Typing Special Characters
In science, we use a lot of special symbols that aren’t on the keyboard. For example, we use the degree symbol for temperature units (°C), a right arrow in chemical equations (→), fractions (½), and so on. If you’re using Microsoft Word, inserting a special character into your document is as simple as selecting “Insert → Symbol”. What if you’re using some other program? Here are some other ways:
Character Map
Windows has a program called “character map”. You can usually find it under the Start → Accessories menu. This program lists all of the characters that a particular font contains, including special characters, and allows you to copy and paste them into whatever program you’re using.
Alt Codes
If you took a look at the character map, you might notice some special characters have a keyboard code associated with them. This is called an alt code. For example, the alt code for the copyright symbol (©) is Alt+0169. In order to use the alt code, you hold down the alt key on your keyboard, type the code on the number pad (like 0169), and then release the alt key. The symbol should then magically show up wherever your cursor is placed. Note: you must use the number pad; the number keys on the top of the keyboard won’t work for these codes. Here’s a list of some alt codes and more info. If there are symbols that you use on a regular basis, it will save you time to just memorize the alt code for that symbol.
HTML Entity Codes
If you’re working on web pages, there’s another way to insert symbols. Similar to alt codes, there’s a list of special HTML codes that will be translated into the proper symbol by the web browser. These codes usually begin with an ampersand (&) and end with a semicolon (;). For example the HTML code © would produce the copyright symbol. Here’s a list of the HTML entity codes.
Make a Teacher Website
I did a tutorial on how to make a website using the program Dreamweaver for some other teachers at my school. Even if you don’t have Dreamweaver, most of the ideas are the same, and there are several good alternative website building programs (I recommend the free program KompoZer).
Here are videos of my tutorial:
If you want to do it this way, you will also need someplace to put your website so that your students, their parents, and others can view it. If your school has a web server, you can talk to whoever is in charge of it to see if they will host your website. If not, you will have to find another web host. Most of them you do have to pay for, but some are free.
If all of this seems just too overwhelming for you, give Google Sites a try. It’s free, very easy to create and edit, and you don’t even have to know how to do any of the (HTML) stuff I mention in my tutorial or even need an extra program.
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