PPS Instructional Technology

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.