Computers in Elementary Schools

The Computers in Elementary Schools document was introduced and distributed during the September CIESC meeting. It divides computer skills into five strands: Computer Operation, Multimedia, Writing and Publishing, Research/Information Literacy and Curriculum Support. Your CAIT would like some feedback into how you and/or your school has implemented this document in an actual classroom situation. Your CAIT is willing to assist you and your students in acquiring the appropriate computer skills.

Social Studies CD-ROM

Last year teachers received a CD of Science and Technology web sites. The web sites were conveniently organized into grade levels and strands. Many teachers said this was a useful resource and asked if there were similar CDs for other subjects. In response to this request, a project began last spring for appropriate Social Studies, History and Geography web sites. The Social Studies CD is now available. You will be receiving a copy from your CAIT after his/her presentation. The original intent was to provide a resource CD-ROM for teachers dealing with the content of the Ontario Social Studies, History and Geography Curriculum. However, there are many conceivable uses for the Internet sites. There are many activities and resources, including webquests, that students could use in their class activities that would enhance a broad range of lessons being taught. Please note that some of the content in the Social Studies curriculum is not suitable for all grades. As with all Internet resources, this should be used with teacher supervision.

If you are a teacher that is new to our school board your CAIT would gladly provide you with a copy of the Science and Technology CD which was distributed last year. Just ask.

  Computer P.D. Activities

There are wonderful workshops being offered by Doug Peterson this term. Highly recommended workshops include : WebPage Design with Claris Homepage, Multimedia Authoring with Hyperstudio, Desktop Publishing with MS Publisher and Word Processing, Spreadsheets and Databases with AppleWorks (formerly know as ClarisWorks). Find your school's copy of the P.D.Cues professional development calendar for more details.

 Report Cards

Some teachers are ready to begin their second term report cards. Please wait until your secretary has prepared your takeaway diskette before starting. Attention! If you have already started your second term reports speak to your CAIT.

 iMac Tips & Tricks

Should your iMac start to act strangely, try these methods for setting things right.

1. Cancel. Hold down the C key and press the period key. This stops many procedures in their tracks.
2. Force Quit. Press Command/Option/Escape all at once (or in that order) to force an application to quit. If an application won't quit or gets stuck and the menu bar won't respond, this slick move forces it to quit and returns you to the Finder. But you will lose any work you haven't yet saved. Also a force quit may leave your iMac in an unstable state, so save your work (if you haven't lost it) and restart your iMac by selecting the Restart from the Special menu.
3. Restart. Press Command/Option/Shift/ along with the power key (no, it doesn't have to be all at once- it's when you hit the power key that counts). Release the keys and wait a few moments; your iMac should then restart. Use this only if the cursor is frozen and you can't select Restart from the Special menu.
4. Reset. If your iMac is simply frozen, as a last resort open the side door and locate the little reset hole next to the Ethernet port. Straighten a metal paper clip and gently, but firmly push it into the hole. (***The hole you want is the top one, marked with a tiny triangle.)

 Windows Tips & Tricks

Becoming an expert at creating Windows shortcuts.

• Creating shortcuts is one of the easier ways you can customize Windows, and it is probably the quickest too. Simply right-click and drag a program, or file's icon to the Desktop and release your mouse button. Then select Create Shortcut Here from the pop-up menu.
• Shortcut to the A: drive. Put a shortcut to your diskette drive on your desktop so you can quickly drag files to be stored on the diskette.
• Multiple shortcuts of one item. You can have more than one shortcut to the same program or drive. If you need a shortcut to, for example, the calculator, in three different folders, make three shortcuts and drag them where you want them.
• Create a drag and drop shortcut. If you drag a file and hold down the ALT key, a shortcut will be created in a new location.
• Shorten shortcut names. You can stop Windows from naming shortcuts with the "shortcut to ..." name. You'll get more room for longer icons names, and your Desktop won't look as cluttered. All you have to do is create a few shortcuts on the Desktop, one right after another. After a while, Windows will quit adding "Shortcut to" to the names. Or you could just simple right click on the icon and rename it.
• Shortcuts to your programs. If you're tired of hunting all over your hard drive for your programs in Win 98 right click on the program icon and send to desktop as a shortcut.
• Round up your shortcuts. If your Desktop now gets too cluttered, put your shortcuts into a folder on the Desktop. Double click the folder to access your shortcuts.