For those that teach IXL, access is available to content in four subject areas

IXL

If you are a teacher with IXL licensing, as a reminder, you can adjust the content that you can assign students, to include not just ELA and Math but also the subjects of Science and/or Social Studies* by clicking the boxes for those subjects within your teacher profile when logged into your IXL account.

FIRST LOG INTO YOUR ACCOUNT and SELECT YOUR PROFILE

IXL part 1

THEN CLICK SUBJECTS TO MAKE AVAILABLE….

IXL part 2

* Please note, while access to IXL ELA and Math extends through 2023, access to IXL Science and Social Studies is only available during the 2020-2021 School Year.

Access to Flash-based browser content ends in December, 2020

Adobe Flash

Adobe Flash has been supporting online games, content, and interactive features since 1996. But due to the changing and evolving of newer technologies other mediums such as HTML5 which are more power-efficient and faster, Flash has become less and less popular. At one point 80% of the content on the internet was Flash-based. Since 2017, that number is down to 17%. Due to this, Adobe has determined an End of Life (EOL) date of December 31st, 2020 for the plugin.

What does this mean?

Many different learning websites including sites such as Starfall and CoolMathGames were entirely Flash-based. When the announcement by Adobe was made to end Flash (plugin player support/updates and distribution), many websites started to convert their content to HTML5 and other delivery mechanisms. However, it is up to websites to make this transition. So, as you are planning different learning activities for students, please ensure that you have vetted the website to see if it relies on Flash. A way to check to see if a site uses Flash, Right-clicking on any part of a website will make a box appear with options you can click on. If you see Zoom in at the top of the box and About Adobe Flash Player at the bottom of the box, then you know that you have Flash on the website.

If the site migrates to open web standards (such as HTML5), you shouldn’t notice much difference except that you’ll no longer see prompts to run Flash on that site. If the site continues to use Flash, and you give the site permission to run Flash, it will only work through the end of 2020.

For more information please check out these articles:

https://www.blog.google/products/chrome/saying-goodbye-flash-chrome/

https://theblog.adobe.com/adobe-flash-update/

 

Cleaning Your Smartboard

Elementary instructional staff — Please follow these guidelines to clean your SMART Board (interactive flat panel – IFP):

You will probably want to clean your SMART Board about 1x a month (or more often if used regularly). You should clean your SMART Board while the computer is turned OFF.

If you clean your SMART Board while it and your computer are on it is recommended that you lock the screen so you don’t mess up things on your computer. Go to the blue icon with the white circle at the bottom right of your screen, control panel and then lock screen. To unlock the screen you will need to click on the unlock icon using the mouse on your computer.

Details

To clean the writing surface or screen, use Windex glass cleaner. Just spray the cleaner on a soft cloth or paper towel and wipe the screen surface. Avoid spraying the cleaner directly on the screen, since the cleaner may damage components if it runs into the edge of the screen.

Warning

Do not apply isopropyl alcohol, water or acetone to the back surface of the screen. These fluids could damage the diffusion coating, resulting in a permanent deterioration in display quality. If you do smudge this surface, wipe it carefully with an alcohol-free glass cleaner. Do not spray the cleaner directly onto the back of the screen. Spray the cleaner lightly on a cloth, and then gently dab the surface until the marks are removed.

Note

To remove permanent marker ink from the screen, use a cleaner such as Expo Board Doctor. If you have high-odor dry-erase markers (not non-scented markers), you can cover the permanent ink with the ink from a dry-erase marker, and then wipe with a soft cloth or paper towel while the ink is still wet. If any trace of the original permanent ink remains, spray a cloth with Windex glass cleaner or Expo Board cleaner and wipe the area clean.

New Seesaw Feature!

Send Post Back to Student
If your class is set to email sign in or 1:1 devices sign in for students, Seesaw has added a new tool to improve the feedback loop between students and teachers. This feature lets you send back a post to a student so they can do another revision before it’s shared with classmates or families.
From the Unapproved Items screen, use the comment tool to leave them a comment, then tap “Send Back” to send the work back to them. They’ll be notified that the post was sent back and can edit their post and return it to you when they’re ready for another review.

NEW SMART Learning Suite ONLINE and SMART Exchange

Getting Started with SLS

Elementary teachers with a classroom SMART interactive flat panel (IFP) board are also licensed to use the online SMART Learning Suite as well as the SMART Exchange. To log into your SMART Learning Suite account, browse to https://suite.smarttech.com/login and click SIGN IN. Use your district Google account to sign in.

 

You can also access it via the “Waffle” via Google Apps:

 

Once logged in, click the “Getting Started” file shown and consider browsing their training section to learn how to use the site’s many resources: https://www.smarttech.com/training/smart-learning-suite-online 

You can also use the NEW AND IMPROVED SMART Exchange to search for online and Notebook lessons, learning games and activities. Browse to https://exchange.smarttech.com and search for topics  by various filters. To add what you find to your SMART Learning Suite and be able to push it out to students on their ipads or Chromebooks, you will want to sign in (and to do so, will use your district Google account). An overview video is below.

Other helpful videos explaining different aspects of SMART’s resources can be found at https://support.smarttech.com/docs/software/smart-learning-suite-online/en/training-and-videos/default.cshtml

One of the linked videos (video embedded below) reviews how to have students connect their devices to your class within the SMART Learning Suite after browsing to hellosmart.com

 

If you are an elementary teacher with a classroom SMART board (IFP) and are having trouble logging into your account or have other questions, please submit a help desk service ticket for assistance.

 

Classroomscreen.com offers simple web widgets when displaying your screen

ClassroomScreen

If you browse to ClassroomScreen.com you can find a set of possibly useful widgets that can be displayed.

Currently, there are twelve widgets you can use on ClassroomScreen. You can display multiple widgets at once.

  • Language – Choose to display text in a large range of languages
  • Background – Customise your background with one of the images or GIFs provided. Or, you can upload or record your own background.
  • Random Name/Dice – Enter the names of students and choose one at random. Or, roll one or more dice.
  • Sound Level – Monitor classroom noise levels using the microphone on your device.
  • QR Code – Enter a link and a QR code is automatically generated. Great when students have devices like iPads — they can come up to the board, scan the code and go straight to a site.
  • Drawing – There are two sizes available where you can free draw. The larger sized canvas can replace the background if you wish.
  • Text – A simple tool to write instructions, reminders, learning goals and so on.
  • Work Symbols – Display one of four options: work together, ask a neighbor, whisper, and silence.
  • Traffic Light – Display a red, amber, or green light to provide a visual reminder of when to move around, begin a task, pack up etc.
  • Timer – Count up or count down, record “laps”, and more. You can customize the tone that rings when the time is up.
  • Clock – Shows the time as a 12 or 24 hour clock. Also shows a calendar.

Classroomscreen icons

Additional Feature: ExitPoll

ClassroomScreen’s ExitPoll tool lets you get feedback from students.

You can ask students what they thought about the lesson or check for understanding by asking them a question about the lesson content.

Students simply walk past the interactive whiteboard, tablet, or computer at the end of the lesson and cast their vote.

You can access the ExitPoll tool by going to https://www.classroomscreen.com/exitpoll.html or use the icon at the bottom right of your screen.

ExitPoll tool by ClassroomScreen

How do I know what apps are available on my K-2 iPads? How do I get other apps for my student iPads?

Teachers with K-2 students and iPads, please keep in mind that you can visit the following link to know what iPad apps are available on district student iPads: https://tech.pccsk12.com/mdm-apps/

As new apps are requested and approved, these pages will be updated. Please notice that when you navigate to the page, you can click on either Filewave or eSpark since the app sets available to students are different depending on whether or not your building uses eSpark or IXL. Once on the particular MDM’s page, you can click “Install” to be taken to a page with more details on that app, but you don’t need to download/install it from that page.

For those at Filewave schools (not where eSpark is used) please see these directions for how to add apps to student ipads using Filewave: bit.ly/filewavehowto

eSpark iPads have a fixed set of apps that are automatically pushed to the iPads once apps are requested or approved. That said, due to the nature of how eSpark works, students have a custom set of apps based on their individual needs.

For help and training in your classroom with any of this, please remember that you can request Tech Integration Help via the Tech Department Service Request System (JIRA): Service ticket