Cool Tool to Make My Day

Today in the process of working with a 2nd grade teacher to setup a project where students can access and edit a Google Spreadsheet I came across a tool that made my day!  Turns out the tool has been around for a while but its new to me so I must share!  I found it on a Digital Learning Environments Blog post by Jim McDermott called Overcoming the email obstacle for student Google Accounts.

So what's the tool you ask?  Mailcatch.com

Why did it make my day?  As a technology integrator who works primarily with elementary students, using Web 2.0 tools that require an email address to sign up has always been an obstacle.  I've used Google Aliases before to create accounts but that didn't help me when it came to creating Google Accounts (my district does not participate in Google Apps for Education-but boy would I love it if they did!)

So in setting up the accounts and using Mailcatch.com here are some things I learned:

• See Jim's post for directions on how to create a Google Account with the Mailcatch email (which worked....some of steps were slightly different but it was close enough to figure it out!  -kudos Jim, it can be frustrating when directions are provided that don't even come close to actual steps.)

• The email address was case sensitive.  So when I tried to send an email to it to test I typed in all lowercase letters out of habit-not thinking it mattered and then waited and waited for an email that never came!  I tried again with the capitol letters where they should be and it came through immediately

•  You can't create, send emails or even forward the emails you received (not necessarily a bad thing but good to know going in!)

•  Only VERY recent emails remain in the Inbox - in fact once I left the Inbox and came back they were already gone - so make sure if you create an account using the Mailcatch.com email that you immediately go to the inbox and confirm.  Also - if you receive any emails you need to keep (like that Google verification that has a code you might need some day) - print to a PDF so you can keep a copy or write down any important information! The do provide a clipboard option where I thought I would be able to copy and paste the email into Word but in Firefox it didn't work.

• The benefits don't stop there!  Use the email address to create other classroom accounts.  I recommend to teachers that 5-6 accounts on a Web 2.0 tool for student use is a good place to start.  That way you have enough for centers or groups.  If you're feeling ambitions go ahead and make one for each student but maybe its a good ideas to make them generic i.e. TeacherNameStudentAccount1, TeacherNameStudentAccount2 etc. so you can reuse them each year instead of having to create new ones.  This is especially helpful for younger grades like 2nd or 3rd grade where you don't want to lose instructional time having students setup the accounts themselves.

Anyone else use Mailcatch.com or something similar? 

Using Word 2010

My Teacher Center Course this week focused on Microsoft Word 2010.  My district upgraded from Office 2003 to Office 2010 and I have offered this course (or slightly different versions of it) a few times this year.  I use this page on my website as our starting point and then have a list of skills in a Google Doc. During the course we go through the list of skills, practicing them hands-on.

While I don't want to spend too much time talking about Google Docs, I must admit using it for this course left me frustrated.  I love the fact that I can link the skills doc to my Word page and update the doc so visitors always have the latest info, however, I'm frustrated with my inability to make a Google Doc "pretty".  Maybe its simply because the course itself is about Word 2010, which enables you to easily make professional and appealing documents but Google Docs just doesn't seem to have the same ability, especially when printing!  

2nd & 3rd level bullets didn't print making this difficult to read!

Now I know what you are going to say....Google Docs isn't intended for online viewing but in this case the participants needed the printed copy to read and take notes on while having Word open in front of them.  (When trying to learn a new software, constantly flipping between multiple programs on screen can be difficult - even for savvy users!)  When I printed the Google Doc, none of my pictures printed (even though they appear in the print preview) and all second and third level bullets didn't print (see picture).  If you know how to help me overcome these obstacles I will forever be in your debt!

Anyway - Here are some of my favorite "tips" and features for using Word 2010:

• Templates - found Backstage (File - New) the variety and flexibility of the templates available are amazing!  My district used to buy and support a separate software program simply to make things like banners, brochures, sign etc.  The software was expensive and difficult to use, now I just show teachers the templates and immediately lose their attention for the remainder of the course!

Show/Hide Icon in Word

• Show/Hide - found on the Home Ribbon - Paragraph Group.  The icon looks like the paragraph symbol.  Turning this feature on will show you all the keystrokes in a document. Not sure how this is useful?  Have you ever gotten an email or document shared with you and it has a blank page at the end?  Chance are - enters or other characters unseen are at the bottom of the document.  Show/Hide will let you see them so you can remove them.  Its also helpful when trying to format a document.  You'll be able to see why the picture or text isn't really centered even though you've indicated to center it.  Keep in mind these characters don't print even when you see them on screen!  Simply click the icon again to turn if off and hide the characters.  Here's what the characters mean:
• Dot = a space
• Arrows = tab 
• Paragraph symbol = enter/return 

• Format Painter -  found on the Home Ribbon - Clipboard Group.  The icon looks like a paint brush and allows you to copy and paste formatting.  Think of the times you applied a font, size, color and other formatting to some text and then tried to apply the same formatting to different text but couldn't remember exactly what shade of blue you used or what size font.  Format Painter saves you time and frustration (it works great with bullets or number lists too).  
• Simply select what you would like to copy the formatting of, click on the icon once and then select what you would like to copy the formatting to.  If you want to copy the formatting to multiple things double click on the icon (just remember to click on it again to turn it off when done).

 

Test Effects Icon

• Word Art - Are you wondering where the old styles of Word Art went?  Insert Word Art by first selecting the letter style (Insert Ribbon - Text Group).  Type your text and then go to Text Effects - Transform (Drawing Tools Ribbon - Word Art Styles Group). 

Enjoy!

SMART Board Tips & Tricks

This week I had the pleasure of offering a course through the Tonawanda/Grand Island Teacher Center on SMART Board Tips & Tricks.  We covered the hardware (SMART Board, Airliner) and the software (Notebook).  I created a web page on my Teacher Page that guides visitors through skills and resources for learning more. 

In preparing for the course I learned a great trick from this video by eduTecher - Using the Magic Pen Icon, draw a circle around a section of an image and it will create a spotlight on that section.  Draw a square around a section and it zooms in!  

Very Cool Stuff!

My NYSCATE 2011 Experience

This past weekend marked my 5^th year attending the New York State Computer & Technology in Education Association’s (NYSCATE) Annual Conference.  Here’s a recap of my experiences:

Moodle for Professional Learning:

Because it just wouldn’t be right not to share!  Mrs. Molly Marren and I co-presented on how our school district uses Moodle for Professional Learning.  We provided participants with guest logins so they could explore & utilize some of the tools available in Moodle.  In addition to touring the GI Moodle and highlighting Connected & Empowered, the Huth Road Elementary experience, we shared how Moodle can facilitate multiple aspects of successful professional development including increasing Ease of Access, being Timely and Sustained, fostering Collaboration, & enabling Asynchronous learning. 

Please contact me if you are interested in the guest login information, they will be active until after the New Year.   I’ve also attached our electronic handout – Sage Advice for Using Moodle.

New Tools I Learned (& can’t wait to try with students):

• StoryJumper – free creative tool to promote literacy and writing.  The only cost is if you decide to purchase your completed story (Courtesy of @rgriffithjr)
• Animaps – allows you to create animated maps for free (Courtesy of @teach42) 
• Solar System Simulator – an interactive tool to show students how solar bodies move (Courtesy of @kevinhoneycutt) 
• Gaggle.net – free email for students – you just have to contact them to get free access!  (Courtesy of @mrshoward118)

Powerful Presentations– One of the most ground-shaking moments I had was in a presentation called “Moving towards Responsible Use”.  It was the journey of a school district near West Point that has been revising their policies to focus on the internal (responsible) approach as opposed to the external (acceptable) use of technology.  But that wasn’t the part that moved me (I’ve felt passionately about this for a while).  What got me was that in the room was the Superintendent, the Director of Technology, a principal and like 7 teachers!  They were ALL there TOGETHER sharing their beliefs, practices and experiences.  I was blown away; you could feel the collegiality in the air.  Full-scale transformation is the result when the vision is shared.  Kudos to the Highland Falls Central School District!

Engaging & Inspiring Speakers – I was only able to attend two of the conference’s keynotes (having grown up in Rochester; I use the annual conference as an opportunity to catch up with friends and family too) but WOW!  Steve Dembo & Kevin Honeycutt were attention-grabbing and enthusiastic.  They left me contemplating the past and the future but a little scared of the present.  Kevin Honeycutt’s heart-wrenching personal story was shared with clever humor that didn’t mask the reality of so many children’s lives.  While the stark contrast of Steve Dembo’s son’s digital presence brings me hope and excitement for what’s to come.   You have to check out their bodies of work!  Inspirational!

Best (paraphrased) quote of the conference for me:

Quarterbacks see the future; they throw the ball where the player is going to be.  Teachers need to be quarterbacks, throwing an education into the future a student will be in. – Kevin Honeycutt

Excuse me; I have to go work on my throwing arm….Happy Thanksgiving!

DC/PBIS Connection

Today I had the pleasure of presenting at NYSCATE's Riding the Digital Wave 2011 Conference on the Digital Citizenship/Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports connection.  My district has a long-running, successful PBIS program (The Viking Values) and we are in the process of adding the digital environment as a "location" in which respectful, responsible & safe behavior is expected.

Here's a short and sweet list of ways Grand Island CSD is connecting the two but the full presentations in included as well.  Enjoy!

• Digital Citizenship as a part of CDEP (Comprehensive District Education Plan) via Character Education
• Adding Digital Environment as a column on building PBIS matrices
• Character Trait connections - finding digital environment examples of character traits
• Technology Curriculum/Digital Citizenship Skill Graph aligned to Viking Values