Special Notices
Upcoming Seminars
2006-2007 Using Technology in Physical Education Seminars. Take the time to learn (click on a seminar to get the details):
November 6 - Boston, MA
November 7 - Hartford, CT
February 8 - Wichita, KS
February 9 - Little Rock, AR
May 1 - Burbank, CA
May 2 - Buena Park, CA
May 14 - Kauai, HI
Two new dates added - details next month!
April 23, 2007 - San Jose
April 24, 2007 - Sacramento
College credit is available for all the above seminars plus our online courses.
Can't attend - you can still purchase the presentation on CD to watch at your leisure. See Video Instruction in the right hand column of this newsletter.
Our online fall courses begin September 15 and conclude on December 15 (see the descriptions later in the newsletter). You can still register through November 1!
Featured Articles
Syncing Devices
 If you want to transfer music or other digital media from your Windows-based computer to another device, you can easily synchronize items using the Sync feature in Windows Media Player. The Sync feature is only available when you connect a device that supports Microsoft Multimedia Transport Protocol (MTP), or a mass storage class device, to your computer. In addition, the storage capacity of the connected device must be at least 32 MB to support synchronization.
To enable synchronization between the Player and your device, a special relationship must be established between the Player and the device. This relationship is called a partnership. In a partnership, content can be synchronized automatically or manually between one user's library on one computer and one device. Windows Media Player can support up to 16 synchronization partnerships, which means that you can synchronize content in your library to 16 different devices (e.g., Mp3 player) that you connect to your computer.
When you connect your device to your computer for the first time, Windows Media player starts the Device Setup Wizard, which helps you create a partnership between the Player and your device. When you establish the partnership, you must specify whether content in your library will be synchronized to your device automatically or manually,. If you specified automatic synchronization, your device will be synchronized every time you connect it to your computer or change synchronization settings. If you specified manual synchronization, then every time you connect your device to your computer, synchronization will not start until you select the content and specify the order in which it is synchronized.
If you delete a synchronized file, play list, or category from your library, this information is communicated between the Player and the device during synchronization, and the corresponding file, play list, or category is deleted from your device to maintain the synchronization partnership.
We will go into greater detail about automatic synchronization in the December issue of this newsletter and we will go into greater detail about manual synchronization in the January issue.
Device Of The Month
Tiny Storage
USB flash drives, also known as thumb drives) are the most popular way to carry
 around and move files. They come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and capacities. Make sure you purchase on that is labeled "Hi-Speed" so that you get real USB 2.0 speed. If security is an issue, then purchase one with built-in security like the FingerGear Bio-USB Flash Drive which require fingerprint recognition before the data on the drive can be accessed. Your best bet is to purchase one or more 1GB or 2GB drives.
If the typical USB drive seems too large then consider the Sony Micro Vault Tiny - about the size of a one-inch stick of gum. It doesn't have the chromed connector that you see on the other USB drives but it does slip into a USB port. The Tiny comes in a variety of colors and each color represents a different storage size (e.g., blue is 1GB; orange is 256 MB; green is 2GB). Click here for more information on storage devices.
Software Of The Month
Biomechanics Made Easy : Voices from the Field
The following is a summary of the software received from Bonnie’s Fitware Grant program. As a recipient of Biomechanics Made Easy software we were able to use it to meet our needs to assess students on state goals. Computers were used in our district computer lab on days of limited or no use of our gymnasium.
Students used the software by first viewing the information about each of the biomechanical principles. Students were able to take notes about the information they were viewing. These notes were collected and kept by the instructor for later use. The students then used the interactive question session. Students recorded the results of the question session for a recorded daily assignment.
Some of the interactive questions were used on the semester test. Questions also were asked on the semester test regarding the information the students were asked to take notes over. The notes taken by the students were handed back as part of the review for the student semester test. Questions were also asked on the semester test relating the application of biomechanical principles to the activities the students participated in during the semester.
This software fit our needs to give information about the biomechanics principles to our students when they can not be physically active. It met the needs to show cognitive learning about these principles which meets the requirement of one of our state goals. It also gives the students a way to relate the principles to the activity the student participates in every day.
Software Tips
Spreadsheet: Minimum/Maximum Function
Last month we promised to include the Minimum function, but inadvertently omitted the details. So, this month we will look at both the Minimum and Maximum functions. The MAXIMUM function returns the highest number in the cell sequence. The MINIMUM function returns the lowest number in the cell sequence.
Remember, all functions start with the "=" sign and are followed by the starting and ending (). Inside the parentheses are references to the cells that you wish to apply the MINIMUM or MAXIMUM function.
For example, =maximum(b1:b5) looks for the highest number in cells b1, b2, b3, b4, and b5 -- since the ":" means through. So, if b1 has 2, b2 has 5, b3 has 10, b4 has 8. Then, =maximum (b1:b5) returns 10. Or, for example, =minimum(b1:b5) looks for the lowest number in cells b1, b2, b3, b4, and b5. Given the data noted previously, =minimum (b1:b5) returns 2.
PowerPoint Tips: Buttons
PowerPoint software contains many buttons that help make the process of designing presentations easier for you. But, you may find that the buttons you use the most are not available on one of the toolbars, or they simply are not in the right spot for the way you work. This can be easily
fixed by moving buttons, deleting buttons, and creating custom toolbars.
Move buttons
Hold down the ALT key as you click the button you wish to move, drag it to a new spot, and drop it there. If you would like a button available in multiple locations, then copy it to additional toolbars. Hold down the ALT and CTRL keys as you click the button and then drop the copy onto another toolbar.
Delete buttons
Drag the buttons you rarely use off the toolbar when the Customize dialog box is open.
Create a custom toolbar
Choose tools and customize, and on the toolbars tab, click New. Enter a name for you toolbar and click OK. It will appear with no buttons. Use the copy instructions above to add buttons.
Using the comments feature in Excel
Adding comments
Click a cell and choose Insert and Comment. A text box will appear beside the cell and you can enter any comment you desire. Excel automatically inserts your name at the beginning of the text box, but you can highlight it and delete it if you choose to. Then, just click outside the text box to indicate you are finished.
Viewing comments
On the Options dialog box's View tab, click Comment Indicator Only. This will produce a red triangle in the corner of any cell with a comment attached. Rest you mouse pointer on the a cell to read its comment.
Battery Life
When purchasing a new battery be sure to check the battery's mAh (milliamp hours) rating. The higher the rating, the more charge the battery can hold. This means the battery will last longer.
Task Cards: Package of the Month
Band Exercise Cards
 Contains twelve task cards on band exercises. Each card includes the name and picture of an exercise along with the description.
Purchasing Tips
Top Rated All-Purpose Notebooks
HP Pavilion dv5000t (Best Buy - PC World)
HP Pavilion dv5000z (Very Good Rating - PC World)
Ultraportable Notebooks
Dell XPS M1210 (Best Buy - PC World)
Lenovo ThinkPad X60s (Very Good Rating - PC World)
Internet Tips
Backing up Bookmarks
One item that you would definitely not want to loose if your computer crashed is you list of bookmarks or favorites (URLs).So backing up your list is an important regular maintenance task. The easiest way to do this is to export your list to a single file in Web page format. Then you can print it out or save it in a different location.
If you use Internet Explorer - simple click import and export to launch the import/export wizard and click next. Select export favorites and then click next. Then you can select all bookmarks or individual bookmarks. Then, click next - and decide where you would like to store the file. By default, the name of the export file is Bookmark.htm. Netscape and Firefox also have export features.
If you print out the list, you will only get the names of the URLs and not the actual URLs. However, Explore has a featured called Print Table of Links. This option allows you to print the URLs in your bookmark file. Click File menu, click open and click the browse button. Locate your bookmark.htm file. Select File-Print and select the Options tab, and then select Print table of Links. Click Print to print a hard copy of your list that includes the URLs. |
FITT Rx (TM) provides a quick reference tool for teacher and student use in the same way a medical doctor uses a drug prescription pad. Thus, the FITT Rx (TM) software program is designed to be a quick and simple method of providing a quality exercise prescription. It helps make prescription quick by providing the typical data for all of the basic exercise prescription variables: frequency, intensity, time, and type of exercise.
Designed for the fitness professional. EXER Rx (TM) provides a quick reference tool for professional use in the same way a medical doctor uses a drug prescription pad. Thus, the EXER Rx (TM) software program is designed to be a quick and simple method of providing a quality exercise prescription. It helps make prescription quick by providing the typical data for all of the basic exercise prescription variables: frequency, intensity, time, and type of exercise.
Fitness Web Booklet contains 15 lessons on health-related fitness. The lessons include step-by-step directions along with a worksheet for your students.The booklet comes on a CD so that you can easily print out worksheets as often as you like. Buy once and use forever! Appropriate for grades 4-12. Click 
