In today’s world, teaching kids about digital citizenship is essential. When we equip them with the skills to think critically and navigate online spaces on their own, that’s how they really grow. Digital Citizenship Week began October 16th, and while the week is almost over, consider still bringing these themes into your curriculum over the weeks ahead. Supplement your instruction with BrainPOP’s timely content, tools, and resources.
As a reminder, all district students, K-12 can access our paid subscription to BrainPop/BrainPop Jr via Clever at https://clever.com/in/pccs
See everything IXL has added since school started back up! Read on to find out what’s new on IXL this fall including new units of the Takeoff curriculum, assessment data on the teacher dashboard, filtering for courses and more!
Summary of some key releases in the screenshot below:
Takeoff by IXL Math™ provides everything 2nd-5th grade teachers need for their daily math instruction, personalized to meet the needs of each student, including:
Detailed day-by-day lesson plans
Differentiated support and enrichment resources
Print and online learning activities
Built-in unit assessments with personalized next steps
Teachers can now find all of their assessment-related information in one place from the Teacher Dashboard! Under the new “Assessment” tab in the middle of the dashboard, teachers have three new sections covering:
Diagnostic levels: displays students’ overall math and ELA Real-Time-Diagnostic levels, and links to the Diagnostic Overview report.
Screener levels: displays the results of a class’ most recent Screener, and links to the Screener Levels report.
Upcoming assessment windows: displays upcoming universal screener and Diagnostic Snapshot windows scheduled by an administrator.
Filter courses in Teacher Analytics
Teachers can now filter their reports to view all students within a course! Courses are groups of students in IXL who are rostered in different classes, but are working on the same material. For middle and high school teachers who teach multiple classes of the same course, this will allow them to filter across class periods.
Teachers can click the “Students” filter at the top-left of each report to filter by their classes or courses. Once they select a course, they will only see data in the report for students who are in roster classes that are associated with that course.
Suggestion stars on the Student Usage report
The Student Usage report now displays the gold suggestion star next to a skill if the student practiced it while it was suggested! This update makes it easier for teachers to ensure that their most prioritized skills are being practiced.
Skill plan updates and new skills
New math skills
We’ve released a handful of new math skills, including new calculus skills:
We’ve expanded our popular Learn to Read skill plans to now include Pre-Kindergarten! Tailored for our youngest learners, the Pre-K Learn to Read plan focuses on nurturing essential skills such as letter knowledge, phonological awareness, and beginning phonics, providing a strong foundation for Kindergarten readiness.
New textbook skill plans
This release we added the following textbook skill plans:
We now have over 2,700 math and ELA videos on IXL.com! We’ve added 24 new phonics videos, 40 new reading foundations videos, and 4 new middle school ELA videos. With this release, we now have videos covering about 50% of the “reading foundations” skills in grades 2-3. These videos cover topics such as:
We’ve also added 335 new math videos across grade 2 through Algebra 2. This release covers more than half of the skills for both grade 2 and Algebra 2. Video topics include:
We’ve expanded our Spanish-language support to include a handful of new skills covering grade 2 through Algebra 1. These newly supported skills include:
We have added the ELA skill “Identify the purpose of a text” to our international editions (CA, AU, NZ, UK, IE, IN, ZA); this skill was previously only available in the US. This skill allows students in grades 2-3 to practice reading for the author’s purpose (to persuade, inform, or entertain) by interacting with engaging graphic elements. These include book pages, newspaper articles, web pages, and more.
Canvas recently hosted two webinars on Canvas New Quizzes.
One webinar covers the basics for new users. You can review the outline here and the actual recording here.
A second webinar, customized for existing users, skipped the basics and highlighted updates and outstanding questions. You can review the outline here and the actual recording here.
In today’s rapidly evolving educational landscape, harnessing the power of technology has become paramount to engage students effectively. Three standout platforms Edpuzzle (6-12 accounts connected through Canvas), BrainPOP (As a reminder, all district students, K-12 can access our paid subscription to BrainPop/BrainPop Jr via Clever at https://clever.com/in/pccs), and Teachflix have emerged as game-changers in the world of educational video content. These platforms offer a dynamic combination of video resources and interactive features, transforming traditional passive viewing into an engaging learning experience.
While you probably already ask students to view educational videos in your class, you may be looking for ways to keep students engaged with the video. Matt Miller (of Ditch that Textbook fame) has developed Teachflix and an activity pack to boost engagement with video. For example, in the Word Splash activity students write down 12 words from the video that stand out to them, then swap their page with a partner to watch the video again, crossing off their partners words as they hear them. This Teaching with TEACHFLIX resource is full of ready-to-use activities for students.
Something youmaywant to mark on yourcalendars. At around 2:20 PM on Wednesday, October4th, every TV, radio, and cell phone is going to sound an alert with a “unique tone and vibration.” If we had to guess (the article does not say) we’d say this will happen regardless of if the phone is on Do Not Disturb or silent mode. For middle school staff, if you‘re teaching at that time you might want to ask your students to turn their phones completely off before the test begins.
As part of our ongoing commitment to bolstering the online safety and security of our school community, the Technology team would like to share some important updates regarding our efforts to combat email phishing threats.
First, let’s acknowledge the gravity of the issue at hand. According to Cybersecurity Ventures, it’s predicted that a new organization will fall victim to ransomware every 11 seconds. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported that phishing is the most common type of cybercrime, and its frequency increases year after year. It’s not just large organizations that are at risk; schools and educational institutions are increasingly being targeted. The average cost of a phishing attack for a medium-sized company is estimated to exceed $1.6 million. These statistics underscore the significance of recognizing and preventing phishing attacks. On average, our email filter captures 10,000 phishing emails a day, with an unidentified amount slipping through the cracks.
This school year, we are partnering with KnowBe4 to introduce simulated phishing campaigns. These periodic campaigns are designed to give us a realistic experience of phishing attempts, helping us gauge our collective ability to detect and counteract such threats. The primary goal is to offer everyone an opportunity to practice and hone their skills in identifying and reporting suspicious emails in a secure setting.
It’s crucial to note that this initiative is entirely educational in nature. There will be no disciplinary repercussions stemming from interactions with these simulated campaigns. Instead, our focus will be on understanding our community’s current cybersecurity awareness levels and identifying areas where we can provide additional support.
To that end, staff members who might find themselves frequently entangled in these simulations will be offered tailored training modules. By making these resources available, we not only enhance our understanding of cyber threats and develop robust strategies to counteract them in our professional environment but also improve our awareness in our personal lives. This isn’t solely about our individual security at work; by bolstering our defenses, we collectively safeguard our schools, including our fellow staff and students, and equip ourselves with the knowledge to protect our personal digital spaces and resources as well.
Additionally, to facilitate the swift reporting of potentially harmful emails, we’ve incorporated a new feature. The “Phish Alert” button has been seamlessly integrated into the Gmail interface. For those unfamiliar, the Gmail side panel is located on the right side of your email window, typically displaying options like Calendar, Keep, and Tasks. Within this side panel, you will now find the “Phish Alert” button. Should you encounter any email that raises suspicion, simply click on this button to report it, ensuring timely measures are taken against any potential threats. Here is a screenshot for reference:
Your cooperation and active participation in these initiatives are crucial. Together, we can make our digital experience safer and more resilient. Should you have any questions or require further details, please do not hesitate to reach out to our IT department by submitting a service request.
Thank you for your understanding and commitment to creating a secure online environment for everyone.
Canva made this one-pager to get you to your favorite templates in a hurry!
The Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) put together a list of technology tools that can be used by teachers and students for accommodation, modification, and intervention. They also have a downloadable free ebook entitled 51 Fun Tech Tools and Resources for Busy Educators.
Character.ai is a fun way to chat with all kinds of characters. But I’m more intrigued with their historical people, such as Julius Caesar, Abe Lincoln, Isaac Newton and more! Give it a try. There is no login required, however, you may have to wait a couple of minutes to get in. *Scroll to the right to find “historical.” PS: I suggest using this as a teacher-centered tool, having students help you craft and ask questions in whole group situations.
Premium Features now FREE in Quizizz Basic If you’re new or a previous Quizizz user, you’ll enjoy these additional features in the FREE Basic Account. As noted in the graphic below, once logged in to Quizizz, you should see a “gift package” icon by all of these new additions. *Click on the graphic below to visit Quizizz.com and see for yourself.
Polls in Padlet
If you struggle with digital content organization and visualization, Padlet makes it simple! You create a “wall” where you can house content and interactive activities. The layout is simple and minimalistic. And Padlet just added polls! Padlet Press Release
We are so excited to share that all Elementary Teachers will be getting Lumio accounts beginning on Monday August 7! P-CCS has partnered with SMART to bring new SMARTboards to every elementary classroom over the next three years. There are so many new amazing features that help make these Smartboards the best walk up and teach interactive technology and Lumio is the online component that leverages the Smartboard hardware! But even if you are teaching in an elementary building that didn’t get the new Smartboards this year, you will still have access to Lumio for use with your current SmartBoard and in the future when that board is replaced with a new one!
So what is Lumio?
Lumio is the online component of the SMART technologies resources that include lesson resources, interactive activities, games, collaborative workspaces, and so much more! (If you remember Smart notebook and Smart Exchange from years ago, this is the newer, better, online version!) Lumio is the digital learning tool for transforming lessons into active, collaborative learning experiences that engage students on their own devices. Transform lessons in seconds, then deliver them to student devices in a browser, or via Google. You can even combine different file types (PDFs, Google Slides, PowerPoint and Notebook files) into a single Lumio lesson! Import the lessons you already use, combine existing resources and enhance them with customizable components including games, collaborative workspaces and much more. Then deliver them to student devices quickly and easily, all from a browser or Google Drive.
How do I get started?
Starting Monday August 7, check your P-CCS email for information on how to access your account. Then keep an eye in your inbox for weekly emails from Lumio that will give you step by step training to use ready made resources in Lumio, create your own and how to share with students! If you ever need support, put in a tech request for Technology Integration at helpdesk.pccsk12.com.
On July 1, 2023, Illuminate DnA will be retiring Manual/Hybrid assessments. Results will continue to be available but you will no longer be able to administer these to students. No student data will be removed or deleted from the system.
Why are Manual/Hybrid assessments going away?
Flexible assessments provide the same administration options (print answer sheets, grade with camera, grade with scanner/copier, enter responses manually, and deliver online) but with an overall easier experience.
With Flexible assessments, you can…
Add multiple question types in mass
Perform fewer clicks to create an assessment
Easily upload assessment materials from Google Drive to be administered via Online Testing
Create additional item types
Make use of advanced scoring features
What do I need to do?
Creators/owners/editors of a Manual/Hybrid assessment: In order to administer the assessment to students after July 1, you will need to duplicate it as a Flexible assessment. You will want to convert on or after July 1, 2023 and DnA suggests you actually duplicate into flexible Please contact all users with access to view, administer, or edit an assessment to indicate when it has been updated.
How do I do this?
Locate your assessment.
In the Action column select Duplicate.
Click OK in the popup windows that appear.
Update assessment title and any other information as needed. Note: It is recommended to duplicate one assessment at a time.
Want to know more about how to ditch paper/scanning and move to online assessment?
See this guide that highlights what you need to know about Online Assessment
Users can start duplicating their assessments beginning July 1, 2023. It is recommended that users duplicate assessment when they are preparing to administering them, not en mass.
Say hello to summer with BrainPOP movies, learning games, and activities that take students on an undersea adventure. Strengthen literacy skills while building background knowledge, comprehension, and vocabulary—just press “play.” See screenshots below of some of what’s in the newsletter.
