Think Central Update 08/26

Teacher and student accounts for ThinkCentral have been uploaded.

ThinkCentral includes adoption materials for:

·         K-4 science (teachers only; no students)

·         K-5 reading

·         5^th grade math

·         5-8 science

Students have been loaded by campus, not by class, which means teachers will be able to pull students into the classes that they create.

Teacher logins for ThinkCentral are:

http://www-k6.thinkcentral.com

Username:  network username (ex. cfoster)

Password:  Think!14

Student logins for ThinkCentral are:

http://www-k6.thinkcentral.com

Username:  first & last initials + 7-digit ID (ex. cf0123456)

Password:  pw + 7-digit ID (ex. pw0123456)

Accessing materials:

Materials are tied to the teacher grade level that was loaded. Teachers can add or remove materials they see by changing the grade level(s) in their profile.

Account Management:

A ThinkCentral campus admin will need to add new teacher accounts if they are not in the system at this time.

Teachers can add students that move in or are not in the system at this time.

Need Help?

Contact any of these people for more information:

• Christy Foster - x-70143
• Sandy Dickerson - x-78103
• Emily Bourgeois - x-78102

Need Training?
Contact your Think Central Sales Representative or
Contact Sandy Dickerson at x-78103

Wall-Size Keyboard 08/26

Several Tech Apps Teachers shared their ideas for wall-size keyboards.  Here are some of their ideas:

PowerPoint Keyboard Letters
PDF Keyboard Letters
Notes from Sara Simmons - I am thinking about changing the colors and redoing the keys. Mine printed dark. I believe that I used rubber cement to attach them to my boxes. I also used a push pin inside the box to attach them to the bulletin board.

3-D Keyboard Picture

Meredith Rives used black take-out food containers that were donated by Cheesecake Factory for her keys.  Then, put colorful paper with letters printed on them.  (like the 3-D Keyboard Picture here)

Keyboarding Resources for  Technology Applications Teachers

Liaison List (2014-2015) - 08/26

Click Here for a list of all liaisons across the district:

2014-2015 Technology Liaison List

Learning.com Update - 08/26

Beginning in the 2014-2015 school year, all teacher classes and students will be auto-updated in Learing.com.

What does that mean?

• Teacher classes are already created.
• Students are already enrolled.
• Student names will be updated nightly as they are enrolled in and/or transfer from schools.
• We encourage teachers to learn how to use Units to assign curriculum, as we transition to auto-updating of classes.  Contact Emily Bourgeois for more info.

What is my TEACHER login?

• Username - network username
• Password - 12345 (or possibly your same password from last year)

If that doesn't work, do one of the following:

• Go to www.learning.com and click Forgot Password
• Contact Emily Bourgeois at x-78102

What is the STUDENT login?

• Username - first initial + last initial + Student ID 
• Password - pw + Student ID

Example:  Jason Gonzalez would be:

• Username - jg0285963
• Password - pw0285963

Can teachers still manually create classes or groups?

• Yes, but the students won't automatically update in that class list.
• The teacher will have to add or remove the student from the class when a student changes class.

Training in Learning.com?

• Contact Emily Bourgeois if you and/or your campus would like a Learning.com training.
• Find resources at the Help Site on the Learning.com website.

Istation Update - 08/26

Istation Training - If you need training for your staff, contact Emily Bourgeois or Tom Deibel.

Training Materials - Located on the U: Drive (Public)
Teacher Training Materials -
\\pisdshare01\public\Instructional Materials - Electronic\Istation\AugustIstationTrainings\TeacherTrainingMaterials-ForTOT


Scheduling in the Lab - (From Tech Lab Teachers at Elementary Level)

Suggestions for scheduling the lab for Istation Initial Reading Assessment for PK-4th:

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I have not worked out an exact schedule yet but plan on running all classes through the lab for testing. I will test the Kinder and first classes when they come to computer lab for their rotation. I have them for 45 minutes and that seemed to be long enough for Kinder.  A few students in first grade sometimes ran over and the teachers would allow me to keep them for them to finish. The first grade test is the longest. For  second through fourth the teachers will sign up for a time to come test in the lab that's consistent every month. For example a teacher might sign up for the first Monday at 10 o'clock every month. This is our plan. Not sure how it's going to work yet.  Most classes can finish within 45 minutes or less. Pre-K also signed up for a time last year to come and test and with an aide and the teacher assisting they were able to get all students tested in 30 minutes. 

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I think ideally, it needs to be done in the lab.  I think it will give more creditability to the test if you have everyone doing the same thing with a teacher monitoring.  We are thinking about getting the netbook carts in use as well.  That way the whole grade level can take the test at the same time or at least the same day.  If you have each class come in and take the test during the computer lab time, you will have classes that will be forced to take the test on the first day of the month and then will have to retake the test again on Friday if that is the day that they go to computer lab.  I think for K-1^st it will take about an hour…not sure.  You are going to have to help Kinder with their log in numbers and some first graders.  If I can remember back to last year…it did not take them as long to finish the test.  I think they were playing one of the games before their teacher came back to get them. 

Pre-K - I am thinking I may have the teacher use her account and do the test with them as whole group since their test opens later on.  Then they can practice using Istations while they are in their centers.  For testing, I don’t think they are coming to the computer lab to take their test.  The desks are too big for them.  Maybe small groups at the computer until the class is finished. 

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I have my students for an hour each, Kinder – 4^th. I set aside the entire computer lab hour for their testing. I gave Pre-K the option to come into my lab during my conference period to take the test last year, but they opted not to. I will offer the same thing this year. This year will be a little more challenging because I will only see the students an hour every other week, but I think I will use the netbook carts to help if we do not have time to complete during the open window. I had one class use the netbook carts last year for testing and it seemed to work well.  Last year, I just used the link for the testing site, and sent it out using Lanschool and then the students logged in. I will most likely download it on all my machines this year.

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Istation Testing Window - PK - 4th Grade must complete initial assessment between Sept 2 - 26


Istation FAQ -
1. Will math eventually have a Spanish component to it? I believe it will, but nothing has been released to us. Next year will be the release of PK-8 Assessment and more curriculum, but I do not have details.

2. If over-achieving students are working at school and at home, will they eventually run out of instruction? That is possible. Perhaps teachers of older students could assign writing projects. Our curriculum team is constantly writing more curriculum, but we do have some students who hit the end of the world.

3. If a bilingual student is working in both the Spanish and English areas, are these areas assessed differently? For instance, if the student is strong in Spanish but weak in English will this be reflected in instruction for each area? Great question; yes they are assessed differently based on reading acquisition skills needed in each language. Find more assessment details at this link: https://secure.istation.com/ReportToolbox/tool_assePeriod.

Email Migration FAQ's

Question:
I have a computer that has Windows XP (see images below for what the Start Button looks like).  What should I do? 

Answer:

• If the computer is over 5 years old (or more), it is on the refresh (replace) schedule.  The computer will be replaced by Steve Wentz.  
• If the computer is less than 5 years old, a work order can be turned in to upgrade to Windows 7.
• If the computer can't handle the upgrade to Windows 7, the person can still access his/her email via the Internet login.microsoftonline.com but they cannot use the "true" Outlook application. 
• Lawson Inventory can be pulled to check the purchase date on the Windows XP machines.  
• According to Steve Wentz (June 6, 2014 Tech Department Mtg):
• 2008 purchase should result in the machine being on a refresh/replacement schedule this year.
• 2009 or 2010 purchase will be evaluated by Steve Wentz and his department as to whether it will be refreshed/replaced.
• Contact Steve Wentz for more details or re: any questions.

Question:

During and/or after this email migration, will anyone lose any emails that are currently there or those that are archived?

Answer:

No.  The only thing that might need changing is the reconnection to their Personal Folders. 

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Question:

Once the migration occurs, do our teachers have to have Office 2013 on their home computers to access emails?

Answer:

No

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Question:
I don't have Microsoft Software Center on my computer.  What do I do?

Answer:
Turn in a work order in Eduphoria requesting install of Microsoft Software Center.

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Question:

How do I know if my computer has Windows XP or Windows 7?

Answer:

Windows 7 Start Button

Windows 7 - 
Your start button will look like this image (at the left).

Windows XP Start Button

Windows XP – Your start button will probably look like this image (at the left).

You can also right click Computer, left click Properties and look for the Windows version.

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Question:

I have a mobile device (iPad, iPhone, Android phone, etc.) and my email doesn’t work after the migration.  What do I do?

Answer:

The Migrating to Office 365 document you were sent has info about mobile devices, but you mainly need to know the server name.  You will have to change this on your mobile devices settings.  Check the manual for info on how to do this.  The server name is:  outlook.office365.com

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Question:

If I install Office 2013, what about Office 2010? Do I have to UN-install Office 2010?

Answer:

No.  The install of Office 2013 is an upgrade to Office 2010.  DISCLAIMER - Some liaisons have said that if you UN-install Office 2010 first, the Office 2013 install has less (or no) issues.

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Question:
I received the following message when I was installing Office 2013. What do I do?


Answer:
Call Help Desk to assist.  x-70260






Question:
We have had random issues when trying to install Office 2013 via Microsoft Software Center. Are there some tips that can help resolve these issues?

Answer:
If the following tips/suggestions don't resolve the issue, call Help Desk at x-70260.  These are ONLY SUGGESTIONS, and they will not necessarily resolve the issues.

You could consider uninstalling Office 2010 first.  We have seen this resolve the issue in about 30% of the installs.

Some people have to hit F5 numerous times to refresh the list of initial applications displayed in Microsoft Software Center. If the list does not display first and they go straight to FIND ADDITIONAL APPLICATIONS, it can cause problems.

Office 2013 install tip:

From Help Desk:  If Office 2013 is being installed on netbooks, if you plug them into the network (rather than wirelessly connected), the install goes faster.

Applications Affected by Istation Purchase - 2014-2015

Because of the issues associated with Success Maker this past year, the district is (pending board approval of the budget on June 24, 2014) moving toward using Istation as an intervention and supplemental materials resource.  This will affect the use of several other PK-5th grade resources used by students and teachers.

This chart provides information about online applications that are (or will be) affected by the purchase of Istation for the 2014-2015 school year.

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to email Emily Bourgeois or call at x-78102.