Teaching Tips

Teaching Tips

Google Docs– Preferred program to use for the keyboarding unit. To access Google Docs students should login to their Google Drive, click "Create", and select Docs.

Saving Documents – For accountability purposes, you may wish to have students save their work daily.

• Option 1 - Have students save their keyboarding work daily in a separate document. Document names can vary. Example: Date of lesson, Lesson Number, etc…
• Option 2 - Have students open the same document and add the new lesson to that document. Students can separate lessons within that document by keying the date or lesson number. Save initial document as Herzog or Keyboarding Lessons.

Capital Letters – The Herzog student book shows all lessons in capital letters. Therefore, you may wish to show your students the “Caps Lock” key on the keyboard during the first lesson. For consistency, allow students to key in “Caps Lock” while learning the keys in Lessons 1-6. After Lesson 6 students should be following the rules of capitalization using the “Shift Keys”.

Finger Gymnastics - Before each lesson, you may choose to have students perform finger gymnastics. This is a great way to get your students into typing mode and have a little fun.

Wall Chart – A Herzog wall chart link can be found on the "Herzog Curriculum & Handouts" webpage under the Keyboarding heading to the left. You may use this chart to introduce letters within the lesson. Reference the column number that the letter is located in by pointing to that column and the letter they are learning at the time.

Assignment Completion – Keyboarding lessons can be long for some students. Reassure your students that their goal is to type using the Herzog method to become faster and more accurate. If students do not get done with a lesson on that specific day they should not be penalized. The focus should be about learning the technique. The more practice they get at keyboarding the faster they will get. We recommend that students who are on-task but unable to complete an assignment not be required to complete it at a later time.

Typing Speed – Initially, typing speed is not the main focus of the learning process. The main goal for the student is to focus on the Herzog technique. The more practice/time on the computer typing, using this technique, the faster the student will get.

*Formula for recommended speed = grade level x 5 words per minute

Following Lines – If students are having difficulties following the typing lines on the lessons/activities have them try one of the following options:

• Place a Post-It under the line they are currently typing.
• Have a long slip of paper cut out and two paper clips. Paper clip the piece of paper under the line they are currently typing. (Colored Construction paper works great!)