First vocab quiz; keying review

We will take a few minutes at the beginning of the hour to review the vocab words for this week.  You will want to go to the Wikispaces page for your class to do that (remember that to get to your Wikispaces page you need to go to the vocabulary page on the blog and click on the class hour link). DO NOT GO TO CLASSMARKER UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO!

Once you are done with the quiz you need to open Microsoft Word and type lines 1-10 on 4C at the bottom of page 9 in the book.

When you complete those 10 lines you may go to the following websites and practice:

Typing Lessons (you can work on lessons 1, 2 or 3)

Sense-Lang (work on lessons 1-5)

Free Typing Games (you can type lessons 1-4, 6, 10, and 15)

HAVE A GREAT 3-DAY WEEKEND!

Classmarker account; create a Google doc with passwords; review all keys learned

Today we are going to check to make sure your Classmarker account works (this is the online website we will go tomorrow to take the vocab quiz).  I will give you your username and passwords so you can gain access.

Next we will create a new Google document that will hold all of your usernames and passwords - this way you will have 24/7 access to the usernames and passwords and you won't have to memorize them or carry around papers to help you remember what they are.

After we get that accomplished we will review all of the keys we've learned so far.

Modem video; review; learn left shift and period

We have a couple of housekeeping items to begin with today:

1. Make up times for classwork include: before school (except Wednesdays when I have morning duty), lunch recess, Study Hall (for those not in Band or Choir), or after school (until 3:30).  Plan accordingly if you need to use one of these times.
2. Assessments - if you tell me when you come in the room it makes leaving for the assessment much less a distraction.  Then, when it is time for you to leave you can just quietly get up and go, and I'll know why you are leaving (you won't have to raise your hand and interrupt whatever we're doing - you can just go).

The below video will help to explain what a modem is (a modem is one of the vocab words for this week...if it's your vocab word and you think you need to change the definition after watching the video then you can change it when you get home tonight).

We will start with a review of all the keys we've learned, but today's review will be a little different from what we've done in the past.  You'll need to think of a word that has at least 4 letters in it that we can type from all the letters we know on the keyboard - I'll explain the rest in class.

When we get done with this we will learn the left shift key (L4) and the period (R3).

Learn the N and the G

Today is going to be pretty basic. We'll review all of the keys we've learned so far, and then we'll add two new keys to the mix - the N (R1) and the G (L1).

As a reminder, if you are responsible for vocab definitions for week 1 they need to be posted on the Wikispaces page by tonight.

Vocabulary introduction; beginning week 2

This week:

Vocabulary
Create Wikispace accounts
Create a Classmarker account
Review of all keys learned
Learn N, G, Left Shift key, period (.)
Technique grade 

TODAY:
We are going to begin by talking about the vocab words and vocab lists for the class.  If you go to the vocabulary page on the blog you'll see a variety of information - we'll be covering this today.  Additionally, you'll need to have access to the wikispaces page so that you can submit vocabulary definitions (that's already been done by me - you will need to verify by checking your gmail, and we'll do that in a little bit).

The vocabulary for this class is really split into 2 parts - on one hand you will be responsible for knowing all of the vocabulary words for any given week, and you will demonstrate your knowledge by completing a vocab quiz.  On the other hand you will be required to find definitions for the vocab words and post them to the wiki for everyone to study off of.  This "research process" will be graded, just as the vocab quizzes will be graded (our first vocabulary quiz will be this Friday, and it will be taken online on a website called Classmarker).

When you post a definition to the Wiki, your definition should be easy to understand.  Sometimes, after finding a definition, you will see that the definition that you have found doesn't help you to understand what that vocab word means (or is).  Therefore, find definitions that are easy to understand, and if you can't find one that makes sense please see me so I can help you write an easy-to-understand definition.

Additionally, if you have a vocab word that is an acronym (GPS, WWW, or FAQ) then please include what the letters stand for (for example, WWW stands for World Wide Web, and when you enter your vocab definition on the wiki make sure to include that).
This will seem a little foreign to begin with, but we will be talking about this every day between now and the end of next week, which is when your first quiz will be.
You could set up a calendar reminder in Google so that you receive an email - this way you will be reminded several days in advance of when you need to have a definition posted on the wiki.  And, since you already know the words that you will be asked to define, you could find a definition for each of your words and save those definitions in a Google Doc - then when it is your week all you have to do is copy from your Google Doc to the Wiki.

Review keys learned and learn T; 10 Facts about me assignment due tonight!

To start today we will review the O that we learned yesterday.  After reviewing that key we will be learning the T (L1).  Remember, after today you will have already learned 50% of the letters on the keyboard!

Once we get done with the above we are going to take the short time we have left and review.  We are going to use a couple of different websites to break up the monotony and get out of using the book.  Here's the first website:

Lesson 1

Once you get done with Lesson 1 go on to Lessons 2 and 3.

If you complete the above you need to go this next website to practice:

Sense-Lang.org

On that website you can complete any of the lessons from Lessons 1 - 5.  If you complete all of these lessons you need to continue on to the following website:

Free Typing Games

You can work on Lessons 1 - 4, 10, and 15 on this website.

REMINDER: 10 FACTS ABOUT ME ASSIGNMENT DUE TONIGHT!

5 parts to correct email; first assignment

Anytime you are required to send an email in this class you will need to make sure that you include the 5 parts to a correct email.  That will almost always be a part of your grade.  They are listed here:

1. Email address
1. Username (what comes before the @ symbol)
2. the @ symbol
3. email server (gmail or yahoo, for example)
4. the period
5. the top level domain (.com, .net, .org)
2. Subject line
1. explains to the reader of the email what the email is about
2. not typed in all caps
3. Greeting
1. include the name of the person you are sending the email to
2. depending on your relationship with the individual, it may be "Dear Mrs. Smith" or you might enter "James"
4. Body
1. Write in complete sentences
2. if you want your email to be professional (and it needs to be in here!), avoid texting language (LOL, OMG, B4, etc.)
3. spell check!!
5. Signature
1. create a signature using features in Google (done!)
2. eliminates having to remember to type your name at the bottom

The name of the assignment is "10 facts about me".  You will need to send this to me by Friday (this is a homework assignment - you will not be allowed to complete this during class).  However, the 10 facts are going to be a little unique - here's an example of what you would need to include:

1 - I have 1 sister
2 - I have golfed at the John Deere TPC twice
3 - I went to 3 River Bandit games this summer
4 - 4 is my favorite number
5 - I have been to a Chicago Bears game 5 times
6 - I started playing the piano at age 6
7 - The house number at the address where I live is 723
8 - I have been to Lake of the Ozarks 8 times
9 - The zip code of the town I grew up in is 80759
10 - One of the cars I own is a 2010 Toyota Highlander

When you email me make sure that you include the 5 correct parts to an email.  Due Friday means that it is due by midnight on Friday night (when you send an email to me I will be able to tell when it was sent) - so you can work on this after school tomorrow but your best bet will be to complete this tonight.

The last part of class will be reviewing what we learned Tuesday, and then learning the O (R3).

Exit passes; Google account changes

Exit passes - each of you will get 4 passes for the semester to use to leave class to go to your locker or to the restroom.  If you need to do one or the other you come ask me, then you'll need to grab a blue sheet (these will be on the island near the electric stapler and electric pencil sharpener), take it with you (it will act as your hall pass), and then bring it back to the room with you, sign it, and then hand it in.  The ones that you don't use will be counted as extra credit at the end of the semester.

Today we are going to start with making two changes to your Google account.  Actually, we are going to add two things to your Google account.

First, we are going to add a contact in your Gmail.  You need to have at least one contact in your Gmail account, and that is me.  My email address is included below.

Here is how you create a contact in Gmail:

1. Click on "Gmail" in the top left.
2. Choose "Contacts"
3. Click on "New Contact"
4. Fill in appropriate information
5. My school email address is dpardoe@dist228.org

The next thing we are going to accomplish is to create what's called a signature.  The purpose of the signature, in terms of an email account, is that you can automatically add your signature to every outgoing email message that you send.  This is useful because you should always include your name at the end of every email.

Here is how you create a personal signature for your Gmail account:

1. Click on the settings wheel in the top right.
2. Choose "Settings"
3. Scroll down to "Signature"
4. Fill in appropriate information
5. Format as you please
6. Click on "Save changes" at bottom

If you have a signature and choose to include it with your emails it is going to include it every time you send an email.  

Review all keys learned (home row + H/E); learn I and R

Today we are going to review all of the keys we've learned so far.  We'll do that by working in Word and typing from page 5 in the book.

After spending some time reviewing we will add two more keys to our "repertoire" - the I (R2) and the R (L1).

Generally speaking, if you miss a day when we learn new keys the next day we will spend some time reviewing the new keys we learned.  So for those who are gone you can use the following day, during what would be a review time for everyone else, to learn the new keys. This should be beneficial in that if you miss a day you won't need to come in before school to make up what you missed - you can just use the "review time" to make up learning the new keys.

1st full week - learning new keys

THIS WEEK:

Learn the following keys on the keyboard - H, E, I, R, O, T
Google - Add a signature and add a contact
Technique grade sheet

TODAY:
We will spend the beginning of the hour reviewing the home row.  After reviewing we will then add 2 new keys - the H and the E. 

What we are using is called a QWERTY keyboard (you should be able to find where QWERTY is on the keyboard); there is another keyboard called the DVORAK keyboard, but it is very uncommon (designed in the early 1900's; see image below).  The QWERTY keyboard has been in existence since 1870, but didn't become really popular until about 15 years later.  Ever since that time, however, it has been the standard for keyboard layouts.

The purpose of the QWERTY keyboard's layout is to avoid having keys stick together as they were being typed - the idea was to have a layout in which you alternated using your hands often while typing - this helped to eliminate having the typewriter arms get stuck.  The DVORAK keyboard's purpose was to have the most commonly used keys on the home row - thus your fingers moved less while typing, but the problem was that the keys got stuck more often.
 

Just a few things to keep in mind as you are keying:

1. When keying your forearms should not be resting on your thighs.  Remember that your fingers are the only "things" touching anything - everything else on your lower arm should not be touching the keyboard, countertop, or anything else.
2. If you keep your keyboard at the edge of the countertop you will avoid having issues with #1 above.  This will also be a benefit when it comes to the technique sheet and grading.
3. The speed skins will move slightly as you are typing - I understand your frustration in this regard, but do the best that you can.
4. In order to be able to key at a proficient level you need to fight through the urge to constantly look at your keyboard (that's part of why we have the speed skins).  This will probably be a "weird sensation" - you are used to using your visual senses to help you accomplish what you do on a daily basis.  However, we want to get to a point where looking at your keyboard is not necessary.

Welcome to 2014-15 school year!

Today we are going to start with learning the keyboard and how to key correctly.  You should know that you will be learning the touch typing method - that means that you will be learning to key without looking at the keyboard.  That is why we use the speed skins - they are to be on your keyboard at all times throughout the entire semester.

The biggest factor in learning to key successfully is learning, and using, the correct technique (we will cover what you need to do correctly in terms of technique today in class).  Most people want to type fast right away - I think that's human nature, but it just doesn't work that way.  Being able to type efficiently and at a fast pace takes a bunch of practice, but you have to use the correct technique.

Our concentration as we begin to learn the keyboard will be on technique - speed will come later.  It is important that you concentrate on doing things right first, and usually that means at a slow pace as you begin, rather than worry about your speed.

That being said, as we move through the semester those who concentrate hard on using the correct techniques (and don't worry about speed) now and will have a much easier time later in the semester.  Those whose technique is poor, or those who do not use the correct techniques now will struggle later in the semester when we are moving at a much faster.