Issue 2

Thought for the Week
Our Microsoft Exchange Server 2000 (mail.cpsb.org) is now processing over 500,000 emails daily!!!!
--Wendell Christian

Want/Need FIVE Computers in Your Classroom.....Apply NOW!

I-TEC³ Classroom Grants for 2002-2003 are Announced...

Implementing a Technology-Enriched Curriculum³
A Project of the Calcasieu Parish School System Technology Department

You have the expertise, your students need the access, but how are you going to get five computers in your classroom - connected to the Internet with a LCD projector to display work, etc??? Well, short of winning the lottery, the next best way is to apply for the Calcasieu Parish Technology Department I-TEC³ Grant. Fill out the application, cross your fingers and wait to be called to say you WON!!!
Visit this web link http://www.cpsb.org/resources/itec/application.doc and print out the application, NOW! Don't wait, the applications must be received no later than September 24. Winners will be announced on October 1, 2002.

TUITION EXEMPTION IS AVAILABLE!!
REGISTER NOW--LIMITED NUMBER OF SEATS AVAILABLE

Region V: TLTC Online Course:
Curriculum Enhancement with Technology
September 6-November 19, 2002

The Region V Teaching, Learning, and Technology Center will be offering an online professional development course entitled, “Curriculum Enhancement with Technology.” The course will begin with a mandatory "Face to Face" session with an introduction to the Blackboard online course shell on Wednesday, August 28 from 4 pm-6:30 pm at the Calcasieu Parish Technology Training Center: Lab A and Lab B. The following 10 weeks (September 6-November 19) will be devoted entirely to participating in the online course using Blackboard accessible via the Internet. All participants MUST have an active email address, access to the Internet and PowerPoint software. Participants will receive three hours of college credit from Louisiana Tech that can be counted towards your plus 30. Regular tuition for the course is $289.00 in addition to a $20.00 application fee and tuition exemption covers $216.94 . Therefore, participants will only have to pay $92.06.
Please see the application form, course syllabus, and course calendar.
Selection Criteria/Requirements to participate: All participants MUST have an active email account, access to the Internet, and PowerPoint software. All participants must complete all assignments by November 15 to receive college credit. If you are selected to participate in this course, you will be notified via email on Monday, August 26, 2002. For further information, feel free to contact Kim Leblanc, kim.leblanc@cpsb.org or Pam Nicholson, pam.nicholson@cpsb.org or call 337.437.1244. Hurry!!! Deadline to submit a request to participate is noon on Friday, August 23, 2002.

TNT⁴ -- Sign Up Now to Attend and Present

Share your expertise with your colleagues and sign up NOW to present a short 50 minute session or hands on workshop at the TNT⁴ Institute, Saturday, September 21, 2002 from 8:00am - 3:00 pm at the Calcasieu Parish Technology Center and Reynaud Middle School. Share an innovative idea used in your classroom or perhaps some tech tips and tricks that work for you....maybe share some neat websites that make your life and teaching easier or just talk about how you use technology in your classroom or office and share some of your student's work....Whatever you have to share.....WE NEED YOU!!! Visit the TNT⁴ website www.cpsb.org/tnt and click on "Call for Presenters" and sign-up now to present a session! Registration information is also located at this site.

Classes for Administrators and Office Staff - REGISTER NOW!

Region V TLTC is offering the following courses:

9/5/2002 9:00 A.M.-11:00 A.M. Region V Lab B
Introduction to Microsoft Office Word XP
Participants will learn the basics for creating and revising documents using Word XP. Topics covered include: creating a document, editing and formatting text, adding tables, word shortcuts, displaying and printing options, and new features in XP.

9/19/2002 9:00 AM- 11:00 AM Region V Lab B
Introduction to Web Design
Participants in this session will learn the basics of creating web pages with Microsoft Frontpage 2002.

Register for these classes: http://www.cpsb.org/scripts/regionvclasses/courses.asp
For questions e-mail: kim.leblanc@cpsb.org

Find What You Are Looking For On CPSB.ORG

On the new CPSB homepage there is a dialog box that has Google to the left and Search CPSB to the right. This new feature allows you to search for items you want to look for in only our website instead of the whole Internet. As you may have noticed, searching the whole web tends to produce an unmanageable amount of information, when you may be looking for something that applies mainly to our local school system.

Replace Annoying Sounds

Are there certain system or program sounds that you want to get rid of or replace with your preferred sounds? For example, if you frequently start and exit certain programs with "welcome sounds," you may want to disable such sounds to create a more silent environment. Go to the Control Panel ("Start | Settings | Control Panel" menu item), Double click on "Sounds" icon, Scroll through the list of event sounds and select the program and the related event that you want to modify, Use controls at the bottom to disable (set sound name to "None") or select a different sound, Click "OK" and close the Control Panel before testing the event sound.

Setting up a Filter in Outlook Express

To set up a filter, open Outlook Express and go to your Inbox. Select a message that you would like to filter from now on. From the Message menu, select "Create Rule From Message." Under "1. Select the Conditions for your rule," choose whether you would like to filter based on who is sending you the email, what the subject line says, or any of the other options available. Under "2. Select the Actions for your rule." choose what you would like the program to do with the email. For example, you can move it to a folder you've created, or automatically forward it to someone else. Under "3. Rule Description," fill in the missing information by clicking on the information underlined and in blue. Then type in a name for your rule. You can add and delete filters as you like.

Edit Screen Shots with Photo Editor

Microsoft Photo Editor enables you to crop or edit a screen shot prior to pasting it into your Office document. To edit a screen shot with Photo Editor:

First, capture your screen shot by pressing the PRINT SCREEN button. (To capture the active window only, press ALT+PRINT SCREEN.)
On your Windows desktop, click the Start button, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Office Tools, and then click Microsoft Photo Editor.
On the Edit menu, click Paste as New Image.
To select only a portion of your screen shot (the portion you want to copy to your Office document), click Select on the Standard toolbar, and then drag your mouse pointer over the area you want to select.
On the Edit menu, click Copy.
Open the document you want to copy the selection into.
On the Edit menu, click Paste.

To format the image: Right-click the image and then click Format Picture. In the Format Picture dialog box, choose the formatting options you want. Click OK.

Tech Support Center Updates

New Tech Help Site
The Tech Support Center and Help Desk are moving towards a new intranet site dedicated to offering computer assistance. The new URL for this site is http://help.cpsb.org and this site will become a one-stop place for obtaining any kind of technology help during the coming school year.

New Windows XP Setup Handout
There are many new computers coming into the school system with Windows XP installed on the computer. Because Windows XP is more advanced than Windows 95/98, there are more considerations involved in how the computers are setup. Many of Windows XP computers in the district are currently being setup incorrectly in regard to user accounts, security levels and network connectivity. We are getting an increasing number of incidents at the Tech Support Center involving problems that could be prevented during the initial setup.

In order to help people with installing new computers with Windows XP correctly, the CPSB Help Desk has a Windows XP setup guide available online. This handout gives step by step instructions on how to answer the Windows XP setup questions and how to manage your user and security settings. We are asking that if you get a new computer with Windows XP or know someone that does, please obtain and follow the handout to ensure that the computer is setup correctly. There is also a checklist on the guide to assist you during the setup process.

You may obtain the Windows XP Setup Guide from the CPSB Tech Support Center Website at http://help.cpsb.org. Click on the “Tech Guides” menu item and then click on the “Windows XP Setup Guide” link. The handout is in the Adobe Acrobat PDF format so you will need Acrobat viewer installed on your computer to view or print the handout.

Microsoft Word 2000 Tip - Fit Multiple Pages on One Page

Short on paper? You can have Word 2000 print 2, 4, or more pages of your document on one sheet of paper. To try this trick, choose the "File" menu and select "Print". On the "Print" dialog box that appears, head to the bottom-right section of the window labeled "Zoom". Click the "Pages per sheet" pulldown and select how many pages that you want printed on one sheet of paper. Note that, especially if you want to print more than six pages per sheet of paper, your printer needs to handle 600 dpi or better.

Sizing Microsoft Internet Explorer New Windows

To open a new window from a link in Microsoft Internet Explorer, you hold down the Shift key while you click the link. By default, this new page will not open maximized. However, you can open a new window this way and then close your original window. Now, stretch the new window to the size you want to the full size of your screen. Then close the second window. From this point on, a new window opened by holding Shift while you click a link should open to full screen.

Attention Math Teachers -- Dealing With Fractions

Microsoft Word deals with fractions in a strange way. If you type "1/2", it changes to ½, but if you type "2/3", it remains 2/3. Not only is that not consistent form (which by definition is bad form), but the poor neglected fractions look unprofessional. The solution isn't straightforward, but there is a simple way to get around this problem. First, go to "Tools" and then "AutoCorrect". Select the "AutoFormat" tab. Now uncheck "Fractions 1/2 with Fraction character ½." This will stop Word from changing the format of some fractions and not others. Next, decide how you want to make fractions. You can use a complicated system of subscript and superscript letters, or you can use the fraction maker: While in a Word document, hit "Ctrl" + "F9". You should get some bold braces highlighted in gray. While inside these braces, type (without the quotes) "eq \f(x,y)" where x is the numerator and y is the denominator. Hit "Shift" + "F9" while inside the braces and it will change the equation into a nice fraction. If you don't type the formula correctly, you'll get an error message. Try it again. Now that you have your nice fraction, you can use Word AutoCorrect to autocorrect it every time by following these steps: Highlight your new fraction. Go to "Tools" and then "AutoCorrect". Your new fraction should be in the "Replace With" field. Add your fraction (x/y) into the field to be replaced.

Top Ten Viruses Found on CPSB Computers

Here are the top ten viruses found on CPSB computers over the last 7 days. The stats are based on 81 infected computers out of a total of 1585 OfficeScan clients online during the summer.

The information shows the name of the virus, the number of infected files found, and the percentage of the virus from the total. ALL school board employees need to ensure that their Dell, Compaq, HP, IBM or other PC classroom computers stay virus free. Go to the following link to download the district copy of OfficeScan: http://teacherlink.cpsb.org/officescan and your computer will automatically be updated daily to scan for the latest viruses. You must install the software using Internet Explorer 4.0 or later (Netscape will not work!!!!!) Please answer "Yes" to all prompts as the software installs. If you have any questions, please contact the CPSB Help Desk at tech.help@cpsb.org.

Best on the Net!! NEW FEATURE!! -- 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)

Teachnet: http://www.teachnet.com/
--> This website has a large variety of lesson plans for all grade level and classroom management ideas. You can download the lessons or post your own. There is a Conference Board for sharing with other teachers or you can sign up to receive daily e-mails from other teachers. There is also Postcard Exchange for sharing and posting projects to communicate with other classes. Prek-12

techLEARNING.com: http://www.techlearning.com/content/about/tl_current.html
--> Needing up-to-date information about what is going on in the field of technology and learning? The Technology & Learning Network encompasses Technology & Learning magazine, techlearning.com, and Technology & Learning Events. It provides online, conference and print information for administrators, technology professionals and teachers about technology trends, new products, news, and funding sources for technology programs.

An official publication of the CPSB Technology Department
If you have any questions or comments please e-mail the Webmaster.
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