Middle School Technology

I am pleased to welcome Mrs. Margie Hankinson as my long-term subsititute.  She will take over for me for the remainder of the year while I am out on maternity leave.  She has extensive technical knowledge and many years of experience with children as a Media Specialist.  I have left detailed lesson plans and sixth grade students will continue with their lessons using the K-8th Power online training program.  I plan to check my e-mail regularly.  If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me via hughesm@cces.org.

Sixth graders have begun to come to the tech lab for concentrated instruction two to three times per week from now until the end of the school year.  Our focus is keyboarding along with instruction in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.  We will be using the online, interactive program K to the 8th Power to aide in instruction.  Students will complete one or two lessons on Mondays and Fridays.  Because many of the lessons will enhance student writing assignments, Diane Talbert will take a daily grade for completion.  Students should be able to finish the lessons in class or study hall.  They are also welcome to work on or review the lessons from home.  As long as they have access to the site (kto8.com), they can access their account and assignments.  As a parent, you have access to track your child’s progress and see their scores on individual quizzes.  Go to (kto8.com) and log on as “parent”.  You’ll need to ask your child for his/her user name and password to access his/her file.   This is the first year we’ve subscribed to this program.  I am eager to see how the students respond and look forward to seeing their smiling faces on a more regular basis.

My Christmas wish has been fulfilled.  Nearly all fifth graders have completed all of the alphabetic keyboarding lessons.  This is a big milestone.  We can now move our focus from finger placement and letter position to speed.  Throughout the month of January, students will play games and complete drills designed to increase keyboarding speed.  Please encourage them to play online typing games at home.  Every little bit of practice helps.  Most students are currently typing around 16 GWAM.  The goal for all fifth graders is 20 GWAM.  With this extra month for speed practice, I feel confident that this goal will be met by all.

Only three lessons left and our fifth graders will have completed all alphabetic key lessons in Microtype 4.  Most students have excellent technique.  We’ve moved from grading technique to assessing speed.  Students now must take a weekly timed writing test.  Our current goal is 12 gross words per minute (gwam).  After Thanksgiving, students should be typing at 14 gwam and we’ll increase the goal speed by 2 gwam each week. 

Students are getting more real-world typing practice each week in writing class with their personal blogs. Please be sure to check out their latest entries at:

http://www.classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=226283

As more and more letters are added each week, it’s important to stay on track or the lessons can easily become overwhelming.  You may be surprised what 15-20 minutes of extra practice can do.  Try these sites for extra practice.  Some of the letters will be new but these sites are geared to beginners and should help rather than frustrate.  Many other typing games are fun, but they assume that all the keys are mastered and can quickly become too difficult for the average fifth grader.  Remember to keep your eyes off your fingers and always use proper technique.  If you play the games with bad habits, I’d rather you not play them at all.   Use a cloth dinner napkin or dish towel to cover your fingers if you are tempted to look down.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/  (Dance Mat Typing from the BBC)

http://www.freetypinggame.net/play12.asp (Typing Triathlon)

Fifth graders are moving right along with keyboarding.  This week four new keys were added.  Students should now know how to properly key the home row, “h”, “e”, “i” and “r”.  Again, proper technique is still the focus this week.  Technique grades will figure into reading and writing grades every few weeks.  I’ve been impressed with the students dedication and effort.  At this rate, most will be typing faster than they can handwrite by Christmas.

After an initial pre-test, it was evident that a keyboarding review was in order for fifth graders.  This year, students are required to type with Speedskin key covers.  This week, the home row keys were reviewed. Next week, we will continue to review the home row keys and add two or more keys each week.  Please, if you see your child typing at home, encourage him/her to always try to use proper technique.  After today, he/she should know what this means.   Hands should always be on the home row keys, eyes on what he/she is typing (not fingers), sitting straight in the chair without resting wrists.  Proper technique is the most important aspect at this point.  The speed and accuracy will naturally follow if students begin with proper technique.  It is much harder to break bad habits if they continue with the hunt and peck method much after this age.

For a video reminder of how to use the home row visit:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwPUpp8HOK8 

For free online typing games try:  http://www.freetypinggame.net/play.asp .