Computer Technology

Students come to specials on a 3 day rotation. Example: If a student has the following specials assignment: Day 1-PE, Day 2-Computer, Day 3-Music. The schedule for the week may be

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Day 1	Day 2	Day 3	Day 1	Day 2

Our classes are 45 minutes long for 6th -8th grades and ½ hour long for 5th grade.

Computer - Expectations
*All students please follow all school rules and classroom social skills.
*All students practice responsible computer use

• use only school disks
• use the internet only if supervised by an adult
• never bring disks from home to school (unless checked for viruses by a teacher)
• never click on internet ads or pop-up boxes
• never use school machines to check home e-mail or instant messages
• respect the computer equipment
• respect the files and property of others
• open or use only their own computer files in any program
• cite sources from the internet responsibly in all school work

Handing in all work to the best of their ability and in a timely manner should be a goal.

5th Grade
We have the students for ½ hour classes twice a week. One class per week is dedicated to keyboarding. We use the Type to Learn program. We are really encouraging the students to use correct fingering and to not look at their hands as they learn to type. The other day is dedicated to learning technology skills. We include paint and draw skills, word processing and formatting skills, an introduction to slideshows, and the use of the graphic organizer, Inspiration.

6th Grade
We begin with keyboarding. The keyboarding goal for a 6th grade student is 15 words per minute / 3 errors or less / with hands covered. We will cover the following units: keyboarding, paint, word processing (Microsoft Word), spreadsheet (Excel), slide show (Powerpoint), and Inspiration.

7th Grade
We will cover the following units: slideshow, keyboarding (with a goal of 20 wpm/3 errors or less/with hands covered), spreadsheet (creating formulas), internet research unit, database, slideshow, publisher (creating trifolds), inspiration, and word processing, and citing research sources (using citation machine).

8th Grade
We will cover the following units: keyboarding (with a goal of 25 wpm/3 errors or less/ with hands covered), creating websites (using a webquest), creating and editing video (using Moviemaker), word processing (advanced formatting), spreadsheet (using formulas and budgets), database, slideshow (presented to parents for student-led conferences), publisher, and research papers (citing sources using citation machine).

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PowerSchool (new program replacing Centerpoint) - We are a pilot school for this new internet based program this year. Grantwood AEA is providing this internet service and we are happy to take advantage of it! It is a website to help teachers communicate with students and parents!

Teachers will use PowerSchool to:
· Take attendance
· Create assignments for each class
· Record grades for each student in each class

This is the 1st year for this program. Teachers just got trained the week before school started. We will be getting user names and passwords out to parents during the 2nd week of school. The students will get their user names and passwords in computer classes. Be sure to log on and take advantage of this program - to check on your child's progress.

On the PowerSchool website parents and students will be able to:

• See a course gradebook (to view your student's grades for each class as soon as the teacher records them)
• See course announcements/assignments (to include spelling lists, descriptions of classwork, etc.)
• Send messages to the teacher through e-mail.

This will be a wonderful communication tool for parents, teachers and students. We are really looking forward to using it.

Also visit our School Website for information about our school. On the website you can find:

• The current newsletter
• Lunch menu
• Sports schedules
• Monthly calendar
• Staff e-mail addresses
• PowerSchool link
• Dress Code
• Links to many more things!!

Go to www.cr-cath.pvt.k12.ia.us and click on LaSalle.

I am looking forward to a wonderful year

Dottie Gierut
dgierut@cr-cath.pvt.k12.ia.us