Introduction to Keyboarding and Word Processing gives 6th graders the opportunity to explore a series of self-paced exercises to improve their typing speed, accuracy and - just as important to scholars - endurance. We will spend up to 20-25 minutes at the start of class on what I call 'typing fitness'.

The remaining 45-50 minutes of the 70 minute (every other day) class, we will introduce students to Microsoft Word, first with how it is similar to Google Docs, later with the ways that MS Word offers much greater capabilities.

We also have students complete a digital wellness mini-course. As parents know, management of and respect for private personal information is as much a 21st century life skill as literacy and numeracy.

Finally, while we introduce students to the classical typing style, modern research has found that the two best contributors to improved typing fitness are practicing good posture and hand position, and practicing ever more challenging key combinations on a training platform such as EduTyping.