Tech eNews 11-28-2012

Topics for this Tech eNews 11-28-2012

1. Register for Tech PD Classes

2. Labeling Personal Property as Yours

3. K-5 Progress Report Window Open

4. Prep for Mid-year Surplus

5. Turning on Video Mirroring

6. Internet Research Strategies Class is Thursday!

7. Turn on icon labels in Google Mail

1. Register for Tech PD Classes

Teachers and other staff are welcome to register for this year’s Technology Professional Development Classes.  A full list of classes is on the Technology website, and you can sign up using an easy online form.  Click here to sign up!  (Requires that you have a WashougalSD.org e-mail)

Classes this year include options for a shorter series of courses where you can still get clock hours (10 Websites in 2 90 minute sessions, Google Sites/Docs/E-mail/WESPaC Gradebook), new topics (Prezi, Digital Cameras & Photo Management), and some familiar favorites (iMovie, Excel, and the Document Camera class).  A full list of the course descriptions is here.

2. Labeling Personal Property as Yours

During the district wide inventory, a common problem that we run into are personal items not marked as “personal” equipment.  Tech staff have some small white labels you can affix to your equipment to help make sure it doesn’t get accidentally tagged during a future inventory.  If you have equipment you keep in your classroom, particularly items that are similar to equipment already owned by the district, it is helpful if you would label it.

3. K-5 Progress Report Window Open

The fall progress report window for K-5 teachers is open.  Teachers in K-5 can log in at https://www.edusoftdev.com using their first.last and their password to enter grades.  Make sure you choose “Washougal” as the district name.  If you have forgotten your password, contact your building tech support person, and they can help you reset it.

Some important dates for K-5. 

The end of grading trimester is 11-30-2012. 

The cut off date for Teachers to enter grades - 12-10-2012 at noon. 

Printing either by Teachers or Tech people - 12-11-2012

Report cards back to Teachers for proofreading - 12-12-2012

Report cards go home with students - 12-13-2012 (Kindergarten every other day) & 12-14-2012 everyone else

The window for Winter & Spring terms is posted here.

4. Prep for Mid-year Surplus 

If you have old, unwanted equipment in your classroom that you no longer have a use for, you can use the surplus process to get rid of it.  Your building’s inventory designee (Deana Degrande at CCMS, Deborah Mansfield at Cape, Marlene Leifsen at Gause, Kathy Stanton at Hathaway, Debbie Leifsen at Jemtegaard, and Misty Young at WHS) can help you process paperwork to dispose of the item appropriately, and remove it from your classroom’s inventory.  There will be a surplus run in January, near the end of the month, so work with your inventory person now to get items taken care of before break.

You can read more about the inventory and surplus process here, including finding forms to dispose of equipment.

5. Turning on Video Mirroring on a Mac

Sometimes when you turn a projector on or off while it is connected to a computer, the computer’s video mirroring setting will get turned off.  Here are some short steps to turn it back on:

For Mac:

Open System Preferences from the Apple Menu

Click Displays

Click the “Arrangement” tab, then check the box for “Mirror Displays”

6. Change Google Mail icons to Text Labels

Do you find yourself wondering what the icons in Google e-mail do, and are unsure which to choose for common tasks?  Tech Support Staff person Sean Elkinton wrote these steps for turning on Text labels, which can make the e-mail interface easier for some people:

Click the sprocket to go into Google Mail Settings

Find the option for “Button Labels”

Click the Radio button to set it to Text instead of Icons

Scroll to the bottom and click Save.

To view a set of directions with screen shots, click here.

7. Internet Research Strategies Class This Thursday

Join WHS Teacher/Librarian Kim Dillon for a lesson that will model research strategies to use with your students to help them find and recognize high-quality, researched, free, student-friendly websites on the Internet, and how to avoid citing biased, non-factual websites in their assignments. 4-7 PM; WHS Library lab on Thursday November 29, 2012.