Thursday, June 7 Word Class Lesson

Today's Class Topics:

Today we finished up with Mail Merge and Labels, which can be used in conjunction with Mail Merge.  Also, went over how to utilized Microsoft Publisher.  Discussed what our final project was going to be and worked on our own to get started in finishing up. 

New Keyboard Shortcuts:

• Control + "F2" = Print Preview
• Control + "F6" = Flip to open Word Document
• Control + <backspace> = Delete back to the beginning of the word
• Shift + "F3" = Change case (cycle through UPPER, lower, or Cap)

New Things I Learned Today:

• Learned about Microsoft Publisher.
• How to create brochures, calendars, flyers, and newsletters in Microsoft Publisher.
• Learned that Publisher is easier to use when creating a calendar instead of using the MS Word Templates.
• Learned that formatting is done in Publisher.  All that is required of you is to put in your own words, photos, and quotes.

New MS Word Ribbon Item:

"Review" has many options to use when creating a document.  The one that can be very useful when dealing with companies overseas is the "Translate" button.  This will help you to either translate a word, or a whole document using either the Bilingual Dictionary, or connect to the Internet to get a translation.  It will open a "Research" window and you can put in your word that you would like translated, for example: Hello--translated into French is Bonjour.   So, by utilizing the "Translate" tool will help in business communication across the globe.

Screenshot of some work for MS Word: Letterhead for Final Project,

Wednesday's Word Lesson

Today's Class Topic:

• Mail Merge
• Labels
• Quiz-Review
• Sumo Paint-Now Sumo.Fm

New Keyboard Shortcuts:

• Shift + "F7" = Thesaurus
• F7 = Spellcheck
• Alt + "F4" = Exit MS Word

New Things I Learned Today:

• In order to do "Mail Merge" in Word, you have to have a letter that goes out to many people at one time.
• Instead of creating a data list in word, you can import a list from Excel, which is a Data Source.  Very easy and simple to do, as long as all the mailing information is there.
• You can also filter the individuals who you want to receive the letter.
• Sort the mail merge by ZIP Code, because it is easier for the post office and it will get to its destination quicker.

New MS Word Ribbon Item:
The new ribbon item is the "Labels" on the "Mailing Ribbon".  This is so cool, because you can do mass labels and if you purchase labels from the store, you can match those labels to a vendor that Microsoft has listed in the software.  If you use Avery 5260, then you can select that option from the vendor list and all you need to do is format those labels, then you will be ready to print up labels in no time.  The labels coincide with mail merge and it cuts down time in the office when you don't have to do one label at a time :)

Thursday, May 31 Lesson of the Day

Today we started and completed a report that had all the elements needed to make a report presentable in today's business or medical fields. 

Today's Class Topics:

• Creating a report using customized cover page and tables
• How to clear formatting on a document
• How to format a multi-level list and inserting it into a report

New Keyboard Shortcuts:

• Control + "D" = Design.  This will give you the "Font" window to customize the design of a document.
• Control + "Enter" = A new page.
• Pressing "F1" in a document will bring up "Help" in MS Word.

New Things I Learned Today:

• Learned how to search for a file when you cannot find it on the flash drive.
• Learned how to insert a new section in a document. 
• How to format headers and footers in a report to show page numbers and change the formatting to coincide with the color scheme of a cover page.
• How to find hidden text, which is text that is not printed.  Very useful for instructors when they are making up quizzes and test :)

New MS Word Ribbon Item:

Headers and footers are very difficult to understand and master.  To insert a header or footer, go to the insert tab on the "Ribbon" and you will see header and footer selections.  These selections will open up and you will have a choice on what you would like to show on the document.  The easiest way to format a footer to show a page number on a document, but not on the cover page, would be to put in a new section and unlink it from the previous section, so that a number will not show up on the cover page.  Also, utilize the page number selection to tell Word where you want the number to start and the type of number you would like.  Very useful in reports.  Use it everytime that I write up a paper for some other classes.

The creative side coming out

Wednesday's Word Lesson

Today we took a quiz from last week's material, did a little review, and started learning new material. 

Today's Class Topics

• Inserting items into a word document
• Creating a unique cover page using SUMO
• How to insert columns in a document and make sections

New Keyboard Shortcuts:

• Control "M" = Move an item over
• Control + Shift "M" = Move an item back
• Control "Z" = Undo

New Things I Learned Today:

• How to insert a "Watermark" on a page in a document.  This is done on the "Page Layout" Ribbon.
• How to insert columns in a document.  This format is used mainly for newsletters and newspapers.
• How to insert Word-art in a document to have an item stand out and be noticed.
• How to insert Smart-art when dealing with a list or hierarchy of a company.  Very useful when putting together an office hand-book.

New MS Word Ribbon Item:

As discussed earlier, we learned about inserting a watermark into a document.  This is done by going to the "Page Layout" Ribbon and selecting the down arrow underneath "Watermark" and choosing what kind you want to use.  You can use a picture as a watermark instead of words or letters.  If you use a picture, the picture will be dimmed to a very light shade and it does not take away from the words in the document.  So there are many watermarks to choose from and the choice is yours, unless you are working on a "Top Secret" project, then use the "Top Secret" watermark.  Here you can see the Watermark in very light gray going diagonal across the page.

MS Word Lesson of the Day.

Today learned some things that I did not know and some refreshers. 

Today's Class Topics:

• Putting information into Excel (remember the spelling of Excel).
• Creating Forms
• Converting text to tables.

New Keyboard Shortcuts:

• Control + "R" arrow will take you to the end of an Excel Row (XFD is the last row in Excel).
• Control + Down Arrow will take you to the end of an Excel Column (1,048,576 cells in Excel).
• Control + Spacebar will return to "unformatted text".

New Things I Leaned Today:

• Learned that when working in Excel and you need a list of the days of the week for a schedule, type in Monday and while left clicking on the mouse, Excel will put in the rest of the days of the week.  How to do that is:  Put your mouse cursor on the bottom right corner of the cell that contains "Monday" and it will turn into a solid black + sign.  While holding down the mouse key drag either up or down and you will see that Excel is putting in the days.
• Converting a text into a table in MS Word.  So easy when creating forms, lists, and so forth. 
• Forms are used everyday in offices; they are used for getting personal information.  There is an easier way than drawing lines across the paper in Word--will be keeping this little secret to myself for now.
• Learned that MS Word has many Templates that can be used to create anything from a Resume to Invoices.

New MS Word Ribbon Item:
In MS Word you can restrict editing of documents when sending them to recipients of E-mail.  On the "Review" ribbon you can protect your documents by allowing only certain individuals or none to edit a document that you have sent them.  You may allow them to leave comments and then you can make the changes when you receive the document back.  Very useful when writing a report and you would like to have someone else proof-read the document and they do not work in the same office; you can send it to them and they can make comments in the margins and send it back with any suggestions for changes. 

Screeshot of My Work:

Form created by using tables in MS Word.

Business Letter Lesson

Today's Class Topics:

Today I learned quite a bit about creating your own letter head for a business letter.  Also how to format a business letter in either modified block or block format.  There is a slight difference to the two.  Only the date and signature line are lined up under the 4" marker on the ruler.

New Keyboard Shortcuts:

• Control N = Create a new file.
• Control S = Save (file on disk)
• Control P = Print

New Things I Learned Today:

• How to create a letter head with SUMO Paint. 
• Learned that creating the letter head a person needs to save often, because if not, someone can lose all their work.  This happened today while I was working. 
• Learned how insert a table into a business letter.  Created the color format on my own.  You do not have to use the styles that is given with word.  Be creative.
• How to format the table to fit the format of the letter, so it is not over-bearing on the paper.

New MS Word Ribbon Item:

On the ribbon that is labeled "Mailings", you can create envelopes that go along with your letters.  You can also create return labels from this tab also.  You can purchase labels and create them using the label settings on the Ribbon.  When you click on envelopes, the address is there and all a person needs to do is insert there return address. Or as stated earlier--labels. 

Screenshot of Work:

This is a letter head that will be used in one of our assignments.

Thursday's Word Lesson

Good afternoon everyone.  Hope all are enjoying a glorious day.

Today was a very informative day when it comes to writing the dreaded report for educational purposes.  I have written quite a few papers and I am familiar with the American Psychological Assoaciation Format (APA), difficult to understand and format for the first time.  It still can be difficult when putting together the references.  So, when I was told that I will be doing a Modern Language Association of America (MLA) research paper, I was a little nervous. 

Our instructor had enlightened us on how to format such a paper.  Now, in my opinion, I rather do an MLA than an APA any day of the week after today's lesson.

Today's Class Topic:

• How to format headings and insert a table of contents from those headings.  Inserting a table of contents is useful and can be found on the "References" Ribbon; which I will be discussing further below.
• How to format an MLA research paper.

New Keyboard Shortcuts:

• Control Q = Quit all formatting.  It will revert back to original and you will have to reformat again.
• Control G = Go To tab, but it will also show you the "Find & Replace" tabs also.
• Control F = Find:  Very useful when you are looking for a misspelled word in a long document.
• Control Home = Takes you to the beginning of the document.
• Control End = Takes you to the end of the document.
• Control Enter = Inserts a new page.
• Control T = Hanging indent.  Very, very useful when working on the MLA works cited page. 

New Things I Learned Today:

• Learned how to format an MLA paper. 
• Learned that the formatting for the Works Cited page has changed since April.
• Learned that you can put together a CD and use as a portfolio on job interviews.  (Will be doing this).
• Learned that inserting a table of contents in a document is very useful and it will tell exactly where the reader can go to find information.  Very extensive formatting with a simple flare. 

New MS Word Ribbon Item:

We learned, as mentioned earlier, about the table of contents.  On the "References" Ribbon you will find the table of contents.  This will only work if there are headings in your document.  Once the headings are in you can click on Table of Contents and it will give you three options up-front.  Today we used the second option, "Automatic Table 2", because we also had some sub-headings.  This will be an "ace in the hole" when formatting a document with a table of contents for a future boss.

In my opinion, the Works Cited page is the most difficult to format.