Technology Update: Digital Citizenship - Must do's, Should do's, and the Can do's and the Why - 11/29/16

Before sharing the new digital citizenship resources that Melissa Oliver, Coordinator of Instructional Technology, put together last week, I wanted to start with why digital citizenship is so important for our students and staff.  A digital citizen is “a person who develops the skills and knowledge to effectively use the Internet and other digital technology, especially to participate responsibly in social and civic activities”.  As educators, we have a responsibility to teach the skills and knowledge to develop digital citizenship critical to the success of our during their time in Washington Unified and beyond. We’ve instituted several measures regarding our G Suite (formerly Google Apps for Education – GAFE) environment that protects our students they continuously develop their digital citizenship.  One of these measures is what is called a “walled garden” in the Google world. What this means is that all WUSD students can only email or share Google Drive files with other students, teachers, administrators, or staff within the district. We have also turned off access for students to access personal Gmail accounts.

Hapara: Decode & Rename Your Class

When you login to Hapara at www.teacherdashboard.com, you'll notice an alphabet soup of numbers and codes for each class on your dashboard. Here's what they mean and how you can create custom names for all your classes.

BrightBytes Survey Collection Open

It's time for our semi-annual BrightBytes Survey on technology use in the district. This survey is for all teachers, administrators, Grade 3-12 Students, and WUSD families. You can access the survey at https://bbyt.es/start/8722C. Students in Grades 3-12 using Chromebooks can find this link in their bookmark folder. The survey takes approximately 10-15 minutes to complete.

Google GEO Tools Workshop December 1st

 Are you interested in adding an additional element into your lessons? Google offers a variety of Geo Tools that can be easily incorporated into your lessons in different subject areas. Improve your students' geographical knowledge and understanding of place through the use of MyMaps, TourBuilder, Geo games, and more!

Want to learn more? Register for Geo Workshop on 12/1/16, from 3:30-5:00 at the District Office, Room 48. Teachers will be paid at their professional development rate.

Class DoJo: Class Story Part 3

Greetings All!                                                                           

                                                                                                

This is Part 3 of my series on Class DoJo Blog. 

Perhaps the most versatile feature, added last year, is Class Story. This is essentially a Facebook for your classroom and parents. I use it to post “all things Room B-19.” I start my day posting the daily agenda, and a short note to parents about what is happening. I post weekly spelling words and vocabulary, and vital directions like, instructions about how to log in at home, directions to elements such as our weekly spelling contract, how I want book reports to be prepared and anchor charts to be used in classroom. But that is just the beginning. I have requested and received permission to post student’s pictures and work. With their permission, I am able to take pictures of student activity throughout our day and post those on the Class Story. 

Technology Update: Current status of the network (LONG) 11-16-2016

Greetings WUSD Staff,

Over the past several weeks, we have experienced decreased functionality of our wireless network that has impacted classrooms across the district. Many of you have reported your experiences directly to me or my staff and my team has also seen these issues first hand. As a former classroom teacher, I understand the frustration that you  have felt when the wi-fi has failed you and your students. I have been pushing the IT team to bring resolution to the issues experienced in the classrooms. I wanted to update you today on what has happened behind the scenes so that you have a better understanding of what we are working on to solve the wi-fi issue.