No Longer Fluke or Coincidence, Confidence Rising, Return to Form

It feels strange not being the classroom today despite our final class session was four weeks ago.

This past week saw two students from IS101-3003, Spring 2023 achieved their goals contributing to a trio of highlights.

*****Highlight 1 of 3: MOS Homerun = No Longer Fluke or Coincidence*****

This past Sunday, Tsz sent in his A9 Workbook Investigation at my request as I wanted the him to practice his attention to details. The following day, Tsz took and passed his seventh and final Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification exam, MO-101 Word Expert, hitting a MOS Homerun. I am so proud of this ambitious young man.

I started encouraging and helping students to hit a MOS Homerun since the Spring 2021 semester. Daniel D. was the first to answer the call. Since then, a handful of students have come close. This past semester, Fall 2022, I had a trio of ultra-high performing students, Rui S., Tiffany T., and Kevin G., that hit their homerun with Rui S. achieving this feat right after the semester midpoint and Tiffany T. and Kevin G. following suit right after the semester concluded.

"Once is a fluke, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern, four times is a standard." Thank you Tsz for making MOS Homerun a pattern. I hope Elijah will join this elite group. I believe next semester will establish a standard!

*****Highlight 2 of 3: MOS Homerun = Confidence Rising*****

This past Tuesday, Kimberly and I reunited in our classroom where she took and passed MO-100 Word, earning her first MOS certificate. Her improved practices and better time management skills will help her conquer MO-300 PowerPoint and MO-200 Excel.

Spring 2014 was the first semester I offered a student a semester extension. This semester, a nineth extension was given to Kimberly. I know she will complete her outstanding items and join her now former classmates as a MOS Associate.

The success of passing her first MOS certification exam is not only building confidence in Kimberly but also in me on future students who may need a semester extension :-)

This is a photo I found via Google Search, photographer is Dan Olek 

*****Highlight 3 of 3: MOS Homerun = Returning to Form*****

Since this past Tuesday, I have been basking on the brilliance of the first two highlights. Thinking about past MOS home-runners, those who came close to hitting a MOS Homerun, and students who received a semester extension has lead me down a nostalgic trip down memory lane.

In Fall 2019, the MOS certifications replaced the previous digital literacy certification for IS101 curriculum. The new curriculum on a new platform was being finished as that semester progressed; that, combined with the excitement of the certifications from Microsoft Corporation, left me exhausted and decided to do my traditional end-of-semester blog post on students' achievements and distinctions at following semester.

The following semester, Spring 2020, saw a stronger-than-usual set of students but halfway through the semester, the shelter-at-home order came down due to COVID-19. Second half of Spring 2020 and the two semesters that followed saw myself and my students adapting to live-remote from in-person. The Fall 2021 semester saw the return to in-person and a new curriculum, the one we are currently using now.

Last semester, Fall 2022, was the first semester that I was in position to resume my tradition. The trio of ultra-high performing MOS home-runners, another stronger-than-usual set of students, and mitigating Blogger's overly aggressive spam flagger, convinced me to defer my tradition again.

I have already began drafting my traditional end-of-the-semester blog post for IS101-3003, Spring 2023. I will complete and publish it after Kimberly crosses the finish line ^_^