Walters World Parent Page

Welcome Parents
Please check this page quarterly for updates!

NOTICE: Mrs. Walters is serving this year as Technology Facilitator at WMMS, and does not have students using this site. She has received requests to leave the teacher site online as an example for teachers who wish to develop their own site. It will not be maintained on a weekly basis.

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Parents,

We're having a great semester! Whether your child is taking the beginning computer course - Keyboarding/Computer Literacy, the intermediate course that will prepare them for the NC Computer Skills test that will be taken in 8th grade - Business Computer Technology, Level One, or the advanced class - Business Computer Technology, Level Two, I hope that you child is growing in his/her computer skills and is enjoying the process!

The BCT - 1 and Keyboarding classes will have a standardized test, also known as the VoCATS Exam, on May 21. Because of the large amount of new vocabulary that the students have and will learn, they often find the test difficult. To help our children prepare for this comprehensive "exam", a majority of our tests come from the VoCATS test bank. Each test is announced several days in advance. In addition to class review, the children are given an opportunity to do online self-tests (see the QuizLab log-in on our class home page.) Students can take the online tests as many times as they wish. With each incorrect answer, they will be given immediate feedback with the correct answer on the next slide. If you would like to keep up with our testing schedule, just check the appropriate class assignment web-page which is updated weekly. Also, please encourage advance studying to ensure success - during the weeks prior to a test, handouts are distributed and notes are given!

My goal is that each child is challenged and encouraged to reach his/her computer potential. Please feel free to contact me with questions, concerns. I typically check messages at the start and finish of each school day. Just click the e-mail icon on this page to send a note now.

Following this note you will find specific ideas about how to help your child succeed in computer class, along with important course information.

(Mrs.) Diane Walters
dwalters@wcpss.net
919-676-5019

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How to Help Your Child Succeed
in Middle School Computer Classes and
Important Course Information for Parents

Keyboarding
Keyboarding is a motor skill. It is a matter of training fingers to respond correctly and quickly to press the correct key -- kind of like in athletics where you keep doing it over and over again until it becomes habit. Years of research have been done on the correct way to teach these skills. This research found the drills dealing with key combinations are most effective. These drills not only develop these motor skills in the quickest way possible, but also develop those skills so they won't be lost. You can see now that there is a reason for those "fff fjf jfj jjj" drills that you may have taken part in from the past. Thankfully, these drills are much more fun on the computer than they were when you and I were learning to type. At West Millbrook, your child will practice keying using the MicroType software package.

Much of the first nine weeks is focused on learning proper finger positions and technique, so that keyboarding becomes "second nature." There is less focus during this start-up period on speed; however, because we have so much to cover in this 18 week course, we must maintain a steady and moderately quick pace. MANY students may find the pace too fast unless they practice keyboarding regularly at home. There are links on my homepage to a keyboarding website on which your child can practice, or you may find it more practical to purchase one of the fairly inexpensive keyboarding programs at a local computer store.

By the end of the first nine weeks, each child should be able to type using all of the alphabetic keys and a majority of the top row number/symbol keys. At this point, the average student will be typing 18-20 words a minute or better, corrected. By the end of the semester, a vast majority of the students will type between 28-35 words per minute! A few "nimble-fingered" students will be typing 60+ words per minute. :-)

Business Computer Technology (BCT) - Level 1
In BCT, students will become proficient in the most commonly used business applications which will be tested on the 8th Grade Computer Skills Test. Students will gain a deeper understanding of computer hardware, software, and computer ethics, also covered on the 8th grade skills test.

If you work in a profession that uses spreadsheets, databases, or word processing documents as a regular part of doing business, I encourage you to talk with your child about how these applications are used, and possibly expose him or her to some of your work files as a way of amphasizing the validity of learning the various applications.

Business Computer Technology (BCT) - Level 2
Students who did well in BCT - 1 will love the creative challenge offered in BCT - 2. In this project-based course, students will explore various careers. One assignment that students will work on throughout the semester will be to create an imaginary business. Using several computer applications, they will create and design documents for that business. Through their imaginary business, they will also learn basic entrepreneurial skills, along with financial and marketing concepts.

Make-up Work
Absences from school should be kept to a minimum as short-cut formatting features are presented everyday in all classes, and finding time to complete assignments may be difficult. If it is necessary for your child to be away from school, it is best to make arrangements to complete make-up work before school. Our class opens each morning from 7:50 - 8:10 for make-up and tutoring time. If your child is unable to arrive early, he/she will need to schedule make-up time with me in advance, as frequently I have afternoon meetings, etc.

Special Help Available
In addition to your time in the classroom, "Special Help and Catch Up" sessions are held each morning from 7:50 until the first bell rings at 8:10. I'm more than willing to help your child over any computer hurdles that develop during the semester.

VoCATS Exam
Both Keyboarding and BCT, Level 1 have become standardized for all North Carolina middle schools. There are a LARGE number of objectives that students in both courses are expected to learn over the course of one semester. At the end of the semester, they will be required to take a standardized comprehensive exam, commonly called the VoCATS exam, written by the NC Department of Public Instruction. It will test EVERYTHING in the guidelines which they have developed. Generally, these exams are your child's first experience with comprehensive tests; therefore, I will encourage and help your child to be organized by maintaining a notebook throughout the semester.