While I am familiar with most of the Microsoft Word features, this does not mean that I am an expert. I realized while reading the Word tutorials one feature that I rarely if ever use, the watermark feature, could in fact be extremely useful in the creation of posters, handouts, and other learning materials in my classroom. I think it would be a great way to have a really nice image related to the topic with text on top and could be helpful, especially to my visual learners.
My favorite thing to use Microsoft Word for in the classroom setting is to create engaging handouts for my students. I love that Word has become more like PowerPoint with the ability to add layers to your document, edit images, and insert a variety of different types of text, shapes, tables, and colors. While I often will use PowerPoint to create image heavy projects with minimal text, Word is excellent at creating projects that relies more on text, but with the accompaniment of images. I love creating worksheets that don’t just tell my students what they should learn, but also shows about a topic, tapping into the Multiple Intelligences of my students. My only complaint about Word is that because it is text based some of the image editing tools are not as strong as PowerPoint, and the layout is easiest to edit in the vertical position which at times hinders my creativity when I want to create something horizontal.
I am interested to hear what your favorite things to do with Microsoft Word are, and how you integrate it into your classroom? Also have you, or will you be using Mail Merge this year?