January 7, 2009

Welcome back!  Students got right back into the swing of things after Christmas Break.  I hope you all had a restful holiday and enjoyed the time with your children and families.

This week we've already completed our second technique grade and will complete the third early next week.  Next Tuesday (Jan. 13) is scheduled for the second benchmark.  After that, we will take a break from keyboarding and work on the Digital Citizenship unit.  If you'd like to look ahead to what types of things we'll be doing in that unit, I take most of my materials from the CyberSmart Curriculum.  I encourage students to take home what we talk about in class to discuss it with their parents.  If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email me.

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December 18, 2008

Students had their first keyboarding benchmark on Tuesday and did very well - look for printouts of their grades to come home Friday, Dec. 19, 2008.  Many students are working well towards speed and accuracy goals.  Grades for the benchmark and the first technique grade have been posted (see links below).  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Best wishes to all for a wonderful holiday with family and friends.  I'm looking forward to the time off, as I'm sure the students are!  Enjoy all of your blessings, and I look forward to seeing refreshed faces in the new year!

Merry Christmas!
-Mrs. Elfering

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December 9, 2008

I have updated the calendar on this page to reflect tentative dates for the course activities.  Please note that for about two weeks after Benchmark 2, we will be in our digital citizenship unit, and a project will be assigned at the conclusion of that unit that will be due at the end of the course.  I will give them some time to work on the project in class, but most of the work should be done at home.

I will be begin grading technique this week - ALL students now know what is expected and have all the tools they need to get an 'A' in that portion of their grade.  Now they'll need to use their own discipline each day in class to achieve that result!

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December 4, 2008

Welcome to keyboarding and digital citizenship! We are looking forward to a great trimester. We have added an element to the class that will include a unit about safety and ethics regarding digital media and the internet. As the internet becomes more a part of the daily lives of our students, we want to make sure they are learning how to make responsible choices while surfing the web and using it as a resource.

Watch here for information about what we are covering in class as well as grade updates (linked below). As always with a skill such as keyboarding, practice is KEY! Use some of the links provided to get some extra practice at home.  I will make use of the calendar feature here, but please note that all dates are tentative.

Make sure you sign up for updates so you are notified when I make changes or updates to this page!

For the 1st trimester Keyboarding class --
The digital citizenship final projects I received have been graded and will be entered today, along with the final benchmark grades.  I apologize for the delay.  I was waiting to see if more would be turned in.  Unfortunately, almost half of the students did not turn in the project, resulting in a much lower grade.

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November 13, 2008

We just completed another technique grade this week and have only one left!  After that, the lowest technique grade gets dropped, including up to one absence if necessary.

The Digital Citizenship Final Project is due the last day of class, November 21, 2008, but students are still encouraged to hand it in early so I can look over their work and give them a chance to make necessary corrections.

We also have one last benchmark, scheduled for Friday, November 21, 2008.

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November 7, 2008

We have just completed our third benchmark for Keyboarding.  Students have continued to improve in their keyboarding skills!  Technique has looked very good this week.  Grades are now posted for the benchmark and technique from this week.

Change in syllabus!  We will only have time for four benchmarks with the addition of the digital citizenship unit.  The speed goal for that final benchmark the last week of class will be 25 AWPM.

Students received their final project for the digital citizenship unit this week.  The project/packet is due the last day of class (Nov. 21), but students are encouraged to hand it in early to have time to make any necessary corrections for full credit.  The project covers everything we discussed in class, and students have their handouts and worksheets for reference.  They should work individually but can ask an adult (parent, guardian or teacher) for help.  Students who do not have internet access at home should do those parts of the packet at school or the library under adult supervision.

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October 27, 2008

I did update this page last week, but something must have happened in the save process that it didn't actually update!  I'll have to be more careful about checking.

We are back into the keyboarding portion of the course now, and students seem to be picking up where they left off.  Technique still looks fairly good and will continue to be graded until the end of the trimester.  Grades will be posted today showing missing homework and the latest technique and benchmark grades.

I am in the process of going over all of the worksheets from the Digital Citizenship unit (still waiting on a few students' homework to come in).  Students will get these back and will use them as a resource packet for a culminating activity so that I can assess what they have learned.  The activity will take place both in class and as homework and will have a variety of independent tasks.  Our Digital Citizenship curriculum is taken from the CyberSmart Education Company.  You can visit their website for more information.

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October 14, 2008

Well, I already have another change to our schedule!  Yesterday's lesson on searching took longer than I had planned, and since I don't want to rush through the information about evaluating websites, copyright rules and citing sources, our culminating activity will not be until after we return from MEA break.

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October 13, 2008

My apologies for neglecting to write an update last week.  It was a busy one!

Students made exceptional progress in their second benchmark.  I saw great improvement from many of the students, which makes me very happy!  They work very diligently in class and even earned some game time over the past couple of weeks.

Last week and this week in class we are working on our Digital Citizenship unit.  Last week students learned about what "cyberspace" is and how to keep themselves safe when using online communications.  They learned about private identity information and personal information and what they should and should not share in various places on the internet.  They learned about using good manners and the do's and don't's of online messaging and email.  This week we are talking about using the internet as a resource, using keyword searches, how to evaluate websites, and how to cite their sources.  Wednesday of this week (10/15) we will complete a culminating activity to review what they have learned, and I hope to re-visit the information later in the trimester as well.  Students will leave on Wednesday with their entire packet of activities and resources that they should keep for future reference.  Ask them about what they have learned - you never know what you might learn too!

After our State Convention break, we'll get back to keyboarding.  Enjoy the long weekend!

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