Thursday, December 14, 2006

	Anyone out there?? It would help me if you would email me at ljanssen@lps.org if you find this site to be useful. I didn‚t hear from anyone while I wasn‚t posting for a while, so I‚m wondering if anyone is using the site and, therefore, if it is worth my time to do it each week. Computer 8: Computer 8 students are working on web design and HTML coding projects and will continue to do so through next week. Computer 7: Computer 7 students have completed their first PowerPoint project and also their house designs using the draw tools of Microsoft Office. We will start working with Excel spreadsheets during some of the next class periods as well as working on a second PowerPoint project. Keyboarding 6: During these first two weeks of Keyboarding 6 we have been working on Lessons 1-5. By the end of class tomorrow (Friday) students should have those 5 lessons completed. If they don‚t, they will need to schedule time before/after school to complete that lesson work. Next week we will complete Lessons 6-8; these lessons will cover the I, T, U, C, period, and left shift keys. I also encourage students to practice at home (from worksheets I provide for them). I give them extra credit if they turn the practice work in within two school days of completing any new key lesson in class (review lessons do not have extra credit). Lesson 4 is due today. There will be a new worksheet for next week‚s lessons and the due dates are: Lesson 6 ˆ Wednesday Lesson 7 ˆ Thursday Lesson 8 ˆ not until after holiday break so plenty of time to practice! Please encourage your student to do extra practice as this will give them additional repetition on the keys and will help their skills improve.

Wednesday, December 6, 2006

	Student Envelope Week! I've been away from this for a while due to various reasons, but I'm hoping to get back on schedule with postings. It would help me if you would email me at ljanssen@lps.org if you find this to be useful. I didn't hear from anyone while I wasn't posting, so I'm wondering if anyone is using the site. Tomorrow is student envelope day! Students should be bringing home envelopes with progress reports inside. Please take time to look at your student's grades, sign the envelope, and have them return the empty envelope to their first period teacher on Friday. Computer 8: Computer 8 students just finished up a unit on PowerPoint presentations. We are starting to work on web design and HTML coding now. Computer 7: Computer 7 students are currently working on two projects. They are putting together a PowerPoint presentation about a famous person. They are also using the draw tools in Microsoft Word to design a house and surrounding landscape. Keyboarding 6: Welcome to a new group of 6th graders! Our first week is spent getting to know the procedures for class and various things we do on the computer. We will start keyboarding practice with the "Typing Time" software program today and be working on lessons in that for most of the next 6 weeks.

Monday, October 2, 2006

	Conference/Envelope week I hope to see parents at conferences on Tuesday and Thursday of this week from 3:45-6:45. Student envelopes will also go home on Friday and should be returned on Monday. Computer 8: Computer 8 students are continuing to work on digital photography and will be using iPhoto to organize and edit the photos they have taken. They are also continuing to work on design projects. Computer 7: Computer 7 students have completed the initial keyboarding review and will now start using their keyboarding skills to type documents. We are also emphasizing the importance of correcting what they type by using the spell check tool and also proofreading for errors a spell check might not find. Keyboarding 6: Key 6 students should have completed Lessons 1-12. If students did not finish the work on these 12 lessons by last Friday, they need to arrange time to come in before school Mon., Tues., or Wed. and/or after school Mon. or Wed. to complete that work. This week we will be completing Lessons 13-15 that cover the M, X, Y, and Z keys. Students will also continue doing more practice work from a textbook and practice timed writings. We will also start proofreading for errors and use the Internet to research one of the U.S. states for a report they will type at the end of our term. Extra credit practice opportunities˜this involves keying 20 lines per lesson, printing it, getting a parent signature, and returning it to me at school (they could also email it to me if they don‚t have a printer). I give the students 2 school days from when we cover the lesson in class to complete the extra credit practice for that lesson. Lesson 12 is due today (10/2), Lesson 13 is a review so there is no extra credit for it, Lesson 14 will be due on Thursday (10/5), and Lesson 15 will be due next Monday (10/9). I really encourage the students to take advantage of this opportunity to earn extra credit points now, but also because it will definitely help their skills improve much faster with the extra practice.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

	Can you believe it's already mid-quarter! I want to extend a thank you to those parents who attended curriculum night last Thursday. I enjoyed getting the chance to share what we do in keyboarding/computer classes here at Irving and meeting all of you too! Computer 8: Last week students completed activities dealing with Internet web sites and research techniques. We also reviewed Microsoft Word draw tools and the students started working on a design project. In preparation for our project with iPhoto, we are discussing digital photography basics and this week students will start taking pictures to use for the project as well as scanning some pictures. Students will also be completing a worksheet as they work through tutorials describing how to use iPhoto as a photo organizer and editor. Computer 7: Computer 7 students continued to review/practice keyboarding skills. They also completed a worksheet using the „Find‰ command to locate files and we have been discussing the importance of file management. This week we will continue the keyboard review practice and start getting into using Microsoft Word to do word processing, especially emphasizing using the spell check tool to make corrections as well as the importance of proofreading for errors a spell/grammar check might not find. Keyboarding 6: Key 6 students should have completed Lessons 1-9. If students did not finish the work on these 9 lessons by last Friday, they need to arrange time to come in before school Mon., Tues., or Wed. and/or after school Mon. or Wed. to complete that work. This week we will be completing Lessons 10-12 that cover the N, W, G, B, P, and right shift keys. Students will also continue doing more practice work from a textbook and practice timed writings. Extra credit practice opportunities˜this involves keying 20 lines per lesson, printing it, getting a parent signature, and returning it to me at school (they could also email it to me if they don‚t have a printer). I give the students 2 school days from when we cover the lesson in class to complete the extra credit practice for that lesson. Lesson 10 will be due Wednesday (9/27), Lesson 11 will be due on Thursday (9/28), and Lesson 12 will be due next Monday (10/2). I really encourage the students to take advantage of this opportunity to earn extra credit points now, but also because it will definitely help their skills improve much faster with the extra practice.

Monday, September 18, 2006

	Envelope week! Students should be bringing envelopes with school/class information home on Thursday. Please remove all of the information to review it, sign the student envelope, and have them return it to school on Friday. Computer 8: Last week students completed projects using Inspiration software˜a powerful tool to organize thoughts and ideas. They also completed a worksheet involving the Internet. We will discuss doing Internet research this week as well as review Microsoft Word draw tools so that students can start working on some design projects. Computer 7: Computer 7 students continued to review/practice keyboarding skills. They also completed a worksheet to test their knowledge on the information we covered on computer basics/terminology. This week we will continue the keyboard review practice, complete an activity on finding files with the find command, and start getting into using Microsoft Word to do word processing. Keyboarding 6: Key 6 students should have completed Lessons 1-6. If students did not finish the work on these 6 lessons by last Friday, they need to arrange time to come in before school Tues. or Wed. and/or after school Mon. or Wed. to complete that work. This week we will be completing Lessons 7-9 that cover the U, C, left shift, and period keys. Students will also continue doing more practice work from a textbook and practice timed writings. Extra credit practice opportunities˜this involves keying 20 lines per lesson, printing it, getting a parent signature, and returning it to me at school (they could also email it to me if they don‚t have a printer). I give the students 2 school days from when we cover the lesson in class to complete the extra credit practice for that lesson. Lesson 6 is due today (Monday), Lesson 7 is due on Wednesday, and Lesson 8 will be due on Thursday. I really encourage the students to take advantage of this opportunity to earn extra credit points now, but also because it will definitely help their skills improve much faster with the extra practice.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

	Off to a great start! Computer 8: Students continued to review some basic word processing concepts with Microsoft Word as well as covering some new material on tab settings and the formatting palette. They completed two graded assignments to check their knowledge of the information we covered during the first two weeks. This coming week we will start using the Inspiration software˜a powerful tool to organize thoughts and ideas. Computer 7: Computer 7 students continued reviewing computer basics/terminology as well as reviewing/practicing keyboarding skills. This week students will complete an assignment to test their knowledge of the information we covered on computer basics/terminology. They will also continue the keyboard review practice. Keyboarding 6: Key 6 students should have completed Lessons 1-3. If students did not finish the work on these 3 lessons by last Friday, they need to arrange time to come in before school Tues. or Wed. and/or after school Mon. or Wed. to complete that work. This week we will be completing Lessons 4-6 which cover the O, R, I, and T keys. Students will also start doing more practice work from a textbook. Extra credit practice opportunities˜last week all students were given a handout with extra credit practice opportunities for Lessons 1, 3 and 4. This involves keying 20 lines per lesson, printing it, getting a parent signature, and returning it to me at school (they could also email it to me if they don‚t have a printer). Lesson 1 was due last Friday and Lesson 3 is due on Monday. I give the students 2 school days from when we cover the lesson in class to complete the extra credit practice for that lesson. We are covering Lesson 4 on Monday, so that extra credit will be due on Wednesday of this week. As we get to additional lessons, I will give students new extra credit sheets if they have turned in any of the previous extra credit. I really encourage the students to take advantage of this opportunity to earn extra credit points now, but also because it will definitely help their skills improve much faster with the extra practice.

Friday, September 1, 2006

	Beginning a new school year! Welcome to the 2006-2007 school year! Computer 8: Students spent this first week reviewing some computer terminology and starting to review some basic word processing concepts with Microsoft Word. We will continue to review word processing concepts next week. Computer 7: Computer 7 students only met 2-3 times this week, so we mainly discussed course content, expectations, and guidelines. We also started a review of computer basics. We will continue to review computer basics/terminology next week as well as start to review/practice general keyboarding skills. Keyboarding 6: Key 6 students have been going over a lot of procedures including logging in and connecting to the server. We also started keyboarding practice on the homerow, spacebar, and return keys. During out 4-day week next week we should be completing the first four lessons and setting up practice work from the textbook.

Friday, May 26, 2006

	Envelopes this week! Student envelopes went home earlier this week and I gave all students another progress report to take home. Keyboarding 8: As we wrap things up these last few days, students are continuing to key reports with cover pages, numbered lists, quotations, textual citations, references, etc. They are also finishing two composition projects˜personal newsletters and a journal report. Finally, we will complete one more set of paragraph timings. Computer 7: Computer 7 students have finished their second PowerPoint project. We are also finishing work on Excel spreadsheet documents. Students will take a final test and final paragraph timings as we finish the year. Keyboarding 6: Students completed the second set of graded one-minute paragraph timings and will complete a final set this week. During most of these final class days, students will be keying, correcting, and formatting simple report documents.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

	Spring Fever! Keyboarding 8: This week Key 8 students are finishing numeric keypad (10-key) practice. They also finished and sent letters to present/former teachers for National Teacher Day. Most of this week we will work on a personal newsletter (allowing us to use some of the draw tools/columns of Microsoft Word). We are also working on a report document that includes a numbered list of items. Finally, they will complete another set of one-minute paragraph timings. Computer 7: Computer 7 students are starting work on their second PowerPoint project. We are also continuing to judge house designs and to work with Excel spreadsheet documents. Keyboarding 6: Students completed the first graded set of one-minute paragraph timings. We are also continuing to practice the number keys. Throughout the week we will continue to work on the capitalization rules document they keyed last week. This week we will use the spell check and also proofread to correct any errors. Students will also cover various options to format some parts of the cap guides document.

Thursday, May 4, 2006

	Envelope week! Students should have taken their student envelopes home on Tuesday of this week. Progress reports for classes should have been in the envelope, so hopefully you know the current status of your students in my classes. Keyboarding 8: This week Key 8 students are emphasizing numeric keypad (10-key) practice. They are also working on a couple of composition projects˜a letter to a former teacher (that we will deliver to that teacher) and a personal newsletter (allowing us to use some of the draw tools/columns of Microsoft Word). Computer 7: Computer 7 students are completing work on their first PowerPoint project. We are also judging their house designs and finishing the cards they created to send to military personnel in Iraq. Finally we are starting to work with Excel spreadsheet documents. Keyboarding 6: Students are continuing to key paragraphs for drill practice and for timings. Although extra credit practice opportunities have been completed, I do have some old keyboarding texts available for students to check out in order to continue doing outside practice to improve their skills for paragraph timings that we will be grading in class the remainder of the semester. Now that the students have covered the main part of the keyboard, we will start using their skills to do more word processing. We reviewed simple editing techniques and students are keying a document covering capitalization rules. By the end of this week we will discuss and start using the spell check tool to correct errors. Students are also using the Internet to research a famous person˜this research will be used in a report at the end of the term. Finally, we will start practicing the number keys this week and continue that next week.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

	The semester is winding down! Keyboarding 8: Key 8 students are now working on Production Unit 3 that includes reports with paragraph and side headings to make them more organized. The unit also includes letter documents again, and students are required to fold the letters correctly for two standard sizes of envelopes. Students will also continue practicing the 10-key numeric part of the keyboard and will also continue to complete paragraph timings. Computer 7: Computer 7 students are continuing to work on their first PowerPoint project˜we are now covering slide backgrounds, slide transitions, and object animations. They are also continuing to use more of the draw tools to draw a house design and will also start creating a card to send to military personnel in Iraq. Keyboarding 6: This week we are completing Lessons 19-20 covering the ?, caps lock, tab, and delete keys. Students are continuing to key paragraphs for drill practice and for timings. They are now proofreading their own typing and seeing how their speed/accuracy on timings will be graded. We will start grading paragraph timings next week. Now that the students have covered the main part of the keyboard, we will start using their skills to do more word processing. At the end of this week we will discuss simple editing techniques and also tab settings. Extra credit for Lesson 19 is due today (4/26). Lesson 20 is due tomorrow (4/27). That completes the extra credit practice opportunities. However, I will soon have keyboarding texts available for students to check out in order to continue doing outside practice to improve their skills for paragraph timings that we will be grading in class the remainder of the semester.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

	The school year is winding down! Keyboarding 8: Key 8 students finished working on Production Unit 2 that included report and letter documents. Unit 3 will include similar documents but the reports will now include paragraph and side headings to make them more organized and students will be required to fold the letters correctly for two standard sizes of envelopes. Students will also start practicing the 10-key numeric part of the keyboard and will also continue to complete paragraph timings. Computer 7: Computer 7 students are continuing to work on their first PowerPoint project. They are also continuing to use more of the draw tools to draw a house design. Due to MAT testing, students missed a day of Computer 7 this week. Keyboarding 6: This week we are completing Lessons 16-18 covering the Q, V, comma, and colon keys. We will also finish doing some research on the Internet to get information for a report the students will do at the end of the term. Students are also starting to key paragraphs for drill practice and for timings. They are now proofreading their own typing and seeing how their speed/accuracy on timings will be graded. We will start grading paragraph timings in two weeks. Extra credit for Lesson 16 is due today (4/19). Lesson 17 is a review so there isn‚t any extra credit. Lesson 18 will be due next Monday (4/24). We will cover the final two lessons next Monday and Tuesday, so the extra credit for Lesson 19 will be due on Wednesday (4/26) and Lesson 20 will be due on Thursday (4/27).

Monday, April 10, 2006

	Spring weather is back! Keyboarding 8: Key 8 students will be working on Production Unit 2 that includes report and letter documents. They will also complete another set of paragraph timings. Computer 7: Computer 7 students are working on their first PowerPoint project. We will also continue to use more of the draw tools available in Microsoft Office programs. Keyboarding 6: This week we are continuing with Lessons 13-15 covering the M, X, Y, and Z keys. We will also start doing some research on the Internet to get information for a report the students will do at the end of the term. Students will also complete two assignments dealing with proofreading to find/circle errors. Extra credit for Lesson 12 is due today (4/10). Lesson 13 is a review so there isn‚t any extra credit. Lesson 14 will be due on Thursday (4/13), and Lesson 15 will be due next Monday (4/17).

Monday, April 3, 2006

	Envelope week! Student envelopes are scheduled to go home on Tuesday, April 4. These envelopes should include grades for third quarter for 7th and 8th graders. For 6th graders I sent home a current progress report. Keyboarding 8: Key 8 students completed the first word processing production unit on simple report documents. We also started a new set of paragraph timings which we will complete this week. This week we will also be working on proofreader‚s marks to edit copy and working on how to do letter documents properly. Computer 7: Computer 7 students completed an assignment that involved getting images from the Internet and doing bulleted/numbered lists of some of their favorite things. We also did some activities covering Internet safety. Soon we will start PowerPoint projects. Keyboarding 6: This week we are continuing with Lessons 10-12 covering the N, W, G, B, P, and right shift keys. Students will also receive their first technique evaluation grade this week. Students also have the opportunity to do extra practice outside of class time for extra credit. I really encourage the students to do this extra practice in order to improve their skills even faster. Extra credit for Lesson 10 is due Wednesday (4/5). Lesson 11 will be due on Thursday (4/6), and Lesson 12 will be due next Monday (4/10).

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

	Fourth quarter is underway! Keyboarding 8: Key 8 students are starting the first word processing production unit on simple report documents. We will also start a new set of paragraph timings at the end of this week. Computer 7: Computer 7 students completed a bio poem assignment that included working with some of the draw tools to incorporate clip art and text boxes. We are going to start using the Internet for future projects, so the students took some notes on common Internet terms. We discussed using the Google search engine to find images on the Internet and move them to a word processing document. Students have also learned how to use the format painter tool and to do numbered or bulleted lists of items. They will now be working on a new assignment that involves getting images from the Internet and doing bulleted/numbered lists of some of their favorite things. Keyboarding 6: Prior to spring break, the Key 6 students completed the first 6 lessons. This week we are continuing with Lessons 7-9 covering the left shift key, period, u, and c keys. Students also have the opportunity to do extra practice outside of class time for extra credit. I really encourage the students to do this extra practice in order to improve their skills even faster. Extra credit for Lesson 7 is due Wednesday (3/29). Lesson 8 will be due on Thursday (3/30). Lesson 9 is a review so it doesn‚t have extra credit.

Friday, March 10, 2006

	A bit under the weather lately! I apologize for not getting an entry onto the web page lately. I've had a cold for about a month and suffered from an inner-ear infection that caused me to miss a couple days of school last week. Fortunately, I'm feeling much better now. Keyboarding 8: Key 8 students finished the number keys and are now working on the symbol keys. They have also completed a second set of graded paragraph timings. The students are also continuing to work with Microsoft Word. We have been emphasizing the importance of spell checking carefully and also proofreading to correct errors. Today we will also start formatting some text, and next week we will finish the introduction to doing documents by covering word divisions. By the end of next week, students will set up, key, correct, and format a report document. The students will also complete a third set of paragraph timings next week. Computer 7: Computer 7 students completed a report assignment with Microsoft Word that included setting margins, line spacing, keying and correcting copy, and selecting copy to format it. We have also discussed page numbering and print preview. Currently we are working with several of the draw tools to incorporate clip art and text boxes into documents that the students are keying. Keyboarding 6: Since I was ill a couple of days last week, we got off to a little slower start than I would have liked with the new group of sixth graders. However, we have gotten back on track this week and have completed the first three lessons covering the home row keys, e, h, spacebar, and return key. Most weeks we will cover 3 lessons with 2 days to catch up and review. If students don‚t finish the required 3 lessons each week, they will need to come in after school the following week to complete that work. Students also have the opportunity to do extra practice outside of class time for extra credit. I really encourage the students to do this extra practice in order to improve their skills even faster. Students were given the first extra credit sheet on Tuesday. Lesson 1 was due yesterday (Thursday) and Lesson 3 is due on Monday. Review lessons such as Lesson 2 do not have extra credit.

Friday, February 24, 2006

	Conference Week! Thanks to all parents who attended conferences on Tuesday or Thursday. I appreciate the opportunity to talk to you and discuss how your student is doing in class. Keyboarding 8: Key 8 students started practicing the number keys this week. We are also starting the first set of graded paragraph timings today. The students have also discussed using special tab stops and doing simple editing in Microsoft word. Computer 7: Computer 7 students continue to do assignments with Microsoft Word including setting margins, line spacing, selecting copy, and formatting copy. Keyboarding 6: Key 6 students will complete their final set of one-minute paragraph timings today. We are spending the last few days of our term working on final research reports. Our last class day will be next Tuesday.

Friday, February 17, 2006

	Winter chill returns! Keyboarding 8: Key 8 students have completed all of the lessons covering the alphabet and punctuation keys. They are continuing to work on speed and accuracy as they practice paragraph timings. The students will be graded on timings for the first time next week. Computer 7: Computer 7 students have completed a very quick review of the keyboard. We have begun working in Microsoft Word by completing a couple of assignments using the spell check tool and proofreading for other errors. Keyboarding 6: Key 6 students completed the lessons on the number keys. They also completed the second set of paragraph timings. We also discussed the use of proofreader's marks to edit copy and did some final research from the Internet on another famous person. Students are now keying, correcting, and formatting short report documents.

Tuesday, February 7, 2006

	Week 4 of second semester is underway! Keyboarding 8: This week Key 8 students will complete all of Lessons 14, 15, and 16 as well as the timed sections of Lesson 17. We are also doing some composition activity challenges, and I will finish individual key checks for the first technique grade to be returned later this week. Students will also start proofreading for errors and practicing paragraph timings. Computer 7: Computer 7 students are continuing to do a very quick review of the keyboard and will complete this review by next week. They will also do a composition challenge activity and start working with the spell check in Microsoft Word. Keyboarding 6: Key 6 students received their first timing grade and third technique grade. Later this week we will start the second set of paragraph timings. Students are also completing the cap guides document by spell checking and proofreading for errors as well as formatting some of the text. We will also complete parts of two more lessons covering the number keys.

Monday, January 30, 2006

	Student envelopes went home Friday! Envelopes with grades/info were sent home with students last Friday. Since the new semester just began for the 7th and 8th graders, I didn't send anything home for them. However, I did send progress reports home for the Key 6 students. Keyboarding 8: Last week the Key 8 students completed all of Lessons 3, 4, 6, and 7 as well as the timed sections of Lesson 5. We also started keying review practice from the textbook. This week we will complete all of Lessons 8, 10, 11, and 12 as well as the timed sections of Lessons 9 and 13. We are also doing some composition activity challenges, and I will begin individual key checks for the first technique grade later this week. Computer 7: At the end of last week, the Computer 7 students began reviewing proper keyboarding techniques by practicing parts of Lessons 1 and 3. We will continue that review practice this week. We also reviewed several terms involving the desktop and windows. This week the students will complete a worksheet covering that information. We will also complete a worksheet on finding files. Keyboarding 6: Key 6 students finished the initial 20 lessons last week. We also continued to practice paragraph timings and started discussing editing techniques for correcting errors. This week the students will begin the graded paragraph timings, key a document covering capitalization rules, research a famous person, and start practicing the number keys. Although the extra credit practice opportunities ended when we completed Lesson 20 last week, I will have books available for students to check out to continue to practice at home. This practice cannot be turned in for extra credit, but it will be valuable in helping students improve their speed and accuracy for the graded paragraph timings that we do in class.