December 15, 2011

Welcome to SchoolCounselor.com, an electronic newsletter designed to advance counselors' level of technological literacy, application, and integration. You will find practical solutions and answers to technology related problems, especially as they apply to your job as counselor. If you would like to share a tip or trick, or if you would like to ask a question, e-mail Russ Sabella at news@schoolcounselor.com
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Highlights from SchoolCounselor.com

Top 5 Training Topics for School Counselors
http://www.schoolcounselor.com/top5training.htm

Must See Videos
http://counselingvideos.blogspot.com/

New videos have been added since the last issue:

Never give up - No Arms, No Legs No Worries - Nick Vujicic
http://counselingvideos.blogspot.com/2011/12/never-give-up-no-arms-no-legs-no.html

Plagiarism: Don't Do It
http://counselingvideos.blogspot.com/2011/12/plagiarism-don’t-do-it.html

BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING PRANK!
http://counselingvideos.blogspot.com/2011/12/black-friday-shopping-prank.html

Change For A Dollar
http://counselingvideos.blogspot.com/2011/12/change-for-dollar.html

Zach Wahls Speaks About Family
http://counselingvideos.blogspot.com/2011/12/zach-wahls-speaks-about-family.html

Solution Focused Coaching (Animation)
http://counselingvideos.blogspot.com/2011/11/solution-focused-coaching-animation.html

Digital Drama and Kids Behaving Badly
http://counselingvideos.blogspot.com/2011/11/digital-drama-and-kids-behaving-badly.html

Solution Focused: Past present future X negative positive
http://counselingvideos.blogspot.com/2011/11/past-present-future-x-negative-positive.html

TED: Ideas worth spreading (Some of my latest favorites)
http://counselingvideos.blogspot.com/2011/11/ted-ideas-worth-spreading.html

Cyber Bullying PSA by Oak Park High School (California)
http://counselingvideos.blogspot.com/2011/11/cyber-bullying-psa-by-oak-park-high.html

Fighting Cyberbullying
http://counselingvideos.blogspot.com/2011/11/fighting-cyberbullying.html

Flight Search: Evaluating all your flight options
http://counselingvideos.blogspot.com/2011/11/flight-search-evaluating-all-your.html

Color Changing Card Trick (Psychology)
http://counselingvideos.blogspot.com/2011/10/Color-changing-card-trick.html

Psychiatrists Propose Revisions to Diagnosis Manual | Feb. 10, 2010 | PBS
http://counselingvideos.blogspot.com/2011/10/psychiatrists-propose-revisions-to.html

In support of National Bullying Prevention Month - Pause Before You Post ...
http://counselingvideos.blogspot.com/2011/10/in-support-of-national-bullying.html

Stop Bullying Now! Public Service Announcement - "Who"
http://counselingvideos.blogspot.com/2011/10/stop-bullying-now-public-service.html

TIPS AND TRICKS

40 Quick Tips for Google Docs « BroncoBytes
http://broncobytes.boisestate.edu/2011/11/02/40-quick-tips-for-google-docs/

also see ..

50 Quick Tips for Gmail « BroncoBytes
http://broncobytes.boisestate.edu/2011/10/31/50-tips-for-gmail/

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Garr Reynolds PowerPoint Presentations TIPS
http://www.garrreynolds.com/Presentation/slides.html

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quietube: Video Without the Distractions
Watch web videos without the comments and junk.
http://quietube.com/

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Simple Quizzes in PowerPoint
http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=210

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Amazon.com: Books for helping grieving children.
Excellent selection. Wish I could order all of these.
http://t.co/b0szXSKS

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Taking a Screen Shot

Whether for a PowerPoint Presentation or for documenting abuse (e.g., on Facebook), sometimes you need a screen shot:

On a PC

With the content you want to save displayed on your screen:

Click the Print Screen button. (This button is located in different places. On many computers you’ll find it in the upper right corner.)
Open Microsoft PowerPoint, Word (or anywhere you want to paste it).
Click anywhere on the white part of the screen.
In the Edit menu at the top of your screen, select Paste.
Select File > Save As.

On a MAC
With the content you want to save is displayed on your screen:
Simultaneously hold down the three keys: ? Shift and 4.
Press the spacebar. A camera icon will appear.
Tap the touchpad to take the picture. It should appear on your desktop as a file named Picture.

Or, check out these pieces of software to:

Mirek's Free Windows Software (the one I use)
http://www.mirekw.com/winfreeware/mwsnap.html

Snipping Tool
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Use-Snipping-Tool-to-capture-screen-shots

Jing, Instant Screenshots and Screencasts
http://www.techsmith.com/jing.html

Skitch (Mac)
http://skitch.com/

Lightscreen
http://lightscreen.sourceforge.net/

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Microsoft Word: Three Keyboard Shortcuts
Source: Gizmo

Control font size:  I sometimes find that I want to make a sentence or particular piece of text display in a larger font size. You can do this through some menu manipulation but there is a quicker way. Select the text that you want to change, hold down the Ctrl key, and press ] (right square bracket) until the font is the size you want. Hold down Ctrl and press [ (left bracket) to make the font smaller. This shortcut also works in Microsoft Outlook.

Go to the end of the document: If you have a fairly long document and want to add something, here is a quicker way to get the end than scrolling all the way down. Use the keyboard combination Ctrl+End.

Go to the beginning of the document: If  the start of a document is the place you want to be, use Ctrl+Home

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Webinar for school counselor on using Google Docs and especially Forms (think online survey)
http://bit.ly/vT7nd2

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Dictionary look-up in Microsoft Word
Since Microsoft Word version 11 (Microsoft Office Word 2003) its been possible to look up meanings for words within your document. This only works when your computer is connected to the Internet so it is most useful for broadband and other 'always-on' connections.
http://www.bltt.org/software/word/dictionary.htm
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WORTHY WEBSITES AND SOFTWARE

Movie Maker | Xtranormal
If you can type, you can make animated movies.
http://www.xtranormal.com/

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CX.com | 10 GB of Free File Storage – Sync, Store, Share All In The Cloud
Source: Gizmo’s Freeware
If you've been put off Dropbox because 2 GB of storage isn't enough, and been avoiding CX because it's too new, now might be a good time to rethink.
http://www.cx.com/

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Cybia : Image Inc. - The easy way to blend photos together
This program has many uses. Blend multiple photos together, create interesting texture overlays, or add edge and frame effects to your images.
http://www.cybia.co.uk/imageinc.html

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TickCounter - Free online countdown, countup, timer, counter and stopwatch
http://www.tickcounter.com/

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Educational Video: The Top Cultural & Educational Video Sites | Open Culture
“The best free cultural & educational media on the web.”
http://www.openculture.com/intelligentvideo

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Cyberbullying and Technology Safety/Security Resources

I have a lot of stuff online at http://www.guardingkids.com. In particular, check out:

A mega file containing all three of my presentations: adults/educators, elementary children, and middle/high school. The presentations cover different topics including cyberbullying, importance of safety/security, and importance of a positive digital reputation. This ZIP file contains PowerPoints, videos, handouts, and more. You can get it at
http://minus.com/mtech-safety

Also, I have a table of free and almost free lesson plans and resources which I recommend.
http://bit.ly/cyberbullying-curr-table

Speaking of handouts, have you been to
http://www.schoolcounselor.com/resources/publications2.htm

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Free Excel Grade book for Elementary Teachers
Share this with your colleagues .. Here's a Grade book template designed specially for elementary classroom teachers. Download the Grade book and open it up on Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice Calc.  Enter your student names and grades.  The spreadsheet will calculate student averages for each subject. 
http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/excel-gradebook.html

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Hamster Free eBook Converter
Converts many eBook files in batches. Converts to TXT, Adobe PDF, FB2, LIT, HTMLZ, PDB, LRF, PUB.
http://ebook.hamstersoft.com/en/home

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Microsoft Fix it Solution Center
Find automated solutions for your issues.
http://support.microsoft.com/fixit/

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Work Sounds is a twice-a-week post that highlights good music to enhance your 'getting stuff done'. On Mondays, we focus on a piece of music to help motivate you for the week ahead; on Wednesdays we feature distraction-free, headphones-on, head-down work tunes.
http://lifehacker.com/work-sounds/



JUST FOR FUN

World Time Buddy
Ridiculously easy world time and meetings across time zones!
http://www.worldtimebuddy.com/

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Christmas Day Countdown for Outlook
http://www.ablebits.com/files/get.php?addin=ol-christmas-countdown&f=free

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Packwhiz.com - Packing List Generator
Packwhiz is a free service for travelers. No matter the destination, the trip always begins with a list of things you will need and a to-do list to take care of before you leave.
http://www.packwhiz.com/

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Do Nothing for 2 Minutes
Take a break .. Can you sit in front of your computer and not touch your mouse or keyboard for a measly two minutes?
http://www.donothingfor2minutes.com/

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Sabella & Associates, LLC, 4922 SW 26^th PL, Cape Coral, FL 33914
Sabella@Schoolcounselor.com