We begin the year by practicing our keyboarding skills.
By the time Autumn gets here
we will have fallen into good keyboarding habits.

So, how do you ever become good at keyboarding?
Practice
Practice
Practice!

Pointers on the F & J keys. Don't look down. Feel for the "finger-feelies".
Warm up with some finger exercises by Nimble Fingers*.

Read about ergonomics and posture*. What's that? Check it out at Typing Pal.
Click the Exercises button to try their typing exercises too.

Surf to these sites for some fun keyboarding practice.

	Dance Mat Typing
	Typing Pal Online - Practice* (now generally fee based, free trial period, free Ergonomics section and free Typing Test and Productivity Calendar)
	Touch Typing - online drills
	Type Online

	Krazy Keyboarding for Kids - Read and try the activities.
	Growing With Technology* - Levels K-5 includes Typing with Katie, Carmen, and others.

	Type Me from FunSchool - Found in the 2nd Grade list. "Easy", "Medium" or "Hard" plus other settings. Type the letters you see falling before they hit the bottom of the screen.
	Learn 2 Type
	Typing Tutor
	Typing Master Play Online Bubbles and Typing Master Games, free.
	Word Meister - You're scored on how many seconds it takes you to guess & spell the words, 5 in each round.  TIP: Use your keyboarding skills to practice.  You can also spell words by clicking on letters - mouse practice.
	Typer Shark at Yahoo Games - Type the words on the sharks before they reach you, the diver.
	Fearless Freida the Big Kahuna from Game Goo - Listen for a word and type it to hear it sounded out.
	Typing Exercise You can be too quick for this one, believe it or not!
	Keyboard Challenge Learn the Keys from ABCya
	Keyboard and Typing Tutor from US Speller, Also offers an Oz Speller version, or UK Speller version.

Printable Keyboard*

---More Keyboarding Fun---

Font Race

Keyboarding With Boxers
No 1-2 punch here! Grab a pair of fun, roomy boxer shorts from our lab laundry basket and
slip them over your keyboard. How well can you type with the keys hidden from view?
Practice at home.

B-Ball Blinders
We borrow dribble-blocking goggles from P.E.
You can still look down at the keys,
but it takes an obvious effort.

Click here to take our typing test.
How many words per minute can you type?

Special Keyboarding Tips

Have you seen this little squiggly mark ~ ? 
What's it called?          How do you type it?

Use the numeric keypad on your keyboard 
to type these characters and symbols:

Another way to type symbols in Word is by clicking
Insert (found in the menu bar) then Symbol.
© ¾ ¢ ñ  and others

Math Tip: in Word type other exponents by holding down the Ctrl, Shift, and + keys, release,
then type the number key (not using numeric keypad). Remove the feature by again pressing Ctrl, Shift, and +    
Example:  4^{3
Another method is to click Format, Font in the Menu Bar. Choose "Superscript"
when typing or after highlighting the number.}

Mrs. Cannon's Computer Lab award for Keyboarding
Home Row Champ!
May be printed for classroom use.

Mrs. Cannon's Computer Lab Coupons for Keyboarding
color or black
May be printed for classroom use.

Are all keyboards the same?
Click these thumbnail pictures to get a better look. Can you spot any keys on these keyboards that are not found on your keyboard at school?

These sites offer beginner keyboarding programs to download:

Touch Typing Drills http://www.sense-lang.org/typing/  

Flash Typing* http://www.kidsdomain.com/down/pc/flashtyping.html

Kid's Typing Skills* from KidWare Software http://www.kidwaresoftware.com

The Letter Machine* http://www.riverdeep.net/products/downloads/free_downloads.jhtml
(very basic, showing placement of keys)
No longer available.