1. Welcome to Mat Hutton, new Network Support Specialist
2. Tech PD – new option for drop in times Dec 4, 11, & 18
3. Prep for Mid-year Surplus
4. NCCE Tech Conference 2015 in Portland
5. 1:1 planning for WHS in 2015-2016
6. Turn Google Safe Search on for Your Account
7. Political Activities at Work
8. Help Us Help You by Using SchoolDude
9. Did you know you can subscribe to changes in a Google Spreadsheet?
10. Tech Blog Has Archive of eNews and other Tech Related Articles
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1. Welcome to Mat Hutton, New Network Support Specialist
The WSD Tech staff is pleased to welcome Mathew (Mat) Hutton to the Tech Staff as a Network Support Specialist. Mat has hit the ground running, and in his first few months here has already completed some major projects, including replacing the district’s firewall and preparing for our upcoming Internet speed upgrade. Mat will be working on upgrades to a number of network servers, expansion of the district’s wireless infrastructure, and planning for future growth as we add more devices. He will also be helping us better manage our network, servers, and wireless network to provide better and more dependable services for our staff.
Mat can be reached by email at mathew.hutton@washougalsd.org, by phone at 360-954-3213, or via SchoolDude.
2. Tech PD Offering – New Option for “Tech Thursdays” Drop in Time
As a follow up to the incredibly successful Tech Symposium on 10-10-2014, WSD Tech Committee members are wanting to offer “Tech Thursdays”, a drop in time where you can get help with a couple different topics in a less structured, easier to access format than our 3 hour classes. Cheryl MacIntyre, Hillary Marshall, James Bennett, and Philicia Weaver are going to offer to provide support to teachers interested in topics including:
- GradeKeeper for K-5
- All the Right Type for grades 3-5
- Internet Safety for Students using Common Sense Media tools
- Google Sites – help getting started or sprucing up your site
- Blogger
- iPad 101
- Kahoot! App or webpage
- EasyCBM
These will be offered in a series of three 1 hour classes on Thursday December 4, 11, and 18. The classes would start at 4 and go until 5, and be held in the WHS Library.
NOTE: To get clock hours, you must attend all three sessions (minimum 3 hours), but you are welcome to attend any combination that works if you don’t need/want the clock hours.
3. 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 (Darlene Enocksen at CCMS, Deborah Mansfield at Cape, Marlene Leifsen at Gause, Kathy Stanton at Hathaway, Debbie Leifsen at Jemtegaard, Deana Degrande at Excelsior, 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 things get too busy with the holidays.
4. NCCE Tech Conference 2015 in Portland
Are you interested in seeing what’s out there in the world of Technology in the classroom? NCCE, the largest education focused Technology conference in the Northwest, is back in Portland for 2015. The event takes place at the Portland Convention Center March 18-20.
Watch for an invitation to apply to attend with a buddy, with the goal of brining back cool technology integration tips and strategies to share with your peers during a tech class or next year’s Tech Symposium.
5. 1:1 planning for WHS in 2015-2016
A group of teachers at WHS is working on planning the next steps for the 1:1 (one device per student) initiative as it rolls into the high school in 2015-2016. The committee will be evaluating a number of different options, and trying to make sure we consider the needs of different departments in selecting a device. The group of teachers is also planning professional development opportunities for staff that will be offered in the late Spring and Summer.
WHS staff who have ideas to consider should contact a group member to share their thoughts: James Bennett, Hillary Marshall, Lisa Leonard, Jim Reed, Ryan Stief, Shoko Parker, Aaron Hansen or Les Brown.
6. Turn Google Safe Search on for Your Account
You can enable Google Safe Search for your WashougalSD.org account, so that Google searches you perform when using any computer you log into your e-mail on are filtered automatically. Follow these steps to get started:
- Log into your email in a web browser.
- Visit http://www.google.com/
preferences - Find the SafeSearch Filter section
- Turn on SafeSearch by checking the box beside “Filter explicit results”
- Click the Blue Save button to save this setting
7. Political Activities at Work
District staff should review the guidance provided on our For District Employees page here, and be aware of the restrictions on your use of work resources for political activities.
In a nutshell, district staff may not use district computers, phones, email, copy machines, or other district resources to support or oppose any candidates, initiatives, or school bond measures.
To answer a very common follow up question: Staff ARE allowed to wear buttons at work, have bumper stickers on their cars, or display lawn signs in their yard, and volunteer to help Political Action Committees do pro or opposition work outside of work.
8. Help Us Help You - Use SchoolDude
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 Sean, Linda, Becky, Mat or Les 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.
If you forget how to get to SchoolDude to put in work orders for your Technology woes, you can always find the link via the Washougal School District website. Click on the “for district employees” link in the upper right, and then use the Technology/Maintenance Requests link, which will take you to the SchoolDude site. It’ll ask for your e-mail address and you can log in. To get the password to submit tickets contact your tech support person.
9. Subscribe to Changes in a Google Spreadsheet
Do you share information with someone in a Google Spreadsheet that gets updated periodically, and wish that you could get an e-mail when something in there changes, so that you go back to look at it? If yes, you can use the steps below to turn on Notification Rules for your Google Sheet, which will e-mail you a list of changes made to your message. You'll want to make sure to do the last step to get a "digest" version at the end of the day, especially if you have a big sheet where someone would change a lot in one day!
- Open your shared google sheet
- Click Tools
- Click Notification Rules
- Check the Box for Any Changes are Made
- Check the Box for "Email - Daily Digest" so that you don't get dozens of e-mails each day if someone else makes a bunch of changes in one day
