Word Processing Unit of Instruction!
Today's the end of the very first week of using computers for typing skills and word processing instruction. And already, there are three daily assignments that have been assigned and due each day at 100 point per assignment. Note: students can complete any of their daily class assignments in one of three different ways.
Note: all first grading period assignments/tests must be submitted before Friday, February 18th for full credit. Anything after that date will not be accepted.
Korean Pen Pal Letters!
On Monday, February 7, 2005, I will announce to my classes the Korean Pen Pal letter that your child will need to write as their final project in the word processing unit. Every unit of instruction has a special final project to demonstrate content mastery. For details pertaining to our word processing unit, please go to: http://www.kuzmich.com/carmody/claris_syllabus.html and then go to http://www.kuzmich.com/carmody/penpal_908.html for the Pen Pal project that involves Korean students in Seoul, Korea. It is worth 300 points and is due on Friday, March 4, 2005 with a 100 point preliminary draft due on Friday, February 25th. Also suggest that students/parents start looking for photos and other light memorabilia to be included with the pen pal letters since a picture can be worth a thousand words. And for every letter your child receives from a Korean pen pal, they will earn two floating "A's". Dr. Data will even pay for postage to send the 120+ letters to the school in Seoul, Korea. The letters have to CSAP quality for your child will be representing our school in this international goodwill assignment.
If you want to know what specific standards I'm teaching pertaining to the
word processing unit, please go to:
<http://www.kuzmich.com/carmody/Scorecard.html>.
For an outline of the entire 7th Grade Elective Class Curriculum, please go to: http://www.kuzmich.com/carmody/Curriculum_Preview.html. For those of you that can't access the grades on-line, I'll print out progress reports for parents to sign on Monday.
Grading: Watch For Changes In Student Grades!
Grading is now starting to accelerate with daily assignments and daily grades
for them, so please pay particular attention to your child's grades beginning
today since it is possible to see student's grades dropping sharply if assignments
do not get finished and submitted this week as opposed to last week's grades.
Note that if you are having any difficulty with accessing your child's grades
and progress report, please use the following URL:
<http://www.kuzmich.com/carmody/Grades.html>.
To help parents find their child's grades on-line, click on any of the links below and be prepared to enter your child's special user name and pin name (password).
Period 1: Winter Semester 2005
Period 3: Winter, Semester 2005
Period 5: Winter, Semester 2005
Period 6: Winter, Semester 2005
Don't forget to print out your child's on-line progress report and sign it and it will earn them 25 extra-credit points.
Important Breaking News!
The Ultimate Dr. Data Litmus Test!!! If your child has any difficulty in typing with the home row method typing position in a fixed manner without undue visual assistance in checking their work, then your child can handle the present work load in my class. If not, they are always going to be typing slower than they should be and most important, they will experience more fatigue because of the constant alternating eye concentration on the paper they are typing and the rapidly shifting eyes to the keyboard to check their work and vice versa. With fatigue comes an attitude situation in which the child doesn't enjoy typing long assignments. Again, if your child can't maintain the two hands in home row format, we need to address this issue ASAP.
Creative Solutions:
I believe it may be important for your child to have access to my 7th grade class’s keyboarding software application for home use. Why? I'd like my students to double and/or triple the speed of their present typing speed of words per minute by the end of the semester. If so, your child be a super typist forever. I know it is possible to accomplish this, especially if coordinate with typing practice at home between now and the end of school. It would also be possible for others in your family to benefit from this instructional CD-ROM. Especially if you have younger children who could also be exposed to it. Carmody Middle School has a site license for the software application, All the Right Type, for use in our school PC computer lab. This is a highly effective ‘learn to keyboard” program. Ingenuity Works, the publisher of All the Right Type, has a special arrangement that enables students and parents to purchase a home version of this program for a very reasonable reduced price. You will receive a flyer tomorrow concerning this special pricing. You may participate by filling out the attached Student Bulk Order Form and returning it to me accompanied by a check in the amount of $21.00 (per program) by Friday, February 18, 2005. Be sure to include your child’s name on the check. The check should be addressed to: Carmody Middle School. No cash please. These charges include:
Again, if you would like to investigate more about this matter, ask your child about this software application as well as visit their web site for more details at: http://www.ingenuityworks.com/iworks/main/products/all_the_right_type_3/
Hope this information is helpful since I can tell you that students who practice with All The Right Type improve significantly over the semester and those that don't are rather stationary in their progress. What's most important to me is that this might be the very last time for our 7th grade students to improve significantly on their keyboarding skills for the rest of their lives. It is not uncommon for All The Right Type students to improve two or three times their present keyboarding speeds of right now.
Hot Item for Free!
Dr. Data introduced Klik & Play today in class which is a great computer game making software application that will be used as a unit of instruction in this class at the end of the semester. But students are now allowed to create games in class whenever they finish all of their assignments on a daily basis as a positive reward to getting their work done! Normally, students have to have a "B" grade on Monday through Thursday to make games and on Fridays, a "C" grade is required before students can participate with Klik & Play. Klik & Play is a great way to learn to create things on a computer. Perhaps the best news is Carmody students are allowed by manufacturer to download the software for free by going to: http://www.clickteam.com/English/download_main.php3?PID=6 so your child can creatively practice at home beginning today! The Carmody Middle School Whiz Chips Club also sponsors a computer gaming contest in December and in May with a computer creating game contest. Some of your children might enjoy participating in the intensive competition while they learn and master the art of computer gaming. Believe me, the students are very competitive on how they make and play computer games. If your child can't access the Internet and download the game application, have them bring a writeable CD and I'll burn them a copy to install on their computer.
Till next time,
John Kuzmich, Jr.
7th Grade Elective Computer Teacher