Tips of the Week
Freeze Panes in Excel: In Excel: To prevent certain areas of your screen from disappearing when you scroll (Ex. your headings), click in the grey numbered area of the row below what you want to remain constant. Then, click on Window on the toolbar and select Freeze Panes.
Hide a PowerPoint Show: While presenting a PowerPoint presentation if you want to "hide" the show temporarily, click B to show a black screen or W to have a white screen. Click any key to show the presentation again.
Add a Google Filter: Did you know you can filter sites and images in Google's SafeSearch from your Google search results? No filter is 100% accurate, but SafeSearch should eliminate most inappropriate material. By going to http://www.google.com/preferences you can choose from three SafeSearch settings: Moderate, Strict or No Filtering.
Paint a Format: Have you ever used the Paintbrush Tool in Word or PowerPoint? It allows you to copy and paste formats quick and easily. Select the word(s) whose form you wish to replicate and then click the Paintbrush Tool (on the Standard Toolbar) and "paint" the format onto the word(s) whose format you want to change.
Hide PowerPoint Slides: Have you created a PowerPoint presentation that you want to show to two or more audiences, but not every slide is appropriate for all audiences? Hide slides you don't want to include in a particular presentation: Open the slide show, go to a slide you want to hide, and click Slide Show>Hide Slide. The slide is still visible in the layout you see, but when you run the show, the slide won't appear.
Switch Applications Using the Keyboard: There is an easy way to switch from one open application to another without using the mouse. Hold the ALT key down and press the TAB key. Release the ALT key when you reach the application icon you want to use. Each time you press ALT + TAB, it will move to the next open application and will continue in a circular order until you release the ALT key.
Caps Lock Alert: Ever press the Caps Lock key by mistake while you're typing? Before you knOW IT, EVERYTHING YOU TYPE IS IN ALL CAPS. To keep this key (and other lock keys, such as the Num Lock and Scroll Lock keys) from sneaking up on you in the first place, try turning on ToggleKeys.
1) Go to Settings; 2) Open the Control Panel; 3) Open Accessibility Options; 4) On the Keyboard tab, select Use Toggle Keys, then click OK. (You will need your speakers on for this trick to work, though.)
Annotate in PowerPoint: If you need to annotate on a PowerPoint slideshow and don't have an Easiteach or Interwrite tablet in your room, don't fret! You can still write and make notes on the PowerPoint using your mouse. You MUST be in full screen mode in order for this to work though.
To turn the Pointer into Pen press Control + P (if you are not in full-screen mode, you will print). To change the Pen back to the Pointer press Control + A. To Erase the on-screen annotations, press E.
Resize Excel Columns: When using Excel, save time by first typing in all the data. Then, double-click the lines between each column to automatically resize the columns to fit the data. OR If you prefer the text to wrap on multiple lines instead of stretching across the page, simply type all the required data, click Enter, and click the cell again. Then go to Format > Cells > Alignment, choose Wrap Text, and click OK.
Modify a Computer: If you have a student with visual or physical disabilities, check out the Accessibility Wizard for ideas on modifying a computer to fit your student's needs. To access this feature of Windows, click Start>Programs>Accessories>Accessibility.
Duplicate Objects: To duplicate objects in Word or PowerPoint, you could always copy and paste, but there is an easier way! 1. Select the object you want to duplicate (click on it once). 2. Press the CTRL key and hold. 3. Click your left mouse button and drag from the center of the object (you should see a small plus sign). Make sure you let the mouse go BEFORE releasing the CTRL key.
Google Directory Assistance: Tired of paying 411 fees from home or from your cell phone companies? Guess what? Google has added a free directory and connection service. Dial 1-800-goog411. Give the listing name, city and state and you will be automatically connected FOR FREE!
Disk Cleanup: Your computer likes to save webpages in memory. Because of this, these pages load faster the next time you visit. Eventually, though, those saved pages take up a lot of space. About once a month, run Disk Cleanup on your computer: Click Start>Programs> Accessories>System Tools>Disk Cleanup) to delete unnecessary Internet files.
Lock Down the Startbar: Do students move the Start bar around on your computers? Lock it down: Right-click an unused section of the Start toolbar and select "Lock the Taskbar." Because all open and minimized windows will be visible in a locked Start bar, it also prevents students from hiding programs they've opened without permission.
KickYouTube: Have you ever wanted to show a YouTube video at school, but couldn't? Have you ever tried downloading it at home only to find it still wouldn't play at school?This week's tip is taken from Tammy Worcester. She has provided instructions on how to "Kick" YouTube on her website.
Hide a PowerPoint Show: While presenting a PowerPoint presentation if you want to "hide" the show temporarily, click B to show a black screen or W to have a white screen. Click any key to show the presentation again.
Add a Google Filter: Did you know you can filter sites and images in Google's SafeSearch from your Google search results? No filter is 100% accurate, but SafeSearch should eliminate most inappropriate material. By going to http://www.google.com/preferences you can choose from three SafeSearch settings: Moderate, Strict or No Filtering.
Paint a Format: Have you ever used the Paintbrush Tool in Word or PowerPoint? It allows you to copy and paste formats quick and easily. Select the word(s) whose form you wish to replicate and then click the Paintbrush Tool (on the Standard Toolbar) and "paint" the format onto the word(s) whose format you want to change.
Hide PowerPoint Slides: Have you created a PowerPoint presentation that you want to show to two or more audiences, but not every slide is appropriate for all audiences? Hide slides you don't want to include in a particular presentation: Open the slide show, go to a slide you want to hide, and click Slide Show>Hide Slide. The slide is still visible in the layout you see, but when you run the show, the slide won't appear.
Switch Applications Using the Keyboard: There is an easy way to switch from one open application to another without using the mouse. Hold the ALT key down and press the TAB key. Release the ALT key when you reach the application icon you want to use. Each time you press ALT + TAB, it will move to the next open application and will continue in a circular order until you release the ALT key.
Caps Lock Alert: Ever press the Caps Lock key by mistake while you're typing? Before you knOW IT, EVERYTHING YOU TYPE IS IN ALL CAPS. To keep this key (and other lock keys, such as the Num Lock and Scroll Lock keys) from sneaking up on you in the first place, try turning on ToggleKeys.
1) Go to Settings; 2) Open the Control Panel; 3) Open Accessibility Options; 4) On the Keyboard tab, select Use Toggle Keys, then click OK. (You will need your speakers on for this trick to work, though.)
Annotate in PowerPoint: If you need to annotate on a PowerPoint slideshow and don't have an Easiteach or Interwrite tablet in your room, don't fret! You can still write and make notes on the PowerPoint using your mouse. You MUST be in full screen mode in order for this to work though.
To turn the Pointer into Pen press Control + P (if you are not in full-screen mode, you will print). To change the Pen back to the Pointer press Control + A. To Erase the on-screen annotations, press E.
Resize Excel Columns: When using Excel, save time by first typing in all the data. Then, double-click the lines between each column to automatically resize the columns to fit the data. OR If you prefer the text to wrap on multiple lines instead of stretching across the page, simply type all the required data, click Enter, and click the cell again. Then go to Format > Cells > Alignment, choose Wrap Text, and click OK.
Modify a Computer: If you have a student with visual or physical disabilities, check out the Accessibility Wizard for ideas on modifying a computer to fit your student's needs. To access this feature of Windows, click Start>Programs>Accessories>Accessibility.
Duplicate Objects: To duplicate objects in Word or PowerPoint, you could always copy and paste, but there is an easier way! 1. Select the object you want to duplicate (click on it once). 2. Press the CTRL key and hold. 3. Click your left mouse button and drag from the center of the object (you should see a small plus sign). Make sure you let the mouse go BEFORE releasing the CTRL key.
Google Directory Assistance: Tired of paying 411 fees from home or from your cell phone companies? Guess what? Google has added a free directory and connection service. Dial 1-800-goog411. Give the listing name, city and state and you will be automatically connected FOR FREE!
Disk Cleanup: Your computer likes to save webpages in memory. Because of this, these pages load faster the next time you visit. Eventually, though, those saved pages take up a lot of space. About once a month, run Disk Cleanup on your computer: Click Start>Programs> Accessories>System Tools>Disk Cleanup) to delete unnecessary Internet files.
Lock Down the Startbar: Do students move the Start bar around on your computers? Lock it down: Right-click an unused section of the Start toolbar and select "Lock the Taskbar." Because all open and minimized windows will be visible in a locked Start bar, it also prevents students from hiding programs they've opened without permission.
KickYouTube: Have you ever wanted to show a YouTube video at school, but couldn't? Have you ever tried downloading it at home only to find it still wouldn't play at school?This week's tip is taken from Tammy Worcester. She has provided instructions on how to "Kick" YouTube on her website.
Getting Started
1.Go to: www.youtube.com (at home)
2.Locate the desired video.
3.Play a part of the video to make sure it is working.
Loading KickYouTube
1.Move your mouse into your browsers address (URL) window.
2.Insert the word "kick" in front of "youtube" in the URL.
3.Press the Enter key.
4.When the page reloads you will see KickYouTube’s menu bar at the top of the window.
Saving (Downloading) the Video
1.Click to select the desired format and then click the "Go" button at the right side of the bar. Experiment with a short video to see which format works best on your computer. Try FLV for Windows.
2.KickYouTube will take a little time to process. When it is finished, the green "Go" button will change to a blue download button.
3.Right-click the blue download button and choose "Save link as" or "Save Target as."
4.This will open a window that will allow you to save the video to the desired location on your computer.
5.Once the video is saved, double-click to open it. It should open and play in QuickTime, FlashPlayer, Windows Media Player, or another media player application.
1.Go to: www.youtube.com (at home)
2.Locate the desired video.
3.Play a part of the video to make sure it is working.
Loading KickYouTube
1.Move your mouse into your browsers address (URL) window.
2.Insert the word "kick" in front of "youtube" in the URL.
3.Press the Enter key.
4.When the page reloads you will see KickYouTube’s menu bar at the top of the window.
Saving (Downloading) the Video
1.Click to select the desired format and then click the "Go" button at the right side of the bar. Experiment with a short video to see which format works best on your computer. Try FLV for Windows.
2.KickYouTube will take a little time to process. When it is finished, the green "Go" button will change to a blue download button.
3.Right-click the blue download button and choose "Save link as" or "Save Target as."
4.This will open a window that will allow you to save the video to the desired location on your computer.
5.Once the video is saved, double-click to open it. It should open and play in QuickTime, FlashPlayer, Windows Media Player, or another media player application.
Inserting a Video in PowerPoint
A tip to save time and make your transitions seamless is to insert a saved video into PowerPoint instead of showing it from another location.
Here are the steps: Download the video to either your computer or flash drive. When adding videos to PowerPoint, where ever you tell the computer to look for it is the only place it will look. So for example, if you saved the video on your computer and saved the PowerPoint on your flash drive to present on yet another computer, the computer is going to look for the video on the original computer. All pieces must be together so the computer knows where to look.
To import a video you have downloaded in PowerPoint, insert a new slide and then Insert>Movies and Sounds>Movie from File. Next, locate where your video is saved. When it comes in it will ask you if you want the video to play automatically or on mouse click. I like to play it on mouse click. Next, grab the corner and stretch the video proportionately to fill the screen. I also like to go to Format>Background and change the background on this one slide to black. It makes the video a little easier to see.
When you get to this slide in your presentation, you simply click on the video for it to play. The transition is seamless and you don't waste a minute loading a video to show.
Google Searching
We've all heard and used Boolean operators to search the internet, but Google has a few of its own. Try these tricks next time you really want to hone in on your search.
Use OR to create logical choices (must be in CAPS) Ex. greyhound relocation program OR programs or vacation rental St. Augustine OR Cresent Beach
Use a minus sign to show only pages WITHOUT certain words (no spaces) Ex. blue devil-football
Google ignores some common words. To force these words to be included, use the plus sign (no spaces) Ex. +in+and out
To find only pages with a set of words in a specific order, put them in quotes Ex. "and I took the road less traveled by"
Resizing Text in Easiteach
A quick and easy way to resize text in the Easiteach software without having to completely redo your settings is to select the Text Editing tool (T) on the basic toolbar. Double click on the text you want to resize. Grab the red square in the corner and drag to the size you want.
Microsoft Reference Toolbar
In Microsoft Word or PowerPoint to access the Reference Toolbar hold the Alt key down and click on any word. The Reference Toolbar opens and gives the definition of the word, as well as synonyms.
NetTrekker Update
The search engine we subscribe to, NetTrekker, went through some updates over the summer. If you haven't logged on yet this year, I urge to to look at what it has to offer. Some of the changes include a personalized home page, role based access to content, and a teacher professional learning network.
To take full advantage of the new enhancements specifically designed for teachers, it’s very important that you log in to netTrekker using your teacher login. If you’re not yet registered as a teacher and have only used NetTrekker from the student view, please see either your media specialist or email me for the Teacher Code.
Compressing a File
Do you have files that you would like to send via email, but the files are too large to send? Then you can try compressing or zipping the files to reduce the size.
To zip a file, right click the file that you wish to compress and choose Send to.
To "unzip" a file, right click the zipped file (the icon is a folder with a zipper) and select Extract All.
Gmail Tasks
Did you know you can easily convert emails into tasks? It is as simple as putting a check next to the email you want to add to your task list and under More Actions, select Add to Tasks. You can add other tasks not related to emails, set due dates and add notes, plus you can check items off as you are done. Your task list will always stay up-to-date.
Google Docs--Editing and Converting to a PDF
Did you know you can upload PDF files and then edit them in Google Docs? Once you have selected the file to upload, check the box to convert the PDF to the Google Docs format to edit before uploading. You can also convert your Word or PowerPoint documents in Google Docs to PDF files as well by clicking File>Download As (with the document open) and chosing PDF.
It’s not 100 percent accurate, but it will save a lot of the time it would take to retype it yourself.
Archiving in Gmail
Gmail gives you 8 G of storage space so you can save everything you want. While messages in your trash get deleted after 30 days, archived messages are kept forever. Archiving messages moves them out of your inbox and into "All Mail" for safekeeping, so you can search for them later. Just put a check mark by the email you need to keep and then click on Archive. Messages can be found in All Mail or by searching for them using the Search Mail field.
Google Readability Levels
Google now provides three levels of readability for its searches: basic, intermediate, and advanced. On Google's search page, click on Advanced Search and then select whichever level you want. Before leaving the advanced search page, click on the Advanced Search button in the lower right corner of the page to set this as the default. (Google's default search level is to show no levels at all.)
Windows Magnifier
Ever need to zoom in to read text on the screen or have a student who forget his glasses?
The Windows Magnifier allows you to use a section of your screen to magnify whatever your mouse is scrolling over. To access the Magnifier, click the Start > All Programs > Accessories > Accessibility> and finally click Magnifier.
A tip to save time and make your transitions seamless is to insert a saved video into PowerPoint instead of showing it from another location.
Here are the steps: Download the video to either your computer or flash drive. When adding videos to PowerPoint, where ever you tell the computer to look for it is the only place it will look. So for example, if you saved the video on your computer and saved the PowerPoint on your flash drive to present on yet another computer, the computer is going to look for the video on the original computer. All pieces must be together so the computer knows where to look.
To import a video you have downloaded in PowerPoint, insert a new slide and then Insert>Movies and Sounds>Movie from File. Next, locate where your video is saved. When it comes in it will ask you if you want the video to play automatically or on mouse click. I like to play it on mouse click. Next, grab the corner and stretch the video proportionately to fill the screen. I also like to go to Format>Background and change the background on this one slide to black. It makes the video a little easier to see.
When you get to this slide in your presentation, you simply click on the video for it to play. The transition is seamless and you don't waste a minute loading a video to show.
Google Searching
We've all heard and used Boolean operators to search the internet, but Google has a few of its own. Try these tricks next time you really want to hone in on your search.
Use OR to create logical choices (must be in CAPS) Ex. greyhound relocation program OR programs or vacation rental St. Augustine OR Cresent Beach
Use a minus sign to show only pages WITHOUT certain words (no spaces) Ex. blue devil-football
Google ignores some common words. To force these words to be included, use the plus sign (no spaces) Ex. +in+and out
To find only pages with a set of words in a specific order, put them in quotes Ex. "and I took the road less traveled by"
Resizing Text in Easiteach
A quick and easy way to resize text in the Easiteach software without having to completely redo your settings is to select the Text Editing tool (T) on the basic toolbar. Double click on the text you want to resize. Grab the red square in the corner and drag to the size you want.
Microsoft Reference Toolbar
In Microsoft Word or PowerPoint to access the Reference Toolbar hold the Alt key down and click on any word. The Reference Toolbar opens and gives the definition of the word, as well as synonyms.
NetTrekker Update
The search engine we subscribe to, NetTrekker, went through some updates over the summer. If you haven't logged on yet this year, I urge to to look at what it has to offer. Some of the changes include a personalized home page, role based access to content, and a teacher professional learning network.
To take full advantage of the new enhancements specifically designed for teachers, it’s very important that you log in to netTrekker using your teacher login. If you’re not yet registered as a teacher and have only used NetTrekker from the student view, please see either your media specialist or email me for the Teacher Code.
Compressing a File
Do you have files that you would like to send via email, but the files are too large to send? Then you can try compressing or zipping the files to reduce the size.
To zip a file, right click the file that you wish to compress and choose Send to.
To "unzip" a file, right click the zipped file (the icon is a folder with a zipper) and select Extract All.
Gmail Tasks
Did you know you can easily convert emails into tasks? It is as simple as putting a check next to the email you want to add to your task list and under More Actions, select Add to Tasks. You can add other tasks not related to emails, set due dates and add notes, plus you can check items off as you are done. Your task list will always stay up-to-date.
Google Docs--Editing and Converting to a PDF
Did you know you can upload PDF files and then edit them in Google Docs? Once you have selected the file to upload, check the box to convert the PDF to the Google Docs format to edit before uploading. You can also convert your Word or PowerPoint documents in Google Docs to PDF files as well by clicking File>Download As (with the document open) and chosing PDF.
It’s not 100 percent accurate, but it will save a lot of the time it would take to retype it yourself.
Archiving in Gmail
Gmail gives you 8 G of storage space so you can save everything you want. While messages in your trash get deleted after 30 days, archived messages are kept forever. Archiving messages moves them out of your inbox and into "All Mail" for safekeeping, so you can search for them later. Just put a check mark by the email you need to keep and then click on Archive. Messages can be found in All Mail or by searching for them using the Search Mail field.
Google Readability Levels
Google now provides three levels of readability for its searches: basic, intermediate, and advanced. On Google's search page, click on Advanced Search and then select whichever level you want. Before leaving the advanced search page, click on the Advanced Search button in the lower right corner of the page to set this as the default. (Google's default search level is to show no levels at all.)
Windows Magnifier
Ever need to zoom in to read text on the screen or have a student who forget his glasses?
The Windows Magnifier allows you to use a section of your screen to magnify whatever your mouse is scrolling over. To access the Magnifier, click the Start > All Programs > Accessories > Accessibility> and finally click Magnifier.