Teacher Resources Tech Tips for Teachers

Tech Tips for Teachers

How do I...

Bookmark a page on the Atlas?
Print the lesson plans and handouts?
Print a web page from the Atlas?
Customize a document from an Atlas page?
View a Flash movie? 
Download a PDF file?
Suggested resources

How to bookmark a page, or add to your Favorites

Bookmarking is a great way to keep track of all your favorite web sites and links. When your browser window is loaded with a page that you want to bookmark, do this:

Netscape Navigator: To add a bookmark in Netscape, go to Bookmarks: Add Bookmark on the toolbar. As a shortcut, press Ctrl+D. To recall a page, click on Bookmarks and find the page on the drop down menu.

Internet Explorer: Internet Explorer has "Favorites" rather than bookmarks, but they're the same thing. To add a bookmark in Internet Explorer, go to Favorites: Add to Favorites. As a shortcut, press Ctrl+D. To recall the page, drop down the Favorites menu and click on your bookmark.

Both browsers have systems of organizing your bookmarks into folders for easy reference. Check the Help pages in your particular browser for details.

How to print the lesson plans and handouts

All the lesson plans, student guides and handouts in the Atlas are on print-ready pages, or have print versions. To print a page, click on the Print button in the top toolbar or choose File>Print from the File menu on the top menu bar. Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+P. Any of these will bring up the Print dialog box for your printer. 

Always do a Preview before printing, so you can see what the page layout will look like and how many actual pages you will have. Sometimes there is much more than a "page" in a web page. There will be a Preview button in your print dialog box. 

In the Print Dialog box there are buttons for turning off headers and footers, setting page sizes, and other handy options. If the images are too big for the page, choose the "Shrink Pages to Fit" or "Fit to Page" button, then choose Print.

A few of the handouts, such as large illustrations, have special instructions for printing them. The instructions for these handouts are found at the top of those pages.

How to print web pages

You can print any web page while you have that page in your browser window. Just click on the Print button in the top toolbar, or choose File>Print from the File menu on the top menu bar. Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+P.  The page will print with all the images and text. 

Always do a Preview before printing, so you can see what the page layout will look like and how many actual pages you will have. Sometimes there is much more than a "page" in one web page. There will be a Preview button in your print dialog box. 

For some web pages, if you print the page in Portrait (vertical) mode, the right side of the page will be cut off. If you do a Preview before sending to the printer, you can see how the page will look before you print it. To print the entire width of the web page, choose Landscape (horizontal) mode from your printer menu. To do this, choose File>Page Setup and select Landscape. Then choose File>Print.

In the Print Dialog box there are buttons for turning off headers and footers, setting page sizes, and other handy options. If the images are too big for the page, choose the "Shrink Pages to Fit" or "Fit to Page" button, the choose Print.

How to customize a document from a web page

Suppose you want to customize a lesson plan or handout for your class? Or copy the text from a web page without all the images and buttons? Use the Copy and Paste feature. Move your cursor to the beginning of the text that you want to copy. Hold down the mouse button (the left button on a PC) and drag the cursor across all the text that you wish to copy. Once you have selected all the desired text, let go of the mouse button. Move your cursor to the Edit menu in the top toolbar, and select Copy. This will save the text into your computer's memory. Now open your word processing program or any text editor such as Notepad (Windows) or Simple Text (Mac). Place the cursor at the point in the document where you want the text to appear. From the Edit menu, select Paste. Your copied text will appear, and you can format it. If you want to save it, choose File>Save As and give it a name. Print using the same procedure as above.

Watch out: Your computer can only remember one thing at a time. Once you have copied something, paste it right away. If you copy something else, the first selection will be forgotten.

Keyboard shortcuts: On a PC, hold down Control and press C for Copy, and V for Paste. On a Mac, hold the Apple key and press Cand V.

How to view a Flash movie

Most browsers come with the Flash Player already installed. If you find that your computer will not play a Flash movie, you need to install the free Flash Player or an updated version. If you are trying to play a Flash movie, you will see a download button for installing Flash if you don't have it. Click the button and follow the instructions.

Otherwise, you can download the latest version of the Flash Player from Macromedia. Click this button to go to the download page: 

Once you have downloaded it, installation is easy. Return to the Atlas and you will be able to view the Flash movie.

How to download a PDF file

Most of the handouts on our web site are also provided in PDF, or Portable Document Format. PDF is a widely used method of distributing files that can be used with any computer on any platform, because all the original formatting is preserved. The files end with "/teacher/.pdf" and have this icon: 

You can view and print them with the free Adobe Reader. We recommend printing the handouts this way for the best printing results. Most computers already have the software installed. 

Downloading Adobe Reader
If you do not currently have Adobe Reader installed, you can download it free from the Adobe site: 

Scroll down through the Adobe web page until you see the words Get Adobe Reader Free near the bottom. Go to step one to register as a user of the free software. Next, choose the platform needed (Macintosh, Win 95, Win 3.1, Win NT etc), and then click on the Download button to download a compressed version of the software to your computer. Once Adobe Reader has been downloaded and installed on your computer, return to the Atlas and download the PDF file. 

To download PDF files to your computer:

Use your mouse to click on the file you wish to obtain. The file will start to download right away. Or you can click the right mouse button until a list of menu options appears. You will see a menu with a Save to...option. Choose this option, and save the file to your computer. Once downloading is complete, click on the file icon and it will open automatically in Adobe Reader. Save the file on your own computer, to view and print whenever you want. You do not have to return to the Atlas to print the handout.

To print PDF files you are viewing in Adobe Reader:

Click on the Abobe Print icon to print the entire file.

Suggested Resources

Your students are your best resource! Ask them. Those with computers at home already know all this stuff.

Books:

The Internet in Your Classroom
By Katharine Davis and Melissa Tankersley,
Carson Dellosa Publishing Company, 2000 $10.99

Easy to use for even the beginner. Has straight forward instructions for teachers beginning to learn about the Internet, and worksheets for student activities. Very encouraging approach! There is another edition for primary grades. Available through the Teacher's Store in West Plains.

The Internet for Teachers
By Bard Williams, Ed.D.  IDG Books, 1999 $24.99
Comprehensive look at the Internet written in clear language. Easy to follow directions for both first steps and more advanced work like building a web page. The third edition is out of print, but some stores have stock. It is available from Amazon.com used for $8. Watch for another edition.