Getting started with Office 365

Almost every school district is moving to Microsoft Office 365. Here are some tips and tricks to get you started.

Word tips

11. Read more easily

Word's new-look Read Mode (under the View tab) makes browsing documents easier, and it supports touchscreen input too.

12. Embed videos

Drop YouTube videos in and play them from Word

Load in online video clips from YouTube and elsewhere using the new Online Video button under the Insert tab.

13. Define words

Right-click on a word and choose Define to pick a dictionary and see its definition. You can even get help with pronunciation if you need it.

14. Reply to comments

Word 2013 enables you to reply to document comments, and even mark them as 'done', for a smoother workflow.

15. Get better borders

Quickly copy border formatting with the Border Painter tool

Table borders have been given some love in Word 2013, with additions such as the Border Painter tool (for copying border formatting), which is under the Design section of the Table Tools tab.

16. Edit PDFs

Fully fledged PDF editing finally arrives with Word 2013, though you might lose some layout settings. Edited documents can be saved as PDF or DOCX files.

17. Change the defaults

New documents use Calibri and double spacing by default. Change this by right-clicking on the Normal stylesheet icon and choosing Modify.

18. Benefit from live alignment

Click and drag and object on the page and you'll see faint green marker lines appear, DTP-style, enabling you to line up a series of elements more easily.

The Island of Dr. Libris by Chris Grabenstein

Gr 4–7—Billy is not thrilled to be spending the summer in a cabin on a lake in the middle of nowhere. His mom and dad aren't together, and he's worried this change may be permanent. Their cabin is owned by Dr. Libris, who also owns the mysterious island in the lake. With a lack of technology, and bullies as neighbors, Billy resorts to searching for a key to open the bookcase in Dr. Libris' study. What he unlocks brings classic books to life—when he reads the books, he hears the action somehow occurring on the island. Curious, he ventures out to the island to explore and discovers the unbelievable—somehow the stories he is reading are actually happening. When he meets Hercules, Zeus, Robin Hood, Tom Sawyer, and others, he becomes embroiled in their adventures and unwittingly causes the storylines to collide. When Billy brings his neighbors, Walter, and Walter's sister, out to the island, they all face treacherous foes including the giant from Jack in the Beanstalk and a space lizard from Walter's comic book. Billy is left trying to figure out whether Dr. Libris is behind everything, whether his own mind may be the culprit, and whether or not he can use the island to help save his parents' marriage. While the plot is unique, the story feels too far-fetched to be believable, and lacks the magic of Grabenstein's Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library (Random, 2013).—Michele Shaw, Quail Run Elementary School, San Ramon, CA --This text refers to the Library Binding edition.