Thought for the Week
"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it." --Edith Wharton

The Calcasieu Parish Technology Department is pleased to welcome you back for the beginning of the 2001 -2002 school year. With this issue of Tech Connect we begin the second year of providing an electronic newsletter focused on providing each employee in our district with the technology support they need. We believe this weekly publication will play a key role in our continuing efforts to assist each employee in our school system in acquiring the technological skills they need to fulfill their job requirements. As you log on each Thursday morning you can expect to find waiting in your email inbox the latest in "technology happenings" in our district and current "tips and tricks" to improve your technology skills. We hope you will join us in celebrating the numerous successes we have in technology by emailing tech.connect@cpsb.org any information you would like to share with our colleagues in the district. Please share any suggestions you have for improving the format or information contained in Tech Connect and let us know what will help you in your specific job assignment. We will attempt to include your suggestions in our future issues.

As you begin the 2001 - 2002 school year we wish you the best of luck and please do not hesitate to let the Technology Department know how we might better meet your needs.

Sheryl Abshire, Administrative Coordinator of Technology

TNT3 Conference

Mark your calendars!!!  It's time again for the annual Teaching and Technology Institute.  It will be held on Saturday, September 29, 2001 from 8:00am to 3:00pm at the Calcasieu Parish Technology Center and Reynaud Middle School.  This conference is geared toward everyone with an interest in educational technology. This is a great professional development opportunity.  Many of you are implementing great technology integrated projects in your school...share these with us by registering to be a presenter! Conference cost is $20.00 (Lunch is included).   Make checks payable to: Region V LACUE/TNT Conference at mail to:  CPSB Technology Training Center, 600 S. Shattuck St., Lake Charles, LA 70601 For more information, visit the TNT3 website: www.cpsb.org/tnt3

The Registry is a very important part of Windows. It is a place where Windows stores information about hardware and software installed on your computer. Whenever you add or remove a device, install a new software product, change a device settings, modify options for a program - all these changes (and others, too) are written by Windows into the Registry.

Physically, the Registry consists of a number of files. To backup the Registry, you must backup its key files. The following two files are the core components of the Registry; they are always present in the Windows folder (usually, C:\Windows):

System.dat -- contains mostly information about the hardware configuration of the computer.

User.dat -- contains mostly information about the software installed on the computer.

In addition, if user profiles are enabled, the user-specific parts of the Registry are stored in separate User.dat files, one per user. (These files are usually located in folders C:\Windows\Profiles\user_name.) Whenever a user logs on the system, Windows restores the specific settings for this user by merging the user-specific User.dat file with the generic User.dat file.

It is important to backup the Registry before making any significant changes to your system. You can backup the Registry by making copies of the files mentioned above. If you need to restore the Registry, replace its existing files with the copies you have saved during backup. You can manually perform these operations, after rebooting Windows in the command prompt mode, or you may wish to use our free Simple Registry Backup/Restore Utility, available for free download from our web site: http://www.winability.com/free/

From deep space studies to "Star Trek," the GRIN (Great Images in NASA) web site presents a wonderful photo collection related to air and space exploration. Peer into the heart of the Crab Nebula in Deep Space Studies. Enjoy celestial fireworks observed from that cosmic magnifying glass, the Hubble Telescope. View pictures of famous flyers such as Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, and the cast of the original "Star Trek" in the VIPs and People at NASA/NACA  section. Most of these photos are copyright-free, so you can add a slice of space history on your own web site too.

http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/

To truly measure achievement, grading practices should reflect student differences and individual growth. Who you teach should shape how you teach because who the students are shapes how they learn. Aiming for excellence means that students will sometimes "fail." And from those "failures," teachers must find a way to improve instruction and appropriate grading practices. Students must know that their teacher teaches for success..........building the environment for academic excellence.

Several ideas to consider when grading for success include:

• Grade for success in the same way that you teach and assess for success.
• Grade the student's work on the basis of clearly delineated criteria for quality work on that task.
• Give students consistent, meaningful feedback that clarifies for them present successes and the next learning steps.
• Look for growth patterns over time.
• Show individual growth and relative standing to both the student and his/her parents.

"Being the best you can be" is an attainable goal for every student as long as both teaching and assessment allow for maximum individual growth.

Recently, this ‘instant shutdown’ tip was featured in the Lake Charles American Press. It is a great shortcut for your desktop. Normally, to shut down your computer, you must click four times (Programs, Shut down, Shut down, and finally Shut down). With this shortcut, you are one doubleclick away from shutting down your computer.

To create the shortcut, follow these steps:

• Right click on your desktop. In the popup menu, select  ‘new’ then ‘shortcut’.

• In the command line type: C:\windows\rundll.exe user.exe,exitwindows Note: make sure there is a space between exe and user and no space after the comma.

• Click ‘next’. In the command line, type: instant shutdown.

• Click finish.

A new icon will be displayed on your desktop. If you failed to type ‘instant shutdown’ or any other title, Windows will name the icon ‘rundll.exe’ as a default.

You can change the name of the icon by right clicking, select ‘rename’ from the popup menu, then type the desired title.

When you are ready to shutdown, close any open programs then click on your new ‘instant shutdown’ icon.

Featured Sites: (These sites were submitted by teachers in Calcasieu Parish)

Back to School Themes at ChildFun.com: http://www.childfun.com/themes/school.shtml
--> This site contains some ideas for back to school.

BACK TO SCHOOL SCRAPBOOK PAGES:
http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/scrapbook1.html
-->Use these layouts and suggestions to create colorful school journals or enhance your "All About Me" student projects.

TIME CAPSULE:
http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/capsule.html
-->One of the best collaborative projects in those early days back to school is to create a class time capsule. Simple instructions here can be easily adjusted to make this project adaptable to virtually any grade level; decide as a class what would be memorable to include in your capsule.