Publisher is an easy to use application that comes with many versions of Microsoft Office for PC. Teachers can create nice looking newsletters in Publisher. Teachers can also have students creating documents in Publisher to support their learning. Below is a How-To Guide on how to use Publisher. The docuement also contains ideas on how teachers and students alike can use Publisher in the class. The...

The Tech Ninja has many different weapons in his arsenal of educational goodness. A tool that the ninja frequently relies on is mail merge. Mail merge is the ability to take data (for example names and addresses) from a spreadsheet or database and insert them into some kind of printed document (a letter, catalog, etc.). This is a quick and easy way to make personalized letters to students or parents....

Two websites that I like to use for storytelling/story writing are Kerpoof and Big Universe. The first, Kerpoof, will allow students to choose a scene and then add characters to the scene. You can add motions and effects to the characters making for a really cool little “movie making” lite experience. The other allows students to create online books. Students can write story and then add...

The Tech Ninja frequently gets questions about how he gets video from popular video sharing sites like YouTube, Vimeo, Google Video, Eyespot, GodTube, Internet Archive – Movies, or teacher related video sites like TeacherTube, and SchoolTube and then embed them into Notebook. Before we get into the nitty gritty of the how, there are a few issues that the tech ninja would like to touch on. First,...

YouTube could be used as a resource to find movies and drop into SmartBoard Notebook. However many school districts block the website because of inappropriate material that has been posted there. Enter TeacherTube (http://www.teachertube.com) the YouTube for teachers. Teachers with a knack for making videos have posted all kinds of great, curriculum-rich resources just waiting for you to find them...

Want to improve your skills on the computer but you don’t want to spend a bunch of time? Check out http://www.180techtips.com. At 180 Technology Tips, you can sign up to receive an e-mail with a technology mini-lesson. The mini lessons take less than five minutes to complete. Not interested in the topic for a particular day, just delete the e-mail. Lessons topics include Internet, Windows, Outlook,...