Tech eNews 11-13-2011

1. Inventory is coming, Inventory is coming…
2. Thank you to Trudy Tkach
3. Intro to Word and Excel Class for Teachers or Classified Staff 11-15-11
4. Google Calendar for Sharing Event Calendars
5. Library of Congress Class 12/15/2011
6. Previous Recipients List in “Mail” on the Mac
7. Political Activities at Work Procedure on For District Employees Page
8. Using the UserBox on the new Konica Copiers


1. Inventory is Coming, Inventory is Coming….
Getting your classroom ready for the every-other-year district-wide inventory is simple and painless.  Here are a couple things that will keep your classroom from getting blanketed in yellow slips:
- Make sure any personal equipment is marked as belonging to you and not the district.  A sticker or note stuck to the equipment would be very helpful!
-  Make sure any new WSD equipment in your classroom has a tag
- Have your equipment at work!  You must get permission from your building administrator to check out any equipment.  There is a short form they need to keep track of while you have the item away from the building.
- If you have equipment on loan to another staff person, you should have it written down somewhere in your room, or document it with your building’s inventory designee.

2. Thank you to Trudy Tkach for Co-Teaching the iMovie Bootcamp 
A very big thank you to Excelsior Math/Science Trudy Tkach for her work planning and co-facilitating the six hour iMovie Class again this year.  Trudy’s experience as a teacher who has worked with students and video is invaluable, and she is a wealth of information on how to help students be successful with video projects. The feedback from the class was very positive, and participating teachers created some great, fun video projects to take back to their classrooms.

3. Word and Excel Class Nov. 15, 4-7 PM
There is still some space available in the Microsoft Word and Excel Class that Susan Nesmith and Rebecca Woodings are co-teaching on November 15th, 2011.  The class will be in the Excelsior Mac Lab, from 4-7 PM, and 3 clock hours are offered to teachers who attend via ESD 112.  Teachers may pay themselves to attend from their PD fund, if the class aligns with their goal and they have funds available.  Classified staff are invited, but there is not a mechanism to pay them to take this class.  If you are interested, please e-mail Les Brown to register.

4. Google Calendar for Sharing Events
WSD Teachers can get a free sign-up for the WashougalSD.org Google Apps for Education domain, which will let you use Google Calendar for free.  Google Calendar is a great tool for sharing calendars with your peers, or publishing a schedule or classroom calendar for parents to see as part of your classroom webpage. You could also create a PLC calendar to share with your grade level team, sharing ideas about the pacing for your classes.  You can create multiple calendars, and can make them public, private, or shared only with specific people.

5. Still Room in the Library of Congress Tech PD Class on Dec. 15, 2011
Gause Teachers Heidi Kleser and Cheryl MacIntyre are prepping for a great class on the resources available FREE to teachers via the Library of Congress website.  Both Heidi and Cheryl attended a packed session of a class on this topic at the NCCE conference last year, and they’re excited to help you bring these powerful, primary source materials into your classroom.  Three clock hours area available through ESD 112, and teachers can pay themselves to attend the class if it aligns with your professional development goals, and you have funds available. If you are interested in signing up, just let Les Brown know.

6. “Mail” Application Guesses Old/Non-working E-mail Addresses
For those of you using Mail on the Mac, you may have older or non-working addresses stored in your Previous Recipients list, that Mail will “guess” as you start typing a new message.  For instance, if you had a parent of a former student named Rebecca that you communicated with last year, but that you were no longer likely to e-mail, and you were now trying to e-mail Rebecca Woodings at CCMS, just typing Rebecca might bring up the older e-mail address instead of the one you want.  You can edit the list of e-mail addresses that Mail guesses from, narrowing it down to ones you currently use.  To do this, open Mail, then open the “Previous Recipients” list from the Window menu.  This will open up a small window.  You can scroll through the list, and highlight people you no longer e-mail.  Once you’ve got the old address you no longer want selected, click the Remove from list button.  This will make Mail stop guessing that name.

7. Political Activities at Work Linked on For District Employees Page
The Washougal School Board Policy 5224-p, Staff Participation in Political Activities procedure, is posted on the “For District Employees” page of the WSD website. To get started, visit the “For District Employees” page, which is linked in the upper right corner of the WSD Site.  As a reminder as we head into the new Election Year, staff are free to wear a button with the name of their candidate or position on a political measure, but at no time can they actively campaign for any candidate or issue during work hours on school grounds.  Staff should not use work related resources, including their work e-Mail, copy machine, or telephones, at any time for any political purposes

If you have a suggestion for something else that could be added to this page (check first to make sure it’s not already there!), e-mail Les Brown and he’ll look into adding it to share with everyone.

8. Using the UserBox on the new Konica Copiers
Sean Elkinton writes that The UserBox is a folder on the copier that stores your documents that you want to print.  It can hold all your print jobs you send there until you are ready to print them.  Once the UserBox is setup on your computer then it functions the same way as a printer so when you print to the copier it is automatically copied to your UserBox.
Here are Sean’s Directions to use the UserBox:
1) login with your code number
2) push the UserBox button
3) push the 2nd item in menu, "Use Document"
4) push "Search UserBox"
5) select your UserBox icon and select OK
6) select the document and push Print
7) push start button

Using the "UserBox" on the Konica Copy Machines

From Sean Elkinton, tech at Excelsior, Gause, Hathaway, and Jemtegaard.

For those of you in buildings that have the newer Konica copy machines: 

The UserBox is a folder on the copier that stores your documents that you want to print.  It can hold
all your print jobs you send there until you are ready to print them.  Once the UserBox is setup on your
computer then it functions the same way as a printer so when you print to the copier it is automatically
copied to your UserBox.




To use it:
1) login with your code
2) push user box button
3) push 2nd item in menu "Use Document"
4) push "Search UserBox"
5) select your UserBox icon and select OK
6) select document and push Print
7) push start button

Mis-routing calls going to Cape

Hi All,

If you dial what you think is an outside phone number, and you get someone at Cape, there's something easy-to-fix that is causing this.  You're not pressing the "9" first, to get an outside line.

So when you start dialing 360 xxx xxxx, it goes to someone at Cape with the phone number 3601, 3602, 3603, 3604, etc.

The fourth digit determines who gets it.  So if you are trying to dial a cell phone like 360-907-1111 without putting the 9 first, it'll  go to the Cape Library at 3609.

Hope this helps

Les

Getting Families Started with WESPaC Family Access

WSD Systems Coordinator Boo Stevens helped develop a handy, one page sheet that can be shared with parents and guardians to help them get started with WESPaC's Family Access.  This is based on a Frequently Asked Questions sheet provided by the Skyward folks, and include helpful information on what they can access, why they might want to get it, and who to contact for help.

Teachers interested in providing this sheet to families can download a printer-ready version of it here.

The Washougal School District Website offers directions for families in English, Spanish and Russian, as well.  Staff can direct parents to the address http://www.washougal.k12.wa.us/family/

If you have questions, please contact Boo at extension 3011.

Change Your Mac Login Password

(This change will change your password on all computers you log into, it changes the network account password)
Click on System Preferences icon in the Dock, or choose it from the Apple Menu.





Next, choose the Accounts Preference icon in the list of System Preferences.

On the window that comes up, click your account in the left sidebar, once, if it is not already selected.

On the left side of the screen, choose “Change Password.”

Now, Enter your OLD login password in the top box.  Enter the NEW password in both the New Password box and the Verify box.  Note: Do not enter a password hint.  When done, click Change Password and close the open windows.

Tech eNews for 11/3/2011

Topics for this Tech eNews 11-3-2011

1. Room for More Teachers in iMovie Class Saturday Nov. 5

2. Laptop Users: Retrospect Warnings About Backup

3. Thank you to Scott Rainey and Chelsea Meats

4. Google Docs for Collaboration and Sharing

5. 30 Websites in 90 Minutes Class needs participants!

6. Bullying Policy Linked on "For District Employees" Page

7. Music Through Your Classroom Sound Amplification System (K-5)

1. Room for More Teachers in iMovie Class on Saturday Nov. 5
There is still space for teachers looking to work with iMovie and video editing with their students. Excelsior Teacher Trudy Tkach and Les Brown have planned an active and hands-on class, where participating teachers will script, storyboard, film, and edit the next masterpiece of American cinema. The class is on this Saturday, and we’re still looking for a few more teachers to participate. There are 6 clock hours available through ESD for this class, and teachers can pay themselves to attend if they have Professional Development funds available and the class aligns with their Tech goal. You can register via e-mail by letting Les know you'd like to attend!

2. Laptop Users: Retrospect Warnings About Backup

Laptop users, your attention, please! If you are getting a pop-up from the Retrospect Client Application telling you that you are not getting backed up, please let Sean or Anthony know so they can check out your computer. If you have been getting this error for a long time, your files are not getting backed up, and it’s critical that you let us know.

3. Thank you to Chelsea Meats and Scott Rainey

A big thank you to Chelsea Meats and Scott Rainey for their work planning and co-facilitating the WebQuest Class again this year. The feedback from the class was very positive, and participating teachers learned some great new skills to take back to their classrooms.

4. Google Docs for Collaboration and Sharing

WSD Teachers can get a free sign-up for the WashougalSD.org Google Apps for Education domain, which will let you use a variety of Google Apps for free. One of these is Google Docs, which is a great tool for collaborating on word processing documents or spreadsheets with your peers. Several people can collaboratively edit a document, even simultaneously, and see changes and notes posted by others. Google Docs maintains a revision history and change log, so you can see how the file has changed over time, and which changes were made by specific people. If you attended the Google Sites class, the login is the same as the one you use for your webpage. If not, let your building tech know if you’re interested in a sign up.

5. 30 Websites in 90 Minutes Class Needs Participants

The 30 Websites in 90 Minutes Class doesn’t have enough folks signed up! This class, scheduled for Monday November 14^th from 4-5:30, is the first of our short Tech PD classes for the year. WHS Teacher Jay Bennett and Cape Horn-Skye Teacher Kelli Dizmang are hoping to share a wealth of cool teacher and student tools they saw at the Northwest Council for Computers in Education conference last Spring. If you are interested in signing up, just let Les Brown know.

6. Bullying Policy Linked on For District Employees Page

The Washougal School Board Approved anti-Harrassment, Bullying and Intimidation policy is posted on the “For District Employees” page of the WSD website, along with a training video. To get started, visit the “For District Employees” page, which is linked in the upper right corner of the WSD Site.

If you have a suggestion for something else that could be added to this page (check first to make sure it’s not already there!), e-mail Les Brown and he’ll look into adding it to share with everyone.

7. Music Makes Transitions Easier

K-5 Teachers, are you interested in trying out the concept of Transition Music with your students? Did you know you can plug an iPod or CD player into your Lightspeed Classroom Sound Amplification System that’s already in your classroom? If you’re interested, ask Sean or Anthony for the mini-jack connector, which you can use to plug a MP3 player or other audio device into your sound amplification system.

Tech eNews 9-30-2011

Topics for this Tech eNews 9-7-2011

1. Still Space in Many Tech PD Courses

2. Retrospect Warnings About Backup

3. Thank you to Kim Dillon, Rochelle Aiton, and James Bennett

4. Gause Lab Coming Soon, Courtesy of WSD Tech Levy Funds

5. Les Brown on Vacation from 10/3 – 10/20

6. Sean and Anthony’s Building Schedule

7. WESPaC Downtime Schedule on For District Employees Page

1. Still Space in Many Tech PD Courses!
The new Course Descriptions and Sign-up sheet are available for the 2011-2012 Tech PD classes, on the WSD Tech Website. Registration is first come, first served, so make sure you sign up soon! The Cicero class is full, but all other classes still have space. You can register via e-mail by sending Lester.Brown@washougal.k12.wa.us an e-mail with your choices, or you can print the list, and return that to Les Brown at Excelsior. If you choose to register via paper, please make sure to put your name on the sheet.

2. Retrospect Warnings About Backup

Laptop users, your attention, please! If you are getting a pop-up from the Retrospect Client Application telling you that you are not getting backed up, please let Sean or Anthony know so they can check out your computer. If you have been getting this error for a long time, your files are not getting backed up, and it’s critical that you let us know.

3. Thank you to Kim Dillon, Rochelle Aiton, and James Bennett

A big thank you to Kim Dillon, Rochelle Aiton, and James Bennett for their work planning and co-facilitating the first three Tech PD Classes this year. The feedback from all three classes was overwhelmingly positive, and participating teachers learned some great new skills to take back to their classrooms.

If you are interested in co-facilitating Tech PD classes on a topic you love, please let Les Brown know.

4. Gause Lab Coming Soon, Courtesy of Tech Funds

The WSD Tech Committee has allocated some of our Tech Levy funds to purchase a new computer lab at Gause elementary. Gause is the last building without a dedicated computer lab, and many teachers have requested this to support their curriculum uses of technology. The lab will also support EasyCBM testing, as well as online MSP testing for grades 3-5 in the Spring.

A list of the people who make up the tech committee is available here: 2011-2012 Tech Committee Members.

5. Les Brown on Vacation from 10/3 – 10/20

Les Brown will be out of the office between October 3^rd and October 20^th. If you need Tech Support, please contact Sean and Anthony when they are in your building (see schedule below), or call the District Office at 360-954-3000, and they will connect you with someone who can help.

6. Sean and Anthony’s Building Schedule

Sean is at Jemtegaard from 7:30 AM to 10 AM, Hathaway from 10 AM to 12 PM, then at Gause from 1 PM to 3 :30 PM, and at Excelsior from 3:30 PM to 4:40 PM.

Anthony is at WHS Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings from 8 AM to 1 PM, then drives up to Cape and CCMS, where he’s available from 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM. On Tuesdays, he works 8 AM to 11 AM at Cape and CCMS, then is at WHS in the afternoon, except for a 1 hour meeting at Excelsior from 1 – 2 PM.

Their schedule is posted on the WSD Tech Website as a printable .pdf.

7. WESPaC Downtime Schedule on For District Employees Page

If you find yourself wondering when WESPaC will be offline for their monthly weekend long updates, you can find a schedule of this on the For District Employees Page. To get started, visit the “For District Employees” page, which is linked in the upper right corner of the WSD Site.

If you have a suggestion for something else that could be added to this page (check first to make sure it’s not already there!), e-mail Les Brown and he’ll look into adding it to share with everyone.

Washougal Teachers Learn to Use Google Sites to Create Webpages

Two groups of Washougal educators attended optional, district-sponsored classes on creating web pages using Google Sites on September 22 and 28, 2011. These hands-on classes were co-facilitated by Washougal High School Teachers James Bennett and Rochelle Aiton, with assistance from Director of Technology Les Brown.

Participating teachers were led through the process of creating an account, customizing a main page in Google sites, adding feeds from subpages, integrating a Google Calendar, linking to external sites, and adding attachments via the File Cabinet feature or Google Docs.

Hathaway Teacher Lisa Kaaihue said, " I really appreciated all of the choices and variety of features the Google Sites class offered for developing Web pages. I have used other sites to create web pages and felt this site offered the most diversity of features."

For more information about these classes or other staff development initiatives, please visit the Staff Development page of the Washougal School District Website.�

Pictured are Gause Teachers Wendy Morrill and Allison Such.

Washougal Teachers Learn to Use Research Databases with Students

A group of Washougal educators attended an optional, district-sponsored class on integrating research databases available from the Fort Vancouver Regional Library (FVRL) into their curriculum on Tuesday, September 20. The project-based, hands-on class was taught by Washougal High School Teacher-Librarian Kim Dillon and Director of Technology Les Brown. Washougal Community Library’s new Community Librarian, Chris Hughey, was introduced at the class and helped provide information about the databases covered as well as other services offered through the public library, including school and classroom visits.

Participating teachers were led through the process of brainstorming a topic, defining search terms, expanding or narrowing a research idea, and then searching and recording results from the following electronic resources: Britannica Online, Britannica Online for Kids, World Book for Kids, CultureGrams, Thinkfinity, and General One File. Access to FVRL’s research databases is free with a public library card. Finally, teachers learned evaluation strategies to help students become critical consumers of information. Feedback received was very positive, and staff members who participated were enthusiastic about the opportunity to share these high quality research databases with students. Cape Horn-Skye Teacher Jocelyn Aldridge said, "My wheels are already turning with ideas for my 2nd graders to use as we begin to learn how to write mini-reports this year. Who knew that all of this information was available, and that it is so easy to access?"

For more information about this class or other staff development initiatives, please visit the Staff Development page of the Washougal School District Website.

Les Brown discusses research strategies with Canyon Creek Middle School Teacher Kay Ball, and Washougal High School Teacher Sheila Good during a class held in the WHS Library. Brown, WSD Director of Technology, recently assumed primary responsibilities for presenting Technology Staff Development programs in the District. He is always interested in hearing from staff members willing to help present professional development topics and can be reached at ext. 3310.

Photo credit: Kim Dillon.

Topics for this WSD Tech eNews September 7, 2011

1. No Problem Too Small – Please Ask if You Need Help!

2. Still Space in Many Tech PD Courses (pre-registration ends 9-16-11)

3. TeacherWeb changes for 2011 – Move to Google Sites

4. No Netflix Streaming at School

5. Reporting SPAM email

6. Sean and Anthony’s Building Schedule

7. Changes to Read 180/System 44 Reading Intervention Software

8. How does Using SchoolDude Help You?

9. Changing a Link to Your Classroom Webpage on Your School’s Website

10. Who Resets That Password?

11. For District Employees Page of WSD Site Has Links You Need

12. Tech eNews Archive

1. No Problem Too Small – Please ask if you need help!
Sean, Anthony, and Les are here to support district staff in your work educating children. If you run into a technology problem, please don’t hesitate to ask us for help. We’re only able to help if you let us know you’re having a problem!

2. Still Space in Many Tech PD Courses

The new Course Descriptions and Sign-up sheet are available for the 2011-2012 Tech PD classes, on the WSD Tech Website. Registration is first come, first served, so make sure you sign up soon! You can register via e-mail by sending Les an e-mail with your choices, or you can print the list, and return that to Les Brown at Excelsior. If you choose to register via paper, please make sure to put your name on the sheet. Register by September 16th for best selection of classes.

3. TeacherWeb Changes for 2011-12 – Move to Google Sites

TeacherWeb has been bought out by a larger company, and their costs have increased. WSD Technology is no longer going to pay to provide TeacherWeb sites for WSD Teachers. WSD Teachers may continue to use TeacherWeb by paying for the yearly fee ($30) themselves or with classroom funds, or they can switch to the free Google Sites. One of the Tech PD classes this year will be a training on getting started with Google Sites. The money saved will be used to pay for the Tech PD classes, since the Title IID federal funds we were using in previous years to fund these classes have been cut.

4. No Netflix Streaming at School

Several teachers have asked recently about using their Netflix Streaming accounts at school to share video content with students. Unfortunately, this violates your End User License Agreement (EULA) with Netflix and may not conform to copyright.

To quote the EULA you sign when you register for Netflix, "...the Netflix service, and any content viewed through our service, are for your personal and non-commercial use only and we grant you a limited, non exclusive, non transferable, license to access the Netflix service for that purpose..."

This license does not allow you to use your Netflix account to show movies at school.

Regardless of the source of the video, note that you’re not allowed to show videos simply for entertainment. Also note that the same restrictions on sharing video that apply to a rented video apply to a streaming video (from the ALA fact sheet on copyright and video):

Classroom use of a copyrighted video is permissible only when all of the following conditions are met:

- The performance must be by instructors or by pupils.

- The performance is in connection with face-to-face teaching activities.

- The entire audience is involved in the teaching activity.

- The entire audience is in the same room or same general area.

- The teaching activities are conducted by a non-profit education institution.

- The performance takes place in a classroom or similar place devoted to instruction.

- The person responsible for the performance has no reason to believe that the videotape was unlawfully made.

For more information about copyright and movies, please visit the American Library Association’s fact sheet.

I will be changing the content filter category for streaming media to make sure that Netflix is blocked starting Friday.

5. Reporting SPAM E-mail

If you get an unwanted commercial e-mail (SPAM), please don’t forward it to Les Brown. Simply forward it to SPAM@Barracuda.com and the company which filters our e-mail will analyze the message and change the filter to better catch that type of message in the future. Important Note: please do not do this with legitimate e-mail, as this type of change affects all users within the district. (for example, if you signed up for a eNewsletter from OSPI, and no longer want it, you shouldn’t forward it as SPAM since OSPI is not a SPAM sender, and doing this could start flagging all of their messages as junk mail for all users within the district).

Also, if a message you are expecting hasn’t shown up, and you’re worried it’s been caught as SPAM, you can use the Daily SPAM Summary e-mail to forward it to yourself. Just click the link at the bottom of one of the summary e-mails which says “View your entire Quarantine Inbox…” to go to a webpage that will show you an up-to-the-minute view of your own e-mail caught as SPAM, where you can forward the message to yourself.

6. Sean and Anthony’s Building Schedule

Sean is at Jemtegaard from 7:30 AM to 10 AM, Hathaway from 10 AM to 12 PM, then at Gause from 1 PM to 3 :30 PM, and at Excelsior from 3:30 PM to 4:40 PM.

Anthony is at WHS Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings from 8 AM to 1 PM, then drives up to Cape and CCMS, where he’s available from 1:30 PM to 4:30 PM. On Tuesdays, he works 8 AM to 11 AM at Cape and CCMS, then is at WHS in the afternoon, except for a 1 hour meeting at Excelsior from 1 – 2 PM.

Their schedule is posted on the WSD Tech Website as a printable .pdf.

Les is at Excelsior from 8 AM to 4:30 PM.

7. Changes to Read 180 and System 44 Reading Intervention Programs

Staff who use Read 180 and System 44 need to use a new method to access both the SAM (management program) and the System side of Read 180 and System 44. Links for these two interfaces have been added to the WSD website under “For District Employees.” If you use either of these programs, and haven’t been e-mailed a new username/password, please contact Sean or Anthony.

8. How does using School Dude help you?

Besides keeping your tech staff happy (and who doesn’t want that?), using SchoolDude to report problems with your technology helps you! Once you’ve put in a request, you’ll get an automatic e-mail response letting you know it’s been entered. The system will update you whenever Les, Sean, or Anthony makes any changes to the work order. You can log back into the SchoolDude system to view the status of all of your tickets, which can be helpful if we’ve given you steps on how to resolve something. The SchoolDude system helps the district track time spent on problem machines. Also, if you’ve been having a problem with a computer, make sure you’re keeping track of it in School Dude. Problem machines are identified by the number of tickets assigned to them, and get replaced when we have the opportunity.

9. Changing a Link to Your Classroom Webpage on Your School’s Website

If you move your website from TeacherWeb to Google Sites or another web host, you’ll need to have the link from your school’s webpage updated. In general, your building secretary is responsible for making these changes – so please start by e-mailing them your new link. To do this, go to your new website, and click in the Address Bar of your web browser, and copy the web address or URL, and then paste that into an e-mail.

10. Who resets that password?

OK, you’ve tried every password you’ve ever used since “the dog you had when you were seven years old,” and you still can’t get into that website/your computer/your voicemail/your e-mail/WESPaC and you’re wondering whom you should call! Here’s a quick reference:

- For Computer login problems, contact your building tech person (Sean or Anthony) or Les at ext. 3310

- For e-mail, contact your building tech person (Sean or Anthony) or Les at ext. 3310

- For WESPaC, Contact Boo Stevens at ext. 3011

- For AESOP, Contact Liza Linde in Human Resources at Ext. 3041

- For Sonitrol, Contact Liza Linde in Human Resources at Ext. 3041

- For help with voicemail passwords, Contact your building secretary, or Les at Ext. 3310

- For EDS (OSPI’s Data system), Contact Boo Stevens at ext. 3011

11. For District Employees Has Many Links You Need

If you find yourself wondering where to go to report an absence, needing the link to put in a maintenance or technology work order, wanting to find out about your PERS balance, info on your dental/health/vision insurance, or any other common district questions, check out the “For District Employees” page of the WSD website.

To get started, visit the “For District Employees” page, which is linked in the upper right corner of the WSD Site

If you have a suggestion for something else that could be added to this page (check first to make sure it’s not already there!), e-mail Les Brown and he’ll look into adding it to share with everyone.

Welcome back Tech eNews

Topics in this edition of WSD Tech eNews for August 26, 2011

1. Phone Doesn't Work? Move It Back!

2. Can't Sign In? Check Your Network Cable, please.

3. Pop-Up Blocker May Keep You From Signing Into WESPaC

4. New Wireless Network at WHS

5. Nightly Computer Shutdown (Still) Scheduled for Energy Conservation

6. Turning Off a Vacation Message

7. Using SchoolDude Helps You

8. Tech Committee Opening at Jemtegaard

9. New Teacher Computers Coming Soon at WHS

10. Course List For Tech Professional Development on Website

1. Phone Doesn't Work? Move it back!

WSD uses a digital phone system, not an analog phone system. This means that each phone has a specific port into which it's programmed to work. The other ports or "network jacks" aren't connected, which means you can't simply move your phone from one port to another in your classroom and expect it to work.
If you want to move your phone, please leave it in it's current location, and put in a SchoolDude work order. Sean or Anthony can help you move it, but it's far better to leave it in a working state while you're waiting. Also, note that you cannot use a phone from home in your classroom, and plugging one in may damage the phone system as they draw more current than the digital phones we use.

2. Can't Sign In? Check Your Network Cable.

If your usual login password isn't working, or you're getting "the shake" from your Mac, please check your network cable to make sure it's plugged in. If it's not, you will not be able to sign in, which can look the same as a bad password. Also, make sure you're signing in with your username as first.last

3. Pop-Up Blocker May Keep You From Signing Into WESPaC

Note a new change to WESPaC! If you are signing in, and get an error in WESPaC asking you to turn off your pop-up blocker, here are the directions to do it. You'll need to know which Internet Browser you are using (Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Safari)

In Safari on the Mac it's under the "Safari Menu" then Pop-up blocker

On Firefox for Mac, it's under the Firefox menu, then Preferences, then under the Content Tab.

On Firefox for Windows, it's under the Tools menu, then Options, then on the Content Tab.

On Internet Explorer for Windows, it's under the Tools Button, then click Pop Up Blocker. Click the option to "Turn off pop-up blocker."

4. New wireless network at WHS/District Office/Excelsior

Money from the tech fund was used to purchase a new wireless network for Washougal High, District Office, and Excelsior. This network has been put into place, and will eventually be opened up to student as well as staff use. WHS staff who wish to connect to the wireless network should use their Windows login information to sign in. District Office staff should ask Cassi Marshall for the wireless password, and Excelsior staff can contact Les Brown for a password. Please feel free to roam about the building!

5. Nightly Computer Shutdown Scheduled for Energy Conservation Continues

Just like last year, staff are expected to shut down computers at night. Computers left on will be shut down by the system around 5 PM. For PC users, if you are working late, you will get a pop-up message with a 60 second timer that warns you the PC is about to shut off, and can choose to defer shutdown. Mac computers will give the logged in user 120 seconds to defer shutdown.

While scheduling this shutdown will save about $3.50 per month per computer that gets turned off each night, it’s preferable for you to shut down your computer when you’re leaving, since it won’t be in use after you leave.

This scheduled shutdown will help ensure your files get backed up completely, too!

6. Removing a Vacation Message

If you set up a vacation message which automatically responded to your e-mail over the summer, don't forget to turn it off!

Go to the district web page. http://www.washougal.k12.wa.us

Click on For District Employees

Click on the E-mail server link in the left-hand sidebar.

Log in as yourself (first.last) with your password e-mail password.

Click Preferences in the left hand sidebar.

Click the brown tab for Vacation message.

Un-check the checkbox for Enable, then delete anything you've typed into the message box.

Make sure you click save (just below the district logo).

Click Logout.

7. Using SchoolDude Helps You

Sean and Anthony are hard at work getting all the computers back up and running, and Les is working on creating student accounts for all of the 6-12 grade students. If you have a tech problem, please put in a work order using the SchoolDude system. Contact Sean, Anthony or Les to get the password. Here's the link to get started, please use your e-mail to sign in.

8. Tech Committee Opening at Jemtegaard

If you teach at Jemtegaard, are interested in technology, and would consider serving on the Tech Committee, let Ron Carlson know. Committee members help create the classroom standards for technology, create a vision for technology use in classrooms, and guide the district’s selection of new technology equipment. The tech committee meets four times per year, for around 2 hours, and participating teachers get a half-day sub while they’re at the meeting.

9. New Teacher Computers Coming Soon at WHS

WSD Tech funds have purchased new teacher computers for all the classrooms at WHS. Anthony is working on setting them up, and will be moving your files over the new computers in the next few weeks. These new computers have more memory, bigger hard drives, and are considerably faster than the 5 year old ones they're replacing. Those PCs will go into the WHS library to replace machines that are now over 6 years old.

10. Tech Professional Development Class List

The new Course Descriptions and Sign-up sheet are available for the 2011-2012 Tech PD classes. Registration is first come, first served, so make sure you sign up soon! You can register via e-mail by sending Lester.Brown@washougal.k12.wa.us an e-mail with your choices, or you can print the list, and return that to Les Brown at Excelsior. If you choose to register via paper, please make sure to put your name on the sheet. Register by September 16th for best selection of classes.