Email Pals	Courses Without Textbooks	Using iMovie	Microsoft Office Quick Tips
Notes from the Director	Chris Cox Moves On	Qwest and Your Personal Information	Welcome to SASIxp District Integration
GEM-Free Lesson Plans and Curriculum Units	Internet Update	Olympic Internet Sites	SASIxp File Backup and Reorganization
Multimedia in MAP	Chinese to Become Most Used Language on the Net	Amphitheater's Spring Technology Classes
Study Guides and Strategies	Taking Out the Trash	Teacher Network Accounts-Need a Hand?	Spam-Getting Rid of Junk Mail
The Friendly Reghost	Numbering Pages on Word Documents	The Computer Virus-a Truly Ugly Pandora's Box	Ideas on Incorporating Technology in Classroom
Status of Netscape 6.21 and Netscape 4.79	Unique and Compelling with Savvy Cyber	Student Publishing	A Message from Claudiovisuals
Another Message from Claudiovisuals	What's Happening at Amphi Alternative School	Radio User/Channel/Frequency and radio License Table on the Web	CIESE: Online Collaborative Projects
Considerations before Relocating Telephone and Other Equipment	Please Power Off	WebQuests in Classrooms	ESD-Electrostatic Discharge
Field Trip to the Louvre Without Airfare	My Computer Was Working...	Xerox Copiers

Email Pals

By Amy Gosla, Holaway Elementary School

I tried epals.com last year and was very impressed with the easy steps involved in getting my students communicating online with another third grade class from North Carolina.  After you register on line, the hardest step is finding another class because there are so many available choices and you are trying to find a class that matches your needs.  On your initial search for a class, I suggest you try emailing at least a dozen classes requesting to be their pals.  You won’t get responses from some, and others will respond and you’ll find out that they don’t match your needs. Eventually, you’ll find just the right class.  Like I said, that’s the hard part.  Once you find your class, and you and the other teacher have communicated and agreed to be pals, you will use epals.com to set up individual email accounts for each of your students. Then the fun begins for students and you get to watch their excitement overflow. Through this extended technology activity, students will be applying many of the State Writing and Technology Standards.  Because I teach 3rd grade and there is an emphasis on writing a friendly letter on the AIMS test, I encourage my students to practice this format when they write to their pals.

In closing, I noticed in the recent District Technology Registration Form that a class is being offered about how to use epals.com.  This would be a great class to take if you want to learn more about the intricacies of epals.com.  Have fun!

As a result, I ended up using lots of materials from the Internet, spending lots of time getting copyright permission and making copies, real wastes of time. Why not have the kids access these materials directly? So that’s what I did in offering an “Electronic Version” College Writing this year. Students are not issued a textbook, but gather all course materials from my website: www.amphi.com/~csmythe

There they can get readings, check their grade (in a password protected page created by Easy Grade Pro), check their assignment calendar (created in Microsoft Office), and find a link to email me. It really helps when students are absent. Students do need access to the District's core software programs, either from home or by having time at school labs.

Writing the web page does take some extra time, but I find it isn’t much different from normal lesson planning, just on the computer. Students seem to keep up with reading and writing assignments more, and they turn in more homework since the assignment calendar negates the “I didn’t know,” “you didn’t tell me,” or “I forgot” excuses. In general, it’s been easy to find materials specific to many of our activities, and easy to post materials I create when I find them elsewhere. The time I spend maintaining the site is more than made up for by the time I don’t spend at the copy machine, but most importantly the materials I use are far better suited to the course than any textbook.

People usually ask if iMovie really is as easy to use as it sounds, and the answer is YES, it really is.  You just need to have a couple of things at your disposal: a FireWire equipped Macintosh computer with iMovie installed, and a FireWire capable digital video camera.

Some of you may be wondering what FireWire is.  It is a relatively new technology that allows you to connect devices to your computer and transfer data and video at very high speeds.  In addition to FireWire, it may also be called “i.Link”, “DVLink”, or even “IEEE 1394.”  All of these terms refer to the same technology, and work perfectly well with each other. Most of the iMacs in our district fit the necessary requirements.  If you are a home user, you may also use a PowerMac G4, iBook, or PowerBook, provided they have a FireWire port.   Just about every digital video camera on the market today utilizes this technology, even most low-end models.

Once you have met these requirements, simply start filming with your camera.   When you are finished, take your camera to your Macintosh computer and connect it with a FireWire cable.  Launch iMovie and import the video from your camera to the computer using the clearly marked buttons in iMovie.  As it imports, you will notice that it begins putting “clips” on the right side of your workspace.  iMovie detects every time you stopped recording or hit pause in your filming and separates each break into clips.  Depending on your filming style, you may have only a couple of clips, or you may have many.

You are allowed to edit each clip to suit your needs, and arrange them all in any order you wish.  You can remove entire clips, portions of clips, or even break clips into any number of new clips.  If a clip appears too dark, you can enhance it by adjusting the lighting or the coloring.  If you want to jazz it up, you can use one of the many effects included with the program.  You can add titles, scrolling credits, fades, sound effects, and background music pulled from a CD or MP3.  Once you have completed a movie, you can save it as a QuickTime movie of varying sizes (even a small “email-able” size!), or you can save it back to tape on your video camera.  When you play the movie on your television, you will be amazed at how the professional effects can enhance even the simplest of movies.

A good resource for those interested in learning more is  www.apple.com/imovie/.  The site includes tutorials, ideas, and even downloads which contain more effects and add-ons.  Should you have any questions for me, please email me at jshoffne@amphi.com.

One Word—Double click on the word.
A Paragraph—Triple click anywhere in the paragraph.
One Line—Place the mouse cursor in the left margin so that it becomes a left pointing arrow and then click on the line.
One Sentence—Hold down the control key and click on the sentence.
A Group of Text—Click at the beginning of the group of text to be highlighted, scroll down to the end of the text to be highlighted and then hold down the shift key and click with your mouse.

The Spike in Word
The spike allows you cut different sections of text from a document and joins them together so that you can paste all the cuts as one piece of text.

Highlight the text you want to cut.
Press Ctrl+F3, this places the cut into the Spike.
Continue this process until you have selected all of your cuts.
To paste the Spike, press Ctrl+Shift+F3.

My favorite gadget this year has to be a GPS.  Once you get a GPS, you actually find a new way of evaluating your surroundings - where you are going, how fast and how long until you arrive.  It is so convenient to pan across a map and find out the name of a mountain range, or determine a street name.  My friends have taken to simply giving out coordinates for meeting places.  I’ve used it when I’m hiking in the desert, while flying from Atlanta, GA, and driving around cities.  I purchased the MetroGuide USA that has almost all the streets in the US.  Not only that, it has PC Auto Routing – which means that you can put in a starting and ending address and it will provide complete directions.  It contains a wealth of information about cities, freeway exits, points of interest and contact numbers.  A great toy to have around!

Another great hardware/software combination is iMovie on a Macintosh.  With a digital camera, a digital camcorder and a Macintosh running iMovie the creative options are unlimited.  I have documented various events with a camera and camcorder, and then downloaded them into iMovie for editing and production.  It is so easy to split scenes, cut out unnecessary footage, add effects and titles and then save it back to tape for viewing using a VCR.  The best thing is that it really is pretty simple to use and doesn’t take long to complete a video project.

I really enjoy listening to music.  So, as portable music became more convenient, I followed the trends.  Of course I’ve had the cassette players and the portable CD players, but now the MP3 player is the best.  Over time, I have taken all of my CD’s and converted them to MP3 files that I load into a tiny MP3 player.  Now I have access to all of my favorite tunes just about anywhere, anytime.  There are several products that I have used to rip the CD’s.  Music Match was my first program and I still use it occasionally on the PC.  However, iTunes on the Mac is just so simple, that I tend to use it most of the time.  It really makes it easy to create a playlist of my favorite tunes and then make my very own personal music CD’s.  I’m looking forward to getting an iPod.  I understand that it has a 5-gig hard drive and can hold over 20 hours of music or about 1,000 tunes.  WOW!

Another of my favorite techno toys is my digital video recorder.  There are several brands on the market.  I happen to have the Tivo, by Sony.  Just as the commercials say, it changes the way you watch TV.  It really is true.  You can record up to 32 hours of shows.  It is so easy to select programs to watch and then let the system track any changes in dates and times – and you always get your show.  The playback allows you to advance either by step frame or by three levels of fast forward.  My favorite feature is the ability to pause live TV for up to 30 minutes, and resume playing at your convenience.  I’m looking forward to even more powerful DVR’s in the near future that will record multiple channels simultaneously and store over 100 hours of shows.

But that’s not all!

The DI installation also houses the “Consolidated School”. This is a “virtual” campus that holds all the current records of every active student as if they all attended one big all-encompassing school. This makes locating information for individual students very efficient. **The consolidated school also has the capability of storing the District’s SAT 9 scores for all students, as well as DRA, RPP and AMA scores, (although none are currently imported into the SASIxp database).
NOTE: The Consolidated School is designed primarily for use by Wetmore District staff and Administrators charged with creating District wide reports from raw data. The consolidated school has very limited capabilities when it comes to generating the SASIxp reports you might be familiar with, and is best utilized by querying the files for raw data and exporting the data into MS Excel, MS Access, or Crystal Reports, etc. The consolidated school is also updated nightly.

There are two other “virtual” school campuses that store data on students in the SASIxp DI installation, but both of these store accumulated information for former students, i.e. those who are not currently attending classes in the District but whom have been enrolled in the District in the past. These two schools are “data warehouses” (and are still actively being “built”). We hope to have them complete and thoroughly up to date by May 30th, 2002.
 

• v The “Archive School” stores all accumulated data for students whom are ineligible for re-enrollment in the District. This includes all high school graduates, high school completers, deceased students, and students whom have reached their 22nd birthday (but have not graduated and/or completed required coursework).

• v The “Central Enrollment” School is where the records of all students whom are currently inactive, i.e., records stored for any student that has withdrawn from school, but whom is eligible to re-enroll in the District. Should the student return to the District at some future date, all accumulated records for that student could be transferred electronically to the appropriate school.

**Phase II is the use of the central enrollment school to enroll and withdraw students in real time at a school, electronically transferring records instantaneously between sites.
**********
The DI databases are always growing! If something you need isn’t there yet, give us a call and we may be able to give you an estimate of when that information may become available.

Gem provides links to free Internet materials, partially free materials, and to resources that require a fee or registration to be used.  All you need to do is enter the lesson or unit topic, select appropriate grade levels and click on Search.  You will receive a list of possible lessons matching your criteria and a brief description.  You can view the full record and go to the lesson by clicking on the links.  This is a great way to get some new ideas for your lessons.

Web Elements – an online periodic table with information and graphics on each element.  Students can click on links that will present information orally using RealPlayer.
www.webelements.com

NCRTEC Lesson Planner – provides guiding questions for teachers in the lesson planning process and allows them to fill in answers.  The web page then creates a lesson plan that teachers can save and print.
www.ncrtec.org/tl/lp/

Teaching with the Web – provides Internet links to be used by teachers.  The site is very well organized and broken down by grade level and thematic topic.
edtech.kennesaw.edu/web/teaching.htm

Virtual Reality - Modeling with Math, and a little Java – provides a vector calculator, equation grapher, imaging ray tracer, virtual piano, and more.
www.frontiernet.net/~imaging/java_vrml.html

Caught in the Web: Online Advertising Targets Kids – provides lesson plan ideas for elementary, middle, and high school students about advertising aimed at students.
 www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson158.shtml

A-to-Z Encyclopedia  - provides science, history and geography information. school.discovery.com/homeworkhelp/worldbook.html

All Math - provides math activities, career information, glossary, resources, lesson plans and more.
www.allmath.com/default.asp

Who Dunnit – a site that introduces students to forensic science tools like fingerprinting, teeth impressions, identifying powders and examining bones.  Students must solve a mock crime and use persuasive writing skills for the arrest of their culprit.
www.cyberbee.com/whodunnit/crime.html

Biomes of the World – provides information for students about the following biomes: rainforest, tundra, desert, taiga, temperate and grasslands.
mbgnet.mobot.org

Eisenhower National Clearinghouse Math Topics - provides links on computation, fractions, money, word problems, algebra, measurement, careers, geometry, data analysis, probability, real world applications, calculus, trigonometry, and more.
www.enc.org/weblinks/math/

Utah Education Network’s 2002 Olympics Education Site - www.uen.org/2002/
Visions of Glory Classroom Activities and Creativity Contest - www.nbcolympics.com/visionsofglory/
Yahooligans 2002 Olympics - dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/Yahooligans/Olympics
Salt Lake 2002 Official Site – www.olympics.com
NBC Olympic site – www.nbcolympics.com
ESPN Olympic site - espn.go.com/oly/index.html
4 2 eXplore: The Olympic Games - eduscapes.com/42explore/olympics.htm
2002 Olympic Curriculum-www.uen.org/2002/html/curriculum.html
2002 Olympics Interdisciplinary Activities-olympic.torchrelaystlouis.org/teachers/Curriculum.htm
2002 Winter Olympics WebQuests -
msed.byu.edu/2002olympics/learningactivities.html
about.com: Secondary School Olympics Resources for Educators
7-12educators.about.com/cs/olympicsresources/
Integrating the Olympics Into Your School Year
www.uen.org/2002/html/integrating.html
Olympic Facts and History
www.edgate.com/summergames/inactive/olympic_facts/index.html

1. Login to SASIxp.
2. Open the File Management Module and select the Backup/Restore atom.
3. Choose the “Select All” Atom (“Show all file names” and “Include control files” may also be selected.
4. Once the backup of files is complete, you may proceed to reorganize files.
5. Open the File Management Module and select the Reorganize Files atom.
6. Click on the All button. The Reorganization of files process will then proceed.

The difference between the old order and the new is that the Backup/Restore job is done prior to the Reorganize Files job. The reason for the change is to ensure that we have a reliable backup to fall back on should any corruption or deletion of files take place during the Reorganize Files job.
Every School should perform a SASIxp data file backup every weeknight.
The Reorganization of files is somewhat discretionary, depending on:
1. The Size of the School (Larger Schools should Reorganize files daily.)
2. The number of files and or records that have been entered or modified on any given day.

Classes were conducted teaching the ins and outs of PowerPoint.  As the students practiced each step, their excitement grew.  The deadline was getting closer. Presentations were being completed containing ten to fifteen slides each.   The culmination of their work was to be seen by parents at a Multicultural Night.

The big night arrived and the excitement was unbelievable.  Each parent provided a food from the country that his or her child studied. The Proxima projector was set up and presentations were ready.  Parents chuckled and laughed through the eyes of their children. It was a wonderful experience for all. Not only were parents impressed by the technology their child mastered, we were able to meet the Arizona Technology Standards for research and presentations with this activity.  Now the students are asking when they can begin their next PowerPoint presentations.

The study guide site can be found at www.iss.stthomas.edu/studyguides/

Email
Many of you do not empty your email trash or get rid of sent letters to other individuals. If you don’t need these email messages, then please delete them.  Eventually, with enough ancient emails, you can cause the email program to work very, very slowly because the trash has never been emptied.

To remedy this, do the following:

Step A:
1. Open your email Inbox.
2. Click on the word “Sent” once
3. Look at these to see if you need to keep any
4. Delete all that you do not need to keep by pressing the Delete Icon on your screen or the delete key on your keyboard.

Step B:
1. Open your email Inbox.
2. Click on File to show the menu.
3. Click on  “Empty Trash on Local Mail.”
4. This may take a few seconds and then you're finished.

Recycle Bin
There is a picture Icon on nearly every Windows 95/98 desktop in the district that looks like a wastebasket.  To empty this; do the following:

1. Move the mouse pointer to the icon part of the Recycle Bin
2. Right click on this Icon
3. From the menu left click on “Empty Recycle Bin”
4. The Confirmation message “Are you sure you want to delete #### of files” appears.
5. Click on the “Yes” button and they will be removed.

You can set up a filter in Netscape mail to move junk mail to the trash or a special folder.  We will be offering two ideas on filtering: Filtering email based on words in the subject line and filtering out email that is not from Amphitheater School District.

Filtering Email Based on Word in the Subject Line
The trick is trying to come up with the phrases that junk mail senders use that aren’t used in the email messages you still want to receive. Most of us receive numerous emails about Viagra, gambling, and refinancing our house, so you may want to set up a filter that looks for these words and filter these messages into a junk mail folder.  Then every once in a while, look in the folder and see if there is any legitimate mail and delete everything else all at once.

Here are the steps to create a filter.
Go to Netscape Messenger (the email portion of Netscape).
Go to Edit and pull to Message Filters.
Click New.
The Filter Rules dialog box appears.
Type a name for the filter, like junk mail or spam.
Use the pop-up menus to choose filtering criteria.
Type a keyword to be used in the search.
Select the folder or create a new one by clicking on New Folder.  You might call it Junk Folder.  You can also select Trash and the email will automatically go to the trash folder.

Click on the More button to continue to add more choices. You might add filters to look for the following words in the subject of the message: Mortgage, casino, Viagra, coupon, refinance, sex, etc.

Continue to enter information necessary to define the filter.
Click OK.

If you know the address of a specific person or company you can specify the sender.  You have to be careful not to filter words and addresses that you might want to receive.  You will begin to see how difficult it is to filter email, but hopefully you’ll be able to eliminate some of that junk mail from your email box.

People who send spam email are getting more creative, and it is becoming more difficult to filter junk email.  They want you to get their mail and they are trying to beat people who are filtering them.  Some messages are not text messages but actually pictures with text, so you can’t filter the body of the message and some are leaving the subject blank or putting subjects that do not correlate to the message.  For example, Peggy recently received a pornographic message with the subject “Please call me back – important message.”  She would never choose to filter out those words because these are also the words used from people who need her help. One of the nice things about filtering is that you can always add or delete items to the filter as you go.  The steps for editing and deleting filters follow:

Editing a Filter
Go to Edit and pull to Message Filters.
Select the filter name and click Edit.
Make the Changes and Click OK.

Deleting a Filter
Go to Edit and pull to Message Filters.
Select the filter name and click Delete.

To Turn a Filter On or Off
Go to Edit and pull to Message Filters.
Click the dot to the right of the filter name to turn it on (checkmark), or click the checkmark to turn it off (dot).

Another option – Delete All Mail Not from Amphi Email Accounts
1) Open Netscape Messenger.
2) Click on the menu item Edit.
3) Choose Message Filters.
4) Click on the New button.
5) In the Filter Name box, give it a good name, like “Spam!”
6) Make sure Match any of the following has a “dot” in it.
7) Change the box after the word “the” to say, “Sender.”
8) Change the next box after the words “of the message” to say doesn’t contain.
9) Type in the last box on this line the word “amphi” (without the quotes).
10)  On the next line, change the box after the word “then” to say, Move to folder.
11)  Select the Trash folder.
12)  Click the Ok button.
13)  If you have more than one filter already, then make sure you move your new “Spam!” filter to the bottom of the list by clicking on the arrow pointing down.
14)  Click Ok one more time and you are done!

Now for a word of caution: This will move all mail that is not sent from within the District to the “Trash” folder.  It will not delete the mail automatically, not until you chose “File->Empty Trash on local Mail.”  So, when you check your mail, with your new filter in place, you will notice that the “Trash” folder will turn bold.  You will need to “rummage” through the trash to make sure that there is not any “legitimate” mail from vendors or your kids away at college, or what-have-you.  If you get regular email from such as these, I would suggest setting up a filter for them as well, remembering to keep the “Spam!” filter as your last one.  When creating additional filters, you can follow the above steps, but make sure you change the “doesn’t contain” from step 8 to a more fitting option.

If you have questions, contact Jim at 5222 or Peggy at 5213.

Netscape profiles can become quite large which makes saving them time consuming and sometimes difficult.  There are several things you can do as a user to help out the repair technician.  First, delete any unnecessary messages out of your inbox, sent mail etc.  Go to File and empty the trash on Local Mail.  Then go to File and pull to Compact Folders. Then go to Edit, Preferences and click the tab in front of Advanced.  Click on Cache and clear the memory cache and the disk cache.  This will enable us to save your Netscape profile into a temporary folder on the server without difficulty.

Other files may be too large to save to your own server.  If you are experience problems saving files that are necessary please let the technician know before they take your machine for reghosting.

If saving the Netscape profile is unnecessary please be sure to inform the technician or leave a note on the computer.  This will help us give you the best, most efficient service possible.

If you plan to divide a document into several sections, it’s easiest to add page numbers before adding section breaks.  If you decide to add page numbers and you have added section breaks, position the cursor in the first section of the document and insert page numbers.  Even if your document contains more than a single section, page numbering applies by default to your entire document, and numbers are continuous throughout the document.  You can start page numbering in any section at a number you specify.  For example, you can have page numbering begin with Page One for each section.  To change the starting page number in a section:

1. Position the cursor where you want to change the starting page number.
2. Choose Insert Page Numbers.
3. Choose the Format button.
4. Type or select a new starting page number in the Start at box in the Page numbering group.  Then choose the OK button to close the Page Number Format dialog box.
5. Choose OK to close the Page Number dialog box, and return to your document.

This can be very helpful if you’re doing a big report with a lot of different sections.   Experiment with this and have fun.

I have helped many folks who have suffered a virus attack.  Often, the best answer is to completely wipe the hard drive clean and start from scratch.  This can sometimes be a very costly measure.  The best way to avoid this happening to your machine is to take the time to get a better understanding of what a virus is and how to recognize it.

A virus is, in its simplest form, computer code.  It is basically, a program.  Whenever you start a program, like Microsoft Word for instance, you are telling your computer to follow a complex list of instructions.  In the case of Word it tells the computer how to draw all the icons, menu bar, rulers and everything else to present a document for you to write.  These instructions that make up a program tell the computer what to do when you press keys, move a mouse or save a file.  A virus is simply a program that can send itself on to other machines or add itself to other programs so when they are run, the virus is run as well.  Sometimes a virus can be a set of instructions called a script.  Some programs, like Microsoft Word allow for steps to be run automatically and for these steps to be saved as part of a document.  This can be an incredible time saver for repetitive tasks when used correctly.  It can also be a breeding ground for viruses when used maliciously.

For a virus to infect a machine it has to be run, just like any other program.  The overall trick then is to find a creative way to run it on the target machine.  Probably the most common method is to send it as some form of email attachment.  This method of delivery relies on social engineering.  The email has to seem interesting or safe enough to coax the reader into running the virus.  Email attachments are common.  You have probably received a document, screensaver, picture or program from a friend in the past.  When you click on an attachment the default action will ask you if you want to open (i.e. run) the attached file or save it to disk.  Beware!  Make absolutely sure that you are confident about what you are running.  Many viruses send themselves to others without the person knowing it.  A file from a friend may have been sent without their knowledge from the virus.  Many of these types will have a subject like, “Here are the documents I was going to send you.”  It seems safe.  It came from a friend right?

There are also other methods of running a script.  Microsoft has featured a type of scripting called Active X in Internet Explorer and Outlook.  This will allow a script to run on the machine just by going to a site or viewing an email that contains HTML coding.  If the browser is not set with high enough security settings then a virus could be introduced just by viewing the letter or home page.  Microsoft sends security updates fairly regularly in response to these viruses.  You can find updates by going to windowsupdate. microsoft.com.

The best way to protect yourself is to install software that checks all files before they are run.  This is what antiviral software is all about.  When a virus is discovered, the anti-virus software companies will figure out what attributes are specific to that particular virus so their software can recognize it when it scans for it.  For the software to work however, you need to download current lists.  It is kind of like getting the most wanted pictures from the FBI.  If you do not keep your list up to date then you will not recognize the bad guys when they come your way.  Read your manual to make sure that you are downloading lists regularly.  You can download lists manually or automatically.  They usually update the lists at least once a week and most programs will display the dates of the latest update files when you run them.  In the District, if you have Norton Antivirus Corp. Edition installed (Start -> Programs) then your lists are being downloaded automatically.  If you don’t have it or are wondering, give your Tech Specialist a call or call the hotline.  Another resource for checking out the latest alerts can be found at a new web site in the Amphitheater IT department - www.amphi.com/~technology/security.  There you can follow links to Symantec and McAfee to search and find if you might be dealing with an actual virus or just a hoax.  Email in the district is automatically scanned before it reaches your mailbox.  If you get a virus notice then don’t worry, the email and virus have been stopped before you get it.  The sender will also get a notice and will need to send a clean copy of the email before it will pass through the system.

I hope this helps.  If you have other topics that you would like me to explain in detail in future Tech Talk articles, please send me a note at wmcculle@amphi.com

Each participant will develop six lessons - one each for the six different Technology Standards.  These lessons are being compiled into an Applying Technology Standards site on the Technology Department's web page.  The Applying Technology Standards site has not only the lessons developed by the TLCF participants but also other lessons and other quick ideas broken down by grade level.  The URL address for the site is www.amphi.com/~technology/standards/.  Once you get to the site you can tell the lessons created by Amphi teachers by the tag “An Amphi TLCF Lesson” in the description of the lesson.  Some of the lessons created thus far  by TLCF participants this year include:

Creating a Classroom Newspaper - Grade 2
www.amphi.com/~technology/standards/lessons/newsletter.htm
Students will create a classroom newsletter using original, creative stories as well as factual, research based articles.

My Place in Space - Grade 1-3
www.amphi.com/~technology/standards/lessons/space.htm
Students will practice their map reading and understanding skills by constructing a map of Arizona and completed various tasks with it.

Classification - Grade 5
www.amphi.com/~technology/standards/lessons/classification.htm
Students will create a classification system based on characteristics of plants and animals.

Evaluating Greek Myth Websites -  Middle School Language Arts
www.amphi.com/~technology/standards/lessons/greek.htm
Students will be able to demonstrate a variety of reading strategies to comprehend written selections. Students will be able to write a paragraph to demonstrate their ability to compare and contrast at least two websites in order to evaluate the better of the two sites.

Bring the Office into the 21st Century - High School Math
www.amphi.com/~technology/standards/lessons/bring.htm
Students will design the system for an office of six people and then write a report, defending why they used or did not use networking.

Netscape 4.79 is the latest in the 4.X series and is for all intents and purposes identical to the versions that are currently in use.  It mainly fixes known bugs and some improvements for Java and mouse wheel support.  It renders web pages very well and there are no problems with the mail program like we are experiencing with Netscape 6.21.  It also has much lower system requirements.  This would be the best browser to use until we can figure out the Netscape Communicator problems with 6.21.

There are a number of ways you can have your students communicate using the Internet.  They can go to sites that allow them to communicate with experts around the world.  These sites are usually referred to as “Ask the Expert” sites. You can find an index of these sites at www.k12science.org/askanexpert.html. Students can look in the frequently asked questions database or email in their own questions. A second way in which students can communicate with students across the country or even the entire world is by participating in epal programs.  For more information about epals refer to Amy Gosla’s article in this Tech Talk.  You could also have your students participate in collaborative projects where they share information gathered during a project with other students around the world.  For a listing of collaborative projects, please visit www.k12science.org/collaborativesites.html.
One of the strongest assets of the Internet is to be able to get up to date or real time data such as satellite images, weather information, stock quotes, animal tracking, and web cams to name a few.  These are types of information that students are not going to be able to access in their library or classroom without Internet access. Real time data sites make what you are teaching come alive.  To see a listing of real time data sites go to www.k12science.org/realtimedatasites.html. For more information about using real time data in the classroom you could take Peggy Steffens’ “Using Real Time Data” class offered on January 30th.

How do you publish a student’s work now and why do you do it?  Think of the power of that student knowing that not only can their parents or their school see their work but that the entire world can.  What a motivating and pride-eliciting tool! There are websites you can go to publish student work such as www.k12science.org/tutorials/studentpub/resources.htm.  You can also create your own website where you can post students’ work.  To learn how to make a web page,  take the Creating Educational Web Page class starting January 31st.  To find out more information about publishing students’ work refer to Jennifer Jones' article or take the Publishing Student Work Online class offered January 28th.

The fourth way in which you can make the Internet “unique and compelling” would be to have your students access primary resources online.  Primary resources are authentic materials from the past such as maps, pictures, speeches, or letters.  This area is one that is growing by leaps and bounds on the Internet.  It is quite time intensive to get these articles posted to the Internet but sites like America Memory Project which is a project being undertaken by the Library of Congress are bringing these images to us.  For an index of primary resource sites go to www.k12science.org/cyberteacher/v2/ primarysource2elem.html. For more information you could take the district class called “Accessing Primary Resources Online” on April 11th.

LD 218  500 Nations
Narrated by Kevin Costner, 500 Nations is an eight-part documentary that looks at life in North America before the arrival of Europeans. It follows the epic struggles of Indian Nations as the continent is reshaped.

V 714  African Americans Tell Their Story
This program introduces several well-known African Americans by showing youngsters in the act of dramatizing their lives. The program features an African American family as they watch the action on a video screen in their living room.

V 157  American Indians: A Brief History
Scattered across North America are monuments that serve as reminders of the continent’s first people. This film explores some of these places and provides clues to the history of the first Americans.

Eyes on the Prize
Eyes on the Prize is a six episode series that covers the struggles of the Civil Rights years from 1954, the awakening to the march from Selma to Montgomery Alabama in 1965 when thousands joined together to March 50 miles to freedom.  Titles are:
V 088 Awakenings, V 089 Fighting Back, V 090 Ain’t Scared of Your Jails, V 091 No Easy Walk, V 092 Mississippi: Is This America? and V 093 Bridge to Freedom.

Eyes on the Prize II
Eyes on the Prize II is an eight episode series that covers the Civil Rights years from 1964, following the trajectory of Malcolm X concluding in the mid-1980’s with an examination of two cities, Miami, Florida with the destruction of Overtown to Chicago where the city elects its first Black Mayor. Titles are:
V 307 The Time Has Come, V 308 Two Societies, V 309 The Promised Land, V 310 Power, V 311 A Nation of Law, V 312 Ain’t Gonna Shuffle no More, V 313 The Keys to the Kingdom, V 314 Back to the Movement.

V 713  The First Americans
This video presents the customs, cultures and contributions of several Indian tribes of the U.S.

V 134  Great Americans: Martin Luther King
This film traces the public career of Martin Luther King Jr. and examines King’s belief in non-violent protest.

LD 037  The Life of Sojourner Truth: Ain’t I a Woman?
This is a dramatization chronicling the major events that led Sojourner to become a powerful force for good, a force that helped change the United States.

LD 105  Martin Luther King Jr.
This interactive program presents the issues and events that shaped the life and contributions of America’s foremost Civil Rights leader.

V 740  Native Americans: People of the Desert
This video introduces students to Native Americans of the Southwest and helps establish an affinity for their culture.

CDR 057  Scholastic Smart Books: Malcolm X - By Any Means Necessary
This biography follows the life of Malcolm X from the death of his father in 1931 to his incarceration in 1964 where he converts to the nation of Islam to his assassination in 1965 while delivering a speech in Harlem’s Ballroom.

V 775  Success Through Education: A Salute to Hispanic Excellence
This program shows a group of Hispanic students, encouraged by a group discussion leader, actor/director Edward James Olmos, speaking out about their experiences, feelings, and values.

V 085  Women: For America, For the World
Prominent American women challenge the economic and political realities.

All these titles are available for checkout from the Media Center by filling out the Media Ordering Forms or calling Claudio at 6214. You can also email me at caraya@amphi.com.

V 905  Scanning Television: Seeing Ourselves-Media and Representation
Video 1 of the series questions the media’s roles and responsibilities in affecting social change. Does the media influence the shaping of society, and if so, how? Do they have social responsibilities, and if so, are they fulfilling them? As a rule, are the media mostly proactive, reactive, or reflective of the status quo?

V 906  Scanning Television: Selling Images and Values
Video 2 examines issues of persuasion in the media. How is advertising created? What is ethical? What is censored? How does the media advertising influence how we see one another?

V 907  Scanning Television: Our Constructed Worlds-Media Environments
Video 3 looks at how the media tend to create separate worlds in the pursuit of marketing products and services. These media constructions often become unexamined parts of our everyday world.

V 908  Scanning Television: The Global Citizen
Video 4, part 1 looks at how our political responsibilities are shaped by media influences, and how we respond to these messages. The impact of the media on politics will only increase in importance with the proliferation of messages and the growth of interactive forms of media.

V 908  Scanning Television: New and Converging Technologies
Video 4, part 2 glances at the likely future developments of the Information Age, inviting viewers to consider how these technologies may influence the evolution of society.

All these titles are available for checkout from the Media Center by filling out the Media Ordering forms or calling Claudio at 6214. You can also email me at caraya@amphi.com.

Radio User/Channel/Frequency Table
This database contains the abbreviations for the User (school or department), the user type (high school, maintenance, etc.), the Channel #, the Frequency – Receive and Transmit, the Tone and any pertinent comments.

Radio License Table
This database contains the District License #, the current Expiration data, all the Frequencies that this license covers, the Maximum Power allowed on the specified frequency, the Station type, the number of radios the license covers at this frequency, the different tones that are used with this frequency and the abbreviation for the school or department using this frequency.

If you notice any incorrect information in these tables, please contact me at x6200 or glarsen@amphi.com.

One type is “Collaborative Projects” in which classes collect different kinds of data and submit them to an online database.  One example of this type of project is “Down the Drain”, geared toward 5th through 8th grades.  Students collect data on how much water is used per person in their households, then the class finds an average per person use for the entire class.  This data is then submitted to the project, and students can access a database that shows water usage per person all over the country and in some foreign countries.  Students can then look for regional trends, differences, or similarities.  Another exciting collaborative project is the “Noonday Project” in which students, using their own measurements, actually calculate the circumference of the Earth!

Another type of project available involves real-time data.  The “Wonderful World of Weather” is a project available for primary students in which the students use Internet sources to gather data about what the weather is like in a given region at that time.  Students learn that weather can change rapidly, is different in different areas, and can be localized.  Another real-time data project is “Musical Plates” which has 6th through 12th grade students analyzing earthquake data to learn about plate tectonics.

There are also projects involving primary sources and partnering with other schools or classes.  The CIESE web page is a great place to look for projects for your class that will engage your students in real-life situations.

We tend to take these options for granted when we leave our room.   This option was only meant for short time -- maybe an hour or two.   Many times when the technicians go out to sites during holidays or short breaks, we have found computers and monitors that have been left on.

Many things can happen when you’re gone. There could be a power surge; someone could access your computer without you knowing and leave you a mess.   The most important thing to remember is that power is still being used when the computer is in the sleep mode.  All computers should be shutdown when not in use for several hours or days.

WebQuests are inquiry-based learning activities that use real world tasks and promote critical-thinking in students.  I used a WebQuest with my 6th grade students to help them research life, music, and fashions in the 1950’s.  We plan on using the information to create a play to perform in the spring for their parents.  They were having so much fun that I had to force them to STOP!

They involved the art teacher and their parents too!  They asked the art teacher to help them create a 1950’s car to drive in the scene.  They have been bugging their parents to find some old music and to visit the second hand stores to find just the right costume. And the poor librarian has had every book that is remotely related to the 1950’s checked out so that they can continue to pour over the information during their lunch recess.   What fun to watch students get so excited about a research project.

So how did all of this get started?  Well, I ask the sixth grade every year to create their own play during the year, and I learned about WebQuest from a technology class; you really need to enroll in a WebQuest class!   With the task already in mind, all I needed to do was create a scenario and find some web sites about the 1950’s.
You don’t need to be a music teacher to use this idea, WebQuests are a great way to teach any subject area.  The idea behind a WebQuest is to present a scenario and a task, usually a problem to solve or a project to complete.  The students are given Internet resources and asked to analyze and synthesize the information and come up with their own creative solutions.  Use your imagination to come up with your own ideas and topics.  The world of the Internet is limitless.  You could use a topic including contemporary world problems, evaluating history, creating products, dealing with life’s realities, and sparking students’ imaginations.  Maybe you want to give your students a real problem, one that is currently troubling the community, state, or nation, problems concerning the environment, politics, or society. Some of these problems do not have easy answers, but they will challenge students to come up with feasible resolutions, engage in debate, reach consensus, and formulate a plan.

There are some essential elements to a WebQuest that include an introduction, a task, a process, resources, an evaluation, and a conclusion. Many teachers have followed this outline and created effective WebQuests, and others have adapted it for their own use with equal success.

You can get more information about WebQuests from the technology web site under Patti Greenleaf’s page – www.amphi.com/~pgreenle.  Just click on the words WebQuest and start gathering your own ideas!

The damage takes three forms: upset failures, latent catastrophic failures and direct catastrophic failures. Upset failures occur intermittently. It shows up as an unexplained loss of data. Latent catastrophic failures show up over time as the system shows poor performance and eventual system lockups. Direct catastrophic failures cause a system to fail completely.

How to prevent damage to components:
· Carry parts in their proper packaging
· Buy an ‘anti-ESD’ kit
· Get in the habit of grounding yourself to the PC chassis (touch the metal part of the case before working on the computer)
· Don't place boards on metal or foil.
· Try to wear synthetic clothing when working on PC’s
· Store parts in antistatic bags.
· Don’t wave styrofoam cups over a board
· Keep chips in protective foam
· Never place unprotected boards or components in plastic containers
· Handle boards by the metal brackets
· Use antistatic sprays for cleaning
· Use special computer/electronic vacuums that are not abrasive

This information is to inform you about ESD damage. You may not come into contact with parts at work but you may at home. Either way, it is important that you are informed of this for your safety and for the longevity of your computer.

The Louvre is just one of many museums online.  You can display the artwork and cultural artifacts on your TV monitor using an AVerKey or other TV converter so that all students can view the work. The Museum Computer Network has a list of over 1,000 museums from around the world.  Go to www.mcn.edu/WEBMUSAC.HTM and find a multitude of museums.

Here are a list of other sites to take you class on a virtual field trip:
Exploratorium -  www.exploratorium.com/index.html
Virtual Tours of Museums, Exhibits and Points of Special Interest  - www.virtualfreesites.com/museums.htm
National  Museum: Dinosaurs - www.nmnh.si.edu/VirtualTour/Tour/First/Dinosaurs/index.html
Smithsonian Dinosaur Exhibit - www.nmnh.si.edu/paleo/dino/
Michelangelo - www.michelangelo.com/buonarroti.html
Metropolitan Museum of Art Online Collections - www.metmuseum.org/collections/index.asp
Earth Science Virtual Field Trip Page - www.mont-acad.pvt.k12.al.us/facultypub/grant.j/ftrips.html
Virtual Trip to the Statue of Liberty - www.nyctourist.com/liberty1.htm
Monet’s Garden Virtual Tour - www.mmfa.qc.ca/visite-vr/anglais/index.html
Volcano World Virtual Field Trips - volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/kids/vrtrips.html
The San Diego Zoo - www.sandiegozoo.org

The infamous, “my computer was working” call still plagues us as Technicians especially if the computer was previously working before someone other than the intended user was on it. Many times our department has received calls on computers shortly after students, siblings or other persons, some of whom are not totally computer literate, have used the systems. Some of the after effects of this particular type of use are: corrupt operating systems, loss of documents and email, or the darn thing just won’t boot anymore.

A good solution to these problems is to allow only authorized personnel to use the systems and to make sure that your computer is protected either by password, screensaver or some type of access security. Your computer can be compared to your personal vehicle in that when you are the only driver, you know more about the state it is in.

By replacing the copiers with the newer technology, we were able to reduce our contract and save some money by reducing our overall copying quota.  You can help save money by doing a few things.  When printing just a few documents, it may make sense to just print it on your local printer.  Be aware that printing to a laser printer is relatively more expensive than printing one set and then copying multiple sets on the copier.
I would also encourage you to consider sending any print jobs larger than 50 copies to Graphics and Printing.  The cost for them is much less than printing or copying at your site.  With a little planning on your part, and their 24 hour turn around for delivery, you can have your copies and help save money.

Let’s all do what we can to conserve on our budget and save money where we can.