Tips and Tricks for Teachers

With the computer, teachers can create and design materials to fit the needs of a particular class or student. Students can learn how to create effective reports and presentations. Teach students these guidelines from the start.

¶ Limit students to 2 typefaces on a page. A good rule of thumb is to use a serif font for the body and sans serif for headings. Too many typefaces can lead to the ransom note affect. The body of this text is serif. Notice the feet or “serifs”.

¶ Use italics instead of underlining. Try these options instead of underlining:

• bold type

• larger type or a different font

• set text apart from the rest of copy

¶ The computer only needs one space between sentences, words and all other punctuation marks. (Yes, it is hard to throw out old typewriter rules).

¶ Avoid the use of ALL CAPS. Especially avoid using ALL CAPS with decorative fonts.

¶ Use full names in place of abbreviations. Avoid abbreviating even words like "drive" or "street".

¶ Learn to use tabs or first line indents. The space bar will notline things up correctly. Remember to line periods up when creating a list of numbers.

¶ Give your text room when placing in a box. Crowded text is difficult to read. Unless using a high quality laser printer, avoid creating gray backgrounds—they become difficult to read when reproduced on copy machines.