With spring almost here, and report cards on their way, this post is a friendly reminder to all students that your hard work in technology class is one of the most important factors when calculating your grade.  I pay attention to your home row hands and so should you!  

Also, a lot of students have been getting on the Typing Hall of Fame board and that is very exciting.  Keep up the good work everyone!

Coming in December, the Hour of Code week meets up with STEAM week to give the students of MKG a rousing two weeks of programming and computational thinking.  Students will have fun classroom-based activities with their teachers, and we will be working on some interesting projects in the computer lab.
5th Grade: CS First Project
4th Grade: Sprite Lab Project
3rd Grade: Flappy Bird Hour of Code
​2nd Grade: Star Wars Hour of Code
1st Grade: Introduction to Code

Want to try these at home to get ready? Go for it!  Feel free to check out any of these links, plus anything on https://hourofcode.com/us/learn.  Enjoy!

As the different grades finish up learning about Internet Safety and Digital Citizenship, here are some helpful links to keep on learning:
Safe Online Surfing - FBI.gov
​NetSmartz.org
​Digital Passport
Brainpop Jr. - Internet Safety

​Happy October!

At open house tomorrow, make sure to stop in at the computer lab to say hi and grab a handout on what we're working on this year.  In case you can't make it, here's a copy to download:
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I look forward to seeing you all here tomorrow!

Welcome back, MKG students!

I hope you had a relaxing summer, and I hope you kept those typing fingers practicing!  We will be starting our lessons soon and picking up right where we left off. 

Don't forget, when you see me in the hallway to give me your best high-five, handshake, or fistbump!

April is a good time to reinvigorate those typing skills.  Take time everyday to focus on proper hand placement for at least 10-15 minutes.  Typing something for class?  Typing an email to your grandma?  Typing a short story in your free time?  Use those Home Row Hands!  The more you practice, the faster you'll get!

Quick update: There is a new school typing leader - Tyler K in Mrs. Marinelli's class.  Congrats! 
​55 wpm is the new speed to beat!

As we get into the last third of the school year (hard to believe, I know!), it's important to keep practicing the skills you have learned over the course of the last couple months: being safe online, using Home Row Hands to type, and doing thoughtful online research.

Technology class offers students a lot of skills that are immediately applicable to their academic life, so with lots of practice will come lots of payoff!  Happy (almost) Spring!

What will your typing goals be this year?  Are you wanting to look less at your hands?  Type quicker?  Be able to compete in NitroType against your friends?  Whatever your goal, keep working towards it!  In the end, it's not all about achieving your goal but the process and the progress.

​Happy New Year!

STEAM week is rapidly approaching (December 13 - December 21) and MKG is finding lots of ways to use Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math in our everyday classes.  Look for Tweets and updates as the days go on!

The first week of December is COMPUTER SCIENCE WEEK and we will be celebrating with an Hour of Code!  All students from grades 1-5 will be participating in this fun filled week of learning to be computer programmers.  We will be using websites like code.org, scratch.mit.edu, and others to have fun and learn at the same time!