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Issue 9, Volume 7
Octo
ber 12, 2006
Thought for the Week
Genius is one per cent inspiration, ninety-nine per cent perspiration.
-- Thomas A. Edison
Featured Blackboard Site
T. S. Cooley Elementary
The featured Blackboard site was created by Kristen Orndoff, a 5th grade teacher at T. S. Cooley Elementary. Mrs. Orndoff created the site to serve as a resource for all 5th grade students as well as a communication resource with parents. Visit Mrs. Orndoff's site.
NCCRESt Art Contest 2007
The National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems (NCCRESt) invites K-12 students and adults to submit artworks on the subject of the impact of race, class, and culture in our schools. The grand prize is $300 and a trip for two to Washington, D.C.; submissions are due October 31. For more information visit www.nccrest.org/events/events/art_contest.html.
Bringing Closure to Your Programs
What is the reason for closing all programs before shutting down the computer? What happens if this is not done?
When you properly Exit or Quit a program, it will be given the opportunity to close correctly by putting data away where it is intended. Many programs need to save information before they close. Some programs create temporary files and will delete them when you exit the program correctly. Incorrectly closing applications will allow these temporary files to hang around on your hard drive and can cause the program associated with them to cause you problems.
In some programs, you can change the settings to do certain tasks when you exit the program. For example, in Outlook, the Deleted Items folder can be emptied when you close the program. In Internet Explorer, all temporary files can be removed when you exit.
To set Outlook to delete the contents of the Deleted Items folder, click Tools on the menu and then Options and finally the Other tab. Click to place a checkmark next to Empty the Deleted Items folder on exit. Click the OK button.
To remove all temporary files when you exit Internet Explorer, click Tools on the menu and then Internet Options. Click the Advanced tab at the top. In the Settings choices, scroll down to the Security section. Click to place a checkmark next to Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed. Click the OK button and life just became better.
Attention Teachers – Apply Now $$$ for your classroom!
For more than 10 years and with over $2.5 million in awarded grants, the ING Unsung Heroes award program has proved to be an A+ program for educators. The program’s “alumni” have inspired success in the classroom and impacted countless numbers of students.
Applications for the 2007 Awards are now available - the application deadline is April 30, 2007. For more information visit: http://www.ing-usa.com/us/aboutING/communityconnections/ineducation/unsungheroes/index.htm
Looking for a Great Math Project? Check out Geodesic Clubhouse!
This site offers an opportunity to participate and share ideas and creations examining and building geodesic domes. Geodesic domes are made of interlocking geometric shapes--often triangles. Because loads are spread over many triangles, these domes are especially strong. Often made of aluminum bars and Plexiglas; they’re also light compared to ordinary domes.
Geodesic domes were popularized by an American inventor named Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983). Look for the distinctive Bucky-ball shape in museums, greenhouses, alternative housing, and science centers. Vancouver’s Science World is a 47-metre tall geodesic dome made of 766 triangles. This is suitable for 5th-12th grade students. Find out more about "Dome Talk" at the following web address: http://www.yesmag.bc.ca/projects/geodesicBW.html
Tech Support Footprints
If you have ever had a tech support issue, than you may have heard of Footprints. Footprints has become a vital tool in supporting the District with its technology needs. We are all familiar with the process of emailing tech.help@cpsb.org for our technical issues, but what actually happens in the Footprints system? This is a brief overview of how the system operates.
An issue can be created two ways with Footprints: (1) by sending an email to tech.help or, (2) accessing the Footprints system and creating an issue. When the issue is created, it is assigned a ticket number by the system and a response email is sent to the contact person verifying the issue has been received and is put in line for support. The ticket is then handle according to priority, then by first come-first serve.
At this time of the year, registration issues are handled first, since you need to have the necessary security privileges to utilize your computers. You receive an email on your issue every time something changes with the issue, whether it gets assigned to another person, or changes status. All of this information can be accessed in the email itself. You can also track the issue within the system itself as well as track other tickets that you have created. To do this, simply access the system using your CPSB credentials (email name and password) from the webpage http://help.cpsb.org and clicking Help Desk. The system is very user-friendly and has help available from within the help links. The system keeps records on all tickets that were put through the Footprints ticketing system.
