Keyboarding sequences were designed to master skills. During this time two students were unable to use a hand due to injury and we devised drills for left hand only or right hand only. Grammar and proofreading skills added dimension, making our papers easier to revise.

We learned to install programs using Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, Key Master Maps, Time Almanac, and Historic Boston. There was always something new and different. At the end there was a surprise comedic Macbeth program which was memorable--to say the least!

After delving more into Word, we attacked the Time research project which gave us an understanding of searching for information appropriate to a subject and creating a report with references. This heightened our powers of discrimination in preparation for internet research. The Time report also gave a subject and information to form a Power Point presentation. With the round robin technique we saw all of the presentations and left comments for the authors. Some of these were very powerful with color, motion, and sound. Some contained segments in Excel with polls and graphs.

Current events topics were researched on the internet. Each report included at least one reference to a web site with proper documentation. The Tech Room was a major resource for subject areas with the Internet being a great source of information. We studied the Industrial Revolution, the 60's, Europe, and artists, among others.

Learning to use the scanner was fun because we scanned in our pets to be used for a cycling screen saver (also seen as Pet Parade at the bottom of this site). Some pets even made personal visits. We voted for a name for our virtual pet fish (who may be downloaded from w w w.hp.com/go/fish.) Note: Do not download this program if you are using an older monitor.

We showed our creative abilities in keying thoughts into Word and developing the ability to "think at the computer." Our Picture Poems and 8 Word Poems were unparalleled (according to our teacher and others).

Each new discovery was greeted with "awesome" or "cool" and the Tech Room become a success. A lot was learned. It was a great year!

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