PPS Instructional Technology

Let's be honest, we have all been guilty of poor password practices at some point in time or another.  Maybe you have kept a notebook on your desk with all your passwords, used the same password for "everything", used a simple password (ex: Winter2017) or kept your password on a sticky note next to your monitor.  Unfortunately, all these practices set us up for having our passwords compromised or stolen, and in return put our data at risk. There are many things we can do to increase our security when online, including avoiding phishing scams .  In this post, we are going to focus on what makes a strong password. What do I need to make a strong password? When creating a strong password, it's recommended that we... Have at least 8 characters Include upper and lower case letters Include numbers Include characters, like ~!@#$%^&*_-+=`|\(){}[]:;"'<>,.?/ Avoid using words found in the dictionary Avoid using your username as part of your passw...

What’s Happening? Your students are working away on their projects and all of a sudden, a kid brings their Chromebook up to you because they have somehow mysteriously flipped the image on the screen so it is now turned 90 or 180 degrees.  And like any good teacher, you are an expert at reading upside down (thanks to all those read alouds), but the kids haven't mastered that skill yet - unless, of course, they are trying to figure out the i-tunes password as their parents type it in.  So the question is... How do I turn the screen image back to the "normal" direction? How do I fix it? To turn the screen image, all you have to do is click three simple keys... ctrl+shift+refresh button Why does it do this? There is a legitimate reason to flip your Chromebook screen.  For example, maybe you want to view something in portrait view so you can see the whole "sheet".  The rotate would be helpful for this, however, most of the time it is just annoying.  ...

You would think that as a technology integration specialist, I would get a lot of challenging questions about how best to integrate technology in a meaningful way in the classroom, what are the best tech tools for specific purposes, and how to keep our kids safe when they are using technology.  And you would be correct.  Paul and I frequently get really great questions about all those things, but sometimes it's the little things that really get educators excited...like a handwritten signature on email. My auto Gmail signature contains an image file of my written signature (first name).  I feel like having the handwritten signature adds some personality and personalizes the email better than just a typed signature.  To the right is a sample of my Gmail signature.  It isn't anything over the top or special, but frequently when I am out in the buildings helping our staff, teachers will stop me and as how they can create their own signature.  Paul and I have...