Celebrate the Possibilities 2004-2005 Tech Tips
Celebrate the Possibilities 2004-2005 Tech Tips
November's Tech Tip of the Month
Using Atomic Learning
Atomic Learning is a great resource for finding video tutorials about programs and applications for your laptop. Go to www.atomiclearning.com and click on What’s New(s). Peruse the list of newly added tutorials and sign yourself up to receive their newsletter. Remember, you can access Atomic Learning at home. You can find the username and passcode in your Hardware Orientation, Productivity, ICS, or Windows XP paperwork or you can access the Puyallup School District webpage intranet (InfoWeb! intranet system (In-District only) and look under Staff & Committee Communications – Celebrate The Possibilities Newsletter, November 2004. When you access the Atomic Learning website from the Puyallup School District connection it recognizes you as a Site License User and you are not required to enter a username and passcode.
Hint: Use the 2003 Office products, not XP 2002 if you are going to investigate Microsoft’s software if using the compaq nx7010.
From Celebrate the Possibilities! November 2004. Nina Williams, Instructional Technology
December's Tech Tip of the Month
Formatting Your Word Document: Adding a Watermark
Adding a watermark to a document is a great way to display a school mascot, crest, or other professional-looking element. Here’s how:
In Word:
· Insert clip art or picture file
· Right click on the picture and choose Format Picture
· In the Format Picture window, click the Picture tab
· In the Color box under Image Control, use the blue drop-down arrow to choose Washout
· Click the Layout tab
· Under Wrapping Style choose Behind Text
· Click OK
If the image needs to be lighter or darker:
· Right click on the picture and choose Format Picture again
· Under the Picture tab, Image Control, adjust the brightness and contrast using the blue arrows
Resizing your watermark image:
· Click and hold one of the white circles in any of the four corners of the image
· Stretch or shrink by moving the mouse
From Celebrate the Possibilities! December, 2004. Nina Williams, Instructional Technology
January's Tech Tip of the Month
Headers, Footers, and Page Numbers
Headers and footers run across the tops and bottoms of documents. They provide important information for the reader, and make documents more useable and professional-looking. Here’s a brief overview of how to set up basic headers and footers.
In a Word document, use the View menu to select Header and Footer. The Header and Footer toolbar, shown below, will appear near the top of your document.
¨ Type a header or footer in the appropriate box
¨ To add a page number to either the header or footer:
® Use the mouse pointer and tab key to choose a page number placement
® Click the Insert Page Number button
The header and/or footer will appear on all pages of your document. Word will automatically number the pages of your document once you have clicked the Insert Page Number button.
For more detailed information, and to learn about more header, footer, and page number options and features, click Help on the Word menu bar, and type “headers and footers” in the Microsoft Office Online search box. Choose “Headers and footers, simple to elaborate” to link to Microsoft’s online training. This useful, interactive tutorial includes audio instructions, and is very similar to Atomic Learning.
From Celebrate the Possibilities! January, 2005. Nina Williams, Instructional Technology
March's Tech Tip of the Month
PowerPoint: Making an Auto Slide Show
It’s easy to make quick, professional-looking slide shows for your students, athletic teams, colleagues, parent events, or school assemblies. Here’s how to create one.
1. Load picture files on your computer using your SD card, fire wire, or USB device
2. Open PowerPoint
3. Go to Insert > Picture > New Photo Album
4. In the Photo Album window, click Insert picture from: File/Disk
5. Browse through and choose the pictures you’d like to include in your slide show; to select all of the pictures in a file, click Ctrl + A
6. Click Insert to load the pictures into your Power Point photo album
7. You can change the order of the pictures in your slide show by using the up and down arrows in the Format Photo Album window
8. There are lots of options to explore, such as picture layout, frame shape, design templates, text boxes, captions, and more
9. Click Create
10. To make changes to the photo album, go to the Format menu and choose Photo Album
11. Click Update to apply your changes
12. You can edit many portions of your slide show just as you would other Power Point presentations
Need more information about using PowerPoint? Log on to www.atomiclearning.com
In the Windows Tutorials section, choose PowerPoint 2003.
From Celebrate the Possibilities! March, 2005. Nina Williams, Instructional Technology
April's Tech Tip of the Month
Getting Started with Inspiration
There are hundreds of classroom applications for Inspiration. How do you get started with this versatile program? Here are a few suggestions.
1. Customize your defaults.
You may have noticed at ICS Training or other tech classes that Inspiration can be set to display many different shapes and colors; even to produce outlines in Step Up To Writing colors.
In Inspiration:
· Click Utility on the menu bar
· Choose Default Settings
· A wizard will guide you through the process and allow you to choose everything from colors to shapes to line thickness
2. Get ideas from the Inspiration Help menu
· Go to Help > Inspiration Documentation
Three helpful PDF documents:
* Getting Started: this document will guide you through the program and provide you with a comprehensive tutorial
* Template Guide: 70 templates for use in your classroom
* Symbol Guide: handy guide to find appropriate symbols
· Go to Help > Inspiration Examples to see more sample Inspiration webs
3. Online help and tutorials
· www.atomiclearning.com
· www.inspiration.com (you can link to this website by choosing Help > Inspiration Online Community when you are connected to the network or internet at home)
From Celebrate the Possibilities! April, 2005. Nina Williams, Instructional Technology
May's Tech Tip of the Month
Creating Forms using Word
You can create forms, surveys, tests, and questionnaires for electronic use with the Forms feature in Word.
· Open a Word document
· Type the body of your form
· Go to View > Toolbars > Forms to activate the Forms toolbar
· Insert your mouse pointer wherever you want to insert a form field, check box, or drop-down form field, then click the appropriate icon on the Forms toolbar
· You may also need to use the Form Field Options tool, which is to the right of the drop-down field icon, in order to modify your check boxes or insert text into your drop-down fields
· When you are finished, be sure to click the lock icon on the far right end of the toolbar to activate and protect your form
Now your form is ready for use. Students and colleagues can insert information only where you have placed form fields; none of your text can be altered unless the form is unlocked using the Forms toolbar.
From Celebrate the Possibilities! May, 2005. Nina Williams, Instructional Technology
June's Tech Tip of the Month
Making Certificates with Publisher
It’s time to get all of your year-end awards in order, and Microsoft Publisher has templates that can help you create great-looking certificates for your students.
· Open Publisher
· In the left-hand task pane, click Publications for Print
· Choose Award Certificates from the menu
· Scroll through the templates and click on a design you like
· A window may appear asking you to enter your business information. You can just close the window and go to your certificate.
All of the text on the template is displayed in individual text boxes, and is changeable, moveable, and removable. Simply click and highlight areas of text and replace them with your own words. These templates were created primarily for business use, but changing the star certificate from “certificate of appreciation” to “Star Student” or “AR Star” makes it a perfect student award. See the example below.
Keep the parts of the certificate that you like and delete the ones you don’t. You can change fonts, font sizes, colors, add borders, and insert your own clip art. One word of warning: printing documents that have colored or shaded backgrounds uses a tremendous amount of ink. Choose a certificate that has a white background to save wear and tear on your printer cartridges.
Publisher has a wide variety of templates from greeting cards to origami to newsletters. And be sure to check out the calendar templates as you’re preparing for the upcoming school year.
If you want more information about using Publisher, log on to Atomic Learning, click Windows Tutorials, and choose Publisher 2003.
From Celebrate the Possibilities! June, 2005. Nina Williams, Instructional Technology
November's Tech Tip of the Month
Using Atomic Learning
Atomic Learning is a great resource for finding video tutorials about programs and applications for your laptop. Go to www.atomiclearning.com and click on What’s New(s). Peruse the list of newly added tutorials and sign yourself up to receive their newsletter. Remember, you can access Atomic Learning at home. You can find the username and passcode in your Hardware Orientation, Productivity, ICS, or Windows XP paperwork or you can access the Puyallup School District webpage intranet (InfoWeb! intranet system (In-District only) and look under Staff & Committee Communications – Celebrate The Possibilities Newsletter, November 2004. When you access the Atomic Learning website from the Puyallup School District connection it recognizes you as a Site License User and you are not required to enter a username and passcode.
Hint: Use the 2003 Office products, not XP 2002 if you are going to investigate Microsoft’s software if using the compaq nx7010.
From Celebrate the Possibilities! November 2004. Nina Williams, Instructional Technology
December's Tech Tip of the Month
Formatting Your Word Document: Adding a Watermark
Adding a watermark to a document is a great way to display a school mascot, crest, or other professional-looking element. Here’s how:
In Word:
· Insert clip art or picture file
· Right click on the picture and choose Format Picture
· In the Format Picture window, click the Picture tab
· In the Color box under Image Control, use the blue drop-down arrow to choose Washout
· Click the Layout tab
· Under Wrapping Style choose Behind Text
· Click OK
If the image needs to be lighter or darker:
· Right click on the picture and choose Format Picture again
· Under the Picture tab, Image Control, adjust the brightness and contrast using the blue arrows
Resizing your watermark image:
· Click and hold one of the white circles in any of the four corners of the image
· Stretch or shrink by moving the mouse
From Celebrate the Possibilities! December, 2004. Nina Williams, Instructional Technology
January's Tech Tip of the Month
Headers, Footers, and Page Numbers
Headers and footers run across the tops and bottoms of documents. They provide important information for the reader, and make documents more useable and professional-looking. Here’s a brief overview of how to set up basic headers and footers.
In a Word document, use the View menu to select Header and Footer. The Header and Footer toolbar, shown below, will appear near the top of your document.
¨ Type a header or footer in the appropriate box
¨ To add a page number to either the header or footer:
® Use the mouse pointer and tab key to choose a page number placement
® Click the Insert Page Number button
The header and/or footer will appear on all pages of your document. Word will automatically number the pages of your document once you have clicked the Insert Page Number button.
For more detailed information, and to learn about more header, footer, and page number options and features, click Help on the Word menu bar, and type “headers and footers” in the Microsoft Office Online search box. Choose “Headers and footers, simple to elaborate” to link to Microsoft’s online training. This useful, interactive tutorial includes audio instructions, and is very similar to Atomic Learning.
From Celebrate the Possibilities! January, 2005. Nina Williams, Instructional Technology
March's Tech Tip of the Month
PowerPoint: Making an Auto Slide Show
It’s easy to make quick, professional-looking slide shows for your students, athletic teams, colleagues, parent events, or school assemblies. Here’s how to create one.
1. Load picture files on your computer using your SD card, fire wire, or USB device
2. Open PowerPoint
3. Go to Insert > Picture > New Photo Album
4. In the Photo Album window, click Insert picture from: File/Disk
5. Browse through and choose the pictures you’d like to include in your slide show; to select all of the pictures in a file, click Ctrl + A
6. Click Insert to load the pictures into your Power Point photo album
7. You can change the order of the pictures in your slide show by using the up and down arrows in the Format Photo Album window
8. There are lots of options to explore, such as picture layout, frame shape, design templates, text boxes, captions, and more
9. Click Create
10. To make changes to the photo album, go to the Format menu and choose Photo Album
11. Click Update to apply your changes
12. You can edit many portions of your slide show just as you would other Power Point presentations
Need more information about using PowerPoint? Log on to www.atomiclearning.com
In the Windows Tutorials section, choose PowerPoint 2003.
From Celebrate the Possibilities! March, 2005. Nina Williams, Instructional Technology
April's Tech Tip of the Month
Getting Started with Inspiration
There are hundreds of classroom applications for Inspiration. How do you get started with this versatile program? Here are a few suggestions.
1. Customize your defaults.
You may have noticed at ICS Training or other tech classes that Inspiration can be set to display many different shapes and colors; even to produce outlines in Step Up To Writing colors.
In Inspiration:
· Click Utility on the menu bar
· Choose Default Settings
· A wizard will guide you through the process and allow you to choose everything from colors to shapes to line thickness
2. Get ideas from the Inspiration Help menu
· Go to Help > Inspiration Documentation
Three helpful PDF documents:
* Getting Started: this document will guide you through the program and provide you with a comprehensive tutorial
* Template Guide: 70 templates for use in your classroom
* Symbol Guide: handy guide to find appropriate symbols
· Go to Help > Inspiration Examples to see more sample Inspiration webs
3. Online help and tutorials
· www.atomiclearning.com
· www.inspiration.com (you can link to this website by choosing Help > Inspiration Online Community when you are connected to the network or internet at home)
From Celebrate the Possibilities! April, 2005. Nina Williams, Instructional Technology
May's Tech Tip of the Month
Creating Forms using Word
You can create forms, surveys, tests, and questionnaires for electronic use with the Forms feature in Word.
· Open a Word document
· Type the body of your form
· Go to View > Toolbars > Forms to activate the Forms toolbar
· Insert your mouse pointer wherever you want to insert a form field, check box, or drop-down form field, then click the appropriate icon on the Forms toolbar
· You may also need to use the Form Field Options tool, which is to the right of the drop-down field icon, in order to modify your check boxes or insert text into your drop-down fields
· When you are finished, be sure to click the lock icon on the far right end of the toolbar to activate and protect your form
Now your form is ready for use. Students and colleagues can insert information only where you have placed form fields; none of your text can be altered unless the form is unlocked using the Forms toolbar.
From Celebrate the Possibilities! May, 2005. Nina Williams, Instructional Technology
June's Tech Tip of the Month
Making Certificates with Publisher
It’s time to get all of your year-end awards in order, and Microsoft Publisher has templates that can help you create great-looking certificates for your students.
· Open Publisher
· In the left-hand task pane, click Publications for Print
· Choose Award Certificates from the menu
· Scroll through the templates and click on a design you like
· A window may appear asking you to enter your business information. You can just close the window and go to your certificate.
All of the text on the template is displayed in individual text boxes, and is changeable, moveable, and removable. Simply click and highlight areas of text and replace them with your own words. These templates were created primarily for business use, but changing the star certificate from “certificate of appreciation” to “Star Student” or “AR Star” makes it a perfect student award. See the example below.
Keep the parts of the certificate that you like and delete the ones you don’t. You can change fonts, font sizes, colors, add borders, and insert your own clip art. One word of warning: printing documents that have colored or shaded backgrounds uses a tremendous amount of ink. Choose a certificate that has a white background to save wear and tear on your printer cartridges.
Publisher has a wide variety of templates from greeting cards to origami to newsletters. And be sure to check out the calendar templates as you’re preparing for the upcoming school year.
If you want more information about using Publisher, log on to Atomic Learning, click Windows Tutorials, and choose Publisher 2003.
From Celebrate the Possibilities! June, 2005. Nina Williams, Instructional Technology
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