Tips, Tricks and Timesavers

Organize, Organize, Organize

1. Office OneNote: a place for everything and everything in its place: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/onenote/

2. Flash drives are great portable storage. Organize and use!

3. SyncToy 2.1: sync computers and flash drives www.microsoft.com/downloads/

4. Sync your desktop, phone, calendar, website,docs, music and email with Google www.google.com/

5. Organize your computer by creating useful desktop folders

6. Organize browser favorites by creating topical folders

7. Create a password list in Excel, encrypt and print

8. Use the smart phone tools: GPS, flashlight, calculator, calendar

9. Delete or at least, archive old material!

From the Internet Toolbox

1. Teacher Tools:

a. Check out the free offerings from Microsoft: http://www.microsoft.com/education/

b. Join Microsoft’s Partners in Learning Network for the free download of the Essentials for Educators pack. http://www.partnersinlearningnetwork.com

c. Random generators, game templates and more: http://www.superteachertools.com/index.php

2. Post your digital lesson material on a quick website like Google Sites

3. Use Google tools: calculator, conversions, search features, comparison shopping

4. For interactive boards, don’t reinvent the wheel, take advantage of available resources:

a. SMART Notebook, http://exchange.smarttech.com

b. Promethean ActivInspire, www.prometheanplanet.com

5. Need a piece of software that does the job in a hurry? Check online for a free substitute:

a. Aviary: similar to Photoshop, www.aviary.com

b. Letterpop: similar to Publisher, www.letterpop.com

c. Awards: http://www.certificatestreet.com/index.html

6. Bibliographies in a hurry: www.bibme.org

7. Create your own music at www.jamstudio.com or www.aviary.com

8. PowerPoint or movie music: www.brainybetty.com or http://incompetech.com

9. Puzzlemaker: www.discoveryeducation.com/puzzlemaker/

10. Instructions from avatars: www.voki.com

11. Quick online budgeting: YNAB, www.youneedabudget.com

12. Quick Surveys: www.createsurvey.com free 7 day trial

13. Edit photos quickly with iPiccy: http://ipiccy.com

14. Photo templates @ BigHugeLabs: www.bighugelabs.com Motivational posters and more

15. Use Animoto to create a quick movie from photos or video: www.animoto.com

16. Zamzar converts almost any file: www.zamzar.com

17. Make quick games to post online at Classtools: www.classtools.net

18. Watch TV @ Hulu: www.hulu.com

19. Educational Jargon list: http://www.sciencegeek.net/lingo.html

20. Create panoramic pictures: http://photosynth.net

21. Add some spice to your presentations with Prezi: http://prezi.com

22. Protect your home computer with AVG Free: http://free.avg.com

And a few often overlooked keyboard tricks:

1. Copy: CTRL-C, Cut: CTRL-X, Paste: CTRL-V

2. Select all: CTRL-A

3. Double click selects the word

4. Triple click selects sentence

5. Full screen in browser window: F11 (it’s a toggle switch)

6. CTRL-HOME in Excel goes to cell A1

7. Undo last action: CTRL-Z

Share time!