When students — and adults — think of learning to keyboard, it usually generates images of rote drills where you sweat over a keyboard as you’re graded on speed and accuracy.

Trying to change that image is what has driven many teachers to online sites but these often teach in an automated, undifferentiated way — logon, do exercises, repeat — that bores some and doesn’t work for others.

The feedback I often get on these sorts of sites is that students do improve speed and accuracy but only on the site. When they apply the knowledge to authentic situations (like typing a book report or an essay), students return to hunt-and-peck, watching their hands, and hating what they’re doing.

There’s a better way to learn keyboarding: Blended Learning. When I teach keyboarding, I use a variety of approaches, none too long and never too much, so each remains fresh and challenging rather than boring and repetitive. Here are some of the methods I mix up in my classes:

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Classroom management tools are useful for teachers to create an organized, productive, and conducive learning environment. Some reasons why you may find these tools beneficial are:

1. Organization: organize lesson plans, assignments, and resources efficiently
2. Communication: between teachers, students, and parents to foster a collaborative relationship, keep everyone informed
3. Student Engagement: to make learning more interesting and interactive
4. Time Management: schedule reminders, notifications, and more
5. Assessment and Grading: create and grade assignments, quizzes, and exams, and provide quick feedback to students.
6. Behavior Management: set expectations, monitor conduct, and implement positive reinforcement strategies
7. Data Analysis: provide analytics, track student performance, identify areas that need additional attention
8. Remote Learning Support: coordinate virtual classrooms
9. Parental Involvement: allow parents to monitor child’s progress, access grades, and communicate with teachers

Here’s a wide collection of mostly online resources you can check out. Find what works for your classroom environment (click for updates to list): (more…)

National Handwriting Day is celebrated on January 23rd. It is a day dedicated to encouraging people to embrace the art of writing by hand. This day was established to honor the birthday of John Hancock, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, known for his prominent and stylish signature on the Declaration of Independence. Handwriting is considered a personal and unique form of expression, and National Handwriting Day aims to celebrate and preserve this traditional skill.

Articles on handwriting from Ask a Tech Teacher you might enjoy:

Check these out:

Is Handwriting So Last Generation

Is Handwriting So Last Generation–Redux

How to Create a Handwriting Workbook to Help Improve Penmanship

Handwriting vs. Keyboarding–from a Student’s Perspective

When is Typing Faster Than Handwriting? (more…)

Tech Tips for Writers is a (occasionally) weekly post on overcoming Tech Dread. I’ll cover issues that friends, both real-time and virtual, have shared. Feel free to post a comment about a question you have. I’ll cover it in a future Tip.

Q: I’m writing a very (very) important paper and all of a sudden, the screen froze. I can’t save it, or anything else. What do I do?

A: Programs do freeze for no reason sometimes, but not often (I’m assuming you take care of your computer–defrag, don’t download with abandon, update it occasionally). Before you declare a dog-ate-my-homework sort of catastrophe, try this:

• Check your desktop for an open dialogue box and close it. You might have to answer its question first.
• Push escape four times. You might have inadvertently got yourself into something you don’t even know you’re in. Escape often lives up to its name.
• Click your program on the taskbar. You might have gotten out of it by accident.

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Here are some Winter activities to share the joy of winter (click for updates on this list):

1. 5 Videos to teach about winter
2. Winter Facts and Worksheets
3. The Winter Solstice, from PBS–a video for youngers
4. Winter Vocabulary–a video
5. What is a Solstice, from National Geographic–a video
6. What is the Winter Season–a video
7. Winter Coloring Pages, Printables, and more
8. Winter Games–digital

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One of the most popular applications of math is through spreadsheets (like Excel) that make those numbers relevant to everyday life. We’re going to provide a series of lessons on spreadsheet basics you can use in your K-8 classroom. Here are some of the topics we’ll cover (not all links live yet):

1. #74: Mastering Excel (for Beginners)
2. #71: Beginning Graphs in MS Excel
3. #70: Create a Timecard in Excel for Grade Two and Up
4. #73: How to Graph in Excel
5. #12: Create Simple Shapes in Excel
6. #75: Tessellations in Excel
7. #72: How to Check Your Math in Excel
8. How to Use Excel to Teach Math Arrays
9. #62: Email from Word (Or PowerPoint or Excel)
10. #79: Excel Turns Data Into Information

Today

#75: Tessellations in Excel

–from 55 Technology Projects for the Digital Classroom.  (more…)

In honor of Martin Luther King:

MLK Day in the US is the third Monday of January, this year, January 19, 2026

Ask a Tech Teacher’s 19-page two-lesson plan bundle to support your teaching of Martin Luther King (click for more information) is

66% off through Jan. 19, 2026

Lesson plans include:

• • • • an Event Chain of Dr. King’s impact on American history (adaptable to other historical events)
      • interpreting his words with a visual organizer

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5 Top Benefits of Adolescent Outpatient Programs for Mental Health

Adolescents facing mental health challenges often need consistent support without leaving their normal routines. Outpatient programs make this possible by combining professional care with the flexibility to stay connected to school, family, and friends. These programs help teens receive structured therapy and emotional support while maintaining daily stability at home.

Families often look for treatment options that fit real-life schedules and responsibilities. Outpatient programs meet this need by providing multiple forms of counseling and structured hours of care in a safe environment. This balanced approach encourages healing and growth while keeping the focus on progress and connection. (more…)

A lot of teacher-authors read both my Ask a Tech Teacher education blog and my writer’s blog, WordDreams. In this monthly column, I share a popular post from the past month: 

January 1st is Public Domain Day! This is an observance of when copyrights expire and works enter into the public domain–free for all to use. According to Public Domain Review, here are some of the newly available artistic works you might like a/o January 1, 2026:

The picture above is interactive on the website. If you click it, you enter Public Domain Review’s website and can then explore each of these new sources of inspiration, free to use.

A few recently released that caught my attention:

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Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

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