SchoolCounselor.com eNewsletter #97
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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
newsletter@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
New videos added since the last issue.
http://www.schoolcounselor.com/videos/
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Updated July 2008!
Technology Safety and Security Among Children: What Caretakers Need to Know
I
am presenting to parents/families much more frequently these days about the
dangers of technology among children (and what they can do about it). I would
like to share my handout with you which is now available online. Please share or
use it as you see appropriate.
http://www.schoolcounselor.com/macomb/#handout
Keeping Kids Out of High-Tech Trouble
Use this column in your next newsletter home to parents.
http://www.guardingkids.com/column.htm
Tech Safety Guidance Lesson
This 50 minute guidance lesson focuses on two prominent issues in helping kids
to stay out of high-tech trouble. The lesson includes videos, links, and other
resources.
http://www.guardingkids.com/guidancelesson.htm
TIPS AND TRICKS
SyncToy 2.0
for Windows is available as a free download from the Microsoft Download Center.
The easy to use, customizable application helps you copy, move, rename, and
delete files between folders and computers. SyncToy, a free PowerToy for
Microsoft Windows, is an easy to use, highly customizable program that helps
users to do the heavy lifting involved with the copying, moving, and
synchronization of different directories. Most common operations can be
performed with just a few clicks of the mouse, and additional customization is
available without additional complexity. SyncToy can manage multiple sets of
folders at the same time; it can combine files from two folders in one case, and
mimic renames and deletes in another case. Unlike other applications, SyncToy
actually keeps track of renames to files and will make sure those changes get
carried over to the synchronized folder.
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Microsoft Word: Switching Cases
Microsoft Office Word offers several case options: lowercase (hello), title case
(Hello), and uppercase (HELLO). You can switch between them very easily. Select
a piece of text, and then press SHIFT+F3.
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Microsoft Excel: Add Rows and Columns
To add a row or column: Select any row or column, and then press the CTRL key at
the same time as the PLUS SIGN (+) key on the numeric keypad.
To delete a row or column: Select the row or column, and then press the CTRL key
at the same time as the MINUS SIGN (–) key on the numeric keypad.
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Microsoft Outlook: Set the Order of Your Tasks and To-Dos
You can prioritize your Microsoft Office Outlook tasks and to-dos. To create a
task or to-do from an Outlook item, either flag it or simply drag it to the task
list or To-Do Bar. Then set the order in which you want items to appear by
dragging them up and down the list.
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Protect Yourself from Identity Theft
According to the government, 8.3 million Americans fell victim to identity theft
in 2005. Estimated losses surpassed $15 billion. Fortunately, you can protect
yourself from identity theft. You’ve probably seen ads touting identity theft
protection services. For a monthly fee, your credit report is locked. You
receive copies of your credit reports annually. The services also promise to
insure you against identity theft. Read more ...
http://komando.com/columns/index.aspx?id=5017
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Online Tools and Software For Creating Podcast Feeds and Posts
You don't have to learn what RSS is or any code to create your own podcast.
There are websites and software designed to help you assemble your podcast, host
your files, and help distribute it. It's the easiest way to get your podcast out
to the world. If you can click a mouse, you can create a podcast.
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Microsoft Outlook 2007: Track e-mail messages that
require follow up
By flagging e-mail messages, you can track responses to messages that you send.
You can also make sure that you follow up on messages that you receive. In
either case, you can include a reminder alert.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA012299011033.aspx
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WORTHY WEBSITES AND SOFTWARE
Glary Utilities offers numerous powerful
and easy-to-use system tools and utilities to fix, speed up, maintain and
protect your PC. It allows you to clean common system junk files, as well as
invalid registry entries and Internet traces. You can manage and delete browser
add-ons, analyze disk space usage and find duplicate files. You can also view
and manage installed shell extensions, encrypt your files from unauthorized
access and use, split large files into smaller manageable files and then rejoin
them. Furthermore, Glary Utilities includes the options to optimize memory,
find, fix, or remove broken Windows shortcuts, manage the programs that start at
Windows startup and uninstall software. Other features include secure file
deletion, an Empty Folder finder and more. Free.
http://www.glaryutilities.com
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EZAnalyze Time Tracking Edition is in
Beta Testing
From Dr. Tim Poynton ... I have been working on a new project to help school
counselors keep track of how they spend their time, the 'EZAnalyze Time Tracking
Edition'. It is an Excel file with a user interface built in to help you keep
track of your interactions with students (including documenting the session
length with a timer, visit reason, and space to type in counseling notes). It
can provide summary reports of your work with an individual student, or
summarize all of your activities with students. There is also a function for
tracking the time you spend not providing direct services to students. If you
would like to help me test the EZAnalyze TTE, you can
sign up
and download the file by providing your email address. This file does not work
with Apple versions of office.
http://www.ezanalyze.com/
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Dimdim Web Meeting
Dimdim is the world's free open source web meeting. Dimdim is a free web
conferencing service where you can share your desktop, show slides, collaborate,
chat, talk and broadcast via webcam - with absolutely no download required for
attendees. Dimdim Web Meeting is also available in more powerful versions which
can support thousands of attendees.
http://www.dimdim.com/
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ParentCare Beta Software
ParentCare Beta is a free, simple software tool designed to help parents
safeguard their teens. With ParentCare Beta, parents can determine if their teen
has a
MySpace profile and validate the age, user name, and location listed by the
teen.
The ParentCare Beta software is designed to bolster MySpace’s special safety
protections for community members under 18 and give parents useful information
to start a conversation about online safety.
http://www.myspace.com/parentcare
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New from Google
Knol
This month we launched a new service called Knol that makes it much easier to
author and share information on the web. You can write authoritative articles
(a.k.a. knols) on a subject you know about, and then share your knowledge with
everyone. Each knol identifies an author or group of authors, and readers can
clearly see who wrote it and their credentials. You can also comment, rate, or
review a knol. Using a new feature called "moderated collaboration," readers can
even edit a knol directly. Then the author can decide whether to take the
suggestions into account.
http://knol.google.com
Chat in 3D using Lively
Lively by Google lets you design your own virtual rooms and chat and interact
with your friends in 3D. You can also create and personalize your own chat
avatar. Lively is a great new way for you to meet and connect with people who
share your interests: when browsing your favorite blogs or websites, you can now
join Lively rooms embedded into the sites.
http://www.lively.com
Google Docs Introduces Template Gallery
A
lot of desktop word processing and text editing apps feature templates you can
use to jazz up your documents -- or make them look terrible, depending on your
opinion. Now Google Docs gives you the same option, with a new template gallery.
There are over 300 templates, featuring everything from resumés to cards to
calendars.
http://docs.google.com/templates
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Conflict Resolution Resources from Eduhound
http://www.eduhound.com/cttarchives/080708ctt.cfm
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Idealist.org!
Idealist is a project of Action Without Borders, a nonprofit organization
founded in 1995 with offices in the United States and Argentina. Idealist is an
interactive site where people and organizations can exchange resources and
ideas, locate opportunities and supporters, and take steps toward building a
world where all people can lead free and dignified lives.
http://www.idealist.org/
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Spybot Search & Destroy
This anti-spyware program is free, provides proactive protection, and is largely
effective.
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/home/index.html
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Cool Text is a free graphics generator
for web pages and anywhere else you need an impressive logo without a lot of
design work. Simply choose what kind of image you would like. Then fill out a
form and you'll have your own custom image created on the fly.
http://cooltext.com/
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ProProfs provides FREE Tools & Resources
for Knowledge Exchange! In particular, I liked Quiz School which allows you to
create & share quizzes for your classroom, company, blog or friends!
http://www.proprofs.com/
Data Boot Camp for School Counselors
and Administrators - CD
Russell A. Sabella, Ph.D.
My newest CD is designed to help you become more proficient in using Microsoft
Excel™ to make data an important part of your comprehensive school counseling
program. From data-driven decision making, to monitoring progress, to reporting
the positive impact you're having on kids -- this CD will demystify how it's
done.
With the Data Boot Camp for School Counselors and Administrators, what you see
and hear on the videos is what you do. At your fingertips, you'll have access to
30 videos and lots of graphics, tips, tricks, and resourceful links. This
straightforward step-by-step approach makes learning how to use Microsoft Excel™
(and a bit of PowerPoint™) as easy and convenient as watching television. Data
Boot Camp will help school counseling students, practitioners, administrators,
and counselor educators to more easily unlock the power of data so you can more
effectively support student achievement.
The content on the CD is equivalent to a full-day workshop in the computer lab!
Visit and learn more about the contents of the CD and view a couple of sample
videos (Remember, these samples may take a few moments to load because you are
online. However, on the CD, this is not an issue because the videos are all
located on the CD itself!).
http://www.schoolcounselor.com/store/data-bootcamp.htm
$21.95 (FREE shipping)
please allow 5-7 working days to arrive |
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JUST FOR FUN
CRON-O-Meter is free, open source, and
cross-platform dieting software. CR (Calorie Reduced) diets require a lot of
information to perform optimally. In order to restrict caloric intake, but
remain healthy, users of the diet must track their vitamin, mineral, and protein
intakes with great care.
http://spaz.ca/cronometer/
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America's Most Walkable Neighborhoods
With gas at $4 a gallon, there's never been a better time to live in a walkable
neighborhood. What is your community’s walk score?
http://www.walkscore.com/rankings/
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Open Library
The goal is to create a page for every book ever written. You will already find
pages for more than 13 million titles!
http://openlibrary.org/
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Cozi.com
The new way busy families manage all the things they do. Free.
http://www.cozi.com
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