COMPUTING

About the Instructor
Betsy Janis teaches the computer classes for Red Cloud Elementary and Middle School. Betsy was born and raised in New Mexico, and came to Pine Ridge in 1974. She is married to Arlen Janis, and they have 3 children and 4 grandchildren. Betsy attended college at Oglala Lakota College, where she earned her bachelor's degree in Elementary Education. She taught 3rd grade for 9 years prior to becoming a computer teacher. Her father sparked her interest in computers, and has inspired her over the last 6 years.

Curriculum

• Grades 1-3 learn to use the computers through activities done in the Kid-Pix program.
• Keyboarding begins in grade 3, and continues throughout the 8th grade.
• The students in the 4th grade have been learning about the internet and how to use it to find information that they need.
• The 5th graders have just completed a unit using the HyperStudio program, and will soon learn word processing.
• In grades 5-8 the students work with their applications as employees of fictional organizations, to give meaning to their work.
• The 6th graders are also working with word processing.
• The 7th graders learned about spreadsheets and chart-making.
• The 8th graders are working with publishing software to assist them in creating and producing their own invitations for graduation.