Issue 33, Volume 6 May 25, 2006     Thought for the Week Education is more than filling a child with facts. It starts with posing questions. -- D.T. Max   Six Years And Still Going Strong! As we complete our sixth year of providing Tech Connect, our online electronic resource for Calcasieu Parish employees, we want to thank all of you for the support and information you have provided. Remember, all past issues of Tech Connect are archived and located at: http://www.cpsb.org/techdepartment/tech_connect We hope you enjoyed the newsletter and have found it to be a useful tool for professional development. Email tech.connect@cpsb.org. Have a great summer, CPSB Technology Department Sheryl Abshire, Administrative Coordinator of Technology sheryl.abshire@cpsb.org   Summer Reminder Regarding Your Email Account Please remember to write down and store your email and log on password in a safe place for the summer. We always have many requests upon return to school to reset passwords because they have been forgotten. Due to the large demand to create accounts for new employees at the same time, your ability to check your email may be hindered. Any email account that accumulates a large volume of email over the summer will be emptied. If you are not going to check email over the summer, you should remove your name from listservs, etc. Remember, your CPSB email account can be used throughout the summer from any Internet connected computer! To use your CPSB email account, go to www.cpsb.org and click on "Employee Email". IMPORTANT!!!!! Viewing email this way will NOT remove your mail from the server!!! Your mail box will continue to fill up. To remove items from your mail box, select the item(s) you want to delete and click the "DELETE" icon then click the "Empty Deleted Item Folder" icon. Memorial Day - May 29th Need some lesson ideas for Memorial Day?  Perhaps you just need a quick sponge activity as a filler for the end of the year. You may want to try some of these ideas... Memorial Day Poster Poem A Cluster Word Web is included in this lesson plan integrating language arts and social sciences, where students first explore why Americans have a Memorial Day holiday, and then groups will work together to create a poem. The URL: http://www.eduplace.com/activity/memorial.html Memorial Day or Summer Windcatcher These simple windcatchers are both fun and easy to create, appealing to all grades of elementary classes. You can make a patriotic version for Memorial Day or 4th of July by selecting red, white, and blue colors. Decorate in your own version of the American flag, or simply add some sparkling stars to a vibrant blue background. The URL: http://www.ghbooks.com/activity/activity.cfm?bookid=15937&page=40 Additional Sites: Internet Treasure Hunt http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson119.shtml Understanding Memorial Day http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson313.shtml Build a Wall of Peace http://www.education-world.com/a_tsl/archives/05-1/lesson019.shtml LessonPlans Page http://www.lessonplanspage.com/MemorialDay.htm MC2 Winners Announced by Region V TLTC Region V TLTC sponsored the MC2 (Making Collaborative Connections) this past year.  This is an opportunity for teachers to showcase collaborative projects that you and your students have been involved in during this school year or to become involved in a collaborative project.  Each participating classroom teacher received electronic resources and information on collaborative projects.   The participating teachers also registered to win a myriad of electronic prizes.  The winners' names have been drawn and Region V is proud to announce the winners. 1st Prize: Laptop - Delicia Mouton 2nd Prize: Projector - Linda Ferguson  3rd Prize: Digital Video Camera - Marsha Chesson 4th Prize: PALM Handheld Computer - Peggy Griffith 5th Prize: Digital Camera - Kathie Istre 6th Prize: GPS Unit - Libby Barbee A Region V representative will be in contact with the winners soon. Thanks to all of the teachers who participated and Congratulations to the winners! Win A Classroom Makeover Your student's essay could win a classroom makeover for you and your school from EXPO® Classroom Makeover Contest! Just get your students to write why “you deserve a new classroom” and everyone will win. The grand prize-winning classroom will receive a classroom makeover worth $25,000 AND the student who nominated the winner will receive $1600 worth of savings bonds! Students need to submit a 100-word essay, which will be judged on the criteria stated in the official rules, and complete the entry form online by June 1, 2006 to enter. Remember—creativity counts!  The contest is open only to students in grades 3 through 12 who are legal residents of the United States. For official rules and more information about the contest, visit the sponsor's Web site: http://www.expomarkers.com Project-Based Learning Ideas Global Schoolhouse is a fabulous resource for global project-based learning, problem-based learning, and online collaborative projects. It is a not for profit organization that has been linking classrooms since 1984. Its founders believed that in a connected world students need a global perspective, brings together youth online from 194 countries to explore community, cultural and scientific issues that prepare them for the workforce and help them to become responsible and literate global citizens. Global SchoolNet's free membership program provides project-based learning support materials, resources, activities, lessons and more. If you are interested in your students participating in a global collaboration, then this is a resource site you will want to visit: http://www.globalschoolnet.org/GSH/pr/index.cfm Quick Font Size Change  If you would like to quickly increase or decrease the text size without permanently changing it, try this trick: Hold down the CTRL key and roll the mouse’s scroll wheel away from you. This will zoom in on the text and make it appear larger. To make it smaller, hold down the CTRL key and roll the mouse scroll wheel towards you. This tip will work in most programs including Word, Excel, Internet Explorer and Outlook. Interactive Musical Fun DSOKids.com is an interactive music site for elementary kids. You will find great attention to detail; - even the light switch on the wall works. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra provides a world of musical fun and learning for students, parents and teachers. The site's mission is to provide attractive, accessible and child-friendly resources that introduce symphonic music, the orchestra and its instruments, and to encourage both adults and young people to explore the world of the symphony orchestra.  Teachers can also access a searchable database of activities.  The URL: http://www.dsokids.com Educational Activities Online    Edheads helps students learn through educational games and activities designed to meet state and national standards. EdHeads partner with various school systems in the United States, which helps them research, design and test their activities every step of the way!  Find games and activities that teach about simple machines, the weather, or virtual knee surgery.  The site also offers free in-class lesson plans. Find more fun stuff at http://edheads.org/. Set A Table Format For Entire Word Document    Let's say that you're writing a 20-page Microsoft Word document and you want all 10 tables in your document to look the same. Once you find a style that you like, you'll use the Table AutoFormat feature to apply it to your first table. With Word 2000, you would have to do the same for all 10 tables; however, with Word XP or Word 2003, you could save yourself a few mouse clicks by setting the style as the default for all new tables in your document. To do so, follow these steps: 1. Go to Table | Table AutoFormat. 2. Select the table style and special formats you want to use. 3. Click the Default button 4. Click OK. Word will automatically apply the style to every new table you create in your document. Navigating The Microsoft Internet Explorer Address Bar When you need to modify a URL in the Microsoft Internet Explorer Address Bar, it is easy to make a mistake because it's usually difficult to see well when the Address Bar width is narrow. Therefore, you may want to enlarge it. If you click in the Address Bar and then press the Home key on the keyboard, the cursor will move to the start of the address line. You can then press the Ctrl + Right arrow keys to move the cursor to the next break in the URL, such as the forward slash (/), a comma, a period, a dash, etc.) to fine-tune the address text. TeleCollaborate Are you interested in your students collaborating in a global project, but you are not quite sure how to get started? This link provides information about the steps to designing your own collaborative project. The site provides project planning ideas and links to lots of ideas for projects, as well as ongoing online collaborations.  Get started on your ideas for collaboration projects for next year.  Find out how at the following web address: http://nschubert.home.mchsi.com/education/index.html What's In A SPAM? Spam is one of those things that nobody wants, but probably has plenty of.  If there is anyone out there unfamiliar with spam, we are not talking about the luncheon meat, but the unsolicited junk e-mail that clogs our inboxes. And, in case you are curious, according to some sources, the junk mail version of spam earned its name from a Monty Python skit regarding the luncheon meat of the same name. So, what is considered SPAM? It can actually come in many forms. The most common electronic Spam is unsolicited or undesired bulk electronic messages, such as email spam or unsolicited emails with advertisements. There is also messaging spam (instant messenger spam) and forum spam (pointless topics or advertisements). You can find out more and how you can protect yourself against electronic Spam at the following site: http://www.geeks.com/techtips/2005/techtips-JUN30-05.htm Story Arts/Theatre Online This site addresses storytelling in the classroom. Story Arts is a cultural arts organization founded by storyteller/author Heather Forest. The site focuses on the ancient art of storytelling and the diverse ways that storytelling can enrich multi-cultural understanding, interpersonal communication, and literacy. Storytelling audio recordings, storytelling books, and teacher study guide materials are made available on the site. There are sections that contain stories that you can use, contacts and forums, and a newsletter.  Of course, lesson plans and curriculum connections are also available, as well as a story arts theatre.  The URL: http://www.storyarts.org/ Automatic Numbering For Quizzes Sometimes an automatic number isn’t the only thing you need at the start of a paragraph. For instance, when creating quizzes and tests for your students, you may need to include a standard underline space before the numbers in a numbered list to include an “answer area” for each question. (Example:  _____ 1. This is the question) One way to accomplish this is to change the way that Word handles automatic numbering. To include a standard underline space before numbers in a numbered list, follow these steps: 1. Type all your questions without any numbers or underlines at the beginning of them. 2. Select all the questions. 3. Choose Bullets and Numbering from the Formats menu. Word displays the Bullets and Numbering dialog box. 4. Make sure the Numbered tab is selected. 5. From the gallery of available numbering formats, click on one that you don't use that often. (Since you will be changing the way the numbering format works, you probably don’t want to select one that you use often). 6. Click the Customize button. Word displays the Customize Numbered List dialog box. 7. In the Number Format box, put the insertion point before the number. 8. Type four or five underscores, followed by a space. (You should end up with the underscores, a space, the number 1, and a period.) 9. Click OK. The customized numbering, with the leading underlines, is applied to the questions you selected in step 2. Further, if you add any questions in the middle of the list, the question numbering is automatically adjusted. The drawback to this approach is that you cannot have the underline left-justified and the number right-justified at the same time; however, for most uses this won't be a significant drawback. Do Try This At Home! Genetic Science Learning Center features animations and activities for learning about DNA, cells, and other topics in genetics and bioscience. Build a DNA molecule. Transcribe and translate a gene. See why a firefly's tail glows. Use DNA evidence to solve a mystery. Extract DNA from wheat germ and see real DNA. Find out how genetics are being used to save endangered species. Learn about stem cells, addiction, gene therapy, cloning, and genetically modified food. Find activities to do at home or in the classroom, as well as additional teacher resources and lesson plans. Check all of this out at http://gslc.genetics.utah.edu/. Stock Market Simulation Have you ever wondered what all those numbers work in the global market on the stock exchange? Did you ever want to try your hand at "playing the market" without any risk? The Global Stock Game is designed for individuals and teachers who want to learn/teach about the stock market. It's free to join and there are many lesson plans and other resources to learn about this somewhat intimidating world.  Sign up and start using your $100,000 fantasy portfolio. Teachers may want to create groups to spark a little competition. The site has an entire lesson portfolio to get your class to be stock experts.  The URL: http://investsmart.coe.uga.edu/ Student Awards It would be great to send each and every student home with an achievement certificate at the end of the school year, but you may have feel challenged to create some of your awards. Find an extensive list of web sites with ideas to help you out below: http://www.dyetub.com/certificates/ http://www.senteacher.org/wk/certificates.php http://www.billybear4kids.com/show/awards/Online/AwardMaker.html http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/awardmaker/index.tem http://teachers.teach-nology.com/web_tools/certificates/ OfficeScan Pattern Update The latest OfficeScan pattern as of 5-25-2006 is pattern 3.451.00.  Please check your pattern by placing your cursor over the OfficeScan icon and viewing the pop-up window that appears.  If your pattern is significantly lower from this one (A HIGHER PATTERN NUMBER IS OK), Please email tech.help@cpsb.org regarding this or any other question you have regarding OfficeScan. Best on the Net!! -- Visit this site for hundreds of websites for teachers! We would love to hear from you about the best educational sites you have found on the web. Please submit, via email, the sites you feel merit inclusion. Send to tech.connect@cpsb.org. Please include the URL and a short sentence about the site.  Featured Sites: (These sites were submitted by teachers in Calcasieu Parish) Exploring The Renaissance http://www.learner.org/exhibits/renaissance/index.html What conditions set the stage for the incredible period of human history known as the Renaissance? What roles did exploration, trade, printing, art, medicine, and politics all play as Europe emerged from the late Middle Ages? Take a trip through the Renaissance with this online interactive exhibit to explore the merging of many influences in this important time period. Summer Crafts And Activities http://mailjust4me.com/play/summer1.htm If you're running a summer school session, you will have to plan ahead to keep your students' interest levels high during those warm, sunny days. Here are some suggestions, including Nature Scavenger Hunts, a Friendship Day, recommended reading lists just for summer, indoor summer gardens, games, and more. The Digital Scoop http://www.thedigitalscoop.com/ Do you have trouble finding technology-integrated lessons? This site, created by a computer teacher, has great links to lesson plans and resources that are all technology related. It also has tech tips, fun ideas, web hunts, and lots more. An official publication of the CPSB Technology Department If you have any questions or comments please e-mail the Tech Connect. For Technical Support:  tech.help@cpsb.org Calcasieu Parish Homepage  Technology Department  Teacher Link  Best on the Net Tech Guides  Computer Purchasing Information  Tech Connect Archive