Category: DTP

Tech Tip #6: The (Horrid Annoying) Publisher Drawing Canvas

As a working technology teacher, I get hundreds of questions from parents about their home computers, how to do stuff, how to solve problems. Each Tuesday, I’ll share one of those with you. They’re always brief and always focused. Enjoy!

When I try to insert a text box or object into Word 2003, a drawing canvas appears around it. It gets in the way–everything has to wrap around it and it leaves too much white space, even when I resize it.

My solution: Get rid of it. It’s huge and designed to allow you to place multiple shapes that are moved and resized as one. Most of us are only interested in inserting one text box, so it is cumbersome, annoying and useless. To turn the drawing canvas off:

(more…)

Monday Freebies #24: Holiday Newsletter

This year more than any before, classroom budgets have been cut making it more difficult than ever to equip the education of our children with quality teaching materials. I understand that. I teach K-8. Because of that, I’ve decided to give the lesson plans my publisher sells in the Technology Toolkit (110 Lesson Plans that I use in my classroom to integrate technology into core units of inquiry while insuring a fun, age-appropriate, developmentally-appropriate experience for students) for FREE. To be sure you don’t miss any of these:

…and start each week off with a fully-adaptable K-8 lesson that includes step-by-step directions as well as relevant ISTE national standards, tie-ins, extensions, troubleshooting and more. Eventually, you’ll get the entire Technology Toolkit book. If you can’t wait, you can purchase the curriculum here.

I love giving my material away for free. If everyone did, we would reach true equity in international education.

A Holiday Newsletter

Have students collaborate on a newsletter for a classroom unit of inquiry or a theme (colonies, animals, etc). Pick a template. Add text and pictures. Pay attention to layout details. Allow several class periods to complete

(more…)

#30: A Cover Page in Publisher

Use the Quick Publication template to make a fast cover page for a report, project, etc, in the classroom. Pay attention to layout, grammar, spelling, design.

[caption id="attachment_5021" align="aligncenter" width="614"]

computer lesson plan[/caption]

(more…)

#30: A Cover Page in Publisher

Use the Quick Publication template to make a fast cover page for a report, project, etc, in the classroom. Pay attention to layout, grammar, spelling, design.

[caption id="attachment_5021" align="aligncenter" width="614"]

computer lesson plan[/caption]

(more…)

Where Would You Like to Go Today?

Are you here for a lesson plan… Tech tips… Humor? Click the category below and you’re there.

[caption id="attachment_1055" align="aligncenter" width="154"]

52 weeks of tech tips[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1057" align="aligncenter" width="150"]

KidPix lessons for K-2[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1058" align="aligncenter" width="150"]

Google Earth lesson plans[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1059" align="aligncenter" width="150"]

Photoshop lesson plans[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1063" align="aligncenter" width="150"]

Web 2.0 lesson plans[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1064" align="aligncenter" width="150"]

MS Word lesson plans[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1075" align="aligncenter" width="176"]

Mouse lesson plans[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1072" align="aligncenter" width="150"]

Take a break[/caption]

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-18 technology for 30 years. She is the editor/author of over a hundred tech ed resources including a K-12 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in tech ed, Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, contributor to NEA Today, and author of the tech thrillers, To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.