Schoology to IC Grade Passback update

Great news! If you use the Schoology to IC Grade Passback feature, Infinite Campus updated this past weekend to eliminate a step. So previously it was this:

Now you can change it so that when you click a button in Schoology, the student grade in IC updates immediately!

To do this, go to your Gradebook by going into Main Menu > Instruction > Gradebook. Choose Settings > Non-Campus Assignment Defaults. Change Default Standards/Grading task to Semester. This means that all assignments and their grades will go directly into Infinite Campus. 

The Schoology to IC Grade Passback documentation has been updated on page 5 with this latest update.

Gmail’s email layout

Make your emails and newsletters look professional with Gmail’s new email layouts! At the bottom of the window, click Layouts (table-like icon). Choose the layout you want to use and then change the images and buttons to craft your email. You can customize the styling by entering a Parkway logo and entering the color from Parkway Brand Standards Guide. For more directions about the email layout in Gmail, check out Google’s directions to create email with customized layouts.

Parlay Universe

 Parlay Universe

Online (asynchronous) discussion boards are a terrific way to build community online and practice positive citizenship. It allows a different method of all students’ voices to be heard. Sometimes quiet students are more comfortable writing online than speaking up in class.

One component of a good discussion prompt is to provide students with specific open-ended question(s) to address their response. Get some ideas at Parlay Universe! You do not need to use this platform, but it is great for ideas and models of well-written discussion prompts. You can search by subject, grade-level, and topics. Try a discussion board with your students today!

Google Docs Dropdowns

 Under the Insert menu in Google Docs, you will now find the option to add dropdown fields into your doc and customize them. You can use this feature for multiple-choice questions, rubrics, student self-assessments, or project trackers. Check out these Google Docs Dropdown examples!

Closing Tabs on Accident?

 

Method to change the ‘default’ of Google Docs to ‘Anyone with the link’

The default share settings in Google Docs are automatically restricted. The rationale for this restriction is for privacy reasons, especially if Google Drive replaces your hard drive. This can become time consuming when you’re constantly changing every public-facing document for parents, colleagues, or administrators to ‘Anyone with the link’ or to anyone in the network (Parkway Schools).

To alleviate changing public-facing Google Doc every time, consider creating a folder and setting that folder share settings to ‘Anyone with the link.’ Then, any doc you put in that folder automatically has those permissions. For example, you can create a Parent folder with a share setting to ‘Anyone with the link’ to view or a student folder with a share setting to ‘Anyone in Parkway Schools’ to view. Or create a folder within your PLC and share the folder with members in your PLC.

Schoology Notifications

Schoology sends an email for each new notification. However, if one receives too many notifications and emails, one may ignore or mute the emails. Limit the notifications by controlling which types of Schoology notifications to receive and how (email vs. text). Check out these directions here:

Schoology Notifications

New Schoology Feature: Student Annotations

When creating assignments in Schoology, teachers will now see the option to assign an Annotations Assignment which pushes a copy of a file (not Google) to each student for them to directly annotate on the document.  

Accepted file types: Docx, HTML, JPG, PDF, PNG, PPTX, RTF, TXT, XLS, XLSX, and XML

Students will then be able to use the tools to type and draw on the document. Changes will be saved as they work. It’s like using Kami on a PDF! (Parkway School District still has a license to use Kami for the 22-23 school year.)

Directions for using Student Annotations

Google's Applied Digital Skills Lessons

Students are allowed to keep their Chromebooks home over the summer - so reinforce and/or enhance your kids’ digital skills throughout the summer with Google’s Applied Digital Skills lessons. You kids can make pixel art inspired by Frida Kahlo and Mexico or create a comic strip in Google Drawings. You can also learn job-ready skills from anywhere with the video-based lessons. Have a wonderful and relaxing summer with the family!

Kami Library

Kami is a digital annotation tool that helps students and teachers interact with pdf documents. We’ve mentioned Kami before and their comment tools. We’ve also shared Kami Geography Scavenger Hunt Activity as a way for you and your students to test out some Kami’s features.  Now, Kami has expanded their templates for note-taking, games, and more! Kami Library has hundreds of free, ready-made teaching templates to download, customize, and share - no strings attached! You can filter by grade level, resource type, and subject.

All students have the Kami extension pre-installed on their Parkway-issued Chromebooks. Teachers need to install the Kami extension in Chrome.

Voice-Typing in Google Docs

If a student is having trouble writing or typing his/her thoughts on paper, consider voice-typing in Google Docs. This allows the student to talk out ideas and is helpful for those who have difficulty typing as quickly as the thoughts come into their head. This is also great accommodation for students with written expression disability.

In a Google Doc (and Slides), go to the Tools menu and select Voice typing. Punctuation is not automatically included, and your child will need to do some editing after voice-typing. Check out this 2-minute video demo!

Parent Pointer: Connect to nature through technology

 

image from Wikipedia Commons

Connect to nature through technology

Happy Spring! Take time to get some fresh air and enjoy the beautiful weather. Integrate technology into your family’s outdoor experience to encourage an appreciation and a deeper understanding of the natural world. Use the iNaturalist app to participate in the City Nature Challenge in St. Louis from April 29 - May 9, 2022.

iNaturalist app

Take photos of plants, fungi, and animals (or even evidence of animals such as tracks, nests, shells, or skulls) and iNaturalist can help you identify these organisms. You can also connect with other scientists and naturalists who can help you learn more about nature. By recording and sharing your observations, you’ll create data for scientists working to better understand and protect nature. iNaturalist is a joint initiative by the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society. Thanks to the generous support of many organizations and individuals, it is FREE for anyone to use. iNaturalist is available on Google Play and Apple. 

What are you waiting for? Go out, explore, and learn more about the world around you today with technology.

Kami's Split and Merge Feature

 Kami is a digital annotation tool that helps students and teachers interact with pdf documents. We’ve mentioned Kami before and their comment tools. Now we’re diving deep with a fan-favorite Kami tool - Split and Merge.

Split and Merge allows you to effortlessly customize and combine your PDFs by simply clicking a few buttons. Cut out content you don’t need, rearrange the pages for a better flow, or get completely creative by chopping and changing a bunch to make something completely original. Check out Parkway’s Kami’s Split and Merge video!

All students have the Kami extension pre-installed on their Parkway-issued Chromebooks. Teachers need to install the Kami extension in Chrome.

Everyday DigCit

 We want our students to be empathetic and socially responsible digital citizens. Check out Everyday DigCit app - it has questions and talking points to get you and your students thinking about digital citizenship!

Google Drive Storage Tip: Purge large, unnecessary files

Google announced that starting in July 2022, schools and universities, such as Parkway School District, will pay for storage. You can sort your files descending by size in the Drive Storage quota and delete your largest unnecessary files. In Google Drive, select Storage and reorder to find and delete your largest files. Purging unnecessary videos or large files can help free up storage space. You can also delete previously taught Schoology or Google Classroom shared course folders in your Google Drive.

For more Google Drive tips, check out the blog posts: Create an ARCHIVE folder in Google Drive and Google Drive folder tips.

Experience Edpuzzle

Videos are a powerful learning resource - more than 65% of students are visual learners1, and +95% of students watch YouTube regularly2.

Your child’s teacher may be using Edpuzzle to make videos interactive. With Edpuzzle, students can only watch the video lessons assigned by the teacher. Teachers can embed their own questions and notes in the video, and students will receive immediate feedback so they can see if they’ve understood the content or not.

Experience Edpuzzle as a student with these video assignments:

• Cornstarch Walk on Water (2:20)

• An Old Trick (1:08)

• My Dad’s a Space Alien (0:31)

1) Vakos, Patricia. "Why the blank stare? Strategies for visual learners." (2003). Prentice Hall eTeach.

2) Jarboe, Greg. "No Matter How You Define It, Generation Z Can't Live Without YouTube." (2017). Tubular Insights.

Kami Comment Tools

We’ve mentioned Kami before and now we’re back again. Kami is a digital annotation tool that helps students and teachers interact with pdf documents. All students have the Kami extension pre-installed on their Parkway-issued Chromebooks. Teachers need to install the Kami extension in Chrome. 

Similar to Google Docs, users can comment on pdf documents with Kami. Some additional comment features unique to Kami are:

	Voice comment - This comment type is handy if you need to record a raw video clip rather than typing. For example, you can practice or test for an elementary student’s reading fluency. Or you can give students the option to respond via audio rather than typing in Kami. If you’re interested in doing this with Google Docs, remember to check out Mote.
	Video comment - Users can record a video of themselves directly in Kami, rather than going to an additional external site such as FlipGrid or Loom. For example, students can record their facial expressions in different emotional states. Recording in video also allows for personalization.
	Screen Capture comment - My personal favorite! Users can video record their screen directly in Kami rather than going to an additional external site such as Screencastify or Loom. For example, students can show their mathematical thinking by drawing out their through process on the PDF. This would be similar to the Highlight the Image feature in Schoology.

To access these tools, click on the Comment tool and the different comment options will pop up. Keep in mind, when using these comment tools for the first time you will often be prompted to allow permissions.

Stay tuned for more Kami features in the future!

Create an ARCHIVE folder in Google Drive

Your preferred learning management system (Schoology and Google Classroom) has a folder for your courses in Google Drive. This folder allows your students to share their assignments with you. Simplify this digital storage by creating an Archive folder. Doing this will allow you to quickly find the materials with the current courses. To do this:

1. Go to your Google Drive and select for the folder associated with your preferred learning management system

1. If you use Schoology, the folder is called Schoology Google Drive Assignments and/or Assignments.

2. If you use Google Classroom, the folder is called Classroom.

2. Right-click and select New Folder

3. Name this folder ARCHIVE

4. Drag and drop all the previous courses taught into the ARCHIVE folder

Do this AFTER the course has completely ended, with the final grades submitted. DO NOT do this with a live course because it will mess up the communication between the learning management system and Google Drive.

For more ways to organize and personalize your folders in Google Drive, check out the Google Drive folder tips blog post.

Teacher Tip: EdPuzzle

 

Tech Tool: Edpuzzle

Videos are a powerful resource, but it can be difficult to hold students accountable for something you can’t track. Edpuzzle makes the video interactive and gives the teacher data about students’ learning from the video. The process is simple - find a video, add questions and notes, and assign it to your class. Watch as students’ progress and hold them accountable on their learning journey. 

You can experience Edpuzzle as a student with these video assignments:

• Cornstarch Walk on Water (2:20)

• Caesar Cipher (1:47)

• My Dad’s a Space Alien (0:31)

When you assign an Edpuzzle video assignment to your students, you can see who watched the video, how far they watched the video, who didn’t understand the lesson, and who did a good job. Students can re-watch the video as many times as they need at their own pace, while you can easily check their progress from your account. Check out the instructor’s Edpuzzle dashboard:

Edpuzzle is free for students and teachers. With the free Basic plan, you can store up to twenty video assignments in your Edpuzzle account. Go ahead, create an Edpuzzle video assignment today!

Parent Pointer: YouTube Transcripts

 

Are you creating a new Schoology Course? Where’s Ongoing PD?

 

We have changed the name of the “Ongoing PD” grading period to “Do Not Use.” We plan to archive all these courses at the end of the school year, including Sandbox courses. Thus, please save all course materials to your Resources in Schoology (directions and video). If you still need to create a new Schoology course for students, here are directions on creating a non-rostered Schoology course.

Parent Pointer: Virtual Learning Parent Resources

Are you wondering how you can help your child succeed with virtual learning? Or are you having technical difficulties with Schoology or Chromebooks? Check out the Virtual Learning Parent Resources. This website has information on:

Schoology Videoconferencing Successful Student Skills Chromebooks

Using Clever Using Google Tools Technology Help Desk - Self Help Site Infinite Campus

Schoology Tips: Saving Course to Resources and Where's Ongoing PD?

Schoology Tip: Saving Course to Resources Schoology provides a consistent instructional platform that students are familiar with and parents can access. Making assignments available in a digital platform should be considered part of our classroom instruction, whether in person or virtual.

As we plan for the transition to a new semester, there are some things that need to be addressed inside of Schoology. At the beginning of the new semester, teachers may have new courses created and their old courses will be archived. Below are some resources to help you with this transition to the second semester.

• Saving the course to Resources and Importing it into your rostered course - directions and video

• Adjustments to be made - directions and video

• Accessing your Archived courses - directions and video

Are you creating a new Schoology Course? Where’s Ongoing PD?

We have changed the name of the “Ongoing PD” grading period to “Do Not Use.” We plan to archive all these courses at the end of the school year, including Sandbox courses. Thus, please save all course materials to your Resources in Schoology (directions and video). If you still need to create a new Schoology course for students, here are directions on creating a non-rostered Schoology course.

Slides Toolbox

Slides Toolbox 

Slides Toolbox lets you to cut the clicks on repeated tasks and brings features for organizing and unifying data in Google Slides.

 

Google Drive Folders Tips

 While the search feature in Google Drive is helpful and amazing, sometimes it may feel as if you are searching in a black hole. One way to organize your Google Drive is to create folders. Think of folders as ‘boxes’ for storage. Some tips for organizing your folders in Google Drive:

• Use consistent naming and numbering. You can organize your folders by year, subject, and/or type. 

• Add colors to folders. To do this, select the folder and right click. You will see Change Color next to a paint palette icon. Choose colors that make sense to you.

• Add emojis for a visual effect. To do this, go to emojopedia.org to search for the emoji you want. Copy it. Select the folder you want to edit and press ‘n’ to change the name. Put your cursor BEFORE the name of the folder. Then paste.

Time spent creating an organized structure in your Drive means having more time and energy for other tasks. Depending on the state of your Drive, this could be a lot of work. Don’t overwhelm yourself. Take pride in even the smallest accomplishment!