Three PowerSchool Tips and Two Updates Coming To Canvas

While the theme this week may seem to be GradeBook, it is really efficiency. This Friday Five will provide you with Three Tips from Linda Bealer and Erin Reichert regarding PowerSchool and Two Upcoming Changes in Canvas. Each of these items can help streamline your workflow!

1. Is your font too small in your PowerTeacher Gradebook?

To make your text larger in gradebook, simply click on View in your toolbar, and select Zoom. You may notice the comment box/text does not get bigger with this fix.  We have looked into this issue and it continues to be unresolved.  Because of this, we suggest using the magnifier tool.  To access the magnifier tool, you can click on the small magnifying glass at the top right of your browser.  Or, you can hold down the CTRL button and use the + and - keys.  (If you have a new laptop and haven't yet changed the default font of your computer, you will want to click here.)

2.  Do you know how to run reports from the Backpack for conferences and meetings?

Quick Look Up-One way to run a quick report is to follow these steps for "quick look-up". This is especially quick and helpful for a parent phone call, or a student who is wondering where they are.  In the PowerSchool home-screen, click on the backpack icon.  

Select the student, and in the Select Screens drop-down menu, click on "Quick Look Up".  There you'll see grades to date, and an overall grade for the year.

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3. Do you know how to run reports from PowerTeacher Gradebook?

Another popular Report- Use the reports tab.  This will allow you to customize the report you'd like to run.

• Make sure you've selected the correct class.

• Choose Individual Student Report

• Select Student and customize the screen for what you're looking for

• OR choose "All Enrolled" to get a report for each student.

And for Canvas...beginning tomorrow you will be able to....

4. Duplicate Items in Modules!

Assignments, graded discussions, and pages can be duplicated within a module. The duplication option is located in the Settings menu for every supported module item. When a module item is copied, the word Copy is added to the end of the item name.

Duplicating a module item defaults the copied item to an unpublished status. This will likely save you the most time when wanting to Duplicate a Discussion so each period of a class has its own discussion thread. 

5. Explore Improvements to GradeBook in Canvas

If you would like to explore the newly enhanced Canvas Gradebook, let me know and I will enable in your course(s). This new interface allows for color-coding and additional views to sort and filter assignments. To learn more about these improvements, click here.

And lastly...enjoy your Thanksgiving Break!

Five Reasons Why Everyone Could be Using Newsela

The district recently purchased the PRO version of Newsela. Newsela is essentially a database of news articles and reading assessments that can be assigned to your classes. 

This edition of the Friday Five is dedicated to 5 reasons why you will fall in love with 

1. Canvas Integration: Newsela has been added to our Canvas account. This means that students and teachers can connect directly from their courses to Newsela creating a single sign-on experience. For teachers, this eliminates the need for you to create classes in Newsela, they are already there from Canvas. You can add an assignment in Canvas and select Newsela as the External Tool for submission.  For students, this means they do not need to make an account, remember a password, or open a new website. When students work in Newsela, they can do so right from within the Canvas interface. 

2. Engaging and Current Content: Newsela selects articles from a variety of publications and often has articles ready 24 hours after initial publication. If there is a hot topic in the news, odds are Newsela has an article about it. Below is a screenshot of what was posted on 10/27/17.

3. Many Articles are available in Spanish: If you have a native Spanish speaker in your class or are teaching Spanish, search for articles that have been translated. Not only will the articles be translated but so will the quiz questions. This will allow you to get data on native speakers' reading skills. 

4.  Text Sets: Text Sets are curated collections of articles focused on particular topics, skills, or themes. You may use sets that have been created by others or create your own. 

5. Content for Nearly Every Discipline: Teachers can search for articles in broad categories such as War and Peace, Law, or Sports. There are also libraries of collected articles  on topics including  Careers, Myths and Legends, and  Famous Speeches. No matter what subject you teach, you can use Newsela to help engage students, explore content connected to your course, and evaluate students' reading and writing skills. 

Want to learn more now?  Follow this link and sign in to watch a great overview video.

If you have  questions about using Newsela in your classes please reach out to either Keith Veverka or me, Cara Gurysh.