To add some visual appeal to your blog, consider using the “Rock You” tool. Here is an example highlighting our OK Conference Champion Gymnastics team:
For instructions on creating your own slide show, click here -> Rock You Instructions
Check out the image below. The laptop on the left is from a current COW cart and the netbook is on the right…
If you are looking to remove posts and pages from the past school year, follow these steps:
Edit Content on Pages
Click on Pages from the sidebar menu. Select Edit from the drop-down menu. A list of your pages appears. When you hover over a page title, several options appear. Select Edit. Make your changes, then select Update Page.
Delete Page
Click on Pages from the sidebar menu. Select Edit from the drop-down menu. A list of your pages appears. When you hover over a page title, several options appear. Select Delete.
Delete Posts
Click on Posts from the sidebar menu. Select Edit from the drop-down menu. A list of your pages appears. When you over over a post title, several options appear. Select Delete. However, if you want to select all posts and delete in one step, look for the small box next to the word ‘post’ in the gray title line. When you check this box, all of the boxes in front of post titles become checked. To delete all of the posts, click the down arrow next to “Bulk Actions” (found above your post titles) and select Delete. The final step is to click on Apply (next to bulk actions). All of the posts that are checked will be deleted.
The blogs have been updated with the latest release of WordPress. As a result, there are several changes in how you edit your blog. Here are some step-by-step instructions on how to create your blog for the first time, or add content to an existing blog.
Learn how to convert a PDF document into Word or other text formats. Visit the following link
http://blogs.howtogeek.com/mysticgeek/2009/03/05/convert-pdf-files-to-word-documents-and-other-formats/
Hide Assignments
Sometimes, you may not want an assignment visible in Parent Viewer (such as a surprise quiz), but you want to set up the assignment in Gradebook. This is now possible. Assignments marked “Private” do not appear in Parent Viewer. In addition, they will not appear in the following reports (pulled from PIV or from Gradebook):
- Student Assignment Report
- Student Missing Assignments Report
- Student Standards Report
- Student Assignment Report – All Classes
- Student Missing Assignments – All Classes
Assignments marked “Private” appear with a lock icon when viewed in the Gradebook.
To mark an assignment as “Private”…
Step 1. From the Assignment dialog box, click the Assignment tab.
Step 2. Select the Private check box.
Step 3. Click Save.
To remove the “Private” designated, de-select the Private check box.
Seating Chart
You can now print a seating chart without pictures for public posting.
Step 1. Open the Seating Chart page.
Step 2. Click the Print button.
Step 3. From the Print Options dialog box, clear the Print Student Pictures option.
Step 4. Click Print from the Print Options dialog box.
High/Low Assignment ScoresÂ
Some teachers utilize a “drop low score” policy (lowest score is not included in category grade calculations). Some teachers also like to drop the highest score in addition to the lowest score to get a true assessment of a skill. With the upgrades, both options are now available.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1. From the navigation menu, click Class Options.
Step 2. Click the Categories tab.
Step 3. Click Yes to categorize assignment.
Step 4. Click Yes to weight your categories.
Step 5. Click Edit to open an existing category (or click New Category).
Step 6. In the Drop lowest and/or Drop Highest field, type the number of grades to be dropped.
Step 7. Click Save.
Student Schedules
Student schedules are still available in the Student Demographics window, but you have to be in the “Gradebook Grid” to open the profile. However, it is now easier to access. Look for STudent Schedule under the category of Reports from the options listed on the left. You can type in the student number (i.e. 793709) or type the last name.
Roster Drop-Down Choices
The student roster drop-down arrow is located just above the list of students on the left side of the window. Two new options have been added: Sort Students by Add Date, and Show Inactive Students.
Step 1. Open a class tab.
Step 2. Click on the Student Roster drop-down arrow.
Step 3. Select an option.
Gradebook has added several enhancements to the Categories option, but the changes are subtle. Included in the changes is the ability to copy categories from one class to another.
Category Tab
You can still see the “Would you like to categorize your assignments” and “Would you like to weight your assignments” questions. However, with the re-design, a checkbox appears before each category description. The Delete key has been replaced with an icon of a trash can and a Edit link has been added.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1. From the navigation menu, click Class Options.
Step 2. Click the Categories tab.
Step 3. Locate a category and click Edit. From this Edit box, you can change the description, color of assignment box, weight, as well as choose to drop highest or lowest scores within the category (click on image to your left for an example).
Copy Categories To Classes
For secondary level teachers, a new feature is the ability to copy categories to each class (whereas previous version required creation of categories for each class).
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1. From the navigation menu, click Class Options.
Step 2. Click the Categories tab.
Step 3. Select the checkbox(es) associated with the category(ies) you want to copy.
Step 4. Click Copy.
Step 5. Select the class(es) to receive a copy of the selected category(ies). Click on the image to your left for an example.
Step 6. Click Save.
Wordle is a toy for generating
“word clouds†from text that you provide. The clouds
give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently
in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different
fonts, layouts, and color schemes.
The images you create with Wordle are yours
to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them
to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.
Create your own.
A full featured blog editor that integrates with the Firefox browser. A must have for blog editors using Firefox! https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1730
Emerging low cost web tools have implications for administration, public relations, communications, collaboration, teaching and learning throughout the school district. Â Check out some of these tools today…
Skype - http://www.skype.com
uStream – http://www.ustream.tv
MeBeam – http://www.mebeam.com
Weblogg-ed TV – http://weblogged-tv.wikispaces.com
Hey, principals! Superintendents! Teachers!*
On a related note…
* Seth Godin, Free Prize Inside (p. 47)
Here is a resource page that has been compiled for some common Web 2.0 tools, check it out at Resource Page.pdf
Data done right
By dr.scott.mcleod@gmail.com (Scott McLeod)
on technologyleadership
When eduwonkette
asked me to guest blog about data-driven decision-making in schools, I
eagerly agreed. Why? Because in my work with numerous school
organizations in multiple states, I have seen the power of data
firsthand. When done right, data-driven education can have powerful
impacts on the learning outcomes of students.
Unfortunately, most
school districts still are struggling with their data-driven practice.
Much of this is because they continue to think about using data from a
compliance mindset rather than using data for meaningful school
improvement. An uninformed model of data-driven decision-making looks
something like this:
This is the NCLB model. Schools are expected to collect data once a
year, slice and dice them in various ways, set some goals based on the
analyses, do some things differently, and then wait another whole year
to see if their efforts were successful. Somehow, this model is
supposed to get schools to 100% proficiency on key learning outcomes.
This is dumb. It’s like trying to lose weight but only weighing
yourself once a year to see if you’re making progress. Compounding the
problem is the fact that student learning data often are collected near
the end of the year and given back to educators months later, which of
course is helpful to no one.
A better model looks something like this:
The key difference in this model is an emphasis on ongoing progress
monitoring and continuous, useful data flow to teachers. Under this
approach, schools have good baseline data available to them, which
means that the data are useful for diagnostic purposes in the classroom
and thus relevant to instruction. The data also are timely, meaning
that teachers rarely have to wait more than a few days to get results.
In an effective data-driven school, educators also are very clear about
what essential instructional outcomes they are trying to achieve (this
is actually much rarer than one would suppose) and set both short- and
long-term measurable instructional goals from their data.
Armed
with clarity of purpose and clarity of goals, effective data-driven
educators then monitor student progress during the year on those
essential outcomes by checking in periodically with short, strategic
formative assessments. They get together with role-alike peers on a
regular basis to go over the data from those formative assessments, and
they work as a team, not as isolated individuals, to formulate
instructional interventions for the students who are still struggling
to achieve mastery on those essential outcomes. After a short period of
time, typically three to six weeks, they check in again with new
assessments to see if their interventions have worked and to see which
students still need help. The more this part of the model occurs during
the year, the more chances teachers have to make changes for the
benefit of students.
It is this middle part of the model that
often is missing in school organizations. When it is in place and
functioning well, schools are much more likely to achieve their short-
and long-term instructional goals and students are much more likely to
achieve proficiency on accountability-oriented standardized tests.
Teachers in schools that have this part of the model mastered rarely,
if ever, complain about assessment because the data they are getting
are helpful to their classroom practice.
NCLB did us no favors.
It could’ve stressed powerful formative assessment, which is the
driving engine for student learning and growth on whatever outcomes one
chooses. Instead, it went another direction and we lost an opportunity
to truly understand the power of data-driven practice. There are
hundreds, and probably thousands, of schools across the country that
have figured out the middle part of the model despite NCLB. It is these
schools that are profiled in books such as Whatever It Takes and It’s Being Done (both recommended reads) and by organizations such as The Education Trust.
When
done right, data-driven decision-making is about helping educators make
informed decisions to benefit students. It is about helping schools
know whether what they are doing is working or not. I have seen
effective data-driven practice take root and it is empowering for both
teachers and students. We shouldn’t unilaterally reject the idea
of data-driven education just because we hate NCLB. If we do, we lose
out on the potential of informed practice.Thanks for the guest spot, eduwonkette!
“Are we doing what is best for our students or are we doing what is most convenient for us?”
Pink: Great point. I think we need a lot more yes, but teaching. You’ve also made a very strong and compelling argument that what might be most important is learning how to learn. How can schools equip more kids with this capacity?
Friedman: Ultimately that almost becomes a psychologist’s question: How do you stimulate curiosity? I will learn how to learn if I’m curious.
Pink: But if there’s a curiosity deficit, that’s peculiar. Kids seem hardwired to explore and investigate. Something happens to them along the way.
Friedman: We beat it out of them.
Pink: When you say we, whom do you mean? Teachers? Principals? Parents?
Friedman: Well, the system. I don’t want to blame anyone. Because of the walls and the silos we’ve built in, to be curious that means you’ve got to cut across them. Curiosity is all horizontal, but specialties are vertical. And specialties protect themselves. So if I can’t move horizontally to take me where my curiosity is taking me, I have got a real problem.
….
Friedman: We could be doing better.
As you know, my equation is CQ + PQ > IQ. Curiosity Quotient plus Passion Quotient is more important than Intelligence Quotient.
Pink: Amen. You show me a curious, intrinsically motivated kid and I will show you someone who’ll leave the kid who merely complies with the rules and studies for the SAT in the dust.
Read the rest here -
AASA Article
Check out the videos page at this blog http://blogs.monashores.net/edtech/about/Â
Don’t necessarily agree with all of the views in the videos but they are a great way to start conversations about education in general…
There is a ton of information on school law in these blogs… http://www.schooltechleadership.org/schoollawblogs/
Do you work with raw student data from time to time or do you want to make the data look better or wish to use certain graphs to show it? The new data warehouse easily allows you to work with Excel data from the warehouse. We all have Microsoft Excel and it can be a great tool for crunching data and reformatting the data from various systems we use… I ran across this blog which has some great tutorials for educators and is all about using Excel to crunch, view, and graph data. Check it out at http://www.schooldatatutorials.org/home/
