PPS Instructional Technology

I am very passionate about blogging with students. I am sure this doesn't come as a surprise to any of you who know me. Teaching students to be proud of their writing, express themselves in an authentic way, agree/disagree respectfully, and have intelligent conversations are all benefits of teaching students to blog. Last February, I introduced a bit about how I blog with my students in this blog post , and this fall I presented about blogging with students at the miGoogle conference in Brighton.  You can view the presentation here . This morning, I found these great little nuggets of insight from Kidblog.  Feel to add these great little articles to your files: 3 Tips for Successful Student Blogging The Key to Successful Student Blogging Top 3 Reasons I Have My Students Blog Happy Blogging!

There are several times a year when it is important to change your password.  Your password will expire every 90 days. When your windows computer informs you that your password will be expiring soon, CHANGE IT THEN! It is also always a good idea to change your password before going on break so that you do not get locked out of your computer, email or gradebook.  Here is how you change your password from the school windows computers. On your Windows desktop/TEC computer , press the Alt, Ctrl and Delete buttons at the same time. Click on "Change a Password" on the menu below: Enter your username, if needed, and follow the directions on screen. If you are off site or working solely on a Chromebook , you can use the VDI (Virtual Desktop) to change your password.   Simply go to vdi.portageps.org.  Click "VMware Horizon HTML Access."  Click "Accept."  Login with your portage username (leave off the @portageps.org) and password.  Click "Login." ...

Clearing the Chrome browsing history solves many issues you may experience in the web browser.  For example, if you change your network password, and store passwords in Chrome, you will want to clear your browsing history so that your new password can be "remembered" instead of the old one. Here is a quick video on how to clear your browsing history. (If you see a puzzle piece below instead of the video, simply right-click over the puzzle and choose "Run this plugin".)

In this PBS Cyberchase video , the CyberSquad must program a robot to rescue their friend and complete their mission. In order to get the robot to do what they want, they must program the robot so that it can follow their step-by-step directions.  This video really illustrates well the concept of needing to provide directions in the exact order you want the computer to do them.

This morning our good friend, Ben Rimes (@techsavvyed) over at Mattawan Schools, shared a great,  thought provoking post  that really cut to the heart of what Paul and I have been preaching about in regards to technology in education for some time.  When we go in to help teachers with technology, usually the first thing we ask them is "What is your goal?"  We do this because education is about learning, not technology.  Technology is an ever evolving tool for learning, but it is only a tool. If teachers are trying to use technology in a way that is not going to be seamless and enhance instruction, then it is not the right tool for the job. Exceptional teachers are what really engage students and inspire learning.  They may use the technology to challenge prior knowledge, enhance instruction, encourage collaboration, and expand the walls of the classroom, but the act of learning must happen inside the learner, not on the tool in front of them.  Check ou...

Looking for a fun, simple project for Hour of Code week next week?  Why not get festive and code the lights on the Christmas Trees in Washington, D.C.  Check it out at: https://holidays.madewithcode.com/project/lights

As a math teachers, one of the problems we run in to is how to add math equations to our documents.  Often our fractions look wrong, and don't even try to add a square root!  Thankfully Google docs has an equation editor built in. Check out this helpful video tutorial from Ben Rimes (@techsavvyed) at Mattawan Community Schools on how to add math equations to your Google Docs.  Thanks Ben for sharing this great resource.

Mark your calendars for the hour of code week!  Computer science is foundational for all students today. Yet 90% of schools don't teach it. Last December, 15 million students tried computer science in one week, thanks to educators like you! Since then, over 40 million students have tried the  Hour of Code . Please help this grassroots, teacher-driven campaign reach 100 million students by the end of the year.  Sign up  to participate in Hour of Code 2014 during December 8-14, Computer Science Education Week. I participated last year with my elementary students at St. Michael's.  I knew absolutely nothing about coding before we began.  Let's just say that my mind was blown!  The kids absolutely LOVE this stuff.  They learn to think critically, problem solve creatively, and provide exact step-by-step directions in order to accomplish a task.  The first day of class this year, the #1 question I got from my 2nd-5th graders was "Are we goin...

Make it visual! Paste information collected with a form into a Wordle to see what the most common responses were for the survey. Graphing your Data! In a few clicks, you can graph data in a google spreadsheet.  Google has a great help document on creating a graph.  Check it out here . Add Ons: Flubaroo - Self Grading Quizzes Have you given a quiz with a Google Form and wanted a quick way to grade it?  If so, then the flubaroo add on is just what you are looking for!  Not only can it grade multiple-choice or fill-in-the-blank questions, it can also compute the average score for the assignment, compute the average score per question and flag low-scoring questions, show you a grade distribution graph, allow you to email each student their grade and the answer key (optional) or send individual feedback to each student.  Learn more at:  http://www.flubaroo.com/flubaroo-user-guide .

Perhaps you have seen the “New” button appear magically next to a student’s name. Wait...perhaps that student is new to your class or maybe they've transferred from your class in another hour. By clicking on the “New” button next to the student’s name, you will be provided with five options. (Not all options will be available for your use.) Option #1 - Auto-Transfer Scores from Dropped Section of this Course Option #2 - Transfer Assignment/Term Scores From a Dropped Class Option #3 - Manually Enter Term Scores Option #4 - One-Click Transfer Term Percents from Dropped Section of this Course Option #5 - Enter a Starting Grade Percentage for the Current Term Should you wish not to make use of any of these options, but would like to no longer see the “New” button displayed next to the student’s name, then you may check the box for “Do not display NEW by this student’s name”. For further explanation and instructions about how you might use the New Button, please...

It is no secret that I love Google Forms.   Paul Murray and I frequently share our love of this easy to use data collection tool with our teachers and others around the state, like in this presentation from miGoogle 2013.  One of the problems I have with data collection, however, is what to do with all the information, and make it manageable, once you have it collected.  I often look at spreadsheets full of Form responses and wonder, "There are 200 responses here!  How am I going to make sense of all this?"  Thankfully, there are some really amazing add-ons and tools that, with little effort on the users part, can make the data come alive. Tool #1: Add-on - autoCrat As a teacher, I collect information from my students/families every year.  Information such as names, parents/guardians names, preferred email address, preferred phone number, best way to contact parents/guardians, etc.  This information can be easily collected with a Form at open...

November has two very special holidays, Veterans Day and Thanksgiving.  It is important that we, as educators, help our students to understand the significance of these days and help foster an appreciation for the things we have and the people who help protect us and our nation.  In honor of these two very special holidays, here are a few resources highlighted this month on the FreeTech4Teachers blog. To all the Vets out there, our family, our colleagues, our friends....Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Veterans Day: Bet You Didn't Know Here is a short 2 minute video that does a great job highlighting what Veterans day is and why we celebrate it each November 11th.  To learn more about the video and to check out other lesson resources check out this blog post:  http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2014/11/bet-you-didnt-know-short-lesson-on.html Thanksgiving: 5 Great ideas for teaching about Thanksgiving You Are the Historian: Investigating the Firs...

Back in March of 2014, I shared with you that Google expanded the functionality of docs and spreadsheets with the addition of Add Ons ( Google Docs just got better! Google Docs introduces Add ons ).  At the time, there were only a couple of Add Ons for each program since it was so new.  There are now numerous Add Ons and they have expanded it to Google Forms as well.  Over the next couple weeks,  I will be sharing with you some of my favorite Add Ons, along with how they can be used in the classroom. Let's collaborate!   Is there a add on that you can't live without?  Share your ideas and how you use it in the classroom and I will share it out for everyone! Getting Started Haven't checked out add ons yet?  Open a Google doc or sheet.  Click on the Add-ons menu and select Get add-ons.

This week Paul Murray ( @Paul_Murray6 ) and I had the pleasure of attending the 2014 miGoogle Summit in Brighton, MI.  This was a great opportunity for us to learn some new tips and tricks from our fellow educators, as well as share some of our own as speakers at the conference.  There's nothing quite like a good learning opportunity to renew your enthusiasm for education and the great tools out there to enhance teaching and learning. Over the next month, my goal is to share some of the tips, tricks, and tools from miGoogle and open the door for discussion on the ways you all are using these tools in your classrooms. Let's get started: Going Google #1: Search Directly in your Google Docs This first tip comes from my presentation on Doing More with Google Docs .  One of my favorite features natively found in Google Docs in the Research Tool.  This great tool allows you to do a general Google search, or search specifically for images, videos, scholarly arti...

Keeping the confidentiality of your student information is important, especially, when checking in with students during class or meeting with parents during conferences. Well, this quick Skyward tip will truly put your mind at ease. Viewing Individual Student Grades/Assignments From within the gradebook, click on a student's name and a screen tailored to each student appears. There are tabs for Assignments, Missing Assignments, Report Card Grades, and Comments. See the animated image below.

PPS Elementary Teaching Staff: We have received a number of questions the last few days regarding how the Skyward gradebook calculates the M, P, and L proficiency levels. This, admittedly long, yet important read, addresses these questions. The Skyward gradebook uses trend-based calculations when determining the M, P, or L for a student's level on any given skill in the gradebook. The theory is, we want to report out where a student is on a skill today, and not a simple average of their scores over time. However, there are cases where a trend calculation can produce a proficiency level that, while correct from a mathematical perspective, does not seem to make sense. ​As with any automatic grade calculation, we recommend you spot check gradebook. Overriding a Trend Calculation This is a simple process - if you click on a skill's title in the gradebook, you will see a view which shows all of the scores incorporated into the skill, the trend score the gradebook is rep...

UPDATED Post:  Visit this  newer post  as it may more clearly explain this process. The deadlines set by each of your offices for grade entry cutoff are either quickly approaching or have past.  At that time, your grades for MP1 will be locked from changes.  If you have incompletes or other grades to enter after the cutoff, you will need to request a grade change from the office.   This document includes the instructions for requesting a grade change. Update: In order for your building office to receive an updated grade, please make sure you have completed the following... Update necessary assignment/assessment scores Remove Incompletes or other overwritten grade term scores (i.e. Q1, Q2, etc.) Offices will not receive any information or updates if the marking period final grade has not changed. Therefore, verify that the updates you have made do, in fact, affect the grade as you expect. You may see a new column appear for th...

You may find yourself wishing to print a report from Skyward other than the current term. The method for doing so may or may not be necessary depending on the report you are choosing to run. Let's say you wanted to print a Grade Sheet Report for the first quarter or marking period (Q1). Start by accessing the desired gradebook Hover over Reports Select "Grade Sheet Report" You will see that all the report templates say "Current Term" (Curr Term) In order to select the term you wish ,click the "Clone Template" button at the right Provide a new "Report Template Name". I would recommend including the quarter or term you are wishing to print in the name, such as Q1. (ex. "Grade Sheet Report (Q1)") Select the term you wish to print Click "Save" at the upper-right. Now, you may run your new report at anytime you wish.

Now that we have officially switched to second quarter, your gradebooks now will automatically display second quarter (Q2).  If you have your gradebook set up to only display one quarter at a time, then you will only see Q2.  If you still need to enter grades in Q1, I am sure there are many elementary teachers who do, then you will want to go in to the display options and select the option to turn Q1 back on. Step 1: Go to the gradebook for which you wish to enter grades. Step 2: Select Display Options. Step 3: Check the box for Q1.  Click Save. If you wish to change back to only seeing Q2, then just repeat the above steps except uncheck Q1.

Entering Report Card Grades Directly without Adding an Event There are times when entering grades directly into the report card column is logical, or even necessary.  An example of this is the Learner Behaviors, but it can be done in any area on the report card. Step 1: Click on the Gradebook for the class for which you want to enter report card grades. Step 2: Click on the Skill (striped) header row. Step 3: Type in the grades for each student, or use the autofill drop down menu to select a common grade for all students. Step 4: Click Save when finished. Overriding/Adjusting Report Card Grades Sometimes the grade that is calculated by the gradebook using the trend grading does not accurately represent the child's true performance on the skill.  When this occurs, it is important to adjust the grade. Step 1: Click on the Gradebook for the class you wish to adjust. Step 2: Click on the M, P, or L in the report card grade column for the child whose s...

One of the features in Skyward is the ability to input discipline referrals. Several of our buildings have begun to transition to this method for discipline referrals. Once inputted, the office will be notified of the referral and they will finalize the discipline information. Here is how you enter a discipline referral from the teacher side of Skyward.  To view a printer-friendly version, click here . There are two ways to get to the discipline entry screen, through your gradebook or through the student’s profile screen. Entering and Viewing Referrals through your Gradebook 1. Click on the Other Access menu in the top left. 2. Click on Discipline. 3. Type the name of the student in the search box. Click on the student, then click select. Entering and Viewing Referrals through the Student’s Profile Page 1. From your Home screen, click on the student’s name. 2. On the right side of the Profile screen you will see the word Discipline. Click on it. Thi...

Well, today marks the end of Digital Citizenship Week 2014.  I hope you all learned a lot about what you can do as educators to foster digital citizenship in your students.  Technology is an amazing tool, but as educators we know it isn't the technology that teaches the students, it is the teachers.  We need to foster digital literacy skills in our students so that they can use the tool in a manner that is safe and enhances their education. Below is a list of some great resources, curated by Edutopia , that you may want to check out in regards to Digital Citizenship. Google Digital Literacy and Citizenship Curriculum : Produced in conjunction with iKeepSafe Search for Digital Literacy Lessons at MediaSmarts Lessons for Teaching Digital Citizenship from Cable Impacts Resources for Teaching Digital Literacy from Digizen Digital Citizenship Videos from the TeachingChannel To read a description of these resources head to http://www.edutopia.org/blog/digital-c...

As we approach the end of Quarter 1 (Q1) teachers may find it necessary to make slight adjustments in a student's grade or apply the use of Credit/No Credit. Below, we will cover how to accomplish both. Adjusting Grades In the scenario at the right, we have a student who is particularly close to the next grade mark. A 79.36% C+ could easily adjust to a B-. To make this adjustment, click on the letter grade in the quarter column in which you wish to enter a change (in this case, Q1). The "Grade Adjustment" screen will appear. In that screen, locate the student's grade you wish to adjust. Here, under the Adjustment Column, in the Grade Field, I have entered a "B-" (1). In the Amount Field, an adjustment of 0.14 percentage points has automatically been calculated and entered by Skyward (2). And the new percentage applied to the gradebook as the student's new adjusted grade appears in the "Total Percent" column. A teacher may also adjust th...

Teaching digital citizenship is not something that we, as educators, can do alone.  We need to partner with parents and the community to help guide our students as they navigate their digital world.  With this knowledge in the front of our minds, last year we launched DigitalED .  DigitalED is a partnership with Portage Public Schools, parents, and the community to foster digital citizenship.  The DigitalED website offers resources like family contracts, family tip sheets, information on Internet filtering and lists of top social media applications and what you need to know about them.  DigitalED also offers workshops for parents and community members to help start conversations about digital citizenship with our students/children.  Our next workshop is coming up on November 18th at 7pm at Lake Center Elementary.  We topic will be: The Holiday Shoppers Guide - What you should know before you buy!  Check out the DigitalED website today to learn ...

Today's great Digital Citizenship/Internet Safety resource comes to us thanks to a tip past on from Jeanna Walker, Teacher Media Specialist at PNHS.  Thanks Jeanna! The FBI has put together a wonderful interactive website, FBI Cyber Surf Islands , to help teach students in grades 3-8 about Internet safety.  The goal of the website is to promote cyber citizenship and help students learn about online safety while engaging in fun, interactive games.  The program was designed to address current Internet safety threats while keeping each grade level's Internet usage and knowledge in mind. Check out this fun resource today and get your class set up and ready to play and learn about Internet safety and digital citizenship!

Video, Poster and Teacher Resources: Oversharing - Think Before you Post! Brought to you by the fabulous people at Flocabulary and Common Sense Media , this great video/song teaches our students the 10 things to think about before they post something on social media or the Internet in general.  They include: Remember the Golden Rule Don't Brag Avoid TMI Think about the reader Keep relationship details to yourself Don't be cryptic Quit complaining Curate your photos Change your settings Post smart Check out the video (3:35 min), download the posters and learn more at:  https://www.commonsensemedia.org/videos/oversharing-think-before-you-post Oversharing Lyrics Poster Top Ten Things to Think About Before you Post Poster

Entering Comments and Citizenship It’s that time of year… It’s the end of the marking period and time to shore up your gradebooks. In this tech tip we are discussing… Citizenship Entering Comments Citizenship Perhaps you have seen the column at the right in your gradebooks. You are looking at the column used to enter a student’s Citizenship mark (C1). Below you will find the steps necessary to enter a student’s citizenship mark. Steps: Click anywhere in the C1 column In the screen that appears  There is an option for Mass Assigning Individual Marks Viewing the mark table To the right, see the citizenship marks and the description of each. Entering Comments Now, let’s work on entering our marking period comments for the report card. From within a selected gradebook, next to the “Reports” menu, find and hover over the “Posting” menu. From that list choose “Post Comments” as shown to the right. On the screen that app...

It's time for Digital Citizenship Week! October 19-25, 2014 Every day, your students are tested with each post, search, chat, text message, file download, and profile update. Do they connect with like minds or spill too much information? Do they behave creatively or borrow ideas recklessly? Do they respect relationships or inadvertently damage reputations? Let's all get on board for Digital Citizenship Week and engage students, our fellow teachers, and families in our community in thinking critically, behaving safely, and participating responsibly online. Dive into the suggested activities and these helpful resources provided by Common Sense Media  and start helping your students become digital citizens you and their family will be proud of. Get connected: Be sure to post what you’re doing to the Connected Educator Month calendar and tag your plans as “DigitalCitizenshipWeek” to inspire others to get involved.

Google made some major updates to Google Classroom yesterday! Teachers can now: Invite students using Groups Control permissions on the Classroom Stream Sort students by first or last name Export Grades Students can now: Mark assignments as "done" Great updates!  To learn more check out this post from Google for Education .

As we figure out how the new math program and Skyward's standards-based gradebook work together, we have come across a few situations where you may want to attach multiple skills to one event and then give all the skills the same score. For example, in your mid-module, question #3 may be linked to three different standards. In this situation, you would add an event for mid-module question 3, then link it to three standards. (For directions on how to do this check out this tip: http://ppstechtraining.blogspot.com/2014/09/skyward-tech-tip-entering-event.html ) If you immediately click save and score it will take you to a screen that allows you to type in the score once and it fills across all the skills. If you hit save and add another, or save and back you will not have this option to fill across unless you turn on Multiple event scoring. Here is how you do it: Go to your mathematics grade book. Click on Display options Click on Event Display Scroll down unti...

It is October and soon it will be time to run your elementary report cards to send home to parents. Below you will find some resources to help you work through the printing of your card, as well as the procedure for adding comments.  For a printer-friendly version, click here . In this tip: Entering Comments Running Report Cards Setup Printing Entering Comments (not needed for 20-21 school year) Login to Skyward. Go to your Learner Behavior Gradebook by clicking on the blue book. Select comments from the menu at the top. Click Post Comments for the quarter you wish to enter. Click the icon at the right to get the larger editing window. Enter in your comments. Click OK when finished. NOTES: There is NO FORMATTING! To do a template, you can set up the basic information for one child, then apply to all. Then you can edit for individual students. Running Report Cards Go to reports menu and select Custom Report Card. Setup Select Add a new Te...