We are wrapping up the semester already! I can't believe how fast this school year is going. I am thoroughly enjoying my students! I hope your children are enjoying the class as much as I am.
One thing I would like to mention as Christmas break approaches - Keyboarding is a really big part of ICT-I. I have not taken very many keyboarding speed grades this semester for two reasons:
1) many students were just learning the keyboard, and
2) we did not have keyboard covers.
Therefore, students that were trying to type the CORRECT way, and were not looking at their keys, were typing much slower than the students that were NOT trying to type without looking. It didn't seem fair to give the students that were trying to do it correctly lower grades than those that were not doing it correctly. However, now that we have keyboard covers, the playing field has been leveled! :) The students that were training themselves to type without looking have moved seamlessly into the keyboard covers. Some of the other students have had a bit more difficulty adjusting, and their keyboarding speeds have fallen a good bit.
Some have asked what they are supposed to do to pick up their speed. There are great online keyboarding sites that the students can get on to practice from any computer with an Internet connection. I have the links to these sites on my webpage ("Links for Class Use" on the left side of page) and they are also on Blackboard on the Web Links button and on the Daily Assignments button in the Unit 4 - Keyboarding folder. These sites are great practice ONLY if they make themselves type without looking at the keyboard!!
If you don't have an Internet connection, they can grab a book or newpaper or anything, open up Word or whatever your text editor is, and begin typing the document. Again, this will only be of benefit if they DON'T LOOK AT THEIR KEYBOARD!
They should ALL know where their hands go and which fingers strike which keys. Typing is just like anything else - once you know the basics, you have to practice to improve.
The typing speed necessary to pass ICT-I Keyboarding by the end of this school year, is 32 wpm. The students should all know what speed they are typing, since they can check on Keyboarding Online, as well as on Typing Web. If your child is having problems with their typing speed, perhaps they will be able to get a little practice in over Christmas break!
Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and vacation! Thanks for all you do to help support your children and all of us here at Madison Middle School!
