We are also learning about how to make our searches more effective. It's funny because I remember learning how to do a lot of these little tricks to make searches more effective back in high school and college, but somehow I got away from using them. I don't know why I got away from using them, but I'm glad that they're back so that I can save myself some time.
We're also learning about some different word processing programs that most people don't know about, and the different types of features that you can use in them. I feel like I know slightly more than a lot other teachers about some of the features that are a part of your regular word processing program. I remember at the beginning of the school year I was working with a close teacher colleague and I pulled out some little trick in Microsoft that I thought was pretty common knowledge, especially for a fairly tech-savvy person like my friend. He saw what I did and it kind of blew his mind and he said, "Wow! I should start hanging out with my local library media specialist more often." If a fairly tech-savvy guy like him doesn't know about some of the basic things, that means that most of the other teachers know virtually nothing at all, so this lesson is bound to make me even more knowledgeable for those little tricks that, to me, make creating written documents a piece of art more than just written words.
Hey Mr. Tech Wizard! I was wondering if you ever did any short tech classes with your staff? For a couple of years we had people do Tech 20's with any staff who wanted to come. Sometimes the class would be about a word processing program, sometimes it would be about a certain database or program we subscribed to - United Streaming, for instance. It was just a quick way to get a few little ideas out there. People seemed to like it, especially because it was nice and short (no overloading the brain) and immediately "useable." After this class, you'll have tons to teach them! Honestly, the 20 minute limit was great for the teacher and the students.
ReplyDeleteHey Matt, let us know how you're doing with implementing some of this new-found knowledge in your school and feel free to school us with some of your tips and tricks! The search tips that we all learned about this week will come in handy at work and home. See you later this week in our group session.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we share enough of what we know with the rest of the staff. I know I feel like I'm not the smartest apple in the basket and what I would share wouldn't be new to everyone. This goes to show that everyone has something to share and a tip they can pass along.
ReplyDelete