Technology Updates

Greenwich Central School District
Greenwich, NY 12834

February 2006

Cheryl Record is a sixth grade teacher at GCS. Here are her thoughts on the advantages of using a Smartboard.

Oh, the amazing things that you can do with SMART Board technology in your classroom!  The SMART Board is an amazing piece of technology that has made it easier for me to create lessons that are more creative, interesting, and fun.

The SMART Board is an interactive whiteboard combined with the power of your classroom computer and a projector.  It works by projecting your computer’s image onto the interactive white board.  You control the images by simply touching the touch-sensitive screen.  This simple touch allows you to access and control all computer programs.  Interactive pens allow you to write over computer images, write notes in digital ink, and save your work to print or share later.  Built-in software and ready-made lessons make the SMART Board a user friendly tool.  With the snapshot feature, each day’s notes can be saved for absent students or students with special needs.
 

From an educator’s point of view, SMART Board presents the opportunity for students to get more actively involved in learning.  SMART Board technology tools support students as they demonstrate what they know in multiple ways.

Community Tech Workshops

A workshop entitled "Computers for Adult Beginners"  will take place on March 1, 8, 15, and 22 in the Middle Grade Computer Lab from 6:30-8:30PM.. It is free and will help the beginning user feel more comfortable and confident when using a computer. 

Each week we will explore and practice various computer skills. Participants will learn the basic parts of a computer, understand some computer “jargon”, surf the Internet more efficiently and wisely and will be introduced to some Microsoft products.   The instructor will be Maureen Edsforth . 

If you know someone who would like to attend, contact Maureen by email or at ext. 2056.

Click here to read an interesting guest editorial from the February 2006 issue of Leading & Learning with Technology. You might agree, then again maybe not. Hopefully it will inspire some conversation.

Our Technology Team

Bill Hillebrandt - Network Analyst - ext. 2234
DJ Jeffords- Microcomputer Specialist- Ext. 2287
Maureen Edsforth - Tech Integration Specialist - Ext. 2056

Report problems at: http://www.greenwichcsd.org/technology/help/Default.asp

After School Staff Opportunities

All sessions held in the MG lab from 2:40-3:20PM.
Brief and on target!
If you plan to attend or have questions,
email Maureen.

February 15 - Enhancing Curriculum with Videos from UnitedStreaming- explore videos  to enhance curriculum and increase student understanding. Each participant will leave with a list of videos appropriate to the curriculum. Grades: All levels

March 15 - Introduction to the Library of Congress Web You will be amazed at what is available here. Come to this guided tour to check it out.. Grades: All levels

Cool Word keyboard shortcuts:
Shortcut Function
Ctrl+Equal Sign Subscript the selected text
Ctrl+Shift+Plus Sign Superscript the selected text
Ctrl+A Select all text in a document
Ctrl+B Bold the selected text

Ctrl+I

Italicize the selected text
Ctrl+U Underline the selected text

Ctrl+1

Apply single-space lines to the selected text

Ctrl+2

 Apply double-space lines to the selected text
Ctrl+5 Apply 1.5-space lines to the selected text

Ctrl+C

Copy the selected text or object

Ctrl+V

Paste the selected text or object
 

Free Software

Here are several useful programs available online for free – many of which you may never have heard of, known existed or thought you needed. You can download them from the links shown or contact Bill or DJ in ‘Area 51’. They will gladly provide a CD containing all of these programs (plus more!) at no charge

OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER -- Please note that while we are offering these programs, you are on your own – as much as we’d like to see everyone have positive computing experiences at home there’s no way that we could even begin to offer that kind of support. Most of these programs have excellent help files built in and/or websites and online forums where you can get support should you run into any problems
Our arsenal of spyware and malware cleaners  – whatever one misses, one of the others usually finds and cleans, so we usually install and run all three!!

Rebooting your computer
I’m sure we’ve all been in the middle of something and reached a point where our brains felt like they were going into overload. We just had to walk away and take a break. Your computer is no different. Occasionally computers will get to a point where they need to "clear their heads". This is accomplished by simply rebooting.
  • Click Start
  • Click Shutdown
  • Select Restart from the drop down menu
  • Click OK

After a few minutes your computer will come back refreshed with a clear mind.

 

Rebooting accomplishes another task. While we push out Windows updates at night so as not to disrupt your workflow during the day, many of these updates, even though installed, require a reboot to complete.

Locking Your  Computer - Part 2

Last newsletter we explained that locking your computer when you leave your desk makes your data more secure. Here is an alternative method for Windows XP users:
  • Hold down the Windows key on the keyboard (the one with the Microsoft flag on it) and press L (for ‘lock’)

 To Unlock it:

  • Hold down Ctrl+Alt+Delete
  • Enter your password and you’re right back where you left off