Summer Keyboarding Class–How to Win FREE K-8 Keyboarding Curriculum

Every summer, I teach a keyboarding class to 2nd-8th graders. It’s sixty minutes a day, five days a week, for three weeks. This summer, I’m moving it online, through my Keyboard Wiki.

Ready? Don’t need any more information? Click here to join.

There will be two sessions:

• June 24th-July 12th (no class July 4th)
• July 15th-August 2nd

Class will be self-paced, self-managed, the sixty minutes arranged whenever the student can make it fit into summer schedules. Required materials include:

• The Essential Guide to Teaching K-8 Keyboarding–digital or print, as a guide to weekly activities–ebook free when you join class
• membership in the Keyboarding Wiki–also free with the class
• access to the internet and/or Skype
• a full-size keyboard (not an iPad)

10 Top Click-throughs from Ask a Tech Teacher

I include lots of links for my readers to places that will help them integrate technology into their education. They cover websites on lesson plans, math, keyboarding, classroom management, cloud computer, digital books, teacher resources, free tech resources, and more. On any given day, I generate on average 810 of these ‘click throughs’. Which links my readers select tells me a lot about the type of information they’re looking for.

Here’s a list of the top ten sites visitors selected from my blog:

1. itunes.apple.com–last year the top click-through was a website. This year, teachers are looking for apps for iPads.
2. libraryspot.com–there’s a big uptick in using the internet for research this year over last year
3. Structuredlearning.net–lots of teachers are finding books/ebooks here for integrating tech into the classroom
4. abcya.com–a popular site with classroom edutainment
5. My internet start page for my classes--this is the page my K-5 students bring up when they open the internet. It includes the links they’ll use that day, as well as links they need for classroom inquiry, and lots more
6. factmonster.com–more research for class projects
7. kids.nationalgeographic.com–still more research. I’m seeing a trend
8. bigbrownbear.co.uk/keyboard/–One of my favorite sites to teach K/1 how to type
9. smaatechk-3.wikispaces.com–this collection of sites lets you follow along as an experienced tech teacher teaches each lesson
10. brainpop.com–great collection of videos and games on almost every topic

What do I conclude from this? Where last year, the top sites revolved around keyboarding, this year it’s research. Second, you want information on managing the classroom–that’s the wikis and the internet start pages. I hear you. Check back this new year and see what I come up with.

Follow me

---

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-8 technology for 15 years. She is the editor of a K-8 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-6 Digital Citizenship curriculum, and creator of technology training books for how to integrate technology in education. She is the author of Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, Cisco guest blogger, a columnist for Examiner.com, Technology in Education featured blogger, IMS tech expert, and a monthly contributor to TeachHUB. Currently, she’s editing a techno-thriller that should be out to publishers next summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.

Summer Keyboarding Class–Here are the Details

Photo credit: Public domain pictures

Keyboarding is one of my most-requested topics. I get lots of questions about when to start, how to do it, what makes it fun, and more. If you’re struggling with teaching keyboarding to students, check these posts out and then keep reading:

1. How Fast Should Kids Type
2. 18 Online Keyboard Sites for Kids
3. Ten Best Keyboarding Hints You’ll Ever See
4. What are Your Favorite Summer School Keyboard Activities
5. #55: Keyboarding in the Classroom
6. 6 Kindergarten Keyboard Basics
7. How to Teach Keyboarding in Lower School
8. 20 Best Keyboarding Websites
9. Weekend Website #47: Online Keyboarding
10. Weekend Website #21: Test Your Typing Speed
11. #57: Yes, You Should Assign Keyboarding Homework

Every summer, I teach a keyboarding class to 3rd-6th graders. It’s fifty minutes a day, five days a week, for three weeks. To keep myself organized and make the class as student-centered as possible for a rote sort of subject, I created a Keyboarding Wiki. There, I collected what we did each day, keyboard websites, finger exercises, teaching strategies and more. This enabled those precocious souls who didn’t get enough keyboarding during the class to get more at home, though that was never required.

How to Teach Keyboarding in Lower School

I get more questions on teaching keyboarding than any other topic. I’ve posted many columns on it…

Tech class keyboarding

• 20 Best Keyboarding Websites
  
• Keyboarding Starts Here
• Ten Best Keyboarding Hints You’ll Ever See
• #102: 23 Favorite Keyboard Shortcuts
• 5 Best Online Keyboarding Programs
• 4 FREE Online Keyboarding Programs for K, 1
• Yes, You Should Assign Keyboarding Homework

…but I thought I’d summarize for you how I do it and then get your routine.

20 Best Keyboarding Websites

The most common questions I get from parents and readers of my blog are about keyboarding. What is the best software? What are good online sites? How long should kids practice? When should children start typing in earnest? In this column, I’ll only deal with the second–what are good online websites.

I’ve kept track of this for ten years–adding sites, deleting the ones that didn’t measure up in the long term–and I now have a list of twenty I think are great. Check them out. Tell me if I’ve missed any.

1. Big Brown Bear typing–great for grades kindergarten, first

Weekend Website #47: Online Keyboarding

Every Friday I’ll send you a wonderful website that my classes and my parents love. I think you’ll find they’ll be a favorite of your students as they are of mine.

Lots of online keyboard tools

10 Top Click-throughs from Ask a Tech Teacher

I include lots of links for my readers to places that will help them integrate technology into their education. They cover websites on lesson plans,

Top Ten Click-throughs

math, keyboarding, classroom management, cloud computer, digital books, teacher resources, free tech resources, and more. On any given day, I generate on average 157 of these click throughs. Which links my readers select tells me a lot about the type of information they’re looking for from me.

Here’s a list of the top ten sites my readers selected to visit from my blog:

1. Keyboard Climber–actually, the top four were keyboarding websites, so I’ll lump them all into the #1 slot. They included:
   • Bees and Honey Keyboard Practice
   • Spider Typing
   • Big Brown Bear Typing–one of my students’ favorites
2. Mousing around--a fun mouse-skills program that’s perfect for kindergarten and first grade

Weekend Website #35: Dance Mat Typing

Drop by every Friday to discover what wonderful website my classes and parents loved this week. I think you’ll find they’ll be a favorite of yours, too.

Weekend Website #21: Test Your Typing Speed

Drop by every Friday to discover what wonderful website my classes and parents loved this week. I think you’ll find they’ll be a favorite of yours as they are of mine.