Keyboarding in the Classroom

Since our last class was devoted to talking about keyboarding in the classroom, I have decided to dedicate this blog to discuss some of my experiences with keyboarding growing up and some of my experiences with it during student teaching.

The first time I remember being taught keyboarding was in fifth grade. We had a class specifically devoted to the subject that met every other day. This class was taught to fifth through eighth graders. We were taught keyboarding through a leveled program. Each individual student would progress through the lessons at his/her own pace. At the end of each lesson, there was a game a to play. We, of course, all worked fast simply to get to the game. I also remember that as we got older we would have timed typing test. I was a decent typist and loved doing this. I don't remember any student being upset because he/she wasn't as fast as a typist as other students, but it very well could have happened. When I compare this program to the notes, it doesn't exactly match the suggested time for successful programs. We spent more than thirty hours on keyboarding the first year, and the following years the time probably stayed the same until eighth grade. I remember that year the class switched from learning the keys to learning how to use word, power point, and excel to create professional products which was very beneficial. We did begin learning keyboarding around the suggested grade level to start. We began in fifth grade, and our notes did suggest third or fourth grade. I don't think the program that we learned to do keyboarding was very successful. It got to be very boring and repetitive. I think my favorite part of keyboarding class was learning about the actual programs. This was a huge help when I went to high school. I do believe that were positive and negative parts of my keyboarding class.

I didn't have much of any experience with keyboarding lessons when I student taught, but I did require the students in my fourth grade placement to make power points. This was a disaster. In terms of keyboarding skills, the students were at so many different levels. I had students finish within two days, and I had students on their first slide on their second day. I ended up pairing students who were finished with their power points with students who were slower at typing. These students would type what the students wanted to say. I didn't want to do it like this, but unfortunately we were on a deadline. I wish I would have talked more with my cooperating teacher to find out how the students were taught keyboarding skills. It's something that I never really thought of to ask about.

After my own experience with learning keyboarding and my experience in the classroom, I realize how beneficial it can be to have students learn these skills earlier. I do think it allows the teacher to be able to incorporate more technology within the classroom and in turn will save time when using technology.