, we are always so busy and find it hard to take time to reflect. Take a few minutes today and watch this short movie (3 minutes).

What did you think about it? Do you agree with the comparison of the land and mind? Did it make you think about some new or old goals you may have?

Please share your thoughts in 3-5 complete sentences.
http://www.thestrangestsecretmovie.com/walkthetalk?SRC=MSECRET&utm_source=Walk+the+Talk+Master+List&utm_campaign=bb3efbfe19-MSECRET&utm_medium=email

Writing- Idioms

Idioms are one of the hardest parts of the English language. An idiom is a term or phrase whose meaning cannot be deduced from the literal definitions and the arrangement of its parts, but refers instead to a figurative meaning that is known only through common use.

The phrase "keep your eyes peeled" is an idiom. You couldn't interpret that literally, as your eyes can be "peeled" the way a banana can be. But, figuratively, that means to keep your eyes opened and be on the lookout!

Test your knowledge of some common idioms that you may come across in writing & speaking. Try this Quia activity and then come back here to report which idioms (if any) were new to you and which one you were most familiar with already.

Quia activity: http://www.quia.com/mc/66234.html

Relationship: Good Writing and Good Reading

Would you believe me if I told you that good writers are generally good readers too? So one way that you can improve your writing skills is to practice reading! Think about it this way: when you read something, no matter if it's a book, magazine article, or even a recipe, you're coming across important vocabulary words, seeing punctuation being used, and getting ideas that expand your mind!

You (or your children) may have heard the term SSR used before. SSR stands for sustained silent reading. Everyone, no matter what age they are, should do at least 20 minutes of sustained silent reading each day. This will improve your reading skills and your writing skills too! Would you believe that even comic strips or comic books (sometimes called "graphic novels") can be used for your daily SSR time!

Here are some links that you can use for your daily SSR time. These are some of the websites that I visit daily to read about different things.

People magazine (celebrity gossip)
Sun Sentinel (Broward/Dade/Palm Beach news)
CNN (National and world news)
The Weather Channel (Forecasts and climate information)


What have you read lately? In a few sentences, tell me about the last thing you read. Maybe it was a magazine article about a celebrity or maybe it was something in your online course.

Writing -Nouns

Any complete sentence will always have two parts to it: a subject and a predicate (or verb). Sentence subjects can use singular or plural nouns. (Recall that a noun is a person, place, or thing.)

Singular subjects talk about one noun. Let's look at an example.
The phone is in the office.
In this case, the singular subject is "phone," as only one phone is being discussed.

Plural subjects talk about two or nouns. Below is an example.
Three phones are in my house.
In this case, the plural subject is "phones." There are multiple phones being referenced in that sentence.

Test your knowledge of the singular and plural forms of some nouns by playing this Quia matching activity. Then come back here & report how you did! Did you learn anything new?

Quia link: http://www.quia.com/mc/67715.html

Have fun!

Time Management

Imagine that you had a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400, and carries over no balance from day to day. Every night it deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during that day. What would you do with such an account? Most likely you would make certain that you spent every cent every day.

Are you surprised that you have such a bank?

It is the time bank!

Every morning, the bank credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever you have failed to spend or invest wisely. It will not carry over a balance. It does not allow for an overdraft. Each day, it opens a new account in your name: each night it erases your balance. If you fail to use the day's deposits wisely, the loss is profound. If you can invest about 10 percent of this resource each day, for your online course you will receive major dividends in your teaching and learning stock.

There is no drawing against the "tomorrow". No matter how wonderful your time management skills are, you cannot get more than 86,400 seconds in a day. You must live each day on your daily deposit, and invest it wisely to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success from your personal and professional life! The clock is ticking. Make the most of each online day as well!

How do you make the most of each online day? Share some of the techniques you use to keep you focused and organized in your class.

Common -Homonyms

The eLearning writing blog has had many topics that focused on homonyms. Recall that a homonym is a word that has the same pronunciation as another word, but is spelled differently and has a different meaning. The words "sent," "scent," and "cent" are examples of homonyms.

How well do you know some common homonyms? Are you ready to challenge yourself with a Quia activity? Test your skills with the words "to," "too," "two," "who's," "whose," "your," and "you're" (among others). Find someone who you can play this game with, as it's more fun to have a partner for the challenge board game.

Play this Quia game (http://www.quia.com/cb/39371.html), come back here, tell us who you shared the activity with, how you did, and if you learned anything new!

Vocabulary-Computer Terms

The eLearning blog has focused a number of posts on vocabulary. Good writers & speakers have a broad, varied knowledge of different words. Today, let's focus on some basic computer terms, as all online students should understand these words.

Take a look at the list below. Read through the terms. Pick 4 terms that either you don't know or don't know well. Post the term and the definition. Then try to use the term in a sentence.


Hardware: The physical components of the computer system.
Software: The programs or instructions that tell the computer what to do.
CPU: The brain of the computer or central processing unit.
ROM: The permanent memory that is built in your computer. This is read only.
RAM: The computer's working memory, sometimes called random-accessed memory.
Megabyte: Approximately a million bytes.
Gigabyte: Approximately a billion bytes (or 1,000 megabytes).
Input Device: The hardware that is used to pass information into the computer.
Output Device: The hardware that receives and dislplays information coming from the computer.
Modem:The device that allows your computer to talk to other computers over a telephone line.
Monitor: A video or computer display device.
Laser Printer: A printer that uses both laser and photographic technology to produce high quality output.
Printer: The hardware that provides printed output from the computer.
Hard Copy: A printed copy of computer output.
Compact Disc: A disc on which a laser has digitally recorded information such as audio, video, or computer data.
Hard Disk: A fixed, large-capacity magnetic storage medium for computer data.
Floppy Disk:A portable magnetic storage medium for computer data that allows users to randomly access information.
Graphical User Interface: The use of graphical symbols instead of text commands to control common computer functions such as copying programs and disks.
Icon: A small picture or symbol respresenting a computer hardware function or component.
Ink-jet Printer: A type of printer that forms letters on the page by shooting tiny electrically charged droplets of ink.

If you would like to see it in a chart format please visit:
http://www.quia.com/jg/65620list.html)