Week of Feb 7, 2022

All TTSD Staff Users:
New LightSpeed Filter Automatic Update On Thursday Feb 10, 2022:

• Users will see "Smart Agent has an update for you"
• Please click "Update Now" when you are ready for you computer to install & restart.
• NOTE: Computer will restart.

Elementary Standards Gradebook Refresher Virtual Training

• Tuesday, February 15th @ 3pm
• Join HERE: http://meet.google.com/upn-zicg-jws
• 100% optional, but will be very helpful for setting up your gradebook to easily post QT3 report card grades.

Week of January 31, 2022

 End of Term Tips & Guides  

• SM1 Course access in Canvas:
• Students: THROUGH Sunday, Feb 6th 12midnight
• Teachers: THROUGH Monday, Feb 14th 12 midnight
• Posting to report card:
• Elementary:
• Elementary - Entering Grades By Class
• Secondary:
• Posting Grades for Middle and High School Classes

Beginning of Term Tips & Guides 

• QT3 & SM2 Course access in Canvas:
• Students: BEGINNING Sunday, Feb 6th 1 AM
• Teachers: BEGINNING Monday, Jan 31 1AM
• Gradebook Setup/Reminders:
• Elementary: (Synergy)
• Gradebook setup reminder instructions (training in Feb)
• Secondary: (Canvas)
• "Cross-listing courses" (collapsing same sections into ONE Canvas course card)
• Updating the name of your Canvas course (after cross-listing)
• Gradebook sync from Canvas to Synergy (training in Feb)

Back Up Your TTSD Computer 

It's important for all TTSD staff to be responsible for their own files on their computer.  Technicians can help you set up a new computer and help with instructions on how to SET UP A BACKUP on your computer. But if the computer fails for any reason and it was NOT backed up, there isn't anything we can do to help you restore local files.  (The other option is to work out of Google Drive).

Week of January 24, 2022

 

Down Day Weekend - Sunday, January 30, 2022

Due to next weekend being a grading weekend (QT2), we will be performing the February work THIS weekend. 

The first Sunday of EACH month is reserved for the IT Department to perform disruptive (but necessary) maintenance on our networks systems.  With 24/7 access to online resources for our staff and students, we have reserved the FIRST Sunday of each month to perform this work.

Please note Sunday there will likely be disruption to various systems that may impact your access to: TTSD phone system, network resources (wifi), internet filter and Mac/iPad "Self Service"

iOS and MacOS Updates Approved for TTSD Devices

Updates for iPad iOS and Mac operating systems come out regularly towards the end of the calendar year.  TTSD Technicians test the new versions during the month of January, looking for any conflicts with TTSD software.  We have completed this test and found nothing significant to delay the updates for all TTSD staff and students.

We highly recommend all staff and students update their iPad to version 15.

Please see this KB Article for step by step:

• Update Your iPad iOS Software / Actualiza tu iOS

 

The MacOS update to Monterey, version 12, for your laptops is optional.:

• You MUST back up your files for your laptop before you begin: 
• Computer Backup Instructions 
• Once you know your files are safely backed up (in case of an update error):
• Update macOS computer

Highlights of each new version:

Week of January 18, 2022

 All Staff: Make Sure Your Address is CORRECT in the Employee Portal :

• Why?
• Make sure your W2 is sent to the correct address
• Prepare your TTSD account for the new Staff Portal (coming...March 2022)
• When? 
• ASAP (....was due Jan 14th for W2s)

http://portal.ttsd.k12.or.us >> Login

Self Service>> Profile 

Live Translated Captions in Google Meet
Live translated captions in Google Meet are now available mobie. Languages currently available are French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish

From Google…

Educator Resources

Celebrate Black History Month with Applied Digital Skills Looking for lesson ideas for Black History Month? Our "Celebrate Black History, Culture & Identity" collection offers great project-based lessons for students to discover and reflect on the contributions of African Americans and the legacies that have shaped our world.

Week of January 10, 2022

 Preparing & Practicing for Distance Learning with your Classroom 

• Elementary School Teacher/Classroom Prep Checklist
• Google Meet Link, practice breakout rooms
• Class communication (Remind, Canvas, Synergy, etc)
• Digital Tools
• Last Year lessons from Jan/Feb
• Secondary School Teacher/Classroom Prep Checklist
• Google Meet link(s), practice breakout rooms
• Practice digital workflow - lessons and receiving/submitting assignments online
• Communication and Support "sessions" for drop in help.

Week of Dec 13th - WINTER BREAK

WINTER BREAK STAFF NECESSARY UPDATES:

TTSD's winter break runs Dec 18th through Jan 2nd and is an excellent opportunity to run some lengthy updates.  All staff with TTSD technology please perform the following during your break to ensure your technology devices are working optimally and are secure.  It is the TTSD staff member's responsibility to back up their work documents and run the latest updates on TTSD issued devices. You may take these steps anytime before mid January 2022.

PLUG YOUR DEVICE INTO POWER BEFORE BEGINNING THE FOLLOWING...

1.  Check that you are backing up important work files from your laptop/mobile device/s: 
1. Computer Backup Instructions for laptops [could take a few minutes, up to a few hours]
2. Instruction to Backup iPad Apps
2. Run Operating System updates: [could take ~1 hour]
1. Update macOS computer << Please NOTE Step #3, click MORE INFO....

PRINTSHOP ORDERS:

  

Our printshop staff will also be taking the Winter Break off for some well-deserved rest.  Please note print jobs submitted just before the break and/or during the break will begin being processed on January 3rd (with a 3-5 day turn around).  Thank you for your pre-planning and support of our print shop team. 

Week of December 6th

Where Should I Go to Learn of Wide-Spread Technology Issues at TTSD?

• At times, we may experience wide-spread technical hiccups.  As soon as the IT Department knows and confirms the outage, the first place staff (and students) should check is the Announcements on the TTSD Ticket System

                                     

Examples may include - Canvas outage, Synergy outage, Google slowness, Amazon Web Service outage (like this week) - impacting logins to various TTSD systems, etc.

F = NG in Synergy Overall Grade

Per TTSD grading guidance for 2021-22 school year (see October 2021 communication from T&L below), we have adjusted the Synergy Report Card Score Type of Genesis grading to reflect this adjustment.  If you are using this score type in your gradebook (it's the default), you may notice your F's have automatically be adjusted to "NG"

Middle School Grade/Reporting Communication 

The below guidance was in play for quarter one, but will be extended for the remainder of the 2021-22 school year as we continue to experience COVID specific issues with quarantining and flexing instructional models/plans for many of our students, which has brought with it continued learning on the part of our parents, students, and teachers in dealing with health and protocol related issues.

Because students and teachers have had to continue to adjust to current in-person protocols, routines and systems changes, grades for the 21-22 school year are reflective of learning outcomes in the following way:  

Grades will be provided as indicated by an A, B, C, D  or NG (No Grade).  If a student receives an NG, it must be followed up with a comment with further explanation as to what the NG means/represents.

• This decision allows for student progress to be shared by letter grades already established and with the understanding that the adjustments are necessary due to COVID related protocols impacting students at all levels.
• F's can be defeating for students initially with the unpredictable shifts in delivery of instruction that can and have occurred. Given the many variables that continue to be beyond our control at this time, we will continue this year in issuing NGs (No Grade) with comments when necessary and continue to reflect learning outcomes using grades of A, B, C or D.