Beginning+Year+Lesson+for+Student+Computer+Use

Teachers are always conscious of time, being able to cover the curriculum in the amount of days set forth when using the Curriculum Navigator. Starting a class off "right" is important every year when you receive your new students. Just like you "teach" them your classroom rules and expectations you must also teach them how to use the technology that is available. Students today want to work in class as they live outside the school day. That means using technology seamlessly and continuously. That is certainly doable! Take the time, every time, you start a new class to complete the lesson plan we are outlining for you here. It will make using technology easier, save time in the long run, and enable your students to produce quality products that inspire them to learn and really demonstrate what they have learned in a way that is interesting to them and less stressful to the teacher.

toc //**One of the first orders of business for you the teacher is:**//

Checking out the Mobile Lab
We are in the process of automating the computer lab checkout procedure. We will be bringing one school at a time on to this new system. You will be alerted when your school is scheduled to move to this system. The perks are many and the advantages significant, and best of all...it is so easy to do!

//**Then you will need to teach them all about:**//

Active Directory
Complete directions for using Active Directory with you students can be found by clicking on the words Active Directory. The first time you roll the mobile lab into your classroom each year you will need to go over this information with your students. In addition, this is the perfect opportunity to discuss and teach naming conventions to be used throughout the year.

Student Communicator
Students in our elementary schools have file storage space on the school communicator. This server acts very like the www2.cmcss.net server that all teachers have access to use. Since our elementary students use Apple computers they would connect using the Go > Connect to Server function from the desktop. Each school server has a unique IP address that should have been provided to you. Student's login is always __and their password will be__.

//**Next it is important that you cover:**//

File Naming Conventions to Save Your Sanity
Whether you have 150+/- students throughout your day and they are all different students...you teacher middle or high school. OR You have 150 students students throughout your day as you teach all subjects...they just happen to reside in the same body as the 25 you have assigned to you...you teach elementary school. Using a good file naming convention whenever your students are saving their files is imperative. We recommend using - Period or Subject then Last Name/First Initial then something about the document. Examples might look like: 3GoochHCompAuthors.doc or SciGoochH_PlantGrth.xls.

Using this approach allows a teacher to sort quickly when all those files are put in their dropbox or turned in as complete. They will line up by period/subject then alphabetize by Last Name/First Initial and finally with a very abbreviated title, provide some clue as to the assignment!

Working Across Periods/Classes of the Instructional Day
One advantage to using student servers is that students can have access to their work no matter where they are in the school. For middle and high schools that means that work begun in English class can be continued while working in the library. A spreadsheet begun in Math can be tweaked anywhere that student has computer and network access in the school. Even more importantly, when a student saves their work back to their home folder on the server then it is safe from another student inadvertently deleting it while working on the same computer at a later time or another period.

//**Anytime you assign work to be done using technology you should seriously consider:**//

Using Rubrics to Keep Students on Task
Technology lessons often take more than one class period to complete. If you make the end result/student product the only item to be considered for grading students will often wait until the last

//**Then let's not forgot these tidbits to make the learning experience rich and rewarding:**//

Smart Searching
You do not have to create this lesson. There are plenty of guides that are well written already on the internet. Have a look at this excellent example: Library at Berkeley - Searching the Internet.

If you are really interested you can always research how web searches really work from a site such as: Computer How Stuff Works

Office 365 - Student email
Using student email to facilitate student work, communication, and collaboration.