Technology Tips and Tricks
Each Thursday the technology teachers at Wilmette Junior High Send out Three Technology Tips, Tricks or Resources. Here is a compilation of them so that you can refer back to them if you wish. Please let one of the tech teachers know if you're interested in using any of the resources with your class and you would like some assistance with it.
September 17, 2009
Welcome to WJHS's first edition of Tech Thursday Three (T3) for the 2009-2010 school year! Enjoy!!!
1. Unblocking Sites
If you need a site unblocked (except YouTube...sorry), please email Justin Wagner (wagnerj@wilmette39.org) and Adam Denenberg (denenbea@wilmette39.org) as soon as possible. NOTE: Beth and I do not have access to unblocking sites.
2. The Universal Record Database (http://urdb.org)
URDB is an open, participatory database for world records. This would be a great activity for any curricular area! Some examples of world records that people have come up with are: Most People Standing In A Hula Hoop With A Cat, Longest Distance To Throw A Saran Wrapped Cupcake, Most Times Saying "Obama" In 15 Seconds, and Most Dancers Wearing Fake Mustaches In A Can-Can Line. Get creative...this could be a great homeroom activity!
3. Google Fast Flip (http://fastflip.googlelabs.com)
Fast Flip is a new reading experience that combines the best elements of print and online articles. Like a print magazine, Fast Flip lets you browse sequentially through bundles of recent news, headlines and popular topics, as well as feeds from individual top publishers. As the name suggests, flipping through content is very fast, so you can quickly look through a lot of pages until you find something interesting. At the same time, Google provides aggregation and searchs over many top newspapers and magazines.
September 25, 2008
Welcome to this school year's first weekly Technology Thursday Three (T3)! For you new teachers, this is simply a list of 3 technology resources we share every Thursday that you may want to use with your students, for your own productivity, or in some cases just for fun! So, without further ado, here is this week's T3!
1. http://freetech4teachers.blogspot.com
This is a review of free technology resources and how teachers can use them. It includes lots of ideas for technology integration in education.
2. http://www.curriculumbits.com
Curriculum Bits offers FREE online access to interactive multimedia elearning resources. The online resource library contains games, quizzes, animations and videos in a variety of subject areas.
3. http://www.studio4learning.tv
Studio 4 Networks provides educational video programming online in all subject areas.
Happy Thursday, everyone, and have a great weekend!
May 22, 2008
Good morning, WJHS. Only 10 more days of school and counting! Have a great 3-day weekend, and wIthout further ado, here is today's T3:
1. Educational Technology Summer Workshops (http://summerworkshops.wetpaint.com)
Illinois Computing Educators is offering a ton of great educational technology workshops this summer. I encourage you to take a look; there is something for everyone!
2. Discover Education - $30 Coupon! (http://tinyurl.com/3glzq4)
The best part about this coupon is there is no minimum amount you have to spend, although I am pretty sure you still have to pay for shipping. The Discover Education store has a ton of great resources for all curricular areas.
3. Games With a Purpose (http://www.gwap.com)
This is a game site that is supposed to make the "world become a better place." Well, I'm not so sure about that, but the games are addicting, and I even thing some of them are really good for getting kids to think "outside the box." Have fun, but don't call me at 2AM when you can't stop playing!! :-)
May 8, 2008
Today's T3 will focus on time-lining in the classroom. There are several online tools which allow students (and staff) to create timelines for various purposes. Some ideas include:
1. Teachers can create a timeline for a project and post it on their website.
2. Students can create a timeline based on a book they have read.
3. The uses of timelines in social studies are endless!
4. Science? Try having students develop a timeline for a certain period of time, such as the ice age.
5. Writing autobiographies in writing? Do your prewriting by creating a timeline! Or, use it for a prewriting stage for your research papers!
The best part about these tools is that most of them are collaborative, so students (and teachers!) can work on them together from across the street to across the world. If you are interested in using any of these tools, please contact one of the Beths, and we will be delighted to help out! I have included some more academic samples of timelines that may give you some ideas on how to use them with your students.
1. Dipity - http://www.dipity.com
- http://www.dipity.com/user/mvbergman/timeline/Peirce_Charles_S
- http://www.dipity.com/user/jnathan/timeline/Autism
- http://www.dipity.com/user/kd333/timeline/Amelia_Earhart
2. circaVie- http://www.circavie.com
- http://www.circavie.com/timelines/ea8b8840-a289-5be3-a37e-61d95f98b4de (JFK Bio)
- http://www.circavie.com/timelines/f851350a-bdaf-59e2-a5bb-5fa9b12da1dc (Autobiographical timeline)
- http://www.circavie.com/timelines/b478b678-f2b2-52d6-8fc3-9ce3474c26f4 (Cute 5th grade class project)
3. xtimeline - http://www.xtimeline.com (At the time I am writing this, xtimeline is down. If you can not see the actual timeline, please click the "event list" link for more info.)
- http://www.xtimeline.com/timeline/History-of-Jerusalem
- http://www.xtimeline.com/timeline/History-of-the-Internet
- http://www.xtimeline.com/timeline/Famous-Mathematicians-1
April 24, 2008
1. Subscribe to our school calendar using iCal
If you are using iCal as your calendar you can add the WJHS school calendar to it so you don't have to go google docs every time you want to see the calendar. It's very easy to do.
• Click on this link:
webcal://www.google.com/calendar/ical/andrewsj%40wilmette39.org/private-2a2c00c2f57e86f254dbe411de9af1d4/basic.ics
• Click the subscribe button:
• If you don't want to see the calendar all the time you can uncheck the box in front of it and check it again when you want to see the events.
2. Edublog awards: Here is a site that allows people to vote for the best education blogs. Here is a link to the winners this year. If you click on the nominees you will find a ton of useful resources.
http://edublogawards.com/
3. Accent marks using keyboard short cuts.
If your students need to make accent marks on the computer when word processing Tara Vlasic gave her students this worksheet to help them make the marks. Feel free to use this when necessary.
April 17, 2008
1. Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day - I read his blog daily. The post that really struck me was his reaction to an article (linked in the post) called Whose Problem is Poverty. The post can be found here: http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2008/04/16/whose-problem-is-poverty. Reading this article reminded me of just how fortunate our students are, and it puts a lot of things into perspective.
2. Cool Cat Teacher Blog - This blog is put out by a high school teacher named Vicki Davis. Hers is another blog I read daily...she has some GREAT ideas for technology integration, and always manages to find out about great tools before everyone else! She is extremely tech savvy; however, her blog is geared for the classroom teacher. http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com. Take a look at her latest post called Sites That Caught My Eye Today: http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2008/04/sites-that-caught-my-eye-today-04172008.html
3. Teach 42 - Steve Dembo has been a Tech Director and Kindergarten teacher in Illinois, and is now working for Discovery Education. He's done it all! His blog is excellent. His latest post, How Can I Cheat on the Test? Let Me Count the Ways... I'm sure will "hit home" for many of you: http://www.teach42.com/2008/04/02/how-can-i-cheat-on-the-test-let-me-count-the-ways. His main blog can be found at http://www.teach42.com.
April 9, 2008
1. This web site is tracking where the olympic torch is traveling to in Google Maps. Something cool to maybe share with your students.
http://maps.google.com/help/maps/torchrelay/
2. Word Auto Correct
Some students have found it funny to change words in auto correct in word to inappropriate words. For example every time a student types in the word the it automatically changes it to (insert inappropriate word here).
To change it back you can go to:
• Tools- autocorrect
• You will then see a list of the auto corrected words
• scroll down to find the inappropriate word
• Highlight it and press the delete key
You can turn off auto correct in preferences but be warned most of your students know how to turn it back on. Remember monitoring the kids is the best way to prevent these kinds of things from happening.
3. Writing Web Sites: Here are a few web sites that some of you could find interesting. These are sites that supply supplemental materials for teachers, a place where students can submit writing and a place to listen to other students writing samples.
http://www.thewritesource.com/
http://www.merlynspen.org/
http://www.stonesoup.com/teachers/
April 3, 2008
1. As some of you probably know, April is National Poetry Month! Thanks to Jodi Macauley for sharing this website describing various traditional, non-traditional, and some "just plain made up" poetry formats. http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/types.html
2. April is also Autism Awareness Month. Positively Autism is a great eMagazine with links, lessons and other resources for working with children who have autism. http://www.positivelyautism.com
3. And finally, April is National Mathematics Education Month! Here is a very cool math game site, and it's not even blocked! http://www.mathplayground.com
March 13, 2008
1. 30 Digital Cameras for checkout
We have recently purchased a class set of digital cameras. If you would like to use these with your class just email Teri or Raul. They would be great for a field trip, projects in your classroom, or for any project that requires digital images.
2. 30 Memory Stick Readers
Have you done a project with digital cameras and can't find a cord to download a picture? We have purchased 30 new memory stick readers to download pictures. They look just like flash drives and are easy to use. If you would like to borrow one please see the front desk in the LMC.
3. Del.icio.us- This is a site that allows people to save their bookmarks and organize them online. You can also share your bookmarks with other people. This is a great way to share online resources. You also don't have to worry about being on your computer- you can access bookmarks from any internet connected computers.
You can check out our del.icio.us accounts at:
Beth Cummo http://del.icio.us/cummob
Beth Burke http://del.icio.us/pollockburke
Teri Hennessey http://del.icio.us/hennesst
To get started on your own online account go to: http://del.icio.us/
click on sign in. Feel free to add us to your network.
March 6, 2008
1. http://classtools.net (no registration required)
2. http://www.teach-ict.com (must register)
3. http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/powerpoint/games.html (Use PowerPoint to create games)
February 21, 2008
This week we are looking at online digital photography resources.
1. Copyright free images:
If you're students or you are looking for a place for copyright free images here are some sites to start at:
http://creativecommons.org/image
http://pics4learning.com/
http://flickrcc.bluemountains.net/
2. Online cropping and editing sites:
http://snipshot.com/
http://www.splashup.com/
3. Digital storytelling:
http://scrapblog.com
This site will allow you to upload images and create scrapbook pages to tell a story. They can add shapes, speech bubbles, backgrounds, and anything else that a real scrapbook page would have. If you're interested in using this with your class please let us know!
Here is an example of a travel scrapbook. This is made by a person who is sharing on scrapblog.
http://www.scrapblog.com/viewer/viewer.aspx?sbId=91072
February 14, 2008
1. What is a wiki?: A wiki is simply a website that anyone can edit. It usually does not look as "fancy" as a regular website, but it allows people to collaborate to produce documents and compile information, whether they are sitting next to each other or are thousands of miles away! It means "quick" in Hawaiian for the quick and easy way anyone can edit a wiki site.
2. Sample wikis: Take a look and see how educators are using wikis at http://educationalwikis.wikispaces.com/Examples+of+educational+wikis
3. The WJHS wiki!: We started slowly with using a wiki at WJHS. At first it was used solely as an equipment sign-up tool. We have added a new function to our wiki; it is now a place to post projects, ideas, and resources. Please take a look at this new section of our wiki at http://wilmette39.pbwiki.com. The password to edit the wiki is wjhs. Please feel free to add your own pages, links, etc. Beth and Beth are MORE than happy to help with this. It seems scary at first, but it's very simple to do. And remember...THERE ARE NO STUPID QUESTIONS, so please ask for help.
February 7, 2008
1. DVD playing tips:
Remember to press the video button on your DVD player or TV or remote to play your DVD.
"90% of the time this is the problem when teachers call the LMC with problems playing a movie." Raul Babolea
2. Yellowstone Web Cam:
Yellowstone national park has launched a live streaming webcam focused on the Old Faithful area.
This site also has tons of other interesting videos and info.
Just go to: www.nps.gov/yell and go to "Photos and Multimedia"
3. This is not necessarily a tech thing but sounds like a great opportunity for someone.
National Geographic Kids magazine is sponsoring a "Hands on Explorer Challenge" 15 kids ages 9-14 and 2 teachers will win an 11 day expedition to Australia.
For more info go to kids.nationalgeographic.com/contests/Explorer-trip-2008
January 31, 2008
1. What is media streaming?
Streaming is a technology for playing audio and/or video files (either live or pre-recorded) directly from a server without having to download the file (similar to YouTube). The products were are reviewing own some of their content, and other content they provide is offered via contractual agreements from educational companies such as PBS, A&E, National Geographic, etc. They have various levels of permissions to download and edit (i.e. use in student projects) the content depending on the contract they have with partnering companies. Once again, if you have questions, please ask them.
2. Learn360
- Go to http://learn360.com/PassThrough.aspx?PassKeyCode=84baa5fd-2154
- Create your account
- Explore and play!
- Use with your students! Generic student login info is: username: wjhsstudent password: wjhs (students have full access at home and at school)
- Instructions & Tutorials: http://www.learn360.com/HelpCenter.aspx
3. unitedstreaming
- Go to http://www.discoveryeducation.com
- Enter the registration code: CB78-99DD
- Create your account
- Explore and play!
- There is no student trial for this - this is more of a teacher-driven product (students will NOT have access at home)
- Instructions and Tutorials: http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/professionalDevelopment/InteractiveTraining.cfm
January 24, 2008
1. Online Safety: Our students face many different problems growing up in an online world that we ever had to. This site address the issues they face, has some great tips for online safety and some interesting stories.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/
2. Google for Educators: Google has put together a space where educators can post ideas and projects. They are downloadable and ready to use.
http://www.google.com/educators/index.html
3. Language arts wiki: Jenny Rosene and the language arts teachers have started to share projects and ideas on their very own wiki. If you don't what a wiki is it's basically a web site that can be modified by all of it's users instead of just one person.
You can see their wiki at: http://wjhslanguagearts.pbwiki.com/
January 17, 2008
Below are THREE sets of THREE YouTube alternatives. PLEASE NOTE: I can NOT vouch for many of these sites, as I have not had enough time to thoroughly evaluate them. So, before using them with your students, be sure to review the content. If you feel any of these should be blocked but are not, please let me know. And, don't forget, if you want to show a YouTube video in class, you can always download it as a QuickTime movie at home using http://converttube.com.
1. Veoh - http://www.veoh.com
2. Blip.tv - http://www.blip.tv
3. Google Video - http://video.google.com (Google Video publishes content that is approved by its staff...I'm hoping the district doesn't block this too!)
January 10, 2008
1. Songza (http://songza.com) - Songza lets you listen to search for and listen to ANY song. You can not download the music, but you can listen to it online.
2. Pagebull (http://www.pagebull.com) - Pagebull is a visual search engine. Instead of text, your search results are presented as large thumbnails. VERY cool!
3. KidsClick (http://www.kidsclick.org) - Internet search tool FOR kids BY librarians.
December 13, 2007
1. Converting Files: http://zamzar.com/
You'll notice more and more of your students will be coming in with .docx files. This is the new word extension. But we cannot open these files at school. In order to open them at school you can upload them to this site to convert them to .doc files.
The web site will then convert your file and email you a link to download them.
You can also use this site to convert youtube videos and any other files you need to convert. I've used it a lot already this school year and have shown some kids how to use it as well.
2. BrainPOP: http://www.brainpop.com/
Here are some exciting videos you might choose to use in your classroom for the month of December.
Remember our log in for brainpop is user name: wjhswolves password: wjhs
♦ December 10: The Nobel Prize is awarded in five categories on this day. Watch our Nobel Prize movie this week to learn about these medals and the people who established them!
♦ December 15: This Bill of Rights Day, watch our Bill of Rights movie and celebrate the rights we have as Americans!
♦ December 17: Ludwig van Beethoven was one of the greatest composers of all time. On his birthday, don't miss our movie about him!
♦ December 18: On International Migrants Day, watch our Immigration movie!
Celebrate the winter holidays of Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and New Year's with our Winter Holidays and New Year's movies!
3. Shopping online this holiday season?
Save your reciepts in an organized and easy manner. After you purchase something online go to file- print
Go to the bottom left corner and hit PDF- Save PDF to Web Receipts Folder.
This will automatically create a folder in your documents folder that you can store any receipts from online shopping.
December 6, 2007
1. Snipurl.com - http://snipurl.com: Use this to make LOOOOOOOONG web addresses shorter. For example, if you need a good house to TP, why send out this HUGE link (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=512+Radcliff+Cir,+Deerfield,+IL+60015,+USA&sa=X&oi=map&ct=title), when you can just send out this link: http://snipurl.com/palzet
2. Jukepix.com - http://www.jukepix.com: This is probably NOT a resource you'd use with kids, but here's a fun way to work with photos. Just put the face in one of their templates, and have fun. Here's an example:
3. ConvertTube.com - http://www.converttube.com: This tool allows you to download YouTube videos into QuickTime movies. Students can put them in their presentations or iMovies, or if you are sharing a video in class you might want to download it ahead of time in case the network is down. Just be sure that any use of the videos are cited, no differently than pictures downloaded from online. It's as easy as 1, 2, 3!
1. Paste the web address of the YouTube video where is says URL.
2. Select the "Mac (.mov)" radio button.
3. Click the "Convert and Download" button.
November 29, 2007
1. Google Books:http://books.google.com/bkshp?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tab=wp
Or go to google and click on the more pull down menu
Google has added a ton of different resources to their site. One of them is google books. This allows you to find electronic versions (full or modified) of a ton of books. If you're looking for an excerpt from a book or a full version of a book go here and do a search and you'll be shocked how many you can find online. This might be good for students who constantly are losing their books or a way to preview a book before buying it.
2. Podcasts:
Want to know what the different types of podcasts are?
There are three different kinds of podcasts:
• regular podcast- this includes audio only (most radio stations create this kind)
• enhanced podcast- this includes audio and pictures (this is the kind that our kids are used to creating)
• vodcast (or video podcast)- this includes audio and video (a good way to create a how to project)
If you're interested in creating one but aren't sure how I'm attaching some Quickstart guides for you and please email me or Beth Burke and we would love to meet with you and help!
3. Subscribe to Apple Podcast of the Week: (this is a vodcast)
Apple has a vodcast of the week that you can subscribe to that teaches you a cool tip . It's a great way to learn tips and tricks that you might not know. The podcasts are only about a minute long.
To subscribe to this podcast go here: http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcasts.html
At the bottom of the page there are a few podcasts to subscribe to click on Apple Quick Tips. This podcasts will then be downloaded to your iTunes account under podcasts. You can choose to subscribe automatically to this or read the topics and just download the ones you're interested in.
November 15, 2007
Several of you have asked about some good clipart sites for teachers. And others are confused as to why you are unable to use Microsoft's online clipart. Please see below for some great clipart resources. Enjoy!
1. Awesome Clipart for Educators! - http://www.awesomeclipartforeducators.com
2. Discovery Education Clipart for Educators - http://school.discoveryeducation.com/clipart
3. Adding clipart from the Microsoft Gallery Online - Please see attached QuickStart Guide for instructions.
November 8, 2007
1. Emailing the entire staff has never been easier. You never have to ask a secretary again to send a message for you. Just type in WJHS-list@wilmette39.org in the to field of your message and it will go out to the entire WJHS staff.
You can also add this to your address book so that you won't forget it.
2. Need a new Graphic Organizer?
Visit http://gotoscience.com/Graphic_Organizers.html
This is a great site that allows you to download in word or pdf many different graphic organizers.
3. Shared Printers vs. Appletalk Printers
When adding a new printer to your list make sure you are adding an appletalk printer as opposed to a shared printer.
If you add a shared printer this means that someone in the school is sharing the printers on their computer and when you print you are actually going through their computer before it goes to the printer.
You can check if you are one of the people accidentally sharing your printers (which could make your computer VERY slow) by going to your system preferences- sharing and making sure printer sharing is unchecked.
November 1, 2007
1. There are so many "funky" holidays in November, that this T3 will be "as easy as pie." This Saturday (November 3) is National Cliché Day! Take a look at some different clichés at http://www.clichesite.com. Share some common (or obscure) clichés with your students and see if they can figure out what they mean or how they originated. You can search by keyword to find clichés in your subject area. Do you teach a foreign language? Have your students translate clichés into whatever language they are studying. Incidentally, November 8 is National Abet and Aid Punsters Day: http://www.imgag.com/product/full/ap/3032703. Dave Palzet…this holiday is for you!!!) Consider sharing some classroom-appropriate puns (http://www.punoftheday.com) and then your students come up with their own puns as they relate to you subject area.
2. The week November 12-18 is Random Acts of Kindness Week, and November 13 is World Kindness Day. Visit http://www.actsofkindness.org for lessons and ideas on how to encourage kindness in your classroom and throughout the school. Why not encourage your students to perform one random act of kindness and write a poem or journal entry about it and how it felt? Or, have your class brainstorm a list of possible acts of kindness that they could do. Whatever your subject area, you can’t go wrong teaching your students about kindness.
3. November is National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month (http://www.ihs.gov/PublicAffairs/Heritage/index.cfm). Visit Education World’s web page on the subject for some lesson ideas: http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson209.shtml.
Bonus Resource – Today is National Men Make Dinner Day! So, gentlemen, get off your butts and cook up some grub! (http://www.menmakedinnerday.com)
October 25, 2007
1. Free Halloween Fonts: (Laura Markle you might like this one!)
http://halloweenfonts.com
Spice up your handouts, newsletters or web sites with these free Halloween fonts.
To download:
1. Click on the font you'd like to use.
2. When the download manager opens up click save to disk.
3. Open the downloaded .zip file.
4. The font will show up on your desktop.
5. Double click the .ttf file.
6. Click install font.
** You may need to restart the computer before the new font shows up in different programs.
2. History of Halloween:
Share with your students the history of Halloween, spooky recipes and watch some creepy video clips at:
http://www.history.com/minisites/halloween
3. Social Atlas Sites:
Most people are familiar with Google Maps and other similar tools that allow you to see a street map of a place you are looking for. With the rise of sites like MySpace.com mapping has taken on a new twist. These sites allow a person to add digital push-pins that link a personal description to of a location. Anyone can peruse this info online, but typically you need to be a registered user to add any content.
http://www.wayfaring.com/
http://www.platial.com/splash
http://plazes.com/
http://www.flagr.com/
October 18, 2007
1. History Channel’s “This Day in History”: You don't need to be a Social Studies teacher to make use of the History Channel's "This Day in History" website (http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do). Select the day, and take it from there.
2. Cross-Curricular "This Day in History" Ideas: Consider what happened today, October 18, in history…
· Author Terry McMillan was born. WRITING/READING TEACHERS…consider going to Google Books (http://books.google.com) and looking up Terry McMillan. You can read part of her short story “Why I Write” with your students (found at http://snipurl.com/mcmillan). Or, perhaps read an excerpt of her biography.
· SCIENCE TEACHERS…did you know that Edison died on October 18? Today would be a good day to discuss some of his inventions and how they have affected our lives.
· Even you MATH TEACHERS can use this tool! Exactly 140 years ago today, the US purchased what is today known as Alaska from Russia. Have them figure out how much we paid per square mile, or they can make a chart comparing the cost of this territory versus other territories purchased by the US.
· WORLD LANGUAGE TEACHERS...you can have your students summarize (in whatever language you teach) an event that happened on this date in history.
3. Some “This Day in History” fun!
· It was 46 years ago today when the movie version of West Side Story debuted. Enjoy a clip from the movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8R9GiLImSw and even share it with your students.
· Also, 81 years ago today Chuck Berry was born! Bring in some Chuck Berry tunes for your students to enjoy. Don’t have any Chuck Berry? Use the MP3 search engine Skreemr (http://skreemr.com) to find some online.
October 11, 2007
1. Are you having students present in your classroom?
Check out a wireless presenter from the LMC and allow your students (or you) to feel like they are a professional presenter. This device has a UBS connection that plugs into your computer and a handheld device that advances slides and has a laser pointer.
2. Want to learn how to use a new program and see short video clips on how to do a specific task?
Check out atomiclearning.com
Our district has a subscription to this site:
user name: wilmette
password: wps
There are thousand of video clips that show you exactly how to do complete a specific task. There are videos on powergrade, iMovie, iDVD, iCal, Word, Powerpoint, Keynote, Garageband, Excel, iTunes, Mail, Address Book and many more...
3. Want to get away?
Kayak http://www.kayak.com/ is a great site when looking for flights. It searches tons of web sites and combines the results so that you can find the best deal out there.
Octber 4th, 2007
1. Screen Capture - Take a snapshot of your computer screen and insert it as an image in any document (aka "Print Screen"). To do this, use the keyboard combination Apple-Shift-3. It will create a file on your desktop called "Picture 1.png" (or Picture 2.png, Picture 3.png, etc., depending on how many "screenshots" you have taken.) Here is an example of a screen capture:
2. Create a PDF - You can create a PDF out of anything you can print (document, web page, presentation, spreadsheet, etc.). Do to this, go to File->Print. On the bottom left hand side of the print window, you will see "PDF" with an arrow. Click and select "Save as PDF," then browse to where you want to save it (Desktop, Documents folder, whatever), give it a name, and click "Save." That's it!
3. Show Desktop - Have you ever been working with a bunch of windows open, but you need to get to a file on your desktop? Don't waste time minimizing all those windows. Just press one key...the F11 key!
September 27th, 2007
Mail Tips:
1. Organizing Messages:
To create new folders to store the email messages you would like to save:
a. Click on the plus sign at the bottom left corner of your screen.
b. Name your mailbox and choose on my mac
c. Drag any messages you would like to keep from your inbox to the correct folder
This is a great way to organize without cluttering up your inbox.
2. Old e-mail addresses that are driving you crazy...
If you have different people's names pop up when you start to write a message and they are people you no longer want to appear (last year's parents, changed email addresses) you can get rid of these in two simple steps:
a. Go to window- click on previous recipients
b. Delete the names you no longer want
*Sort by last used by clicking on the last used tab at the top
(you don't have to do this steps but it will group them so it's easier to see when was the last time you emailed someone)
3. Personalizing Your Mail Preferences:
If you go to Mail- Preferences you have a lot of options to personalize your settings.
General Tab: Change how often your mail is checked, what sound is made when you get new mail and where your downloads go from your messages.
Accounts Tab:
If you click on Mailbox Behavior you can change how long your mail is in your trash or sent boxes and when you erase junk mail.
Fonts and Colors Tab:
Allows you to change the font type and size of all of the text in your messages.
Signatures Tab:
This allows you to create a signature that is added to the bottom of any message that you write. This is a great place to put your name, teaching position, school, email address and phone number.
Just click the plus sign at the bottom of the second column to create one.
September 20th, 2007
1. F.R.E.E. - Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (http://free.ed.gov) - Well, the federal government is actually good for something! More than 1,500 federally supported teaching and learning resources are included from dozens of federal agencies. And, new sites are added weekly, so if you have a news reader (or news aggregator), you can subscribe to the RSS feed at http://www.ed.gov/free/free-rss.xml for regular updates. (Never heard of an RSS feed or news aggregator? Want to find out? Be sure to submit your staff development requests to Beth and/or Beth.)
2. FREE Jeopardy Game Template (http://eee.uci.edu/help/ppt/advanced/templates/jeopardy.ppt) - Just download this template and fill in the blanks with your own content. Then get an LCD projector, and you have a fun and engaging quiz or test review for your students. Plus, it's a great way to integrate technology in a "one computer classroom" while the labs are being used for testing. Or put it in your network handout folder and have kids create their own Jeopardy games! (Here's another version that's a little easier to use and has less categories: http://www.elainefitzgerald.com/Jeopardy1Template.ppt)
3. FREE Books from Paperback Swap (http://www.paperbackswap.com) - This is probably one that is more for personal use, but it's a great way to get free books. In order to receive free books, you must post your own books that you want to get rid of. You receive credits for each book you post, and then you get to use those credits for FREE books!
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