Unit+1+Intro+to+Course

__Learning Objectives:__ Students will be able to navigate the course and know how to receive assistance Students will be able to create a blog and respond to others in an online learning community Students will be able to effectively send e-mails and use googledocuments.
 * Unit 1: Introduction to the Course**

__Introduction__ Welcome to the course!! You are ready to begin unit 1. This unit is unique in that it does not follow the traditional format of the rest of the course. There are not formal lectures, assignments, and quizzes. During the first week we will become familiarized with the site and the technologies that will be used throughout the course. Once the second week begins we will follow a more structured approach with two lectures, two assignments, and a quiz per week. This course will progress through several mathematics fundamentals in order to better prepare you for high school mathematics. Unit 2 will focus on fractions, unit 3 will focus on decimals, unit 4 will focus on integers, and the other units will lead into graphing and more algebraic concepts. Below are the tasks that should be completed during this first week and are broken up by day. Please make sure all tasks are completed. If you do not finish all the tasks on the designated day, simply pick up where you left off the next day or complete the task at home. Make sure you do not fall behind.

__Day 1:__ >
 * Read and print the course syllabus. One the bottom of the syllabus page is a downloadable syllabus that will open in Microsoft word. Please open the word document. Enter your name on the last page where it asks for "student name". Print the document to the media center printer (RICOMC). It is your responsibility to take this syllabus home and have your parent/guardian sign it. Return this signed for full credit.
 * Explore the Course. Listen to the podcast on the homepage. Click the links on the left side of the website to get a feel for the site.
 * Complete a brief scavenger hunt for the website. The document can be found below and will open in word. In your OWN words (do not cut and paste) please answer all of the questions and save the document to your student drive.
 * Complete a quick introductory survey.

__Day 2__: media type="custom" key="11022892" align="center"
 * Create a gmail account. This will be the account that you and I communicate through. Many of you already have e-mail account, either with google or other domains. However, if you do not have a __google__ account it is important to create one because there are google programs that can only be accessed with an account. Therefore, you will need to create a google account if you do not already have one. You can simply register here. Remember to keep your email account names professional. It also may be a good idea to save the password in a word document on your student drive so that you do not get locked out. Once you have created a google account, please send me an email with the scavenger hunt from yesterday with "Your Name" as the title of the email. If you are unsure how to send an e-mail watch the video below. I will demonstrate how to use several feature of gmail. I will respond with an email containing your ID number for the course. Please do not delete this e-mail.

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 * Create a skype account. Watch the following video on Skype.

__Day 3:__ media type="youtube" key="JXiJ6jY3qB4" height="315" width="420" align="center"
 * Create a blog. Use the following video as a guide to create a blog using blogger. Remember to use an appropriate name for the blog.

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 * Once your blog is created, please watch the following videos on google documents and go to the following googledocument. As long as you sent me an e-mail yesterday you will be able to edit the document. Please list your name, e-mail address, skype name, and blog address in the document.

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 * Look over the following rubric for blog postings. This will determine your scores on the posts and responses you make on your weekly blog entries. One the grades page, under your overall grade, you will be able to view your blog scores and track your progress over the course of the semester.




 * Create your first blog post. In your first blog post please answer the following questions:
 * What are the areas of mathematics where you feel that you need extra assistance?
 * What are the areas of math that you feel you are good at?
 * Do you think that you will use math in your career and in your daily life?
 * What technologies are you familiar with?
 * What technologies that we are going to use in the course might you need assistance with?
 * Respond to another students. Refer to the googledocument. By now all individuals should have their blog addresses posted. Please respond to the individual after you on the list. (if you are last respond to the first person). Please comment on their post (be appropriate and respond to what they wrote).

__Day 4:__ >
 * Complete the following pre-test for the mathematics support course. The pre-test is available below. Please __show all of your work__. Save the document and complete all work in Microsoft word. Then e-mail the document back to me. Once I receive all of the pre-tests, I will convert your pretest to a googledoc, comment on your answers and grade your pre-test, and share the results with you.
 * Celebrate! You are done with Unit 1!

Proceed to Unit 2