Computer Curriculum,Middle School Computer Lessons, High School Computer Lessons

Are you looking for a curriculum for your Computer or Technology class? MSCL Publishing has just what you are looking for. Curriculums designed for beginner or experienced teachers in mind. The lessons are complete with student and teacher instructions, worksheets and rubrics, everything you need to create a successful computer program in your school The lessons work with any version of Office or Google docs and are project based. To request a few free samples to see what it is all about visit. www.middleschoolcomputerlessons.com 

Computer Curriculum,Middle School Computer Lessons, High School Computer Lessons

Middle School Computer Curriculum; Middle School Computer Lessons

Middle School Computer Lessons Publishing http://www.middleschoolcomputerlessons.com

The “Complete Curriculum” offers 35 computer lessons that includes a teacher book, a student book, rubrics and worksheets for each lesson. This is sold as a site licence that gives the teacher the flexibility to pick and choose the lessons that they use in their class. This curriculum is designed to give a computer class a good base to start from with lessons that cover MS Office or any office-like program. 

In most computer classes a portion of the class covers keyboarding. I feel that this still a vital skill for today. About 7-10 min per class is the right amount of time to dedicate to typing. Tux Typing is a great “free” program to use in computer class. With Tux Typing and the “Complete Curriculum” your class could be set for the year.

To request some sample lessons to see that the “Complete Curriculum” is all about go to http://www.middleschoolcomputerlessons.com and go to “samples” 

Computer Lessons; What to teach in your Middle School Computer Class

Most times there is not a lot of direction as to what to teach in a Middle School Computer class. Today, technology is more vital than ever in education and the adults are often not as familiar as the kids. The students are known as “Digital Natives” meaning that they grew up with the technology. This is an odd situation that the students often know more than the teacher. Embrace it! Through class discussions, your class can become a great opportunity for learning. Not all students use technology the same way, explore this through class discussions and see where it takes you. Isn’t that what learning is all about anyway? Imagine a world without high-steaks testing. One where students and teachers are free to explore learning in its purest form. The joy of learning is the biggest incentive for any human not achieving some sort of grade. Grades are essentially meaningless anyway. Make your class about the learning and not about the grade.

Something to think about. However if you are looking for a place to start with your class that will give them the basic tools to function in our digital world. You may be looking for a computer curriculum that covers the basics while also gives the opportunity to expand to accommodate individual students check out http://www.middleschoolcomputerlessons.com . A complete computer class curriculum is offered, also 2 free sample lessons can be sent to you by request.

 

Request sample computer curriculum lessons at Support@middleschoolcomputerlessons.com 

New to teaching Computer Class? You are now the “Computer-guy”

Lets say you have taught for a while and this year you are stepping into the role of computer teacher. Now that you have this new position, your fellow teachers are going to think that you have all the answers. When a computer breaks in their classroom, you may be the first person that they reach out to. I found that honesty is the best policy. If you don’t have the answer, tell them that. But if you can be of assistance do what you know, but also know when you are out of your league and where to send them for more help.

For more ideas or Middle School Computer Lessons check out www.middleschoolcomputerlessons.com . Click on samples to get 2 free sample lessons.

Looking for Lessons? Middle School Computer Lessons

Are you new to teaching technology and looking to start off with a good base of lessons? Teaching technology can be a daunting task for the first time, even for an experienced teacher. Middle School Computer Lessons Publishing has lesson plans that cover word processing (Word), Spreadsheets (Excel), Presentations (Powerpoint) and many other subjects like robotics, Skype and internet basics. They offer a complete curriculum that contains over 70 hours of lessons. Perfect for a teacher who is stepping into the “Computer Teacher” role for the first time.

The student book contains all 35 lessons and is available on Amazon.com or through www.middleschoolcomputerlessons.com. The complete curriculum site license has the teacher book, the student book, rubrics and worksheets for each lesson. Purchasing either gives you the rights to make as many copies for your class as you need.

If you would like some sample lessons visit www.middleschoolcomputerlessons.com and click on samples.

Your first week of Computer Class

Are you looking for ideas for your first week of Computer Class? Do you want your class to get in a nice groove where the students are engaged and working together and also independently in a quiet classroom? If you request sample lessons to support@middleschoolcomputerlessons.com you will be sent three lessons that will get your class rolling in the right direction. If you like what you see Middle School Computer Lessons Publishing (MSCL Publishing) as a “Complete Curriculum” available that covers a wide variety of computer skills and contains over 70 hours of classroom activities that were born in real classrooms across the country. Middleschoolcomputerlessons.com has lessons that can easily be used within the new common core standards and beyond. These classroom tested activities can serve as the backbone in any computer class grades 5-9.

 

For more information check out www.middleschoolcomputerlessons.com

New to teaching computer class?

This time of year as teachers retire and/or move into new positions within a school or district. New computer teachers are created some with more willingness than others. If your principal just gave you the news that you will be teaching a computer class next year don’t panic! Teaching “digital natives” can be an awesome assignment! So what if they know more than you. You are a teacher, you can teach anything with a game plan and a little enthusiasm 😉 Use your students knowledge to your advantage. You could never teach them everything about technology, seriously. Your goal should be to touch on as many aspects as possible, to tap their curiosity and move on to the next thing, while also teaching some essential skills along the way. Essential skills for a middle schooler are how to save your work, maybe use google docs, office apps and keyboarding also mix in some internet safety which is part of the curriculum by law in most states. Middle School Computer Lessons .com is a good place to start. You don’t need to know everything to teach their lessons, the lesson is the idea and the students soar to make the projects their own, you only act as a facilitator. Check out www.middleschoolcomputerlessons.com to find out more about their complete curriculum which is sold as a site license which gives you flexibility in how you choose to use it.

Be strong! You are a teacher first, your subject is second, you can do it!

 

For more ideas visit www.middleschoolcomputerlessons.com  

The Power of Google Docs for Middle School

You may not even know what Google Docs is? Using it in a middle school environment can be a powerful tool in the fight against student apathy. In a nutshell Google Docs is a shared document, where many people can view and edit in real-time. The exciting part is how we are using it in our middle school.

We recently adopted a philosophy of “Every student does every assignment” we are incorporating ideas from the book “The Power of ICU” by Danny Hill. After about 6 weeks or so, we are seeing much success.

When students do not complete assignments they are placed on our “ICU” list where they are given extra time and extra help throughout the day. They are separated right off the bus, during lunch, one period at the end of the day and after school.  Kids are stepping up not to be on this list, we have fewer and fewer every day.

For more technology integration ideas check out:

www.middleschoolcomputerlessons.com

4 year old describes the Cloud; Middle School Computer Lessons

I came home from work today and my 4-year-old son was going on and on about “The Cloud”. His grandmother said he had been talking about it all day and she had no idea what he was talking about.

I asked him “Can you tell Nanny exactly what the Cloud is?” He said  “When you download it on one iPod it is on all your iPods”

He is exactly right. I had downloaded some things on my school iPad and they appeared on the iPad he was using at home. I explained the cloud once to him, but didn’t think he was really listening. He is a “Digital Native”, meaning that this type of technology has been around since he was born, he knows nothing else. So, he is way more technologically inclined than his 50 something grandmother. To him “The Cloud” is just another cool thing about the Ipad that he knows about. To her is shrouded in mystery, and something that she may not fully understand.

As teachers we need to understand the kids in our rooms have grown up with Google, Ipods and the like. For us, these are things that came about fairly recently in our lives. They have an entirely different way of looking at technology. We have to consider this when we attempt to “teach” them in any class, especially a Computer or technology class.

Feel free to comment, I would like to hear your thoughts.

For more ideas about teaching technology check out www.middleschoolcomputerlessons.com

Middle School Computer Lessons: Why I deleted my Twitter account.

Middle School Computer Lessons: Why I deleted my Twitter account.

Teaching technology to young adults it like teaching fish how to swim.

They already know how and they are probably already really good at it. There fore, my daily challenge is to capture their interest long enough to introduce them to something they may not know about.

I am all about expanding the “Tech Experiences” of my students. It may be something as simple as showing them where the “~” key is on the keyboard (That is a tilde, by the way) or as complex as programming a robot to follow a line on the floor.

However, when it comes to social media I am no expert. I purposely never started a My Space or Face-Tube or whatever account, it just really didn’t interest me. Not too long ago I did start a Twitter account exclusively to get Tweeters from Jeff Probst of Survivor. It went pretty along with no problems and I added a few more people, I was kind of into it, it was kind of interesting. But after a while I would have hundreds of tweets and I was constantly checking my account, I became increasingly annoyed. Then just deleted the whole thing. Do I really care what “Steve Martin” is doing, apparently not that much. The novelty wore off and I was done. I dont want more things to do on my phone/device. Is Twitter here to stay, maybe but not for me.

Really though, when I ask my students who has a Twitter account it may be about 2 per class 8%….I am surprised to see the ones that don’t even know what is is. Facebook  however, I would say that 90%+ have one. They could teach me a thing or two.

An interesting activity I do in class it to make a graph of students who use what type of social media (Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Myyearbook, and even “email”)

I would love to hear your comments!

For Middle School Computer Lessons and ideas visit www.middleschoolcomputerlessons.com