Welcome back! Hope your Winter Recess was relaxing!

We are kicking off 2012 with a new, online keyboarding program called TypingPal for students in grades 2, 3 and 4. To access the site, click this link:

http://school.typingpal.com/?NRTHNFES

Detailed instructions are available (click here to download).

We will be exploring use of this tool in Computer Lab starting this week. See you in school!

Mr. Jarrett

We are always aware of the opportunity to promote a positive hygiene and cleanliness message to the students, while in the classroom and in the school building.  Headphone use in the classroom and computer lab lends itself to sharing, therefore presenting the possibility of an unclean sharing situation.  These circumstances of sharing can easily be avoided by students bringing their own headphones or earbuds to school, to bring, carry, and use whenever they use the computer, either in the classroom or at Computer Lab.  There will be a small number of school headphones / earbuds available for loaner use in the Computer Lab, if you wish.  We will be sure to add this item to the school year classroom supply list.  Thank you for your understanding.

We often tell the students that the single most important thing they will learn in Computer Lab is keyboarding. (Keyboarding was a "21st Century Skill" before that phrase became popular.) Since we are limited to a single 42-minute Computer Lab class once a week, it is imperative that students practice and develop foundation skills like keyboarding when they can at home.

I have a collection of great, free web-based keyboarding resources available here: http://www.only2clicks.com/pages/mrjarrett/251390. It is also linked in the margin on the right.

Your child will soon be able to recognize many of these games (we are already introducing them in class). Some are good for older kids (Super Hyper Spider Typer) and some are best for the youngest learners (Marcelino's Letters, Keyboard Climber.) All are excellent. Several "typing test" programs are also available, including the one we use for keyboarding assessments (keybr.com) when students are in Grade 3 & above.

Kids need time to be kids, and homework shouldn't overwhelm them, but these activities are fun AND educational. All I ask is that a small fraction of the "screen time" most kids get every day at home be used for some of these activities. It will benefit the student, and it will benefit us in school!

Hope this helps,

Mr. Jarrett

In case you weren't aware, Tux Paint is one of the most popular Computer Lab programs of all time. Its ease of use, amazing features, colorful output and forgiving "undo" button make it ideal for aspiring digital artists of all ages. It's completely free! Download it today from http://www.tuxpaint.org/ and be sure to get the "stamps" file as well (it's also free). Enjoy!

Please consider stopping by Computer Lab as a volunteer when you have a moment - and once you've completed the required Volunteer Orientation course. A helping hand can be a HUGE boost to our students, especially when we're in the midst of a challenging lesson or project. Here's our daily schedule (check with your student's classroom teacher for the actual "day" their class has Computer Lab).

• 08:50 - 09:50 Kindergarten
• 09:50 - 10:45 2nd Grade
• 11:15 - 12:00 3rd Grade
• 12:00 - 12:45 4th Grade
• 02:00 - 02:45 1st Grade

Please join us!

- Mr. Jarrett