So little time...So much to do

In the past month I have grown significantly in my understanding of the power of how technology is transforming the world in which I live, and thus the profundity for me, a teacher.  It makes me wonder where I was and where I thought I thought I was leading my students.  I can only scrape the surface at the moment, but the two areas are my head space when I enter the classroom, and the tools that I can use.

I knew, intellectually, that electronics have been changing the world around me.  Four years ago I refused to have a cell phone.  My kids became connected to the world via their cell phones. Because of my interaction with my girls, and the litany of "if you had a cell phone we could have..." more and more I saw the cell phone as a useful tool, on a very personal level.  So, I broke down and got one.  Well, without leading you through the tedious trail of dribs and drabs of my learning curve, I became connected to the e-universe.  This class has propelled my by leaps and bounds into the clouds of computing (yes, I thought of this before writing it).  I think differently about the tools around me and the connections my kids are developing.

I thought of myself as a tool using animal when I entered the course.  Now I realize I was just emerging from the primordial ooze.  I was able to email documents to myself, could use the photocopier to scan and send images for the smart board to myself (and not everyone can do that).  BUT, now I have a web page for students to draw their work from.  I have the potential to notify parents (and students) of my calendar.  I have begun to use forms with flubaroo (OMG, a game changer that is going to be!).  I am even considering creating...gasp, hang on, a twitter account.  What has the world come to?

I am a changed creature.  I see sooo many new things to waste invest my time on when I am in front of the computer.

Thank you Google Tools for Educators, you have begun the transformation of my classroom.

How to set your site to links open in a new window

When I first created my website I didn't select to make my embedded links open in a new window.  The big deal is that when someone clicked on a link it closed the site and opened the link.  This isn't really what I wanted.  Of course, I wanted them to stay on my site, even as I made other things available.  How do you change this option so that links open in a new tab?

First, go into edit page mode, found in upper left corner:
(click on image to see full sized image)

After entering edit mode, go to link you want to text and click on it:

Notice the small dialogue box that opens.  This is where you have control.  You want to check your settings and make sure the action "opens in a new window".  To do this, click on "Change" in the dialogue box.  This is what you get:

Down in the lower left you want to check the box "open in a new window" and the "OK".

It is all as simple as that, you have now made your link open in a new window.  Thanks to Briana for pointing out that my links didn't, thus inspiring me to write this tip out.