My wife and I were driving around Salt Lake City, last evening, looking at the lights en route to attending the Nutcracker ballet. As we drove past the Salt Palace, we both recalled how, twenty years ago, I gave a Utah Council for Computers in Education conference presentation called, "One Computer for 64 eyeballs. Using the LCD to Magnify Your Computer." Little did I know, at the time (I had written a grant to purchase and use a monochrome LCD plate connected to my Apple IIgs computer to use in my sixth grade class in Davis County), how very cutting edge that presentation was! So much has happened in since then. SmartBoards with ceiling mounted projectors have become cutting edge in many classrooms. In fact, I have been a sales representative for mimio interactive whiteboards in the midwest, during the past decade.
Yesterday, in a Granite School District classroom, in Salt Lake City, I was given the password to a computer that was connected to the ceiling mounted projector. I was in heaven, even though it was the day before Winter break and the kids were wild. I started out by projecting the powerpoint of the Periodic Table, which I had been working on at home but had never shown to an audience. I let it play automatically as I gave the textbook Reading assignment on reading Science applications. After the kids began to recognize Elements such as "Gold" and "Silver" and ask questions about the vocabulary, I strayed from the assigned activity and had the students "repeat after me" as we chanted the 118 names of the Elements. They understood that these vocabulary words would be useful to them in Chemistry classes down the road.
My fascination with the Periodic Table actually spawned while playing a computer game called Dr. Brain. A computer graphic character that looked like a mouse dressed as a Professor pronounced the names of the Elements while the game player clicked on the one letter or two letter symbols for the elements.
Back to the pre-Holiday classroom ... I projected and edited before their eyes, the story of Rindercella, which I also had stored on my jump drive. They were instructed to copy the text with their "best handwriting" knowing, however, that if they all had access to keyboards they would be typing or keying the text. The advantage to word processing is that we can go beyond keyboarding for speed and accuracy as we teach editing and revising skills. I would like to survey the schools to find out how many software packages in use today are encouraging students to learn from their mistakes. How many go beyond the Daily Oral Language activities of marking errors and actually allow students to revise and reprint their work after peer editing.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Fourth Graders
I was in a fourth grade classroom with five computers on the side wall. The students were able to log in with a generic password. After they did, I looked for MS Office Suite on each computer. Four of the five had 2007 and one had 2010. But, the students were not using the MS Software! This took me back ten years to when I first started showing teachers what they already had on their computers. Echoes of "I'm not sure that we have PowerPoint ..." came to me from Illinois, where I first started consulting.
So, I opened up the PowerPoint template on one of the computers and selected a color template. As I called roll I invited each of the students to come up and type in their first name. As I watched, not one of the students used the Caps Lock or Shift keys to make the first letter in their name a capital (upper case). Every one of them used one finger of one hand to type their name. Not one of them pressed the space bar or pressed the Enter key, which would have automatically changed the first letter of their name to a capital.
The MS Office Suite came preinstalled on many or most of these classroom computers, yet so many teachers are not using them to their full capacity to reinforce Common Core Curriculum in their classrooms. I really need to get the word out.
So, I opened up the PowerPoint template on one of the computers and selected a color template. As I called roll I invited each of the students to come up and type in their first name. As I watched, not one of the students used the Caps Lock or Shift keys to make the first letter in their name a capital (upper case). Every one of them used one finger of one hand to type their name. Not one of them pressed the space bar or pressed the Enter key, which would have automatically changed the first letter of their name to a capital.
The MS Office Suite came preinstalled on many or most of these classroom computers, yet so many teachers are not using them to their full capacity to reinforce Common Core Curriculum in their classrooms. I really need to get the word out.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Charter School
This week I made my debut in the Charter Schools of Utah Valley. It was refreshing to interact with students whose parents are particularly invested in their students' education. It was also good to be in a fifth grade classroom where I could project my laptop through the overhead projector.
So, I taught the words to the PreKeys Sing Along With QWERTY songs by playing the music and showing the words to the songs simultaneously. It was rewarding to me to share "Pinkey Pokey" and "The Back Space Tango" along with the other half dozen songs. I took the opportunity to share these "sponge activities"' at the transitions between curriculum lessons and recess.
I also snuck in a PreKeys PreTest to see how much the students had learned from their school wide keyboarding lessons, which they said had all completed. Only two of the students was able to fill in the numbers and keys with 100% accuracy on the second round. None of them had the first round.
So, I taught the words to the PreKeys Sing Along With QWERTY songs by playing the music and showing the words to the songs simultaneously. It was rewarding to me to share "Pinkey Pokey" and "The Back Space Tango" along with the other half dozen songs. I took the opportunity to share these "sponge activities"' at the transitions between curriculum lessons and recess.
I also snuck in a PreKeys PreTest to see how much the students had learned from their school wide keyboarding lessons, which they said had all completed. Only two of the students was able to fill in the numbers and keys with 100% accuracy on the second round. None of them had the first round.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Third Grade Math
This week I found myself in a third grade classroom, teaching a lesson on place value. In the math manipulatives box I found place value dice, with two sets of four dice: a die for the one's place, a die for the ten's place, a die for the hundred's place, and a die for the thousand's. place.
First, I rolled out the six feet wide table top PreKeys mat, then I invited two students to come over to the table. I showed each how to roll the dice, then line them up in place value order. Then, I invited them to poke or slap the shapes on the number row of the keyboard that matched the numbers on the dice. The most interesting part was when they forgot to poke the zero; for instance, one student rolled the dice for 2056 but only poked the 2, the 5 and the 6. I had to remind the student to poke the 2, the 0, the 5 and the 6.
Using the class roll I then called the next two students over to the table. The first two students were instructed to show the next two students how to roll the dice, line them up in place value order and then poke the numbers that match the numbers on the dice. We continued this activity until every student had an opportunity to participate.
This week I found myself in a third grade classroom, teaching a lesson on place value. In the math manipulatives box I found place value dice, with two sets of four dice: a die for the one's place, a die for the ten's place, a die for the hundred's place, and a die for the thousand's. place.
First, I rolled out the six feet wide table top PreKeys mat, then I invited two students to come over to the table. I showed each how to roll the dice, then line them up in place value order. Then, I invited them to poke or slap the shapes on the number row of the keyboard that matched the numbers on the dice. The most interesting part was when they forgot to poke the zero; for instance, one student rolled the dice for 2056 but only poked the 2, the 5 and the 6. I had to remind the student to poke the 2, the 0, the 5 and the 6.
Using the class roll I then called the next two students over to the table. The first two students were instructed to show the next two students how to roll the dice, line them up in place value order and then poke the numbers that match the numbers on the dice. We continued this activity until every student had an opportunity to participate.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
For several weeks I have been volunteering on Book Night at The Road Home homeless shelter in Midvale. The lead volunteer brings in other volunteers to read stacks of library books with students whose families are in temporary housing. I consider it to be "Literacy Night" and bring my Computer Literacy materials to share with the kids.
First, I rolled out the 8 feet wide keyboard on the floor, and invited the students to sit on it while I read a book to them. It was fun to see how irresistibly they slapped or stamped on the lily pad letters. Then, I asked the younger students to locate and trace letters or numbers. With the older students, I invited them to touch the letters to spell their names and other vocabulary words as I guessed them.
Last evening I took it to the next level by putting the smaller (6 feet wide) keyboard with color coded left and right hand letters and numbers. I then placed my laptop computer on the table, just beyond the vinyl keyboard, and displayed PowerPoint images to match the shapes on the keyboard. Students had a hard time waiting for their turn as I paired them up; the student on the left was instructed to use his or her left hand to poke the letters that matched those on the screen. The student on the right was instructed to use his or her right hand to poke the letters and numbers on the right side. I was thrilled to see their enthusiasm levels with the product that I have developed.
Next week I plan to introduce the grade leveled Dolch vocabulary words, starting with the one letter words "a" and "I" followed by two-letter words, three letter words, and so on. I hope to instill a love for reading and computer literacy with these students whose families are economically disadvantaged.
First, I rolled out the 8 feet wide keyboard on the floor, and invited the students to sit on it while I read a book to them. It was fun to see how irresistibly they slapped or stamped on the lily pad letters. Then, I asked the younger students to locate and trace letters or numbers. With the older students, I invited them to touch the letters to spell their names and other vocabulary words as I guessed them.
Last evening I took it to the next level by putting the smaller (6 feet wide) keyboard with color coded left and right hand letters and numbers. I then placed my laptop computer on the table, just beyond the vinyl keyboard, and displayed PowerPoint images to match the shapes on the keyboard. Students had a hard time waiting for their turn as I paired them up; the student on the left was instructed to use his or her left hand to poke the letters that matched those on the screen. The student on the right was instructed to use his or her right hand to poke the letters and numbers on the right side. I was thrilled to see their enthusiasm levels with the product that I have developed.
Next week I plan to introduce the grade leveled Dolch vocabulary words, starting with the one letter words "a" and "I" followed by two-letter words, three letter words, and so on. I hope to instill a love for reading and computer literacy with these students whose families are economically disadvantaged.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Last Friday, I found myself in an Eleventh Grade business class in a suburban Salt Lake City school. An informal straw poll let me know that the students were not there for an elective; it was a required class! The teacher had left an open book test that only lasted 30 minutes for most students, but the class period was 80 minutes. It was time to get creative.
I was not able to access the Internet, but, nevertheless, I opened up my laptop computer with PowerPoint slides, showing the QWERTY Island Keys curriculum. "Take out your cell phones with QWERTY keyboards," I invited a few of the students to come forward. I then presented subsets of letters from each row of the QWERTY keyboard. "What words can you TEXT with just these letters?" They were engaged by using their left and right thumbs on their handheld keyboards. Words that they found were written on the whiteboard.
Then, as I displayed the list on my laptop, we erased the words on the board that matched those in my PowerPoint file. I then added those that the students had discovered that I didn't already have. One of my favorite right-hand-letter words was "MOON." The left hand list has always been longer than the right hand list.
I also invited a student to use the calculator on his phone to add up the value of each row of letters on the keyboard in a SCRABBLE game (I had a photo of this on my laptop). He was amazed to see how close the score for each row came, with the bottom row adding up to the highest score! We had fun with the extra time beyond traditional testing.
I was not able to access the Internet, but, nevertheless, I opened up my laptop computer with PowerPoint slides, showing the QWERTY Island Keys curriculum. "Take out your cell phones with QWERTY keyboards," I invited a few of the students to come forward. I then presented subsets of letters from each row of the QWERTY keyboard. "What words can you TEXT with just these letters?" They were engaged by using their left and right thumbs on their handheld keyboards. Words that they found were written on the whiteboard.
Then, as I displayed the list on my laptop, we erased the words on the board that matched those in my PowerPoint file. I then added those that the students had discovered that I didn't already have. One of my favorite right-hand-letter words was "MOON." The left hand list has always been longer than the right hand list.
I also invited a student to use the calculator on his phone to add up the value of each row of letters on the keyboard in a SCRABBLE game (I had a photo of this on my laptop). He was amazed to see how close the score for each row came, with the bottom row adding up to the highest score! We had fun with the extra time beyond traditional testing.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Developmental Keyboarding
This Summer, when I attended a four day workshop to earn the endorsement for Keyboarding, I was disappointed to note how developmentally inappropriate the proscribed activities were for elementary students. The same methods and techniques used for secondary school business classes were shared with elementary teachers. The business education model is for all students to leave the classroom en masse, walk down the hall to the computer lab, and follow a teacher-directed and paced method or else a computer graphics based model.
I have seen one size-fits-all computer labs in the schools where anyone younger than fourth grade will be seen swinging their feet and kicking the wires hanging beneath the desks. The best methods are for students to sit up straight with their backs against the chair and their feet flat on the floor. Mobile labs where the laptop computers or AlphaSmart keyboards are brought into a classroom and placed on student desks allow students of any age to sit with their backs against the chair and feet flat on the floor. In my consulting I have encouraged this classroom model for elementary schools however there are management issues of batteries versus power cords, and Internet access.
I have gone further to suggest that rather than teach nonsense words and letter combinations, that we use spelling or vocabulary words that are age/grade level appropriate. Rather than starting with the home row and reaching up or curling down to reach the letter keys on adjacent rows, I have suggested moving the hand position to each row and exploring the words that can be created using just the letter keys in each position.
Going deeper into the professional literature on best practices for age appropriate curriculum activities, I have drawn upon the Total Physical Response literature and the Multiple Intelligences Theory, as well as the Early Childhood Development. More on that, later.
I have seen one size-fits-all computer labs in the schools where anyone younger than fourth grade will be seen swinging their feet and kicking the wires hanging beneath the desks. The best methods are for students to sit up straight with their backs against the chair and their feet flat on the floor. Mobile labs where the laptop computers or AlphaSmart keyboards are brought into a classroom and placed on student desks allow students of any age to sit with their backs against the chair and feet flat on the floor. In my consulting I have encouraged this classroom model for elementary schools however there are management issues of batteries versus power cords, and Internet access.
I have gone further to suggest that rather than teach nonsense words and letter combinations, that we use spelling or vocabulary words that are age/grade level appropriate. Rather than starting with the home row and reaching up or curling down to reach the letter keys on adjacent rows, I have suggested moving the hand position to each row and exploring the words that can be created using just the letter keys in each position.
Going deeper into the professional literature on best practices for age appropriate curriculum activities, I have drawn upon the Total Physical Response literature and the Multiple Intelligences Theory, as well as the Early Childhood Development. More on that, later.
Developmental Keyboarding Grant Writing
I recently completed the Keyboarding endorsment workshop offered by the Utah State Office of Education. I now have research to support my efforts at Developmental Keyboarding.
Keyboarding activities in Elementary Schools should not start with correct posture with tiny fingers on the home row. Students as early as 4 and 5 can locate/recognize the letters on the QWERTY keyboard. They learn best with large motor activities and music! These activities ought to draw upon the Multiple Intelligences Theory of Howard Gardner.
I am renewing my efforts to write grants that will allow me (and my team) to work with students in underserved populations to increase (through training) their ability to interact with computers (at little or no cost to the teachers). Who's with me?
Keyboarding activities in Elementary Schools should not start with correct posture with tiny fingers on the home row. Students as early as 4 and 5 can locate/recognize the letters on the QWERTY keyboard. They learn best with large motor activities and music! These activities ought to draw upon the Multiple Intelligences Theory of Howard Gardner.
I am renewing my efforts to write grants that will allow me (and my team) to work with students in underserved populations to increase (through training) their ability to interact with computers (at little or no cost to the teachers). Who's with me?
Fifth Grade Keyboarding Applications
In the same school as the First Grade class posted earlier, I was in a Fifth Grade class that was tightly planned, with textbook based activities using Imagine It! readers (students used a microphone that was passed around as they read) and Drops in a Bucket math curriculum (students worked alone for 10-20 minutes, then with a partner for 5-10 minutes, then we discussed the answers as a class).
Having completed all of the assignments and having ten minutes left before recess, I asked two of the students at the front of the room to hold up the Pre-Keys vinyl keyboard mat. I pointed out the division between left and right hand letters and asked the students if there was a list of United States, somewhere in the room. They directed me to the pull down maps that covered the white board. I uncovered the map of the United States and suggested to them that of all the States there is only one that can be typed with just the left hand. I sent three volunteer students over to the three computers at the side of the room to try and identify which state can be spelled with just left hand letters.
I gave the class a clue that it started with a T. "Tennessee" one student shouted out. I gave the next clue, that it has "an X in it." The response was deafening: "Texas!" I confirmed that response and then selected three more volunteers to go to the computer center.
"There is another state that can be typed with just the right hand letters," I told my captive audience. "It has only four letters and starts and ends with the same vowel." They were almost ahead of me completing the sentence. "Ohio!"
I praised them and then sent three more students to the computer center. "All of the other states require that we use both hands to type their names. But, there is one that can be spelled with just the letters from the home row. Which is the only vowel on the home row? ... That's right, A. This state name actually starts and ends with an A ... no, it's not Alabama, in fact, it doesn't even show up on this map showing 48 states. Yes, Alaska!"
We were then out of time as the bell rang to announce recess. If I had printed paper copies of the QWERTY Island Keys map, then we might have talked about how the top of the keyboard map is North, the bottom of the map (with the letter B near to the belly button) is South, the Tab Key is on the West and the Enter/Return key is to the East.
We might have also considered the letters to be in columns as well as in rows. More on that in the next post.
First Grade applications
Earlier this week I was assigned to work with First Graders as a "Guest Teacher". After I wrote my name on the board with a mnemonic that "Mr. Morgan plays the organ," the students reverted to the use of "Teacher" for any adult in the room. The apologetic teacher left me with a stack of six worksheets while she attended a three hour workshop presented by a Pearson Learning representative training the teachers to use SuccessMaker.
As the students entered the room, after their lunch, they all went to sit on the rug. I met them with a short stack of picture books to read to them but was assaulted with raised hands and personal stories that were remotely associated with words that they heard in the story. They also had to show me the gaps in their mouths where baby teeth were being replaced with permanent teeth. One tooth came out during the brief time I was there and so I had to find a plastic bag to preserve the precious item.
Knowing that Guest Teachers (aka substitute teachers) were not allowed access to the ceiling mounted projectors connected to the Internet, I had brought along my own laptop computer, with Pre-Keys lessons using Microsoft Office PowerPoint. I had also brought along my six feet wide vinyl computer keyboard with color coded background for left and right hand numbers and letters. These I set up on the kidney shaped reading table at the side of the room. Before opening the laptop computer, and after I had distributed and explained the first worksheet, I began inviting students over to the reading table.
The first activity was to invite the students to "slap or poke" the numbers from 1 to 9 across the top of the vinyl keyboard. Every student had a turn, but were instructed to use the left hand for numbers 1 through 5 and the right hand for numbers 6 through 9. When we got to 0 I encouraged them to use both hands as they touched 1 with the left hand and 0 with the right hand in order to make the two-digit numeral 10. It was quite a stretch for them but most managed it. A variation of this might be to have one student act as the left hand and another as the right hand, working in cooperation. This activity aligns with the Core Curriculum Concept of numbers in sequence. It also aligns with left and right hand identification. In addition, it aligns with reading and writing from left to right and from top to bottom. Of course, it is a precursor activity to actually typing numbers on the computer keyboard (not just pointing and clicking).
After the first rotation of students, and having distributed the next two worksheets, I opened the laptop computer (during recess) and had the slideshow playing in a continuous loop. Numerals matching those on the vinyl laptop (just the numbers, without the Shift key options for ! @ # $ % ... ) came flying in, if they were left handed shapes then they entered the screen from the left. If they were right handed shapes then they entered from the right. After the numbers, lower case letters on lily pads began entering the screen. Students seated at the table had time to find and poke the matching shapes on the vinyl keyboard that they saw on the screen before the software advanced to the next shape. For some students that were faster than others, I simply pressed the space bar on the laptop to advance to the next shape. Students who picked up on that began pressing the vinyl spacebar after each letter that they typed.
At the end of the day I received hugs or high fives from students who exclaimed at how much fun they had had. Another learning center variation might have been to print (on paper) and laminate the shapes for students to match on the vinyl pad. Those shapes might then be grouped for a Scrabble style activity where students form words from their weekly vocabulary list using specific groups of letters. More on that with the fifth graders.
As the students entered the room, after their lunch, they all went to sit on the rug. I met them with a short stack of picture books to read to them but was assaulted with raised hands and personal stories that were remotely associated with words that they heard in the story. They also had to show me the gaps in their mouths where baby teeth were being replaced with permanent teeth. One tooth came out during the brief time I was there and so I had to find a plastic bag to preserve the precious item.
Knowing that Guest Teachers (aka substitute teachers) were not allowed access to the ceiling mounted projectors connected to the Internet, I had brought along my own laptop computer, with Pre-Keys lessons using Microsoft Office PowerPoint. I had also brought along my six feet wide vinyl computer keyboard with color coded background for left and right hand numbers and letters. These I set up on the kidney shaped reading table at the side of the room. Before opening the laptop computer, and after I had distributed and explained the first worksheet, I began inviting students over to the reading table.
The first activity was to invite the students to "slap or poke" the numbers from 1 to 9 across the top of the vinyl keyboard. Every student had a turn, but were instructed to use the left hand for numbers 1 through 5 and the right hand for numbers 6 through 9. When we got to 0 I encouraged them to use both hands as they touched 1 with the left hand and 0 with the right hand in order to make the two-digit numeral 10. It was quite a stretch for them but most managed it. A variation of this might be to have one student act as the left hand and another as the right hand, working in cooperation. This activity aligns with the Core Curriculum Concept of numbers in sequence. It also aligns with left and right hand identification. In addition, it aligns with reading and writing from left to right and from top to bottom. Of course, it is a precursor activity to actually typing numbers on the computer keyboard (not just pointing and clicking).
After the first rotation of students, and having distributed the next two worksheets, I opened the laptop computer (during recess) and had the slideshow playing in a continuous loop. Numerals matching those on the vinyl laptop (just the numbers, without the Shift key options for ! @ # $ % ... ) came flying in, if they were left handed shapes then they entered the screen from the left. If they were right handed shapes then they entered from the right. After the numbers, lower case letters on lily pads began entering the screen. Students seated at the table had time to find and poke the matching shapes on the vinyl keyboard that they saw on the screen before the software advanced to the next shape. For some students that were faster than others, I simply pressed the space bar on the laptop to advance to the next shape. Students who picked up on that began pressing the vinyl spacebar after each letter that they typed.
At the end of the day I received hugs or high fives from students who exclaimed at how much fun they had had. Another learning center variation might have been to print (on paper) and laminate the shapes for students to match on the vinyl pad. Those shapes might then be grouped for a Scrabble style activity where students form words from their weekly vocabulary list using specific groups of letters. More on that with the fifth graders.
Keyboarding is the Key to Computer Literacy
Welcome to my world. Having grown up on piano lessons, with six younger sisters and three pianos in the house, I learned early in life to develop finger dexterity and think through my fingers. However, it was not until high school when I learned to use the typewriter (I know this really dates me, but I'm over 50, so get over it!). At the University of Utah I learned to type a rough draft on the Mac Classic, save an electronic copy, and return later to edit what I had written without retyping the whole page or paper.
Also at "the U" I took software evaluation classes, where we analyzed and identified the strengths and weaknesses of educational software and specific ways to integrate technology with classroom curriculum. That began my quest, to evaluate teachers' use of technology. This theme followed me throughout my graduate studies at Brigham Young University, when I became certified as an Educational Administrator. At Utah State University, then, I developed an instrument for assessing teachers' use of technology and used it to Evaluate the Idaho Technology Portfolio Assessment. More on that later.
Today I am transferring over from DocFrog.blogspot.com. I realized, lately, that the label "Doc Frog" makes sense to those who have known me over the past decade and how I have encouraged my students not to "hunt and peck like chickens" with their fingers, but rather to "hop like Doc Frog" on the computer keyboard. However, Keyboarding Integration with Core Curriculum is really what I am all about (not just keyboarding).
Also at "the U" I took software evaluation classes, where we analyzed and identified the strengths and weaknesses of educational software and specific ways to integrate technology with classroom curriculum. That began my quest, to evaluate teachers' use of technology. This theme followed me throughout my graduate studies at Brigham Young University, when I became certified as an Educational Administrator. At Utah State University, then, I developed an instrument for assessing teachers' use of technology and used it to Evaluate the Idaho Technology Portfolio Assessment. More on that later.
Today I am transferring over from DocFrog.blogspot.com. I realized, lately, that the label "Doc Frog" makes sense to those who have known me over the past decade and how I have encouraged my students not to "hunt and peck like chickens" with their fingers, but rather to "hop like Doc Frog" on the computer keyboard. However, Keyboarding Integration with Core Curriculum is really what I am all about (not just keyboarding).
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