PPS Instructional Technology

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...

New K-5 Curriculum! Looking for a fun, engaging way to teach problem solving, collaboration, and STEM skills?  Check out the new Code.org K-5 curriculum.  From pre-readers to 5th grade, this free curriculum takes students through off line and online activities that are fun and engaging in order for them to learn the real world skill of basic coding.  The best part - as a teacher, you do not need to know ANYTHING about coding! Check it out at  http://code.org/educate/k5 They also offer an introduction course for K-8th grade and many other curriculum resources. 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 th...

Want to go on a virtual field trip and meet Lemony Snickett When:  Tue, Oct 14, 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM Hangouts On Air - Broadcast for free Who is Lemony Snicket?  Why are there so many mysteries surrounding him?  Is it really possible to "hang out" with someone who is not even in the same room?  Shadowy author Lemony Snicket will sit in a room filled with technology and be interrogated by TIME For Kids Kid Reporter Andrew Mancini, who will ask all the wrong questions and receive some alarming answers—assuming of course that this mysterious man actually shows up. Tune in on October 14, 2014 at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET and join the conversation on social media using the hashtag  #LemonySnicketLive .

Secondary Teachers, At some point while opening your gradebook, you may discover the appearance of a new column titled "M1". This new column M1 is a midterm column and provides a snapshot of a student's grade on a specified date. The presence of this column is required for office staff to run certain reports related to student progress. As you may find this column unnecessary to view within your gradebook, you may simply ignore it and even turn off its display from view. Note: Teachers have the ability to adjust the grade in this column. Before doing so, look for communication from your building office as to when certain reports will be run. Midterm grades should not be altered after that point as reports will reflect one grade while the gradebook reflects another. Look to your building office for policy on the use of this column. Instructions for Turning Off the Midterm Column (M1) Hover your mouse over "Display Options" and choose "Grade Perio...