Using your Laptop

Need Help?

Three Before Me

Ask three people before you ask your teacher.

One of those people can be Google!

Other links you might find useful:
Don't stay stuck, help yourself!

Reminder - During presentation or discussion time when you don't need your laptop, keep it closed to conserve the battery.
Learning outcomes

    Content

Students will...
  1. know the Middle School rules and boundaries regarding laptop use.
  2. be prepared to learn with their laptops every day.
  3. follow various ergonomic tips to minimize injury due to laptop use.
  4. keep health and balance in mind when using their laptops.

    Technology skill(s)

Students will...
  1. take a photo using Photo Booth.
  2. find photos they have permission to use for a slideshow.
  3. create a Google presentation.
  4. make a Blogger blog post.

Slide Design

In this lesson, we are going to discuss the rules of our SAS laptop program and how to take care of ourselves when using laptops. During the lesson, you will create a slideshow summarizing the main points for each section. So, to begin, let's have a short mini-lesson on slide design.

Slide Design Rules

Slide Design Rules


  1. Use simple themes - Use the top row themes!
  2. Blank is your friend - When you add a new slide, start with a blank slide. Good design begins with a blank canvas.
  3. Absolutely NO bullet points - Bullet points are boring and they don't help people learn.
  4. No more than five words per slide - You'll be narrating your slideshow (unlike the one above), so there is no need for extra words on your slides. Put the words in the notes section!
  5. Only use photos you have permission to use - See below for more information and instructions.
  6. Only one photo per slide and photo must fill screen - Look at the example and you'll see the reason for this rule.
  7. Use consistent fonts and colors - Usually, you only need two fonts: one for titles and one for text. Pick a few good colors and repeat using them throughout the slideshow.
  8. Limit transitions - If you must use a transition, you can only use one repeated for all the slides. Or don't use them.
Follow these 8 rules when making your slides for this lesson!

Photos

As we have learned (or will learn in the Digital Citizenship Agreement lesson), it is important to only use photos you have permission to use. For photos, here are your options:
  1. Take your own photo using a camera or Photo Booth on the Mac.
  2. Use Creative Commons Search.
  3. Use Insert Image in Google Presentation. (Look at the Stock photo options...they are beautiful.)
  4. Cite the source of your photo on the slide itself OR make a final slide of credits.
Here is our SAS Guide to Copyright Friendly Media you can use for instructions on these options. Always give credit to your sources following the instructions in this guide.

Today's project

Create a slideshow with Google Slides. There are 3 sections to our lesson today and you will need 1-2 slides per section, so your total slideshow should only be 3-6 slides. Your slides do NOT need to depict everything you learned in each section. Choose ONLY 1 or 2 things that you think are important for students to remember. (1 thing per slide!)

Let's get started.


Being Prepared to Learn

Being Prepared to Learn (and other laptop program rules)

Watch this video about being prepared to learn and a few other laptop program rules.


Discuss the following with your class
  1. What does it mean to be prepared to learn with your laptop? (Hint: Three things on the poster below!)
  2. What are the other laptop program rules to remember?



Make a Slide (or two)

Open your laptop and create a new Google presentation. Title your presentation and create your title slide. Choose 1 or 2 things that you think are most important to remember from this section. Now create 1 or 2 slides (1 idea per slide) following the rules you learned in the slide design mini-lesson. Scroll up if you can't remember the rules.


Health and Laptops
If you use a laptop for extended periods of time, it's important to keep a few ergonomic tips in mind to prevent injury. In general, you should be comfortable and avoid being in the same position without moving for a long time. Read through the tips below. As you read through them, become aware of your posture and how you are sitting. Adjust your body to follow the tips. Does it feel better?
  • Sit up straight with your lower back supported. Do not hunch your back.
  • Use your laptop on a stable surface where there is support for your arms, and not on your lap.
  • Take regular breaks and roll your neck, wrists and ankles or walk around.
  • Look away from the screen every 20 minutes and focus on an object at least 20 feet (6 meters) away for at least 20 seconds.
  • Keep arms and elbows relaxed and close to your body.
  • Elbows should be bent at 90-100 degrees.
  • Keep wrist straight.
The tips above were adapted from Apple, the National Health Service (UK) and Harvard University Health Services.
Watch this video that summarizes the above tips.

Make a Slide

Open your laptop and go back to your Google Presentation. Choose 1 or 2 things that you think are most important to remember from this section. Now create 1 or 2 slides (1 idea per slide) following the rules you learned in the slide design mini-lesson. Scroll up if you can't remember the rules. 


Health and Balance
Mr. Robertaccio would like to talk to you about balancing your online and offline world.

Laptop Balance



What does it mean to have balance between your online world and your offline world? How do you know when things are out of balance? What are some signs?

Think - Think about this individually for a minute.
Pair - Share your thoughts with a partner.
Share - Have a class discussion. What should you do if you feel your laptop use is out of balance? Where can you go for help?

Make a Slide

Open your laptop and go back to your Google Presentation. Choose 1 or 2 things that you think are most important to remember from this section. Now create 1 or 2 slides (1 idea per slide) following the rules you learned in the slide design mini-lesson. Scroll up if you can't remember the rules.

Share your Learning

The activity for this lesson is to share your slideshow on your blog.
  1. Make sure you are logged in to your SAS Google account and then go to blogger.com.
  2. Follow these steps to publish your presentation and embed it in your blog.
  3. Create a new blog post.
Blog post title - Using My Laptop

Labels - Copy and paste ALL of the following core labels into the label area of your blog post.

gr6, homebase, bootcamp, math, pe, rla, science, ss

Now copy and paste YOUR elective class labels separated with a comma. Don't copy them all.

art, band, chinese, choir, cooking, dance, drama, french, it, japanese, spanish, strings, support, teched, video, learning

Blog body - Embed your slideshow in your blog post. Include a short summary of what you have learned and how you will follow these guidelines at school and at home.

Publish!