#ThankfulThursday

Surprise! We are dropping into your blog feed today on the original #ThankfulThursday, Thanksgiving itself. 

It has been a BIG year for Educational Technology in Keller ISD and we wanted to share with you a few things we are thankful for! 

#️⃣1️⃣ We are THANKFUL for TEACHERS who graciously gave up time during the summer or during PLCs to receive and become acquainted with a new laptop. Our KISD secondary teachers received a new Microsoft Surface Book during the summer rollout for teaching and managing their classes this year. Our KISD elementary teachers are currently in the middle of a MacBook laptop deployment.

#️⃣2️⃣ We are THANKFUL for GENIUS TEAM STUDENTS who worked tirelessly this summer to get all of these devices ready for rollout and who spent countless hours orienting Keller ISD new hires to their district equipment and teaching secondary teachers about the Surface Book.

#️⃣3️⃣ We are THANKFUL for the amazing support of the entire TECHNOLOGY team who managed purchases, imaging, tagging, enrollment and distribution to make these projects look easy. It truly takes a village to switch out 2,500+ devices! 

Our hope is that you are celebrating Thanksgiving with friends and family today 
and enjoying a much needed time of rest. 

As always, find our resources at www.kellerid.net/KIC or contact us at edtech@kellerisd.net.

Become a Big MAC User with Shortcuts

 

Become a Big MAC User with Shortcuts

If I can find a shortcut in life, I will take it! Good thing Mac OS has plenty of shortcuts to make your life easier and often better! 

The first thing you need to know if you are new to a Mac is the “⌘ command” key because it pairs with so many shortcut variations, it will be your go to key!

• Shortcuts similar to a Windows devices are:

•  

• Command + C: copies any highlighted content 

• Command + V: pastes 

• Command + Shift + V: pastes without formatting

• Command + X: cuts (erases) any highlighted content 

• Command + A: selects all items or content on a page

• Command + Z: undo previous action

• Command + Shift + Z: redo the previously undone action

• Command + K: add a hyperlink to highlighted text

• Command + F: find specific words in your document

•  

If you want to take screenshots, record, and have the screenshot options menu, these shortcuts are for you!

Command+ Shift + 5 - opens screen record options & screenshot options

Command + Shift + 3- full screen capture
Command + Shift + 4 - take a partial screenshot

These next few shortcuts make some of the every hour of every day things easier.

Command + Q - quits the application or window you are on

Command + Tab - while holding Command, press tab to tab through the apps you have open.

Command + Space - opens Spotlight to search for anything on your computer.

Command + Control + Q - lock your device 

 

Finally, I saved the best for last! Who doesn’t need some more emoji in their life!

 

Control + Command + Spacebar -open the Character Viewer to use symbols and emojis

 

All MAC and No Cheese

 

Teachers in Pre-K through fourth grade are receiving new MacBook Air devices this semester.

After many years, the teachers will turn in their Dell laptops and receive a shiny, new Mac! These Macs are built to last and perform without the 🧀 CHEESE! 🧀

As we noted in our previous post, the MacBook Air will integrate well with the other Apple products, such as the AppleTV, the iPad (and stand), etc., being installed in the classrooms.

If you are a teacher that has not been through the process, here are a few helpful tips:

🧀 Be sure to back up your documents to Google Drive or OneDrive

🧀 Know that the transition will take two days

💻 Day 1: you will be asked to log into your new laptop and leave it with the technicians to finish installing software.

💻 Day 2: you will receive a MacBook Air training with added time and support to test out your laptop with the classroom AppleTV

🧀 Because you will undoubtedly have additional questions, we have created a helpful page of resources for you here on our KIC website

🧀 If you are not able to make the training, check out our EQ course in Canvas or our YouTube Mac playlist

🧀 The technicians will be removing old equipment such as old monitors, webcams, and unnecessary cables. Be on the lookout for an email from your principal for this information.

Although this isn't MacBook Air related, you might be wondering how to use an iPad stand (mentioned above). We have you covered (no... not with cheese sauce! 🤣)! Seriously. here's how!