Typing Time

I'm sure we've all seen it . . . the one-fingered, hunting, pecking typer. Since our school does not provide keyboarding classes, the majority of the fifth graders enter the middle school with a complete lack of typing skills. Many teachers bemoan the fact that projects requiring computers (and, therefore, typing) take longer than they should if the students had even basic typing skills. So, I found a few sites that students can use to practice their typing skills.

Sites
Typing
- thanks to ilearntechnology
- excellent resource
- ideas for encouraging kids to practice typing
- list of typing tutorials/games

Typing Web
- provides courses by key rows
- provides courses by level of proficiency
- games available
- registration is optional

Classroom Ideas
Let students practice their typing if they finish a project early
Create typing contests for your students
Have students set goals and track their progress

Typing photo used under Creative Commons license from http://www.flickr.com/photos/95492938@N00/1418402951/.

Web2HowTo

At the end of last year, I decided I would try to create a powerful resource for the teachers in my school on various web2.0 applications. I wanted to show them not only what was available, but also provide them with some "how-to's", as well as examples of how to implement in their classroom.


While I'm not exactly sure how many teachers in my school visit this wiki as a resource currently, I hope it will grow into a "go to" place for them.


I recently read Joyce Valenza's blog post on finding the pace of growth, "challenging, and stunning, and staggering." I felt like that post was speaking to me. At times I feel so overwhelmed by the sheer number of amazing web2.0 resources curently available and how many new ones I am constantly discovering. However, as I was reflecting on my web2.0 wiki, I feel that I have found a way to keep a reign on the resources that I want to focus on promoting.


While this wiki may have begun as a resource for the teachers in my school, it has evolved into a resource for me as well. It is a work in progress, and hopefully it always will be a growing "library" of my favorite web2.0 resources to use in the classroom.