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Topic: General News

The new items published under this topic are as follows.

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Welcome Back!
General News I'd like to take a quick moment and welcome everyone back to school. This semester should be a pretty good one. I've got lots of ideas for really neat in class activities. So hang on tight, the ride might get bumpy, but it will be fun!




Behind on Posts
General News I know I'm behind o­n posting things for class this past week. I've been spending my time formating responses to pointless emails. I'll have the site updated shortly.


Grades Updated
General News *(Update) I have updated all class grades as of 4pm April 5th.


All class grades have been updated except IT274 (just started) and IT1275. I will have those done tonight or tomorrow. Thursday April 8th is your last day to withdraw from a class with a W. By the looks of my gradebook a lot of you had better make some serious decisions. I have a bunch of D's and F's. 


Test Day 3/30
General News Tests all around! IT180 had their exam for chapters 4-6. Then we went over part of chapter 8. IT192 had their midterm as did IT145. I'll grade work this weekend. No individual blog entries for today's classes except IT275.


Open Arena Cheating
General News I know you guys play a lot of Open Arena especially with Rick. I have partaken a few times but not as often as I would have liked. I however vow not to cheat for fear something like this will happen. Not only did this guy cheat the game but he managed to cheat death as well. I wonder if his attacker will be able to roll a saving throw against a PMITA prison sentence?

"An argument between Counter-Strike players at a Chinese net café over suspected use of a 'wallhack' cheat led to a 17-year-old boy being stabbed through the head with a foot-long knife - and living to tell the tale. "

*Warning - Second pic on link is kinda gruesome!*

Accused Game Cheater Gets Knife Through Head and Survives




Mid-Term Grades
General News

I have turned in mid term grades. 99% of everything that have been turned into me has been graded. Those few things that have not been graded were not used in calculating your mid term grade. You can all log in to the gradebook and see what you have and don't have. If you see 0's for grades that means you didn't turn anything in. Several people have lots of stuff missing. It isn't that I didn't grade it, it is because you are irresponsible and didn't do the work. If you find any error (I am human and make mistakes) let me know about it. I'm usually good for possibly 1 fudge up a semester but it never really seems to affect the overall outcome. I will not accept late work as outlined in my new policy from last month. There may (if I'm not overwhelmed with things) be a week at the end where you can turn things in to make up some work but the grades will take a stiff penalty.


3/2 Classes Cancelled For Campus Testing
General News No Classes due to MAPP testing on campus. BTW it was great. Not only did we miss another day of class but I drove all the way from Charleston to come proctor the exam. Nobody showed up for my group so after waiting for 20min I turned around and went home. What a waste of an afternoon. Hopefully the school will get their heads out of a dark stinky place and utilize their testing center over the course of a week or two too let students come in on their own time.


GradeBook is Now Online
General News I now have the online grade book up and running. It may not be pretty but it is better than anything anyone else has + your grades show up in real time. Remember to click the grade book link from the main menu of my site and then follow the directions in the attached word document.

I have worked insanely hard on this to get it just right. I’m hoping this works without too much of a headache. This will only work with internet explorer. Opera freaks out and wants to download a file which is not what should happen, and Google Chrome does appear to work but throws a bunch of errors at you constantly. I haven’t tested with FireFox but I’m sure it will probably crash as well. Attached I have put together a simple document with screen shots showing you how to get into the site. User name is first name and last name (ex. MatthewPayne note caps). Password is your student ID starting with a capital S. Now for some ground rules.

1) You are on the honor code. If for some reason I have made a mistake in the programming and another student’s grades are shown you are to tell me immediately. I will correct the problem asap. I have taken steps to try and ensure confidentiality but mistakes do happen.

2) This is the best system on the market for handling such a large spreadsheet without having to rely on another provider. It is quirky and I’ve not tuned on it yet. Suck it up and live with what you get, beggars can’t be choosers.

3) I grade things when I grade them. I will not tolerate pestering to update the grades. What is displayed is an exact copy of what I’m working on. You have some math skills, add up your own points and figure out what you need on the next assignment or test to get the grade you want. The possible points are displayed at the bottom of every sheet. NOTE: If your grade says F…do the math. Look at the cell in the spreadsheet and get the calculation. Unless you are lazy and did no work it is probably because something is missing. IE…WE HAVE HAD NO EXAM…THERE ARE NO EXAM GRADES YET…SO THERE IS NO INFO FOR THE SPREADSHEET TO CALCULATE WITH!!!

4) This system is for your benefit. Use it to see what you are missing or what you didn’t turn in. Hopefully the lazy ones will see this and figure out just how badly they are doing.

5) This in no way changes my late turn in policy. If you have a ton of missing work, then that is your problem not mine. If I become inundated with emails about turning old work in because you just realized how lazy you really were I will take the gradebook offline. I have enough irons in the fire as it is I don’t need any more work or pestering.

6) If you do see something missing that you know you turned in and there isn’t a grade, you need to email me or mention it to me in class. Also you better have proof that I graded whatever it was, so it is to your benefit to always keep a copy of your emails and returned homework, without it there isn’t much I can do about changing the grade. This will also keep me on my toes when grading.

7) The assignments are generally easy to figure out by their titles. Please don’t slam me with emails about what each means. I know what they mean and that is really what counts in the end.
8) If you email me about any issue regarding the site please be patient with me as a response may take a little bit. The online gradebook is lowest on the list of priorities right now.

Well that about wraps it up. If you would please give me some feedback about it and let me know if you feel it is worth my efforts. Thanks


Syllabi Update
General News I just wanted everyone to know that all of the syllabi for my classes this semester have been updated. You can find them all from the link in the main menu.


Snow Days - 9th,11th,16th of Feb
General News Wow long break! Lots of snow to go around. I hope you all took the time to get rested up and at least practice on what we have been working on. I will see you in class and hopefully we can make up for lost time.



Late Work Policy - All Classes
General News This goes for all classes. If you miss class for any reason you are responsible for finding out what we did and the work that is due. Do not come to me the following class and ask what went on, that is why I have office hours, Skype, and email. If work is due the following class after you miss, it is still due for you. The only excuses will be those as outlined in the student handbook. Work will be accepted with a 10% penalty per day up to 5 days late. After that I will not accept it. I've got way to much going on right now to have to chase papers.


Snazzy New Intro
General News Hehe I've been playin with some new software that generates Flash ad banners. I managed to put a new one for the site together in just a few minutes. I'm thinking I like it well enough to get rid of the logo at the top and replace it with a Flash banner.


Welcome Back
General News Just wanted to post a little welcome back to school message. This is gearing up to be a pretty cool semester. I've got 20 hours of class and we're going to do some very interesting stuff, especially with class delivery methods. I will have all the pc's in the lab switched over to Win7 in the next week. Rick and I decided to go ahead and make the plunge based on the performance from last semester. If you have any online course with me please drop me a line so I have your updated email address. I will be sending out info for classes the first of the week. Take care and see you in class.


Grade Updates 11/12
General News I've already updated IT275 this morning and posted it. I will be working on updating everything throughout the rest of the day. Keep checking in to see if your grade has changed or if there is anything you are missing.


Grade Update
General News I've updated most of your grades. I'm still getting a few things recorded, but I've been slowed by being sick. Keep checking your grades so you know where you stand.


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