Replacing Fonts in Just 5 Clicks {Tech Thursday}

Technology Thursday is a weekly linky dedicated to all things technology related. Check out our Tech Thursday page for details on how to link up!

Whether you’re updating old resources or just decided that the font you initially chose wasn’t quite right, replacing fonts can be a time-consuming task. Fortunately, PowerPoint has a solution for us!


Starting with the 2013 version, you can replace a given font in your PowerPoint with just a couple of clicks! Here’s how…

In PowerPoint, look at the top right hand side of the main ribbon area. Click the drop-down arrow beside “Replace,” then click “Replace Fonts.”


Next, choose the old font you want to replace from the first drop-down menu. Choose the new font from the second drop-down menu. Click “Ok”, and all of the text in that font will be replaced by the new font.


Font sizes will not change, and because of the difference in spacing from one font to another, you might have to adjust the size or spacing of your text. Other than that, though, your font replacement is finished, in just 5 clicks!

Have a time-saving tip? We’d love to hear it!

Link up below with your own Website or App recommendations, Tech Tips, Tutorials, or anything else tech-related! We can't wait to learn from you!

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Tech Thursday: PowerPoint Shortcuts

Technology Thursday is a weekly linky dedicated to all things technology related. Share reviews of websites or apps you've tried, tech tips that make your {teaching or personal} life easier, and helpful tutorials. Our hope is that this linky provides a place for teachers to share and learn new ways to use technology and engage students!

Be a rule follower!
Rule #1: Include the image above and a link to our blog somewhere in your post.
Rule #2: Be a good blog reader...visit the two blogs who link up before you and leave some love on their pages!
Rule #3: This linky is not intended for product promotion. You may include products you've created in your posts, but they should not be the sole focus of the post.

I absolutely love, love, love shortcuts.  I always look for a way to work smarter- not harder and shortcuts are a great way to ensure the "smarter" you is in charge!

PowerPoint has a lot of great shortcuts.  Here are a few of my favorites.

(Reminder:  I am a PC kind of girl and I am working on Microsoft Office 13.)

Inserting a Text Box

This is "mouse" down my all time favorite shortcut for PowerPoint!

I really insert a lot of text boxes into PowerPoint. I mean a lot! I went searching for the shortcut and finally found it.  

Press ALT, then N, and then X.  In that order.  You don't have to hold them down.

Next, click your left mouse button, and your text box will appear with the cursor inside.

Use the Keyboard to Access the Ribbon

Every time you take your hands off of the keyboard to touch your mouse, you lose time.  And who wants to waste time?  Not me!  You can actually access sections of the ribbon right from your keyboard.

Ready for the trick.....

Hit ALT.  Yep.  That's the trick!

Little black boxes with letters in them will appear on your ribbon.  These are the letters to access that part of the ribbon.  

Hit the letter to match the selection that you want!

For example, I am on the Home Tab.  I want to Insert something.  I press ALT and then I see a black box with the letter N by Insert.  I press N and I am now on the Insert Tab.  Now I can hit "P" to insert a picture.  

No need to remember all of the letters...they are displayed for you!

Group and Ungrouping Shapes

Select the shapes you want to group by using Control and clicking on the objects.

Hold down CTRL and G to group items.

Hold down CTRL, SHIFT, and G to ungroup items.

Select All

This is a great tip if you are wanting to save a design you have made as a picture.  To do this you have to select all of the graphics at one time.  You can click, hold, and highlight with your mouse but sometimes things move or you miss an object.  This shortcut takes care of all of that.

Hold down CTRL and A.  Awesome!

Show a Grid or Guide

Okay, I must admit...I didn't even know there was a guide or a grid...but great for centering things!

Hold down ALT and then press F9.  Press again to remove.  This gives you a guides (horizontal and vertical line).

Hold down SHIFT and then press F9.  Press again to remove.  This gives you a grids (smaller squares).

Display the Context Menu

Hold down SHIFT and then press F10.

Great if you want grids and rulers.

Old Standbys

Cut Selected Object:  CTRL + X

Copy Selected Object:  CTRL + C

Paste Selected Object: CTRL +  V

Undo Last Action:  CTRL + Z

Redo Last Action:  CTRL + Y

Copy Formatting Only:  CTRL + SHIFT + C

Paste Formatting Only:  CTRL + SHIFT + V

Now you are probably wondering, "How am I ever going to remember all of these?" Check out my previous blog post giving you a quick and easy tip on how to learn shortcuts!

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Tech Thursday: Keyboard Shortcuts I love!

Technology Thursday is a weekly linky dedicated to all things technology related. Share reviews of websites or apps you've tried, tech tips that make your {teaching or personal} life easier, and helpful tutorials. Our hope is that this linky provides a place for teachers to share and learn new ways to use technology and engage students!

Be a rule follower!
Rule #1: Include the image above and a link to our blog somewhere in your post.
Rule #2: Be a good blog reader...visit the two blogs who link up before you and leave some love on their pages!
Rule #3: This linky is not intended for product promotion. You may include products you've created in your posts, but they should not be the sole focus of the post.

The 2nd week of the month means TECH TIP TIME!

I am going to continue on with a couple of previous posts we have had on shortcuts.  Why?  Shortcuts make life soooo much easier and save oodles of time! Hummmm... probably why they are named shortcuts....

The short cuts for this week are some of the new ones I am trying to learn.  Now, don't wig out on me and go cross-eyed thinking you can't remember all of these short cuts.  I can't either!  That is why I have re-posted a special tip at the bottom to help us remember and learn the shortcuts we need. So KEEP READING!

CTRL + ESC :  Qpens the start menu!  Yay! No more searching!

CTRL + SHIFT + ESC:  Launches the Task Manager directly without closing everything else down when you use CTRL + ALT + DEL.

ALT + F4: Closes the current program that you are using.  This saves you the time of moving your mouse up to that teeny tiny x.

CTRL + W:  Closes the current window that you are in.  This is especially helpful when you have a lot of browser windows open but only want to close the top one.

F6:  Jump to the browser address bar from anywhere on the page.  Love this!  No more moving to my mouse and dragging the cursor to the address bar!  F6 and BOOM, you are there!

ALT + TAB: Cycle through all of your open windows on your computer!  One of my new favorites!  Love this since I always have lots open at one time and am constantly going back and forth between windows and programs.  It is also kind of fun....

CTRL + TAB: Cycle through all of your browser window!  Okay, I love this one too!  I don't have to go to my mouse and drag it to the tabs at the top of my browser anymore!  I can do this one with my 2 little fingers!  Fun!

Now you are probably wondering, "How am I ever going to remember all of these?" Take a look below!

Have you ever seen those huge lists of keyboard shortcuts?  

Just looking at one of those lists stresses me out.  How am I ever supposed to learn them all?  AND if I have to look up the shortcut every time I have to use it, how would that save me any time? Who knew that "shortcuts" could be so overwhelming and time consuming?

I wish I could take credit for this tip, but, of course, like the good teacher that I am, I have "borrowed" it from a technology class I had on Microsoft Excel.  The instructor handed out a sheet of about 100 or so keyboard "shortcuts" and then gave us this tip on how to learn them all.  Yes, my friends, I did say ALL.  And the tip is soooo simple ...

Write 3 keyboard shortcuts on sticky note.

Stick the note to your monitor.

Leave it there until you have learned those shortcuts and they become automatic.

Remove the learned shortcuts' sticky note.

Replace it with a sticky note with 3 new shortcuts.

Continue the cycle until you have learned all of the keyboard shortcuts!

Brilliant!

You will also want to check out our other entries in our "shortcut" series!

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Tech Thursday: Keyboard Shortcuts You Should Know

Technology Thursday is a weekly linky dedicated to all things technology related. Share reviews of websites or apps you've tried, tech tips that make your {teaching or personal} life easier, and helpful tutorials. Our hope is that this linky provides a place for teachers to share and learn new ways to use technology and engage students!

Be a rule follower!
Rule #1: Include the image above and a link to our blog somewhere in your post.
Rule #2: Be a good blog reader...visit the two blogs who link up before you and leave some love on their pages!
Rule #3: This linky is not intended for product promotion. You may include products you've created in your posts, but they should not be the sole focus of the post.

Most of us are familiar with the basic keyboard shortcuts, like "ctrl+c" for copy, "ctrl+x" for cut, and "ctrl+v" for paste, but there are some less familiar shortcuts you should know! A couple of these have saved me major headaches when I accidentally deleted content or closed a window before I meant to...

CTRL+Z - This one's pretty familiar, and it's saved me a few  hundred times...it's the Undo command! But did you know you can use it almost anywhere?! Try it! I've used it in web browsers, all Office products, and many other applications.

Source: http://www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/p/keep-calm-and-ctrl-z-5/

Windows Key +D - This one shows the desktop with just a couple of keystrokes! Great for when you have your grade book software up and don't want students to see it or when those annoying ads on your YouTube videos are less appropriate than they should be! (Actually, there's a better fix for that, but we'll save it for another week!) When you want all of your windows back up, just press windows+D again.

CTRL+T - Opens a new tab in most web browsers

CTRL+SHIFT+T - Reopens the last tab you closed!!! (Hallelujah!)

CTRL+F - Opens the "find" function in almost every program. Quick tip for internet windows: if you're looking for something within a text box, you'll need to click inside it and then press CTRL+F in order to search inside the box.

CTRL+S - Save

F11 - in a web browser (& probably other places), this removes all of the extras (like toolbars) and makes your window FULL-full screen. In Excel, if you highlight a set of data and press F11, you get an instant graph!

PrtSc or PrintScreen - Copies the entire desktop. You can then paste it into Paint, PowerPoint, Word, etc. and save the images. This is especially useful for troubleshooting if you're getting an error message! You'll have to test this one out... on some computers, you have to press CTRL or the Windows Key along with the Print Screen button.

ALT+PrtSc - Copies only the currently selected window, rather than the entire desktop. Awesome tool for creating tutorials without having to resize every screenshot!

Last but not least, one I've been using the entire time I have typed this... text formatting shortcuts:
CTRL+B - Bold
CTRL+I - Italics
CTRL+U - Underline

Think you might have trouble remembering all of these great shortcuts? Check out the linky and head over to Juliet's blog, Tech Crazy Teacher for her super easy trick to help you learn them! Come back, and link up your own quick & easy tech tips!

   

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Tech Thursday: Microsoft Office Shortcuts

Technology Thursday is a weekly linky dedicated to all things technology related. Share reviews of websites or apps you've tried, tech tips that make your {teaching or personal} life easier, and helpful tutorials. Our hope is that this linky provides a place for teachers to share and learn new ways to use technology and engage students!

Be a rule follower!

Rule #1: You must include the image above and a link to our linky somewhere in your blog post.
Rule #2: Follow the Rule of Three...visit the two blogs who link up before you and the one immediately after you and leave some love on their pages!
Rule #3: This linky is not intended for product promotion. You may include products you've created in your posts, but they should not be the sole focus of the post. {Exception...freebies...because everybody loves a good freebie!}

This Week's Tech Tip:

If you have Microsoft Office 13, there are some new features that you should know about!

1. The eyedropper tool...this is my favorite new feature by far! I wanted my name to match my logo for my blog signature, but the standard colors in  Office don't match. All I had to do is highlight my name, click the arrow beside the text color, & select the eyedropper tool.

Then click in an area that's the color you want to use. It's that simple! If you want to use a color from a different page or file, you can hover over the color, and the RGB numbers will display along with the color name, so you can easily recreate it.

2. Clear Formatting - Make a mistake when you formatted your text? Make too many changes to just use undo? Click this handy button and your text goes back to Calibri (or whatever your default font is) so you can start over!

3. Change Case - Regardless of how you originally typed your text, this feature will automatically change whatever you've selected to all caps, all lowercase, capitalize every word, and more! So much easier than retyping everything!

I can't even imagine how much time these features have saved me! Don't forget to link up anything tech-related!

   

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Technology Thursday: Mouse Tricks!

Technology Thursday is a weekly linky dedicated to all things technology related. Share reviews of websites or apps you've tried, tech tips that make your {teaching or personal} life easier, and helpful tutorials. Our hope is that this linky provides a place for teachers to share and learn new ways to use technology and engage students!

Be a rule follower!

Rule #1: You must include the image above and a link to our linky somewhere in your blog post.
Rule #2: Follow the Rule of Three...visit the two blogs who link up before you and the one immediately after you and leave some love on their pages!
Rule #3: This linky is not intended for product promotion. You may include products you've created in your posts, but they should not be the sole focus of the post. {Exception...freebies...because everybody loves a good freebie!}


Technology Thursday's Tip of the Week!

A couple of weeks ago I stumbled across an article about how to use your mouse.  I had time on my hands and started to read.  What I read actually shocked me.  I considered myself a fairly competent computer techie.  I mean, I know I don't know everything, but, how to use a mouse? Come on...I am a certified educational technologist, I AM The Tech Crazy Teacher after all, and use technology everyday in my classroom and at home.  But as I read the article, I found out that I am a novice at using the basic tool that connects me to my computer- my mouse.  The tips! The tricks! The basic understanding that could have saved me untold hours over the years astounded me. (This is me shaking my head and sighing.)

Mouse Tricks and Tips that I Didn't Know

1.  Double click: highlights a word

2.  Triple click:  highlights a paragraph-  No joke!  Why didn't I know this?

3.  Hold down the ALT and left mouse button: highlight a column of text 

4.  Press down the scroll button.  This is referred to the "middle-click".  The middle-click does different things in different programs.  

• For instance, on an internet page, using the middle-click on a link will automatically open the link in a new page.  So cool and quick!
• Middle-click on a blank spot in a page and a navigation tool appears.  This allows you to move anywhere on the page quickly. (Especially fast when going up and down.)

My personal favorite:

5.  Hold CTRL while using the scroll wheel: zooms in or zooms out of the page you are viewing - I have used this so so much!

I have even discovered that there are more complicated mice (Is that the correct word?) that can be purchased with even more buttons.  These can be tailored and adjusted to your needs.  

I think I will stick with the Mickey I have for now.

Hopefully you learned a new trick that you can practice and add to your expertise.  Leave me a comment and let me know!

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