Underclassman
Nineth Grade
Ninth grade was a slow year at Brenstville District High School. Although I was enrolled in a Foundations of Technology class (which was more along the lines of technical drawing), school itself was not that interesting. Advanced World History II was a more fast pasted class, and offered indepth and interactive debates and lectures which has thus far been one of my most memorable classes.
Tenth Grade
After transferring to Battlefield High School, I found myself in a classroom that gave exposure to the many aspects of IT, including web design, multimedia, and programming. IT Foundations was an interested class, and is what origionally sparked my interest in web design and network management
I was also enrolled in an Advanced Biology course at the time, moving rapidly through units while providing a more indepth lesson and exposure to the material. Independant reading was a constant assignment, with a college level amount of homework given on a weekly basis.
Examples of work can be found here and here. Both are Power Point Presentations covering some of the topics that were covered in IT Foundations. This is also where our basic understanding of flash was first explored and the result being several small tasks that accumilated into one, final project. We also used Front Page to develop web pages and worked on a page for Racoon Zoo. It includes some implementation of dhtml for the image over effects.
Upperclassman
Eleventh Grade
After taking a liking to the Networking and Web Development aspect of Information Technology, I decided to enroll in IT Essentials, a Network +, A+, and Cisco/Windows certification class. I was also enrolled in the Certified Internet Web Master course. This course was duel enrolled with Northern Viriginia Community college, allowing me to accumilate 9 credit hours for college. I also passed my CIW Associate v5 Certification, showing a high comprehension of the material taught throughout the CIW class.
Examples of work include database tables that were made through Microsoft Access and a web page modeled after information for Habbitat for Hummanities. We also used Macromedia's Dreamweaver for the first time, creating a small flash web page showing the use of bottons as images that can be used for links.
In the IT Essentials class, our review over A+ techniques and Network + foundation material has also given me a well rounded IT education. Although a network administrator and other networking jobs are interesting, I did not believe that it is a career path that I will be following.
Basic work included the overview of Boolean Operators and Binary conversions. In IT Essentials, Windows Vista had just been launched and was of much discussion in class!
I was also enrolled in Advanced Chemistry and AP English Literature. Advanced Chemistry focused on a more indepth education to the world of chemistry and featured many hands on labs and experiements. AP English allowed for the accusation of an AP exam, which depending on the score, a college could use in place of a starting freshman class. I scored a 3 on the exam, or an above average, which many colleges accept as the english credit. The class also prepared me for my junior research paper which is required to pass in order to graduate in Prince Wiliam County. I my high score was a 3.2 average, doing well above the minimum passing grade of a 1.9.
Twelveth Grade
Ah senority! Senior year has been an interesting year to say the least! After having a family member of mine move accross seas for work, much stress and responsibility has been placed upon me. Luckily I've been able to cope with the added stress of work and school. I'm currently enrolled in three IT courses; Advanced CIW, Networking Design and Engineering, and Oracle Database and Design.
In Advanced CIW, we have been introduced to more XHTML coding and more indepth web design with the use of templates and graphic editing software such as Photoshop and Fireworks by Adobe. Our internet portfolios have also been an on-going project.
Some examples of work include the use of javascript in preloading images on pages as well as testing which browser the user is working with and creating multimedia adds. We also used JScript to create prompt windows in a web browser.
Oracle Database and Design has definetly been a great course. The work load is rather strenuous at times, but it is designed to be a college level course. After learning the foundations of ERDish diagraming and the logic behind databases, the class has started coding using SQL to build querries and create tables and databases. The remainder of the year will be about coding.
Examples of work done in Oracle include:
In Network Design and Engineering, the class has gone into a more indepth look of how information is passed through networks as well as physical network setups. We have created our own ehternet cable to run through to server racks, as well as creating wireless networks within the class. The goal is to create a server mainframe for the class to connect to, which will hopefully be done by the third marking period.
Some of the work that has been done includes the purpose and use of a Packet Tracer to trace how packets travel as well as setting up a virtual network. We have also worked on making ethernet cables and cross over cables. With our covering of Wireless Networking, we also took a look at the different types of Networking Topologies and the overall needs and advantages of a wireless network.