Mark DuBois Weblog

As we begin the spring, 2010 semester, I wanted to share a few thoughts with students taking my classes in the web curriculum.

First – welcome to class. I am here to help you better understand the material and apply it to real life situations. If you ever have a question about the material, contact me and I will do my best to help. I have a number of tools which I can employ to help you better understand the concepts and tools we will be using.

Second – you are responsible for your future. Since you are taking these classes, I make the assumption you aspire to be a web professional. You are encouraged to develop and enhance your professionalism as part of these classes. For example, do the absolute best you can on each assignment. Do not settle for second best. You may someday wish to include some of these as part of a portfolio of your work. Also, take responsibility for your actions. If you know you will miss a deadline, notify me in advance. As a general rule, I will provide you with extra time. However, if you do not notify me beforehand, you will receive a grade of “unsatisfactory” or a 0 for that assignment.

Third – take time to enjoy the class experience. You have the opportunity to interact with your peers. In some courses, we will be working on group projects. In others,  you will be working alone, but will still need to interact with others via the discussion forum. Everyone bring a different and unique experience to class. Learn from what others have to offer.

I hope you are looking forward to this semester as much as I am. For those who are in the East Peoria area, we do have an optional open lab for all CMWEB students on Wednesday and Thursday nights (from 6:00 – 8:30 p.m. in TC 210 – ICC East Peoria campus). If you are able to make it – great. for those outside of the area (or who can not make it on the above nights, I also offer an online office hour (Tuesday from 6 – 6:50 p.m. Central Time zone). I use the ConnectPro software to allow us to share desktop applications.

Shortly after Christmas, 2009, we took a day trip to the area around Helena, MT. It is about a 2 hour drive from home. Keep in mind that most of the photos in this Flickr set were taken within 15 to 20 miles of the state capital. We spent a fair amount of time traveling along the back roads near York, MT. Didn’t find any peppermint patties (ok, sometimes I can’t help myself). Hope you enjoy these photos. There is some very beautiful country in Montana (as long as you don’t mind severe cold in the winter).

These are some photos that I took in the area near where I visited. It was a great Christmas holiday. Thanks to Ben and Lindsay for their hospitality. So much fun to spend time with the grandkids as well. I had a wonderful time.

These are some of the photos showing how cold it was on some days. Note the amount of frost and fog that has frozen on various structures. In many cases it was roughly 1/2 inch thick.