Save Yourself a Few Seconds With Quicker Printing!

I just picked up this tip from a conversation I had with Janice Ventresco. She told me how to store my print username and password, which allows me to skip the step of typing it in when I need to print. Follow these easy steps to save yourself a few extra seconds everyday:

Step #1 : Go the print screen just as you would to print any document, PDF, or spreadsheet. Select "Properties" option


Step #2: Select the "Details" option


Step #3: Story your username and password!


A simple solution to a simple problem. Thanks Janice!

Google Docs Tip Sheet

I came across a tip sheet on Steven Anderson's blog Blogging About the Web 2.0 Connected Classroom. A great resource!
Google Docs - Tipsheet and Resource Guide

Daily Student News Broadcast by CNN!

My most recent post highlighted a great resource in C-SPAN Classroom. A related website that would benefit students from a variety of content areas is CNN Student News. This is a great resource for current events that I have come across recently. This website features a new 10 minute news broadcast everyday targeted for middle school and high school viewers.

Check out "What is CNN Student News?" for more information, or go directly to the website to watch the latest broadcast. Discussion questions and other teacher materials are also provided by CNN Student News. Follow any of these links to take a closer look.

C-SPAN Classroom for Social Studies Teachers

C-SPAN Classroom is a free membership service for social studies, history, or government teachers who are looking to pull relevant C-SPAN programming into their curriculum. C-SPAN Classroom also offers instant access to over 100,000 videos featuring the latest political speeches, congressional proceedings, and news conferences. Take a moment to browse through this one-of-a-kind website! Video clips, current events, debate topics, discussion questions, lesson plans, and much more can be found at C-SPAN Classroom.

Clipped from: www.c-spanclassroom.org (share this clip)

Stay Informed With Google Reader

In today's age of technology,
news and information can be found everywhere. Aside from newspapers, magazines, and television, people access the Internet from their computers and mobile devices to stay up to date on the latest news and information from a variety of sources. Instead of visiting each of these sources and checking to see if anything new has been added, why not have the news delivered to you? Google Reader gives you the ability to read and follow multiple blogs and websites from one location. Any page that has an RSS (Really Simply Syndication) feed can be added to your Google Reader listing.

Take a look at My Blog List for a few really good education/technology blogs you can follow. All you need is a Google Account to get started. For more information go to Google Reader or check out the video below.

Never Leave Your Files Behind With Dropbox!

For the past 3-4 weeks, I have been able to access files on my school computer from my home computer by using Dropbox. By downloading this simple to use software, you can save all your documents, pictures, and files to one location and access them from multiple locations.

Here's how it works. Simply install Dropbox to the computers from which you wish to access your files. A "My Dropbox" folder will be created. Save any files to that folder and the other computers are automatically synced with your saved files. You get 2 GB of storage space for free, but you can upgrade at any time. This great resource eliminates the need for flash/USB drives and emailing files back and forth.

If you'd like more information about how to use this tool, please email me! Here is a video that explains what Dropbox is and how it works:

My #1 Ed Tech Resource!

For any educator serious about incorporating technology into their curriculum, a good place to start would be with Google. Over the years I have found Google to be so much more than a search engine. Google Apps has been a major part of my classroom and will remain so into the 2010-2011 school year.

Google Docs is one of the tools I frequently use. This video provides an excellent overview of Google Docs...


Here is a video that highlights Google Sites. I have used Google Sites to create my own class website. It was fairly easy to do. There are a number of templates to use to guide you along the process. Kelley Hartman, a high school language arts teacher, also created her class website using Google Sites. This is yet another tool that I have put to good use in my classroom...


For more information on the various tools that Google offers, go to the Google website and register for an account. All the services are free and easy to use. In future posts I will go into more detail about a few of the Google resources that I think are especially valuable to educators who wish to incorporate more technology into their classroom.