I'll Never Make a Career Out of My WPM Skills...

Well... I did not need this Tech lesson to face the fact that I will never excel in a career that requires a better than average WPM score. Maybe it is because I never played the free games and typing lessons online ??

Tonight, I chose to play a game called "Bubbles" it was beginner level and you typed in one letter as it floated to the top... Simple enough.. Now I'm ready for something a little more advanced... I chose to play a Pacman knockoff game. It was more fun than I expected for a typing game but challenged my speed.The great thing about the previously mentioned games it that it allows you to chose the focus of keys whether that be numbers, lower case letters, upper case, or a combination.

I took a typing lesson on the site www.typingstudy.com to practice the home row keys (since I never exactly use a home "base", this wasn't a bad idea). I thought this was really helpful because the screen highlighted the finger that was to do the work. Perfect lesson for a beginner.  Now, I am ready for the ultimate typing test. I did better than expected and I do believe it was testing words rather than random letters. 35 correct words out of 39. I will stop while I am ahead.

The Mac OS

I have been using a computer since I can remember... however, never made the switch to a mac. PC has been my thing since the beginning. So, to say the least, this quick tutorial into the Mac world has been a little overwhelming. I have watched several orientation videos and learned quite a bit! It's still a bit surprising how different the basic functions are on these computers. I have discovered basic navgation and understanding. I really love the text option to setup on your computer. For example, I could type "NS" and hit enter and "Natalie Shope" would appear! What a time saver! I learned that stacks have more icons than sometimes appear and with the click of the mouse you can find them all. I really like the new thesaurus. I am a big fan of leaving a dictionary.com window open at all times... these little function seems to be just what I need!

First Blog

Hello All! This is my first blog! :) As a way to understand the blogging world I just read Curt Bonks latest blog and found it very insightful. Great suggestions for being a great teacher. It was aimed for college students but basic ideas could be adapted to fit any level. I discovered a second great blogger, Judy O'Connell, and she was very interactive. Her blogs included links, videos and pictures. I enjoyed the extra visuals to go along with her story.