Second Quarter - November through January

Many of you already completed the Alphabetic Keyboarding Lessons. Some of you are still working on these lessons. I need to remind you that the goal of this class is to help you learn to type better, using correct posture, technique, accuracy and speed (besides learning Microsoft Office 2010 - Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Publisher). After you complete the Alphabetic Lessons your timing should be at least 35 words per minute (GWAM) with less than 6 errors (ideally less than 3) and less than 6 backspaces. If you are not at this level after completing these lessons I suggest you repeat the exercises in the Alphabetic Lessons.

I'm hoping that you are honest with yourself and recognize where you are. How do you need to improve? Do you need to work on "fingering"? Are you still looking a lot at the keyboard when typing? You really should be able to type without looking at the keys at all, using "muscle memory." If you don't automatically find the keys when typing an exercise or a timing, you MUST repeat lessons. Practice makes PERFECT!

If you feel that you are at the 35 or more words per minute and are using correct technique and don't have any difficulty staying on the Home Row Keys and finding all the letters, etc. You can start with the Keyboarding Skill Builder Lessons. You can start with Assessment No. 1. You must do all these lessons (A - T) and the five Assessments as "Accuracy" first (look at the bottom of the program's screen... Focus: Accuracy (it shouldn't say Focus: Speed). You will do all these lessons emphasizing accuracy first and then repeat all of them emphasizing speed. You will find some 2 minute Timed Practices in these lessons (you may repeat these timed practices to get better with "timed drills").

Also, please work on some of the Timed Writings (left side of MicroType Main Menu) - remember you must navigate to Options in "keyboardall" under Classes 11-12 in the Labserver to get to these timings. If you have any questions, please ask Mrs. Feld. (Ideally you should time yourself for at least two minutes).

If you need some reinforcement, there are some very good websites with free typing exercises online. I suggest: www.sense-lang.org/typing, www.typingweb.com and 20 FREE keyboarding resources (where you can find links to several keyboarding websites). So, when you're bored at home, practice some keyboarding lessons while listening to your favorite music.

This Second Quarter, you will work on a few other PowerPoint Exercises (professional presentations) on various themes. We will also do some textbook exercises. In December you will work on the Creating a Business Project (also known as SBA for Small Business Adventurers).

In January you will start learning (or reviewing) Excel. You will work on several Excel Exercises, first learning to create spreadsheets and later creating graphs (charts). We will also work on some textbook exercises.

January 20th is the end of the Second Quarter. I wish you all the best! Stay positive!