Helping Students Research More Efficiently

Whaddya Mean All My Facts Are Wrong?!? Digital image. Techie Teacher 5280. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://techieteacher5280.blogspot.com/2011/12/evaluating-websites.html>

Students know that Googling is a very imperfect way to do research, and yet they keep doing. It is understandable: Google is a part of our daily lives, and students are growing up in a world where we expect to get the one, right answer to any question within seconds.

But we all know that this premise is not true, especially in an educational setting where getting the right answer (if there is even one!) is important, but most important is to help students develop their critical thinking skills. Evaluating websites for credibility is crucial, and we do need to teach our students that skill; but we also need to teach them how to use research databases, as they, along with print resources, will be the only resources accepted in college.

The Sacramento County Office of Education was not able to bring CaliforniaLearns, a portal through which we had access to EBSCO, back this school year. Joe Wood and I are looking to potentially get our own access to a database, and I have set up several free trials to see which one you and your students prefer. Your feedback will be primordial in deciding what we get.

You will see here the list of 4 databases and the links to the free trials. I cannot post this information online as it would be broadcasting free access to those databases to people outside of NCS; but please take a look at them and let me know what you think. The trials end mid-September.

We also would like our students’ feedback! If you are giving students a research project in the next 3-4 weeks, I would suggest that you give different databases to different students to use, or use different databases for smaller projects, and ask students for their feedback as part of the assignment. Just forward me or Joe their comments.

Finally, to make this a little more fun: the first person (faculty or staff) to email me an article they found on ANY database on the topic of their choice, will get to pick one book from my pile of awesome books (some of which are not yet even published!), yours to keep!

Fancy Reading Logs & Formulas

At Star Academy 2nd grade students have an annual book reading challenge. This year it is 70 books by the end of the year with at least 10 being chapter books. Historically, Julie and Maria have asked their students to keep track of their books by completing a Google Form-based reading log. Periodically, they would sort the data by student name and create reports for each student. It was a Sunday night data-sorting and printing nightmare. This year we simplified the process using a few spreadsheet formulas and now each student has their very own live tab were they (or their parents) can easily track reading progress. Interested in doing something similar? Heres how...with screencasts!

Part 1 - Setting Up Separate Tabs
Basically you create a Google Form and create one entry for each student. From there you create a template on the Response spreadsheet using Data Validation and two basic formulas - Query and Count If. Once your template is set you clone a sheet for each student. Scared of the Query formula? No sweat! You can copy/paste the one from the screencast's description area.

Part 2 - Sharing Tabs with Individual Students
Unfortunately, Google does not (yet) have the ability to easily share individual tabs. However you can you can create a new sheet and use the ImportRange formula to provide a live view for each student. Its even easier than Part 1.

The process might sound complicated, but it is actually pretty simple. You might just need a quiet space and about 30-45 minutes to set it up for your entire class, but then you should be set for the year. Shout out to Ted Juch and Google Gooru for inspiring the idea for these reading logs.

Joe

Schoology Tips & Tricks - Update #3 - Educator Communities

Communities are at the heart of Schoology, whether the community is your school, classroom, or after school group.  Users who have teacher or admin roles also have the opportunity to join larger Schoology communities tailored to a topic, content area, or instructional practice. Many educators using Schoology are classroom teachers using it by themselves, in non-enterprise environments, so groups are one way these teachers connect and collaborate.

Joining a group is as simple as clicking on Groups, followed by Find Public Groups. Once you are there you will find a listing of suggested and publicly available groups. You can click on the group title to peek into the group and determine whether or not you would like to join.

After joining a group their updates will appear in your Home feed, but you can also post questions or ideas to these groups and likely find very helpful responses from teachers all over the world in teaching positions like yours. A few groups I would highly recommend joining are Schoology Educators, Blended Learning, and Flipped Classroom.

Thank you to Nicole for turning me on to these!

Joe

Schoology Tips & Tricks - Update #2 - Notifications

Are you finding inbox overwhelmed by Schoology notifications? No sweat! You can easily adjust your notification settings using two different tools. This applies to both students and staff, so feel free to pass this information along to your students. It is also a great opportunity to talk to students about tools for keeping track of their assignments and staying on top of their workload including Notifications and the Calendar.

Overall Schoology Notifications
The main notification settings window can be found by clicking on the small triangle icon next to your name in Schoology. Here you can select which conditions will trigger a notification and whether you want these to appear via email or as a notification pop up on your phone or tablet device using the Schoology mobile app.

Course-Specific Notifications
Sometimes you need to modify notifications for just one course. This can be accomplished by clicking on the Notifications button within the course. There you will find a series of checkboxes that determine which course actions will send information via your overall Schoology notification settings (email or mobile app).

If you have any trouble with these or need additional information just let me know.

Joe

Schoology Tips & Tricks - Update #1 - Gradebook, Student View, and More

Happy Friday!

I hope all of you enjoyed you first week of school. This year as we roll out Schoology I plan on sending out weekly Top 5 lists based on emails, feedback, and help tickets. Below are the 5 Schoology Items You Need to Know for the of August 17, 2015.

1. Configuring Schoology Gradebook
One of the very first things you need to do is configure your Schoology gradebook with categories and weights (if you use them). All gradebook configuration is done by clicking on Gradebook followed by Grade Set Up. Amanda also created this handy screencast that will walk you through the steps.

2. Adding Items to the Gradebook
Once you have your gradebook all set up you can start inputting grades for assignments. Any Assignments, Quizzes, and Discussions will automatically appear in your gradebook from when you created them in your course materials page. If you have items you would like to add that don't necessarily have a digital component just choose "Add Grade Column" from the dropdown menu in the gradebook. Additionally, check out the Gradebook portion of the Schoology Instructor Guide. You will find it quite helpful.

3. Setting Up Online Discussions
A few of you have asked me how to set up online discussions. These are great tools for facilitating online conversations, have students preview and discuss a video or article, and even as a forum for submitting work and getting feedback from peers. The Discussion section of the Instructor Guide has lots of step-by-steps for setting up discussions including how to enable them so that a student must post before viewing any one else's content.

4. Tools for Viewing as a Student
Often it is handy to see what things look like from a student view. You have two options for making this happen depending on your instructional goal.

1. View Course As - Just below the course icon photo there is a Course Options dropdown menu. Here you will see "View Course As" and you will be automatically taken to a menu where you can select one of your students and view the class as if you were that person.
2. Demo Accounts - Each academy has their very own demo account. You can use these for creating screencasts, tutorials, or other helpful resources where you really need to "embody" a student account. The login information for these was sent in an email on August 13th. It should still be in your inbox.

5. Customizing Your Schoology Profile
Schoology profiles are a wonderful tool for modeling positive digital footprints for all of our students. I know that many of you have started exploring the NCS Schoology Profile Guidelines and Launch Guide, but take a few minutes to build out your own profile. Include a professional photo, biography, and description of why you are passionate about teaching. Amanda even created a handy screencast for doing this!

Bonus Item! Advisees
Did you know that you can easily see how an individual student is doing in all of their classes? Click on Advisees on the left side of the screen (just above App Center), type in a student's name and click through the tabs across the menu (Current, Calendar, Grades). This is available to all teachers and administrators.

Top 6 Tech Things to Know for 2015-2016

Welcome back to the start of another amazing school year! With school beginning on Monday here is a list of the Top 6 Things to Know for 2015-2016 from the Technology Department.

1. New NCS PowerSchool Information

This year we have our own, fully independent version of PowerSchool. As a result, all related web addresses and login information have changed. Please make sure you check your email for a message from me regarding your username and password. Additionally, please update any bookmarks or website links you may have used in the past. I have also added the new student and parent URL, but those accounts will not be in use until mid-September.

• PowerTeacher - http://natomascharter.powerschool.com/teachers
• PowerSchool Admin - http://natomascharter.powerschool.com/admin
• PowerSchool Public (for Parents & Students) - http://natomascharter.powerschool.com/public

2. Schoology

This year teachers in Leading Edge, PFAA, VLA, and Project X at PACT will be using Schoology as learning management system for all of their courses. Schoology is a tool similar to Blackboard, Moodle, or WebCT that allows teachers to seamlessly connect in-school and at-home academic activities using a blended learning model. Students will be able to submit assignments digitally, engage in online discussion forums, and complete web-based assessments. All students and teachers login to Schoology (http://natomascharter.schoology.com) using their NCS Google Accounts. 

3. Student Account Information

In the IT department we make every attempt to ensure all incoming students have their accounts set ahead of time and provide small sheets of paper with login directions to either homeroom, technology, or ELA teachers depending on the academy and grade level. All student account usernames have the same format - first name, last initial, graduation year (ex: JohnS2022). Email addresses are identical to usernames with the addition of @natomascharter.org. Students set their own passwords beginning in 6th grade, but new students will have the temporary password ncsyear1516. Below is an example of the full set of information for a student.

• Username: JohnS2022
• Email: JohnS2022@natomascharter.org
• Temporary Password: ncsyear1516

4. Help Desk

If you need any technology support this year please always submit a Help Desk ticket. The system allows us to prioritize and track support as a team. Please save emails and phone calls for an immediate technology emergency. 

• Help Desk Website - http://www.natomascharter.org/helpdesk
• Email Address - Your email address (staff only)
• Password - A password you set

5. NCS Professional Development Portal and Year-Long Support

The NCS Professional Development Portal contains a plethora of information for instructional technology support. On this site you will find resource pages for a variety of topics from Schoology to Minecraft and Google Drive. If you are new to our school this year you will also find the resource page for our New Staff Tech Orientation. During the school year weekly technology professional development time will continue at the following dates and times. For the first few weeks of school I will also host open labs at these times. Keep an eye out for my weekly emails.

• PFAA & LE - Tech Tuesdays 3:30-4:30pm in G-4
• VLA - Wednesdays 9:30-10:45am in D-1
• PACT - Bring a Challenge/Solve a Challenge Thursdays 8:00-8:45am
• Star - STEAM Thursdays 3:15-4:15pm

6. Laptop Insurance

Have you signed up for laptop insurance this year? If not check out the Worth Avenue Group NCS page. We had an employee who ended up needing it this summer after she spilled water on her laptop. The process for repairing her laptop was quick, easy, and painless and only cost her the price of the deductible. You can also use the Worth Avenue site to insure personal devices, such as iPads, smartphones, and laptops.

Have a great year and a great first day of school on Monday!

Joe