Welcome Back Conference!

I'm just finishing my second session during our district-wide professional development day.

I spent time with Jill Olson learning about Google docs which have given me the courage to start to let go of Office. Maybe some of you would like to jump on the bandwagon with me?

I also had an opportunity to participate in a web 2.0 session with Staci Limberger and Stacy McCullough. They presented so many good ideas to a captive audience!

It's been a fantastic afternoon.

Social Media Revolution

Working with Video and other large files

I'm sorry to say that I don't yet have an update on the specific location or use of a shared drive to store large media files.

There will be a space for us to work with video files; I just can't tell you yet where it will be. Stay tuned for details.

Parent Portal Powerpoint

I have the parent portal presentation ready to go. I'll post it in my box.net widget when I can figure out a bug. If you want the presentation now, please send me an email and I'll get it to you directly.

Drupal

The District website migrated to the new Drupal web management system as of August 1, 2009.

Logging In
To sign in, enter your B ID number ("b" and your 6 digit identification number) and your password is "x" and your 6-digit date of birth (for example, x010269). If you receive the message "Sorry, unrecognized username or password," click the "Request new password" tab, enter your b-number, and click "E-mail new password." Your new password and instructions will be sent to your GroupWise account. You are strongly encouraged to then change your Drupal password. Many persons have changed their password so that it is the same as their staff account (Novell) password.

Navigation
Navigation is difficult initially but keep in mind that there is a search box (on the left) and an Index (on the bottom). If you are logged in to Drupal, your search results may be different than if you are not logged in. There's more information under "Our New Look" http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/node/4019 on the home page, including navigation tips.

Home Addresses
Several participants expressed concern about their home addresses showing up in the staff directory in Drupal. Please keep in mind that this is an internal page and one must be logged in to see this information. The information displayed has been on the Employee Information form for many years, so there is nothing displayed that hasn't been published in the staff directory. If you would like to remove your home information from the online directory, you will find a link here.

Creating PDFs at School

If you need to create a .pdf file, you have access to the application CutePDF. If you need help installing or configuring, please make a work order for your technician.

Moodle

If you are interested in learning Moodle, please visit the Moodle site at Madison Virtual Campus. This additional Moodle learning link was suggested by one of our participants, Donna Fogell.

Teacher Guide PDF

The 2009-2010 Teacher Guide PDF can be found here.

Middle School Report Card Survey Results

Middle school report card survey results

Grading Guides Link

Elementary and middle school grading guides

Using PLP module for Spanish/Hmong progress reports

Remember that this is an option to create and print Spanish/Hmong progress reports. Get there by searching for a student. Then go to the Index and expand Student Information. This is where you’ll find the PLP option.

Posting Notices to the Parent and Student Portal

Did you know that your principal can post notices to the portal for all students and parents to see? This is one more method of communicating with parents and students about what's happening at school.

Communicating with Families

We discussed Messenger, Newsletter and using the “New Activity” button in the Lesson Planner.

• Messenger will go to the inbox in the parent/student portal and/or will also be sent to email addresses if this option is checked.
• The Newsletter does not appear in the inbox but can be accessed from the student’s schedule. If there is some way to make the newsletter appear in the inbox, it will be taken care of in the next few weeks.
• Creating New Activities is an effective way to communicate with students and parents because the activities appear on the family calendar.

Wish List

The following Wish List was developed by participants during our August 17-24 professional development:

Wish list:

• Ability to use Infinite Campus to track textbook checkout in a central location that could be managed by classroom teachers, office staff, etc.
• Keep tweaking progress report and report card due dates at middle school. One suggestion is to have an earlier cut off time for teachers so that building based staff can work on their missing grades before the grading window is closed. May have fewer missing grades if cutoff time for teachers is Midnight rather than during the school day.
• Auto add grading scale for high school courses.
• Method for each school to assist teachers new to their building with all things technology, including how to access the network, get their documents and login activated, change their voicemail, know where they’re printing, how to use the copier, etc.
• District endorsed social networking site
• Library overdue notices in IC