Looking for your Google documents? They are still located within your gmail. They can be found under Drive. Drive is found on the top toolbar in the same place you would find documents. Drive has a cleaner look to shared documents. Out with the collections and in with folders. I hope the video below can help you maneuver through Google Drive a little easier.

Increase or Decrease the Size of your Screen

Is the text on your computer screen too small for you to see? Is the screen too large that you have to scroll right and left to get access to all your menus and option? There is a simple way to increase or decrease the size of the text and images on your computer screen.

There are three simple ways to increase or decrease the size of your computer screen.

#1 - Hold down the control button on your keyboard and scroll the wheel on your mouse up to increase the size and down decrease the size.

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#2 - Hold down the control button on your keyboard and drag your finger on the right side of your track pad (up to increase the size and down to decrease the size).

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#3 - Hold down the control button on your keyboard and press the + key to increase the size or the - key to decrease the size.

Google Chrome

Welcome back to a new school year!  I know you have heard a lot about Google Chrome.  You've seen the emails encouraging you to use Chrome, but what is Google Chrome?  Google Chrome is simply an internet browser like Internet Explorer.  Google Chrome allows you to both search and/or input web address into the address bar.  Your bookmarks will transfer over from Internet Explorer, and the great part about Chrome is that it simply puts new pages you open up into tabs instead of opening all new windows.  If you see green videos while using Internet Explorer, simply switch over to Google Chrome and they will work fine.  Here is a short video on how to open chrome, transfer your bookmarks, and doing a simple search.

Screen Captures

Ever want to take a quick picture of your computer screen? When you are working on a district computer you have an option you can use that pops up on your computer screen every time you log in. It is the small box that appears called FastStone Capture.

The icons give you a few options of what you want to capture in your picture. 

1st: Capture the active window. This includes the tabs at the top of the screen.

2nd: Capture the window. This is just in inside of the webpage.

3rd: Capture just a rectangular section (that you can specify).

4th: Capture a free hand region that you can draw yourself.

5th: Capture the full screen. 

6th: Capture a scrolling screen.

To use this feature, have up on the screen what you want to capture. In the FastStone box click on the type of capture you want to do. When it is captured, it will open into a new screen and you can zoom, crop, cut, copy, draw, add a caption, make a decorative edge, resize, email, print or save the image you captured. 

Vacation Setting in Your Email

If you are going to be gone from work for a conference, maternity leave, or some other reason you may want to set up your vacation settings. This will not stop emails from coming to your inbox, but it will let the sender of the email know that you are currently not available.  This lets people emailing you understand why you are not answering emails, and if need be they can contact someone else if there is an emergency.  You can set it to only send your away message to people at MJSD and/or people in your contacts so you are not letting the whole world know you are gone. 

To set this up:

1. Log into your email.
2. Click on the gear located on the upper right hand side.
3. Click on Mail Settings

 4. Scroll down until you find Vacation Responder



5. Then click next to Vacation Responder On

6. Choose the dates you will be gone

7. In the message section write a generic message, you don't have to be detailed about why you are gone.  Also remember to include an alternate contact if they need to get a hold of someone ASAP.

8. Under the message box you can choose if you want to send your vacation responder to only those in your contacts, only those at MJSD, and if you do not choose either of those it will go to anyone who emails you (including spammers).

9.  Then remember to scroll down and save changes.

10. Then your vacation responder is all set-up!

It might not be a good idea to turn this on over the summer, unless you have contacts outside of the school district who contact you often.  Otherwise as school secretaries and other staff members try to email you over the summer they will be receiving lots of away messages from people.

Time to Back Up your Files!

Time to back up your files! We all have received the email warning us to back up our files before we leave for the summer. But do you really know how to back up your files? The video below will show you step by step how to back up your file on a flash drive or a CD-R

Wisc Online

Wisc-Online is a digital library of web-based learning resources called learning objects.  The learning objects are developed by the Wisconsin Technical College System and anyone can create an account and access the learning objects.  From experience most of the objects are very high quality and interactive and if you can find something that mirrors the topics you are covering they are a great resource.  Wisconsin Technical Colleges provide our students a great service making the learning objects available.  They are defiantly  worth checking out.