computerdisc-l: inclusion and keyboard covers

["Dane Conrad" <dane@firstbaptistchurch.org>]

Hello everyone,

I have had some success teaching the keyboarding
segment of the class by using the keyboard covers.
During the 1st nine weeks several students were
scoring off the charts; however, now that we are into
the third nine weeks, their scores have not kept pace
with the chart's progression.  I have instituted one day
out of the week as keyboarding review (or a least half
a period) in order to attempt to raise their scores again.
Next year, I plan to really stress this hard during the
second nine weeks to see if I can avoid this lag.
My students seem to be like everyone else's: they balked
at the covers at first, became comfortable with them
afterwards, and then still insist on occasionally looking at
their fingers.
Special education students in my class have had varying
degrees of success. The work in the Horizons book has
really drawn a clear line between those who can read and
those who have difficulty. Reading comprehension is a concern
for our regular students, but for many of my special education
students just reading the text is a challenge in and of itself.
Many times if I can verbally explain what the instructions are
saying they can perform the task but not until then. Also,
if they have short-term memory problems, it is hard to build
a skill from day to day when they are almost relearning
everything.

Blessings,
Dane