As a working technology teacher, I get hundreds of questions from parents about their home computers, how to do stuff, how to solve problems. Each Tuesday, I’ll share one of those with you. They’re always brief and always focused. Enjoy!

You sit down to type, start in on that long project with an imminent deadline, and nothing happens. The cursor blinks… and blinks… and blinks… but goes nowhere.

What do you do?

Before you buy a new keyboard, try a few things:

• Is the keyboard’s power light on? If it is, check your screen. Is there something that’s preventing you from typing? Maybe a dialogue box that wants an answer? If the light isn’t on, continue down this list
• Check the plugs. Maybe the cord that connects the keyboard to the computer is loose or fell out.
• Reboot. Sometimes the stuff in the computer’s boot-up sequence that makes the keyboard work gets lost. Restart your computer so it can re-establish itself.
• Do you eat at your keyboard? Does anyone? I say this next solution hesitantly: Bang on the key. Sometimes keys get food between them. If that doesn’t work, turn the keyboard over and see what falls out.

If none of those work, here are some pretty good suggestions from ChatGPT:

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Over the next few months, we’ll 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:

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:

–from 55 Technology Projects for the Digital Classroom

–image credit Deposit Photos

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“The content presented in this blog is the result of my creative imagination and not intended for use, reproduction, or incorporation into any artificial intelligence training or machine learning systems without prior written consent from the author.”

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, webmaster for four blogs, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

Every month, subscribers to our newsletter get a free/discounted resource to help their tech teaching.

Common Core–Math Lesson Plans

141 pages, 20 projects, over 114 Common Core standards, for K-8.

33% off right now through February 3, 2024

How to Achieve Common Core with Tech is a four-volume series that focuses on using technology to meet Common Core standards in Language, Writing, Reading, Speaking/Listening (not yet available), and Math.

This volume–Math–includes 20 projects and 114 Common Core Standards for K-8, each showing how technology makes achieving Common Core math standards intuitive, time-saving, and exciting for students with a natural love of all things digital. Each lesson includes: (more…)

There are great reasons to use online videos to learn math:

• Visual Learning: for many, this makes complex topics easier to understand 
• Flexibility: access content at their own pace 
• Engagement: engaging and interactive
• Review and Replay: revisit specific sections of a video as many times as needed to reinforce understanding.
• Supplementary Learning: complement traditional learning

Here are ten online resources for teaching math that I think you’ll like (for updates to this list, click here): (more…)

Here are the most-read posts for the past month:

1. Top Ten Articles, Tips, and Reviews for 2023
2. Tech Tip #8–Print a selection off a webpage
3. Free MLK Lesson Plans
4. Tons of Online Resources About Classroom Management
5. Implementing Mindfulness Practices in Schools
6. 13 Websites to Learn Everything About Landforms
7. National Handwriting Day
8. 5 Internet Safety Tips for Teachers
9. What Happens When Technology Fails? 3 Work-Arounds
10. A Holiday Memory in Word or KidPix

Here’s a preview of what’s coming up:

1. Online resources about puzzles
2. Online video resources for math
3. How to check your math in a spreadsheet
4. Tech Tip: My keyboard doesn’t work
5. 100th Day of School
6. 16 Tech Problems every 5th grader can solve
7. Engineering Week
8. Online graphic resources
9. 13 tips to solve unusual problems
10. Dr. Seuss–Techie style

–image credit to Deposit Photo (more…)

National Puzzle Day is celebrated on January 29th each year. It’s a day dedicated to enjoying and solving puzzles of all kinds, including jigsaw puzzles, crosswords, Sudoku, and various other brain teasers. Puzzle enthusiasts often use this day to engage in their favorite puzzle-solving activities and share their passion with others. Whether it’s a solo endeavor or a group activity, National Puzzle Day encourages people to exercise their minds and have fun with the challenges that puzzles present. If you have any specific questions or if there’s anything else you’d like to know about National Puzzle Day, feel free to ask!

Puzzles are also a great way to practice keyboarding skills like drag-drop, click, and select.

Here are popular puzzles resources teachers are using to teach mouse skills, critical thinking, and more (for updates on this Puzzles list, click here): (more…)

In these 169 tech situations, you get practical strategies to address many classroom tech situations.

Today’s tip: Fix computer with system restore

Category: Problem-solving

Q:  My computer no longer runs right. I downloaded the auto-updates to my PC and it hasn’t worked right since. What do I do?

System Restore is a recovery tool for Windows that allows you to reverse certain kinds of changes made to the operating system. One way to think of it is as an “undo” feature for the most important parts of Windows.

Here’s how you use it:

• Type ‘system restore’ into the search bar at the bottom of the start menu.
• Select ‘system restore’ from the list.
• Follow the directions.

Note: The system restores to a point you created earlier so you have to have done that. If you need help with this concept, here’s a longish YT that covers it in depth: (more…)

National Handwriting Day is celebrated on January 23rd each year. It is a day dedicated to promoting the importance of handwriting and 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:

Check these out:

When is Typing Faster Than Handwriting?

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…)

If your third grader has to write a report about landforms, try these websites:

1. Continents explained (with humor)
2. Explore the Colorado
3. Geography Games
4. Geography Quiz Game
5. Geologic movies–great and fun
6. Landforms—matching games, etc.
7. Mapping Game
8. Rainforest life—people, etc.
9. Rainforest tree house—virtual game
10. Rainforest—Enchanted Learning
11. Rainforests
12. The Colorado River
13. Virtual tour–undersea  

If any of these website links don’t work, please click here for an update. (more…)

In honor of Martin Luther King:

MLK Day in the US is the third Monday of January, this year, January 15, 2024.

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

66% off January 12, 2024 through Jan. 15, 2024.

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

(more…)