Shifty Shift-Key Tips

Whoa! Try saying this page title three times fast. But not while your students are around.

Did you know that your shift key makes other keys work differently? (Ok, that sounds stupid because everyone knows that.) But sometimes the shift key makes other keys do the opposite of their usual thing. Other times it lets you select text or objects without using the mouse. It can modify mouse clicks, too. And it's used to modify the actions of some special keys, too. Within the captivating captions below, you'll find shift-key tips depicted in luscious green.

The shift key...

Reverses the direction of your tab key.

Use Tab to move one cell to the right. Use shift-tab to move one cell to the left. Try this tip in programs that have rows and columns, for example in Excel, InteGrade Pro, and when using tables in Word or FrontPage. This also works in dialog boxes and when filling in forms, like your login screen or the print dialog. You can tab from option to option, then shift-tab backwards.

Reverses the direction of your enter key in Excel and InteGrade Pro (IGP).

Use Enter to move down one cell in Excel and IGP. Use shift-enter to move up one cell. Many teachers enter grades in spreadsheets by keying in the score, then hitting the enter key to move down the column. Make a boo-boo, boo? Hitting shift-enter to move back up the column is faster than reaching for the mouse.

Selects text when used with cursor movement keys.

	Your arrow keys move your cursor up, down, to and fro, right? Use shift-arrow to select text one character at a time. For example, shift-right arrow selects one character to the right of the cursor. You can select a whole line of text by using your shift and up or down arrows.
	Use Ctrl-shift-right or left arrow to select whole words to the left or right. No kidding, this is one of our favorite tips. Holding down the Ctrl key with your right and left arrows moves your cursor one whole word. Combining this with shift to select the words is a quick, easy way to select a word or sentence for underlining, for example.
	Did you know that the Home and End keys jump your cursor to the beginning and end of the line you are on? Use shift-End to select everything to the end of the line. Use shift -Home to select everything to the beginning of the line. Likewise, experiment with your Page Up and Page Down keys, both with and without the shift key.

Makes it easy to select items in long lists, or to select a lot of something. The general idea is that you can click on a thing to select it, then shift-click on a second thing to select it and everything from the first thing to the second thing. This is very useful when you need to select a lot of icons in Windows, or several paragraphs in Word, or a hundred emails in Outlook. Once selected, the delete key will delete everything that's selected. If you've selected icons, you can drag and drop them all by dragging and dropping just one.

	To select many items, click the first and shift-click the last.
	To select a lot of text, click before the first letter and shift-click the last.

Makes lower case upper case, naturally. But in many Office programs use shift-F3 to toggle case styles between ALL CAPS, lower case, and Initial Capital Or "Title Case". For example, in Word or PowerPoint, select some text, play with your shift-F3 buttons and observe the results. Whew!

In the same shifty vein, here's a brief article from our new favorite channel, Tech TV:

Windows Tip: Shift Key Shortcuts

By Michelle VonWald

Windows has a few shortcuts that allow you to compute without the mouse. The Shift key is the gateway to five of these useful shortcuts.

	SHIFT+F10: Equivalent of right-click
	SHIFT+DEL: Deletes immediately without removing to the Recycle Bin
	SHIFT+TAB: Moves to previous control in the dialog box (TAB alone goes forward, SHIFT+TAB backward)
	Press Shift when inserting a CD-ROM and you can skip auto-run

Pressing Shift while holding down CTRL and dragging to the desktop or to a folder creates an instant shortcut. (Of course, you can do the same thing by clicking and holding the right mouse button, letting go on the desktop, and choosing "create shortcut.")

Cyberseek 2004:

Congratulations to Cheyenne's Sun Seekers II, Cheyenne's Sun Seekers I; and to Mohawk's Surfin' Sleuths; who tied for first, placed second, and took third place, respectively, in the elementary division of Cyberseek '04. How about that? 158 teams competed and Chippewa Valley Schools nail down the top three elementary spots! This kind of fantastic finish requires CV's Instructional Technology Coordinator to attend the next county-wide I.T. meeting to do his "end-zone dance" while taunting other district reps in what some consider to be a shocking display of unsportsmanship and rhythmic dyslexia.

A big ~~atta-boy~~ ~~high~~-~~five~~ shout-out also goes to the Huron Space Cadets and Cybernauts, Fox Cyber Surfers and Brainiaks, Ottawa Stars, Mohawk Cyberian Nomads, and Ojibwa Net Navigators for their fantastic scores and effort. All of you who helped out by volunteering as judges and coaches deserve a enormous thank you. You should be proud of the great job you did: kids learn Internet searching, parents see a positive use of technology, and your schools' and district's reputations benefit. Our heartfelt appreciation to you!

B U Z Z W O R D S O F T H E D A Y F R O M T H E T H R E E - P O I N T L I N E

POOL PARALYSIS: The work stoppage that occurs in U.S. businesses every March as employees make their selections for the NCAA basketball office pool. Computers systems slow to a crawl as workers scour the Internet for the latest updates, fill in their brackets, and watch the early rounds online.

BRACKET ENVY: The emotion that results when your last team in the Final Four is eliminated while your colleague across the aisle still has three teams remaining. Nominated by Thomas Lampros

BRACKET FATIGUE: The tired and tattered remains of the typical NCAA basketball office pool bracket after two rounds, particularly for those folks who picked Kentucky or Stanford to win it all this year. Nominated by James Gould Reprinted with permission: To see the full Buzzword Compliant Dictionary, just click here. http://www.buzzwhack.com

Tips for Teachers is part of TIZ: Technology Information Zone!
Please contact the help desk for any additional questions or support.

Chippewa Valley Schools

The shift key...

Windows Tip: Shift Key Shortcuts

Cyberseek 2004:

Tips for Teachers is part of TIZ: Technology Information Zone! Please contact the help desk for any additional questions or support.

Craig McBain, Instructional Technology Coordinator 586-723-2031

Tips for Teachers is part of TIZ: Technology Information Zone!
Please contact the help desk for any additional questions or support.

Craig McBain,
Instructional Technology Coordinator
586-723-2031