Today we Honor Veterans

In the USA, Veterans Day annually falls on November 11. This day is the anniversary of the signing of the armistice, which ended the World War I hostilities between the Allied nations and Germany in 1918. Veterans are thanked for their services to the United States on Veterans Day.

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tech tips

Tech Tip #121: Chromebooks Caps Lock

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!

Q: Where’s the caps lock on Chromebooks? There’s a ‘search’ button where that key is on my normal keyboard.

On Chromebooks, caps lock is a shortkey: Alt+Search. Search is the magnifying glass located where the the caps lock is on other keyboards. To turn it off, tap Shift.

If you’re like me and never plan to use that Search key, you can remap the Search key by visiting the Settings > Device > Keyboard settings.

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coding

58 Hour of Code Suggestions by Grade Level

Here are ideas of apps and websites that teachers in my PLN used successfully in the past during Hour of Code:

hour of codeKindergarten

Start kindergartners with problem solving. If they love Legos, they’ll love coding

  1. BotLogic–great for Kindergarten and youngers
  2. Code–learn to code, for students
  3. Daisy the Dinosaur—intro to programming via iPad
  4. How to train your robot–a lesson plan from Dr. Techniko
  5. Kodable--great for youngers–learn to code before you can read
  6. Move the Turtle–programming via iPad for middle schoolhour of code
  7. Primo–a wooden game, for ages 4-7
  8. Program a human robot (unplugged)
  9. Scratch Jr.

1st Grade

  1. Code–learn to code, for students
  2. Hopscotch–programming on the iPad
  3. Primo–a wooden game, for ages 4-7
  4. Scratch Jr.
  5. Tynker

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hour of code

Hour of Code–Why Not

I took a Classroom 2.0 Live webinar last year on rolling out the Hour of Code in the classroom. There were so many great things about that webinar, but one I’ll share today is why teachers DON’T participate in Hour of Code. Here are what the webinar participants said:

hour of codeHow about you? Why are you NOT doing Hour of Code?

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coding

Hour of Code–the Series

Coding–that mystical geeky subject that confounds students and teachers alike. Confess, when you think of coding, you see:

coding

 

…when you should see

coding

December 7-13, Computer Science Education will host the Hour Of Code–a one hour introduction to coding, programming, and why students should love it. It’s designed to demystify “code” and show that anyone can learn the basics to be a maker, a creator, and an innovator.

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Tech Tip #120: Why Use Airplane Mode?

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!

Q: Why would I use airplane mode when I’m not flying?

Airplane mode stops your phone from searching for an internet connection. If you don’t use it on a long flight, you’ll find your battery drained by the time you land because your phone ran through its power searching constantly for a signal that didn’t exist.

If you know you aren’t using the internet for a period of time, switch your phone to airplane mode. It’ll save your battery.

Why else?

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5 Best Typing Tutors for Everyone

keyboardingKeyboarding is always a concern with educators, and one of the most questions is–how do you teach it? Adam  Fort, an education strategist at Ratatype, has five ideas:

Typing tutors are aids that enable users to increase their own typing speed, skills and touch typing techniques. There are different types of typing tutors including online typing tutors, typing tutor programs and typing tutor software. These can help you to improve typing as well as other aspects of life like salary increases, job satisfaction, improved posture and many other things which will come as a result of mastering the art of typing. Here is a list of 5 best typing tutors for everyone.

There are a number of free typing tutors on the web which are most useful when it comes to typing lessons, typing practice and typing tests. Most of these sites are free online sites which are useful to both learners and teachers. Among the most notable typing sites include TypingWeb and Ratatype.

TypingWeb Online Typing Tutor

TypingWeb is a renowned free typing tutor on the web that consists of a teacher’s portal which acts as a classroom aid for teaching the appropriate touch typing skills. It is a free typing platform although ads are enabled but can always be removed when the need arises and this does not cost a lot of money.

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Subscriber Special: November

Watch for our Veteran’s Day special in your mailbox.

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Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-8 technology for 15 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-8 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, CSG Master Teacher, webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, CAEP reviewer, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, and a weekly contributor to TeachHUB. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

keyboarding

Dear Otto: How do I Teach Keyboarding in My Limited Class Time?

keyboardingHere’s Melanie’s question about teaching keyboarding effectively:

My problem is that I only see each group of students (PK – 4th grade) once a week for 30min.  I see 1st and 2nd grade two times a week. How do I successfully teach keyboarding AND my regular tech curriculum with next to no time to do both? I’ve thought about doing keyboarding for the first half of the year and then my curriculum the next half.. but I’m just not sure.

I often get a version of this question–how can students learn to keyboard when there’s so little time allotted to teaching it? Surprisingly, it’s not as difficult as it sounds when you use a scaffolded approach. Start with pre-keyboarding in Kindergarten and first grade, move to good keyboarding habits that encourage speed and accuracy, and then blend it all into grade-level inquiry.

Here’s my answer:

PK, K, 1 are all about pre-keyboarding skills. Students need to understand the purpose of a keyboard, the mouse, tools and toolbars, basic digital citizenship safety, rudimentary problem solving. That can be done within the timeframe you’ve indicated. In fact, I lay it out in the K-1 curriculum that I publish. It’s easier than it sounds: Know what grade-level inquiry you can support and weave the tech skills into those.

2nd grade: This year is quite similar to the approach you use in PK-1 but you address more specific keyboarding goals–like using more fingers. It can still be easily done in your available time frame.

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