WWWords to Live By

To use your Tangischools email account go to www.tangischools.org and click on the E-mail link. You will need to login with your username, (which is different from your email address) and your password. Most usernames are in the following format—first initial last name…. no spaces, no periods… for example, the user name for Jane Doe would be jdoe. Your password is the last four digits of your social security number.  Your email address is in this format... firstname.lastname@tangischools.org. So Jane Doe’s email address is jane.doe@tangischools.org.

There is a 10MB limit to your email account so remember to keep your mailbox cleaned up by deleting any unwanted email messages. To remove items from your mail box, select the item(s) you want to delete and click the "DELETE" icon then click the "Empty Deleted Item Folder" icon.  These icons are located near the top of the email window.

ETrust AntiVirus

TPSS has purchased ETrust Antivirus software for all computers in our school district. This software is being installed automatically to all computers connected to the TPSS network. If your computer automatically begins the ETrust installation, it is important that you DO NOTHING to the computer while it is in this process. PLEASE do not close the installation when it begins or you will not receive the antivirus protection that your computer so desperately needs. As many of you know, TPSS was hit hard at the beginning of the year with viruses and our network is still recovering from all the damage. We are counting on everyone’s cooperation to get the virus problems under control. Once ETrust is installed, it will be set to automatically update new virus definitions and scan for viruses every TUESDAY night so... Please leave your computer on every Tuesday night.

The state of Louisiana has once again provided educators and students in our state with two tremendous online resources, World Book Online Reference Center and Gale Group Databases. 
These can be accessed by going to the TangiSchools Resources page at www.tangischools.org/resources.html. These sites require a login and password. If you do not know the login and password, email Vicki Blackwell at vickib@tangischools.org or ask your school librarian.

TangiTech Staff Development

Two Cycles of TangiTech #1 are in progress during this month. One group of teachers is working at West Side Middle School in Amite and another at D.C. Reeves Elementary in Ponchatoula. These computer-using educators are learning strategies for using technology as another tool to improve teaching and learning in the classroom. These educators are really enjoying themselves and are anxiously awaiting the opportunity to work with their students on some of the activities that they are learning in TangiTech. If you are interested in attending TangiTech Staff Development, schedules and information can be found on the TangiSchools website Technology Page at  www.tangischools.org/tangitech/tangitech.html

Teachers will be able to earn graduate credit for TangiTech beginning in  January, 2004. If you are interested in that option, please contact Vicki Blackwell at vickib@tangischools.org

“Thank you so much!  I have really needed this & I had so much fun learning new things!  You truly inspired me and I am ready for Monday.  My children will be so happy ….I know that I am rambling on and on, but I LOVE IT-THANK YOU!!!”

With all of the advertisements and pop-ups on the Internet these days it’s sometimes difficult to tell what is real and what is a virus or a problem download for your computer. The best rule of thumb is DON’T click on any advertisement … simply close the window by clicking the X in the top right hand corner of the window. You should NOT have Weather Bug, Precision Time, or Gator installed and running on your TPSS computer. Those are forbidden applications on our network. IF you have any of these applications, go to the Control Panel and Add/Remove Programs and remove them.

Jake Ragusa, Technology Director, is proud to announce that Tangipahoa Parish School System Technology Department has three new technicians and one Technology Resource Teacher joining our staff. Lyndy Painting, David Duvall, and Jason Martin have joined  Mike Diaz, John Trotter and Carl Head  to help the technology in TPSS work more efficiently. Kathy Prine has moved to the position of Technology Resource Teacher to work with Vicki Blackwell in Instructional Technology.

If you are having problems with your computer, please notify your HOTT team member who has a form to fill out to report the problem to the Technology Department.  These forms should be emailed to helpdesk@tangischools.org or faxed to Carol Edwards at 748-2445. Once the form is faxed to Technology Department, they should be filed in a folder housed in the school office awaiting the technician's visit.

Your school has been assigned a technician who will target your school once every three weeks or so. At that time, the principal will have a list of things that he/she would like the technician to work on while at the school.  These will be the only things the technician can work on during his/her visit. So please understand if you try to coax/beg the technician to come into your room and fix a problem and they refuse. There is a routine and procedure set up for their visits and the technicians are to follow the principal’s and Mr. Ragusa’s directions while in the schools.

Wild Wonderful Web Sites

This is a new feature in the Bits & Bytes Newsletter where we would like to highlight websites that are recommended by the teachers of TPSS.  I would love to hear from you about the best educational sites you have found on the web. Please submit, via email, the sites you feel merit inclusion. Send your recommendations to vickib@tangischools.org  Please include the URL and a short sentence about the site. 

Teachers, Check It Out

The Icing on the Cake - Online Tools for Classroom Use By: Kathy Schrock
This compiled list includes tools for teachers, tools for students, and training materials.  Kathy Schrock is my HERO!!

http://kathyschrock.net/cooking

By turning on WinXP’s ClearType, a font-smoothing feature, your computer will display text that looks much better and is easier to read. Experts says that ClearType “refines jagged pixels and smoothes the edges of fonts, making them more readable.”  Interestingly enough, WinXP ships with this amazing feature turned off by default. The easiest way to activate it is to right-click the Desktop, click Properties, choose the Appearance tab, and click Effects. Select the Use The Following Method To Smooth Edges Of Screen Fonts option, and then select ClearType from the drop-down menu. Click OK to save your change and close the Effects dialog box, and then click OK again to close the Display Properties dialog box. You should see the difference in display quality immediately.

Microsoft Word - Spell Checking
You have a lengthy word document that you need to get out but noticed that there was one paragraph that you forgot to add in; after you have spell checked this 10 page document. You don’t have time to wait to go through the whole document again just to check this one paragraph. You can spell check this one paragraph by itself. Here are the steps:

1.       Select the area of text you wish to spell check

2.       Select Tools -> Spelling and Grammar or press F7 to bring up the spell check window

3.       When Word asks if you want to check the remainder of the document, select "No"

Microsoft Excel - Auto Fill
Most Microsoft Excel users know how to use the AutoFill feature by grabbing the fill handle at the lower right corner of the cell (+) and dragging the fill handle until the series or formula extends far enough to accommodate the data. Excel users can accomplish the same thing by double-clicking on the fill handle at the lower right corner of the first field to cover the rest of the fields that hold data. Your AutoFill will automatically apply your series or formula.

Thinking Maps can be seen inside and outside of classrooms all over Tangipahoa Parish School System, as a result of training that teachers attended this summer. Teachers have reported excellent results in teaching the eight Thinking Maps to their students and the integration of this learning technique into the curriculum. Now that students have an understanding of each of the Thinking Maps, the software that comes with the program will be able to supplement this learning strategy. Thinking Maps software will be installed on each school’s server and all computers at that school will have access to the software for installation. Computer labs, libraries, and classrooms should all have the software on their computers. Step-by-step directions will be distributed to all HOTT team members and principals to accomplish this. The TPSS Thinking Maps webpage can be found at www.tangischools.org/thinkingmaps/thinkingmaps.html. This is a place where we would like to showcase your students’ work. Please take digital pictures of your students and their Thinking Maps and send along with a paragraph to vickib@tangischools.org for posting to the website. This is a great way to share ideas with your fellow teachers as well as giving your students the honor of having their work published on the website.

Tangipahoa Parish School System Technology Department
59656 Puleston Road, Amite LA. 70422
Voice 985-345-1406 or 985-748-2469; Fax 985-748-2445
Bits & Bytes Newsletter
October 13, 2003
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