Let's Play Cards in Class! Microsoft Office Spoons downloadable! #busedu @MicrosoftEDU

My Advanced Computer Applications students, who learn Microsoft Office, are getting close to being finished for the year. We've covered all the content, they've finished final projects, nearly all are certified in at least one Microsoft application, and they are doing GMetrix review and trying to certify in another application this week. So, Monday and Tuesday I'm just not sure what to do with them! We are in school until Friday, we'll review on Wed/Thursday, but there's just extra time to fill.

I asked for feedback yesterday and, naturally, they wanted to watch a movie. Um, not really any good movies out there about spreadsheets or databases. Another student jokingly said, "Let's just play Spoons. That's fun."

Yeah, fun. But not related to curriculum.  Or is it?

So, I decided perhaps if I made some Microsoft Office playing cards, we could play Spoons. But, still, there needed to be some sort of "reason" for it. Got it!

I found this blog post from Jennifer Findley. She did this in her class as a review activity!

Then, I found a template at the Bright Hub for playing cards in Microsoft Word. Finally, I Googled some logos and took screenshots from various Microsoft applications--Word, Access, PowerPoint, Excel, and Edge (the browser) and pasted them in to create 52 cards. I printed on card stock and just sent my student aide down to cut them apart for me. We will make two sets of cards (I only have 11 students left in the class after seniors leave, so that will do). And, I found some little flag stickers so I can put a sticker on the back of each card in the set to keep them separated.

What did I create?

• 4 Word screenshots, 8 Excel screenshots, 4 Edge screenshots, 4 Access screenshots, and 8 PowerPoint screenshots. Students would just pass cards to find a matching number, like in "real Spoons" but will find the four Word screenshots or four of the Excel screenshots, etc. 
• 4 playing cards of the logos for Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Edge, and Office. Those cards will just be straight logos, so that should be pretty simple (of course, this might be deceptively easy as two people might both be holding on to the "easy" Word logos. That would just be a straight match like the other version of Spoons.
• They will play like normal, passing cards and trying to find the screenshot matches or logo matches.
• Whoever is "out" must first say "Prove it" to the person who "won" and went out first. They will put their cards down and everyone will collectively decide if they do indeed have a correct match (and I printed an extra copy of the cards originals pages and stapled them and marked W, E, P, etc., so they can double check it for the screenshots). If matches are incorrect, they are now "out" instead.
• Whoever is "out" and doesn't get a spoon will have to explain something from one of their cards in their hands. So, if you have the Print dialog box from PowerPoint, you would say something like, you can set this to print handouts 6 per page from this in PowerPoint. 
• Then, they shuffle, re-deal, and play again. You could keep score of winners or negative scores on the "loser" each round. Up to you.

Think this might work for your kiddos? Feel free to download my PDF from Google and create your own set. 

UPDATE: We played, they enjoyed, and we tried different versions (have to have one of Word/Excel/Access/PPT was one derivative). They wanted to play where the loser goes out, so that's how we did it. However, I think I need to just write on the back of the cards... the stickers kept falling off!

Snapchat Geo-Filters--- SO EASY! #busedu

Today is my daughter's 11th birthday. As a "tech mom" I felt compelled to do something cool this year--get her a Snapchat filter at our house and on our "cul de sac" so that her friends at her party will be able to use "her filter" (and it went live this morning!).

I spent under $20 (for around 20,000 square feet area and it runs from 7 AM on Thursday until noon on Saturday) and it literally couldn't be any easier. You go here at the Snapchat website and perform three steps-- Design, Map, and Buy.

They have templates now, so designing can be done on their website. I mean, EASY. I didn't use the templates, but you could do that simply. Or, you can create your own in Photoshop, Illustrator, or other software (or even free using Pixlr, PicMonkey, or Canva--note that now you have to have Canva for business to export transparent PNG but you can take it to LunaPic or another site to make the background transparent). The main trick is that you have to follow their rules (can't use hashtags, photos, logos that aren't yours, phone numbers/URLs/personal info, etc.) and save as transparent PNG with 1080x1920 size.

Sounds like a fun class project, but their terms and conditions do require you to be 18 to order an on-demand filter, so just be aware of that. However, just creating one and not actually uploading it to Snapchat might be a fun end of year project! They could create for an event at school or for their own event! Maybe even have them design a few different options.

***SNAPCHAT PROJECT SCORING GUIDE***

**My students would not be able to get on the Snapchat site since it's blocked on school devices, but on the scoring guide, I pasted the text of the guidelines for if they were going to submit it. Certainly, they can take their PNG home and upload with parental permission if they really wanted to purchase a design.

Web Design Documentary for your class! @elefontpress #busedu

As I was looking for something to finish off my year in my advanced Web Design class, I ran across a documentary that details somewhat of the evolution of the web. I found it fascinating (and probably advanced students would as well... not a lot of bells and whistles as it is a documentary, but it features lots of important "web" people). What Comes Next Is the Future was created by Bearded founder Matt Griffin. It is the story of "Tim Berners-Lee’s creation – how it came to be, where it’s been, and where it’s going – as told by the people who build it."

What Comes Next Is the Future (2016) from Bearded Studio on Vimeo.

Of course, I feel like I LIVED this documentary. I decided to teach myself to code back in 1993 when I was in college. Back in the days of Mosaic and Webcrawler and Netscape. And, the video really talks about how the first WWW was more about delivering information. We didn't care so much about how it looked. Then, we did. Flash came, things got Flashy...

But, then devices and phones and big screens and small screens happened. Oh, and iPhones. Things changed. Designers were confused and fumbling.

As an incentive to get you to watch this video (watch it if you teach web design, especially if you are around my age in the 40-50s since you will really appreciate the history), I have created a viewing guide you can use with your class. I intend to divide the video into two days, probably. I want to have discussion before we begin and then some afterward about some of the topics.

Here's the viewing guide. It will prompt you to make a copy, so feel free to edit as you see fit. Enjoy!

Spreadsheet humor? Kind of... #busedu #excel

As I had surgery yesterday, I began my "few weeks leave" for recovery today and (naturally) am sitting here on my laptop looking for business teacher fun... don't worry, I'll switch to Netflix later.

Anyway, I ran across (brace yourself) a stand-up comedy routine about SPREADSHEETS! Okay, it's probably not the most hilarious thing ever, but this time of year, sometimes we do have students out for testing or lots of students out for field trips and it's nice to have a few "somewhat related" activities for those days. Perhaps this could be one. Let's face it, there aren't many "movies" that you can watch in Microsoft Office class (oh to be a science or social studies teacher, right?).

Check out Matt Parker's video (he loves math)--

In his YouTube description, he has a neat little application where you can upload an image and it will convert your photo into a spreadsheet. Here's mine: (goes all the way over to column DW!)

Yes, he turns the word SELFIE into EXCEL-FIE. :) Enjoy!

Google Chrome font issue... #busedu #gafe

So, numerous students this year have had a strange issue where their font on Google search results, Google forums, and other pages are light and italic. It does not follow the user to other computers, and I have been plagued all semester with students randomly having this issue.

Today, I finally decided I was going to tackle the problem head on (I'm on break and surgery tomorrow so I'm about to have a few weeks off)! I have Googled my heart out before, but I was bound and determined to get to the bottom of it.

My workflow--

1--Google. And read Google forums. Several had this issue and some recommended Chrome extensions or uninstalling Helvetica fonts. I didn't love that idea. Next.

2--I had a thought (the web design teacher in me) that maybe I should try "inspect element" on that italics font and see if I could find WHAT FONT was the issue. In that process, I isolated Roboto to be the offender. On two machines I tested that I  knew students had issues (one was light and italic and one was actually bold) I found that they each had one version of Roboto font (for one, italic and light and for the other, the dark "black" version of the font). Hmm. On a whim, I looked at a computer that worked fine... it didn't have Roboto font installed at all.

3--On the "light font" computer, I installed Roboto font and tried to figure out which (it had tons of variations) specific font it needed to display properly. Apparently it just uses "the only" Roboto font (and why Google chose that, I do not know... it doesn't roll down the font stack and sub with Helvetica or Arial or generic sans-serif. Instead, it just uses any old Roboto) that is on the machine. So, I downloaded and installed Roboto-Medium (you can grab it here).

That worked! Yay! Celebration!

I actually left off that I tried Roboto-Regular and Roboto-Medium and then cleared the cache (Control+Shift+Delete in Chrome and only check "cached images and files" and apply). That worked, too, but I don't think you actually need both or need to clear the cache if you get the "right Roboto" in the mix.

NOTE: My students do have rights to install font since we do graphics in my class, so probably if you are locked down, you won't have this issue... but you never know!

Anyway, I feel accomplished today. And, maybe someone else has had this same issue, so hope it helps you!

Social Media and business... throwing shade! And my rant... #busedu

Taking a minute to peruse the Twitter-verse this afternoon whilst resting between NBEA sessions and found this gem from HootSuite in March 2017--

10 Risky Brand Comebacks on Social Media That Worked

Of course, had that been written this week, it would likely feature a Southwest brand attack on United Airlines for the "dragging incident" earlier this week (but Southwest didn't really tweet that... read this). And this website includes the best social media fun from that incident--

Hilarious Twitter Reactions on the United Airlines Fiasco

But to be serious for a moment, all of this seems to be very telling of our times, right? As a business teacher, I was raised (by Dr. Linda Henson Wiggs at Southeast Missouri State University) to be a professional. The business teachers should be the "best dressed" in the school (man, glad I don't have to wear pantyhose anymore!). And, we taught the right way to respond to negative feedback, how to write a proper rejection letter for a job offer, and how to politely deliver bad news.

But, in 2017? Wow, the world is a different place!

Social media has changed the climate for business and education. The concept of business transparency is critical to business success. Now, businesses cannot run from complaints--they are all over social media, not just in an angry letter solvable by a free taco coupon (can they ever get an order right?).  And, as a teacher of business or business communication, how do you equip students to face this changing business climate?

It's a constant battle and something we, as teachers, cannot run from. If you are teaching business and are not keeping up with social media, you just HAVE TO. It's time. You cannot relate to today's student (and business!) if you are not in touch with the pervasive nature of social media and how it impacts not just individuals, but the world of business.

Maybe I'm just a big ol' mess, but I'm getting tired of people talking about how they don't have time to learn another thing, don't want the drama of social media, yada yada. Whatever you want to say, my social media knowledge (and my insights from my kids and my students about what they are into, such as Snapchat) are invaluable. Every business teacher needs to get on board. You don't have to be tweeting regularly or creating blog posts every month. But, exploring social media and reading about its importance is critical. It's not something you can run from. Your students deserve your commitment to this if you are going to be the business or technology expert that you should be in the classroom.

Of course, you're probably not reading my blog. :)

Too much interesting business stuff in the news! #techteacherblues #busedu

As a predominantly "tech" teacher, I get few really relevant opportunities to work in business "real world" news for my classes. I try when I can, but it's a challenge.

Current topics, yes. For example, we spent a week using giraffe pictures after I learned of the expectant giraffe at Animal Adventures in New York. My Photoshop kids selected images of giraffes all week, expecting to be able to witness a magical giraffe birth (complete with cupcakes to celebrate if it happened during their class hour!) but alas, it's over 3 weeks later and I'm still waiting on that silly giraffe (and they still ask daily about it... a group told me they just watch the giraffe at home when they are bored).

But, that's not super "non-fiction" useful or anything, right?

Last week, I was excited to learn about the Cracker Barrel "Brad's Wife" fiasco. Did you hear about this? Oh, man. If not, you HAVE to take a gander... but great opportunity to discuss at-will employment and social media to complain!

And today, well, two interesting talking points relating to customer service:

• Nail salon charges more to overweight customers
• Can't ride on the airplane because... leggings?

Really interesting topics! Good marketing, business, customer service, social media topics. Not so much for Web Design or Photoshop, though. Or, Microsoft Office.

Sometimes I really miss my traditional business classes.*sigh*

So, for the rest of you, be sure to get those kiddos talking with the interesting things happening in the news. It gives them a reason to read nonfiction and... well, I'm jealous.  Meanwhile, crossing my fingers my Applied Business Communications class makes next fall!

Have a great day!