John Charles Smith - MA - Milton Academy - Upper School English Teacher
Karen Lutsky - MA - Bement School - Grade 5 Teacher
Katie Wagner - TX - Kinkaid School - Science Teacher/Grade 6 Dean
Lance Coon - AZ - Phoenix Country Day School - Upper School EnglishTeacher
Lezlie Stroll - AZ - Phoenix Country Day School - Second GradeTeacher
Marijke van der Hiel - MA - Belmont Day School - Grade Five Teacher
Melissa Parsons - MA - Dedham Country Day School - Grade 1/2 Language/ Middle School Spanish
Paul Behson - NC - Christ School - Faculty Training, Math, Science
Rona Marshall - RI - Gordon School - Fourth Grade Teacher
Sally Fallon - MA - Tabor Academy - Biology and Genetics Teacher
Suzanne Hahn - NY - Chapin School - Fourth Grade English/Geography/History
Suzi Van Ness - MA - Tower School - Art Teacher
Warren Rowson - TX - Kinkaid School - Upper School English Teacher
I'm an English teacher and adviser to a student fine arts publication (an annual magazine containing writing and photographs). All everyone talks about who knows about layouts is PageMaker. Should I know how to use PageMaker and if so can I learn the basics in a few days in a workshop? (LC)
Lance, pagemaker session wed morning and possibly this will be your focus activity for the carnival ... more important is to REQUIRE your students to create a set of handouts info sheets during the school year.Steve
Using keyboard more instead of mouse (JCS)
discussed
Increasing the speed with which the computer does things--I think I've
turned off all extensions except those I really need, and that has helped
with the time it takes for the computer to come on if I ever turn it off.
However, is there a way to increase the speed with which it does a task? (JCS)
Suggest you switch to earthlink from AOL, as we discussed...Steve
Keeping the computer clean of unnecessary files and cleaning off the
internet after each use. I don't understand how you can set the cache for
zero and still have a global history file in Netscape showing where you've
been recently on the computer. (JCS)
discussed
Security. This issue concerns me on both computer and internet. What
happens if you have all your financial records on the computer, use Quicken,
for example, and then have to take your computer in to have something fixed?
What is the latest security software to be sure you can shop on the Net? I
know many websites tell you whether they have encryption software in place,
but what's the best way to take advantage of internet shopping and travel
booking, etc., and still not have your credit card # pilfered? (JCS)
discussed
I have downloaded Stuff-It Expander, etc., yet I'm not using it
correctlyl. Friends send me photographs of children and grandchildren and
travel spots, but they won't display. I also need to understand Acrobat
reader because I often try to download large files from the internet and then
can't seem to get them to open correctly. (JCS)
discussed ... hope the back door provides you with more flexibility for these situations ...Steve
Similarly, I often receive documents from people with PCs that turn into
gobbledygook when I try to open them. I think there's a simple step there of
opening Word before you click on the document, but I'm not sure. (JCS)
there you go, John Charles, that is a good description of the "back door" ...instead of double clicking on the file and getting an error message, try opening WORD, creating a new document and then choose OPEN FILE from within WORD .. this is what Lynne and I call the back door ... even saying this, however, the reality is that some attachments come from "other software" that is NOT on your hard drive ... in these cases, you need to ask the sender to save the file (rule of four) in a format you can use... or if at all possible, to copy and paste into the body of the e-mail itself ... Steve
I had students set up most of the things on my computer, and one of the
things they did was set up all software--AO:, First Class, etc., so I didn't
have to sign in each time but could just hit the return button. I need to
know how to set something up that way. (JCS)
There is a fundamental rule of working with teenagers that you need to contemplate:"do not allow the student to grab the mouse or keyboard, but rather to sit behind you and to provide you with guidance and help. This way, you can take notes on the steps and set the pace. I cannot help you with this one, but it typifies the problems you get into when you violate the rule of 33 (e.g.do not allow the teenager to hold the mouse for more than 33 seconds ;-) ) ... steve
I just sent an article from the morning paper to all my American Literature
students from last year. We read The Sun Also Rises, and I wanted them to see
the piece about four people being gored in Pamplona so they would think twice
about going to the fiesta when they are in college. I had to type in thirteen
names. I know that First Class, which we use at Milton, allows you to set up
a group e-mail so that you can send messages to that group without typing in
all the names each time. I assume AOL has that set-up also. I have both
systems on my home computer, but I don't know how to use that set-up and need
to learn because I e-mail my classes all the time and spend hours typing in
everybody's name.(JCS)
as discussed and shown, first class has wonderful address book features...Steve
I'd love to have my computer
programmed to tell me each morning whose birthday it is and all those other
things people have their computers remind them of. (JCS)
ask tech people at Milton if you are running first class gold ... if so, you have a great calendar feature .. if not, Yahoo offers a calendar reminder feature (I think) ...let us ask others at Summercore...Steve
p.s. here is info from Yahoo that Lynne found for you
Sign up at www.yahoo.com, click on Calendar (a choice 3 lines beneath the search box); registration is required. Or use the calendar feature in First Class
Yahoo! Calendar Features
Calendar Home
Create and Manage Events
Track Your Favorite Events
Create new events by clicking the "Add Event" button or clicking on any time in the day view. Use the and icons to edit and delete your events and tasks.
Add an event Use Time Guides to keep track of your favorite sports team schedules, holidays, club calendars and more. Overlay these event schedules on your personal schedule for easy reference. Edit my Time Guides
Share Your Calendar
Synchronize
Publish your Calendar so customers, friends, co-workers or others can see it. Mark your events as "Public", "Private", or "Show as Busy" to determine what appears on your public calendar. Synchronize your Yahoo! Calendar, To Do list and Address Book with Microsoft Outlook, 3Com's Palm Pilot and Palm III, and other popular organizers and devices.
Get Reminders
Set Up a Group Calendar
Remember appointments, meetings, birthdays, anniversaries, and more with calendar reminders. Send them to your email address or mobile device anytime from 5 minutes to 14 days before an event. Now send Calendar reminders to your Yahoo! Messenger (formerly Yahoo! Pager).
Set up a calendar for your project team, club, workgroup or association with the group version of Yahoo! Calendar in Yahoo! Clubs. The group calendar allows each member to login, view and update the calendar with his or her individual Yahoo! ID, ensuring privacy and security of the group information.
Set up a Yahoo! Clubs Calendar
Send Invitations
Easily Add Events from Yahoo!
Send invitations to friends and co-workers directly from your calendar. Invitations combine into one easy step the tasks of scheduling an event with sending an email confirmation. And your invitees will appreciate the "Add to my calendar" link that allows them to update their calendar with a single click.
Add events with one click wherever you see "Add to My Calendar" in the Yahoo! network, such as Yahoo! Chat Calendar, Local Events, Net Events, Finance Splits Calendar, and more.
Manage a To Do List
Set Up Repeating Events
Maintain your personal list of tasks and sort by Priority, Due Date or Title. Check off items as you complete them and click the "Remove Checked" button to take them off your list.
Set up classes, appointments, birthdays, and more to repeat on a daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly basis.
Schedule a repeating event
Views and Navigation
Graphical Day View
View your calendar by day, week, month, or year and move easily between different views. Choose your default view in preferences. Set your day view to show the length of events graphically or to show only the titles. Set this and other viewing options in Calendar Preferences.
Help
Sign in now to use your
personal Yahoo! Calendar.
Help is always available from the top right corner of any Yahoo! Calendar page. Get Help
During that ferocious thunderstorm we had on June 30, the transformer outside
my study window was struck by lightning. I had already unplugged my computer
and air conditioner, and other expensive appliances, but we had power surges
in the lights for several hours. Once, during Hurrican Bob, I think, a tree
fell on the same transformer and blew out all the lightbulbs in the foyer. A
friend visiting from Seattle nearly had a stroke.
I went to Micro Center and bought one of their good surge protectors, but
I've never really put much faith in the ability of those things to protect a
computer. Am I correct in assuming they're relatively useless against a
whopping power surge, or do they really deliver protection? I have one called
Surge Master II with phone line protection.(JCS)
I cannot tell you definitively, but my advice is to use a surge protector ...Steve
In recent years, e-mail has been very important to me as a way of reading my
students' rough drafts in the evening hours, when they are working on essays,
and zapping back suggestions they can incorporate into their final drafts. I
believe Word allows one to make comments on a text, using a different color
ink, but I don't know how to do that. I definitely want to learn this skill
during the course. (JCS)
Lynne can show you this (and more)...Steve
Borrowing "Oh What a Web"..(PB)
What is the real conflict between PC users and Mac users? My husband -- a PC user -- really makes fun of me because I use Macs. At school, he considers Macs (and ClarisWorks/Appleworks) so simple (JA)
these stories never go away and always reveal more about the personalities of the speakers ... computers are just tools, but some people think of them as extensions of themselves almost like sports teams;-) as you have heard Lynne and me say repeatedly, the more you know about the OTHER type of computer, the more you know about your own ...stereotypes about computers mirror stereotypes about humans and are mostly wrong ...Macs are not toys and PCs are not impossible to use ... Steve
Does Logo Plus Turtle relate to HS and Logo robots? (Jim B)
sorry, Jim, I do not know enough to answer your question ... let us ask others at Summercore ...Hyperstudio has a Logo language built into for both turtle use and also for controlling objects (buttons,fields, graphics) as you saw with Sam...Steve
My success at e-mailing documents from home is inconsistent. Sometimes a word document transfers in name but when opened looks like a random sequence of letters on a page. What am I doing wrong? Why does this happen? (Karen L)
not sure, Karen ... make sure every WORD file has a suffix of DOC if you are using a PC ... perhaps the user saved in a wrong format ... I hate attachments and run into the same problems myself, sometimes telling the sender via e-mail to please resend, this time copying and pasting into the e-mail insteadj of using an attached file ...attached files should be reserved for 1) graphics 2) spreadsheets 3) really speciality formatted documents....Steve
What is the best way to project a computer screen image to a lab class? (Jim B)
discussed...Steve
I have downloaded NetZero onto my PC laptop for internet access over the summer in Rhode Island. But when I plugged it intothe phone hookup, it seemed that it took forever to load. I shut it down after 10 minutes. (Suzi)
way too many variables, Suzi ... is your modem working on your PC? does your NetZero account work? have you installed properly or need to re-install ...finding a teenager (and perhaps paying $10 an hour) to get you setup is probably the best advice I can give you ...the main reason I tell people to use Earthlink involves the quality of free tech advice and hand holding you get...Steve
If you want to create a virtual reality portfolio, what is the software that woudl enable you to do this? (Suzi V)
Suzi ... you need to be more specific ... portfolios can be maintained via file server accounts, each one password controlled by the student with the teacher having access to all of them ...let us ask others at Summercore if they know of some virtual portfolio software programs ... Steve
How can I make an attachment -- attach a file to an e-mail? (JA)
Jeanne ... not sure if this got solved for you ... under NoblesNet (First Class), you send a new message and choose ATTACH FILE under the FILE menu, navigating to the desired file ..but every e-mail system has this feature and it is crucial that we learn to use and learn NOT to use ... we should NEVER attach files that are mostly just word processing, but rather COPY and PASTE the text into the body of the e-mail ...attachments should be reserved for 1) graphics 2) sounds 3) spreadsheets 4) hyperstudio projects 5) chapters of a book with carefully constructed formatting... Steve
