Don't just count your years, make your years count. --Ernest Meyers

Have you ever asked a friend how to do a task and with a couple of key strokes done at a speed that is impossible to follow they do it. You have no idea what happened and could not do it again.

Lets look at some handy things you can do with Format. Two things that can happen with paragraphs are window and orphan. A window is the final line of a paragraph left on the top of a new page. An orphan is the first line of a paragraph that is on the bottom of a page. While these problems are minor it can help the aesthetics and readability of material if it is kept on the same page. You can use Format>Paragraph>Line and Page Breaks tab, and then deselect the Window/Orphan. If you want this to apply to the entire document be sure to select the whole text first (CTRL a).

If you use Excel as a grade book you can get some formulas that can be hard to follow. They may use data from many different columns and pages or if you have someone else's grade book you want use or modify it can be confusing to try to follow an equation. You can use View>Toolbars>Formula Auditing or find Formula Auditing under tools. Two terms that will come up in following an equation are dependent cell and precedent cell. A dependent cell contains a formula i.e. B4 has the formula =B20*B21. B4 is dependent on cells B20 and B21. B20 and B21 are the precedent cells for B4. You can now use the Formula Auditing toolbar to reveal all the dependent or precedent cells for a particular cell. When you finish you can remove the last arrow or all of the arrows. You can also use this toolbar to Check Error, Trace Error, Comment, Circle Invalid Data, Clear Validation Circles, Show Watch Window, or Evaluate Formula. If you have some formulas that you use, then try the Formula Auditing Toolbar to see what you have done, it can help later to understand or remember how you set up an equation.

Weight Mania™ records, tracks, and analyzes weight training and cardiovascular workouts, body measurements, meals, nutrients, weather conditions, equipment use, injuries, and general information. It stores multiple workouts per day, has a built-in database containing nutrients for over 6000 food and brand names, and can be customized for each user.

Have you been doing a PowerPoint presentation and had people reading ahead, looking at the slides when you want then to look at you, or needed to write on the slide. Here are a few things you can do to focus the attention of the audience to what you want.

Master the reveal so that you show one point at a time. Select Slide Show>Animation>Appear and apply it to all slides or just to the slides you wish. Now only one point will appear at a time. Now the group will focus back on you after they have looked at the material.

Have you want to blank the screen so the group focused on you for a part of the presentation rather then the material on the screen. If you hit the b key the screen will turn black, if you hit the w key the screen will turn white. When you want to resume your presentation hit any key and the screen reappears.

Finally if you go the control box in the lower left corner and select pointer option from the choices you can select the pen option and color. Now when you hold the left button down you can draw. To erase your drawing use E.

Hopefully these few hint can help you keep your audience when you present with PowerPoint.

Christmas games

This website has 12 days of Christmas games and activities.

Here is another site with some Christmas activities.

This site if you go back to the root site can be a source of many activities. Few seem active, but I think you could modify many of these to be active. Use the idea of Christmas Endurance to have a game of finding hidden gift card that meet a list that a team or individual might have.

Of course remember to check NASPE Talk Archives and PE Central for ideas.