Month: November 2024

Master Library Schedules

Please continue to use VirtualEMS for now until we launch ML Schedules. Click here to Access VirtualEMS

Beginning in late December, facility use requests will now be made via a new platform called ML Schedules. Like Maintenance and Tech Request, this will be housed through MasterLibrary. Access will be conveniently located in the waffle (Google Apps Launcher). Scroll down to find the orange “M” – it will launch the site and automatically log you in with your Google credentials.

NEW IMAGE NEEDED – ILLUSTRATING MLS ICON

Please note: accessing through the “Waffle” is the recommended pathway. Getting to MasterLibrary through the direct link (https://mi50.mlschedules.com) and signing in with Google credentials may not work if you have not first visited through the waffle.

From there the procedures are similar to our previous system. However, to further assist you with navigating the new platform, here are a few resources that you may find helpful prior to its launch:

Basic User Quick Start Guide
Getting Started Guide – Training Videos, Glossary, FAQ
Make a Request (Video)
Using the Calendar
Additional Reports

To reiterate, staff members should make facility usage requests by either clicking on the Google apps launcher (aka waffle) and selecting the orange Master Library Schedules icon (preferred way) OR browsing to https://mi50.mlschedules.com (feel free to bookmark) and signing in with their district Google credentials.

More resources:

Navigating Ed-Tech: A Growth Mindset Approach

Embrace Tech, Embrace Growth

Feeling overwhelmed by ed-tech? A growth mindset can help you navigate the ever-evolving landscape of educational technology.

Why it Matters

A growth mindset isn’t just important for students, it’s a powerful tool for teachers. By embracing a growth mindset, you can:

Reduce Stress: View challenges as opportunities to learn and grow.
Boost Confidence: Celebrate small victories and learn from setbacks.
Enhance Learning: Create more engaging and effective learning experiences for your students.
Model Skills: Be transparent about your learning process. Let students see your thinking and problem-solving in action.

How to Cultivate a Growth Mindset

Embrace Challenges: Don’t shy away from new tools and technologies. Everyone starts somewhere, and learning curves are a normal part of the process.
Seek Support: Collaborate with colleagues, our tech integration specialists, and even students. Share experiences, learn from their insights, and build a supportive network.
Celebrate Successes: Acknowledge your achievements, big or small. Positive reinforcement can boost your motivation.
Learn from Mistakes: View mistakes as opportunities for growth. Analyze what went wrong and use it to improve future efforts.
Practice Patience: Learning new skills takes time and dedication. Be patient with yourself and celebrate your progress along the way.
Start Small: Break down large tech projects into smaller, manageable tasks. Prioritize self-care and take breaks when needed.

By adopting a growth mindset, you can become a more confident, capable, and tech-savvy educator. Remember, it’s about the journey, not perfection.

As we gather to celebrate Thanksgiving, let’s take a moment to express gratitude for all that we have, including all the tools and resources that technology offers us as educators. But let’s not forget to extend that gratitude to ourselves! It’s okay to make mistakes and feel overwhelmed at times. By practicing self-compassion, we can approach technology with growth in mind to create new learning experiences for our students.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving and a Housekeeping Request

We hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving break! Before you leave Tuesday afternoon…

WOULD YOU PLEASE SECURE ALL VALUABLES in the classrooms and office spaces you inhabit. This includes laptops, document cameras, Apple TVs, remotes, and interactive pens.

Further, if it is equipment you handle, would you please make sure all iPads and Chromebooks are in their carts and those CARTS ARE LOCKED and plugged in before leaving.

Finally, would you please also POWER OFF any of the following equipment, if it is equipment you handle:

projectors
sound amps
SmartBoards
desktop computers
monitors
printers

THANK YOU for your cooperation.

Introducing a New Resource: AI in the Classroom: A Practical Guide

This blog post introduces a practical guide designed to help educators begin to effectively and responsibly integrate AI into their classrooms. While the guide was initially created by secondary librarians and technology integration specialists, its principles and tools are adaptable for elementary classrooms as well.

Key Features of the AI Guide

This guide provides educators with practical advice and resources to effectively implement AI while addressing ethical considerations:

Student-Centric AI Usage Scales: These scales offer clear guidelines for students to understand when and how to appropriately use AI tools. The scales differentiate between “AI Free,” “AI Assisted,” and “AI Enhanced” activities, providing a framework for ethical AI integration in assignments. Printable posters of the scales can be displayed in classrooms as a visual reminder for students.
AI Citation & Disclosure Handout: This resource clarifies when to cite AI-generated content and when to disclose its usage. The handout emphasizes transparency in academic work, outlining the importance of citing new content generated by AI and disclosing AI usage for tasks like organizing thoughts or editing.
AI Prompting and Evaluation Techniques: The guide introduces two acronyms, PREP and HUMAN, to provide a structured approach to using AI. Ideally, these acronyms could be consistently used across the district.
- PREP guides prompt creation, emphasizing the importance of a clear role for the AI, a precise prompt, specific parameters for the response, and explicit instructions.
- HUMAN serves as a checklist to ensure ethical and effective AI use. It encourages users to pause and consider the appropriateness of using AI, examine potential biases, personalize the output, verify information, and determine next steps, including disclosure and citation requirements.
Teacher-Friendly Implementation Tips: The guide offers practical suggestions for incorporating AI into the classroom. It clearly outlines the district-approved apps for teacher use and suggests tools that may be appropriate for student use. It emphasizes a progression of I do, we do, you do for classroom integration.
Best Practices for Responsible AI Use: The guide highlights essential guidelines for ethical AI usage and data privacy considerations, drawing on recommendations from Common Sense Media. These practices include avoiding personal information input, emphasizing AI’s role as a thought partner rather than a source of facts, understanding the trade-offs of AI usage, verifying information, and using reputable sources in prompts.

The AI guide offers a wealth of resources, including printable posters, customizable rubrics, and suggested AI tools for both teachers and students.

Artificial Intelligence

Fall Canvas Updates

This fall, Canvas has rolled out several updates. Here are some highlights:

Smart Search: You may have noticed “Smart Search” in the course navigation. This allows teachers and students to search the whole course and Canvas will present the most fitting results for that term. More info.

New Quizzes: Add Time to Existing Quiz Sessions: While a New Quiz attempt is ongoing, instructors can moderate a quiz and extend the time allotted for the quiz. Additionally, the student course-level accommodation modal link is moved to the Student column. Previously, this was linked in the Accommodations column.

New Quizzes: View Log now shows when and for how long a student navigated away from the quiz.

Coming Soon (11/16):

Multiple Due Dates (Checkpoints) in Discussion: When creating a graded discussion, instructors can set multiple due dates or checkpoints to accommodate different stages of the discussion process, such as the initial post and follow-up replies.—DELAYED as of 11/14

Speedgrader Experience: Faster load times and enhanced stability in Speedgrader. Additionally, there will be some interface updates:

A streamlined interface for the Section drop-down menu
A clearer and more prominent No Submission alert
The Submission Status is updated to a drop-down menu
Rubrics are automatically displayed in the traditional view
Media attachments and submission comments are moved and the delete icon is changed.

Rubric Improvements:

You can import and export Canvas rubrics in a CSV or XML format.
On the Rubrics page, instructors can copy rubrics from the current course to another course.

Canvas

Canva Teams Explained

Canva is an incredible tool that can be used to create stunning visuals for a variety of purposes. From presentations to social media graphics, Canva has everything you need to bring your ideas to life.

Team Up for Success

When using Canva, it’s important to be mindful of which team you’re creating under. This will determine who can access and collaborate on your designs. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

School Team: If you’re creating designs to share with students or collaborate with colleagues within your school, make sure you’re creating under your school’s team.
District Team: For district-wide projects or collaborations, switch to the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools team. Students should NOT create under this team, we are hopeful that we will be removing students access to this team soon.
Public Links: If you forget to switch teams you may need to create a public link, please note that students don’t have this option.

Canva Resources to Get You Started

To help you get started with Canva, check out these helpful resources:

Canva

Action Required to Utilize Newsela with Canvas

We have encountered some teachers having issue when trying to set up their Canvas/Newsela integration this school year. We have identified the problem and an easy solution to move forward. It is essential to archive any Clever-created Newsela classes before setting up the Canvas/Newsela integration. These Clever-created courses were launched automatically at the beginning of the school year. If you would rather link you classes with Canvas you can login to Newsela:

Click your initials in the upper right corner. Select Settings.
Click the Class Directory and find the class in your list of classes.
Change the status to Archived
Location to archive/activate courses in Newsela

Please note, this will remove record of previous assignments. You can always follow these steps again to re-activate the class if you lose unintended data.

This step is crucial because attempting to sync while active Clever classes exist may lead to syncing conflicts.

Once you have archived the Clever classes, you can proceed with setting up the Canvas/Newsela integration by following the instructions in the Canvas/Newsela Teacher Setup Guide. This will allow for seamless syncing of your Canvas courses with Newsela.

Newsela