For the 2018-19 School Year, Elanco Teachers will be switching to the newest version of the PowerSchool gradebook called PowerTeacher Pro. There will be several training opportunities during the August Spartan Learning Day, as well as access to a test server for teachers to work with the new gradebook over the summer. More information will be coming regarding the PTP test server.
“Teachers will have (web-based) mobile access to the HTML 5 Gradebook with full functionality, including touchscreen, on any device. The same great user experience and full functionality is maintained from any computer or tablet. Built to save time, enter scores vertically and horizontally using our quick-fill scoresheet. PowerTeacher Pro is designed for K-12 teachers to minimize time on administrative activities through technology and intuitive navigation.” — From PowerSchool.com
Click on this link to view a comparison between the current PowerTeacher Gradebook vs. PowerTeacher Pro – the images in the document show the locations of common features in PowerTeacher Gradebook and their corresponding locations in the new PowerTeacher Pro.
Teachers, you may want to take a few minutes to watch this introductory video tutorial that provides an overview of the new design of PowerTeacher Pro. The video will be a good resources for when PTP has been activated for all teachers. If the video below doesn’t appear, click here for the direct link.
Adobe Spark is a free online creation tool that allows students to create online posts, web pages, or videos. Teachers and students, over the age of 13, can use their Elanco.org Google Accounts to create an Adobe account. There are no teacher control features, so students will have to share their finished product by sending or submitting a link.
The Adobe Spark tool is very easy to use and creates a professional looking finished product. Adobe Posts allow for the creation of an online graphic from text and a photo. In Adobe Spark Pages, students can design and create one-page websites from a variety of themes that include text, copyright-friendly images, and embedded videos from YouTube. In Adobe Spark Video, students can insert images, and then record an audio narration while selecting from a list of background music options.
Below is an example of an Adobe Spark Video created by Mrs. Soper as an example of assignment that she created for students. Mrs. Soper asked students to “create a public service announcement about a theme from the novels they are reading now, instead of just making a theme college.”
Book Creator is an easy-to-use tool for students to create and publish ebooks. Their simple to use editor allows for adding of copyright-friendly images, along with graphics, to customizable page themes. Students can also record their voice on multiple points on the page using their computer’s microphone. Book creator is great tool to allow students to express their learning of a topic in a creative format.
Teachers can create their own free account with Book Creator that allows for up to 40 student books in their library at any one time. Students can then join the teacher’s class using a simple class code. Both student and teacher accounts can be created using their elanco.org Google accounts. Books can then be published to create a link that can be shared or posted for other students and parents to view.
“Book Creator is open-ended, creative and cross curriculum. Create your own teaching resources or have your students take the reins. (Students can) combine text, images, audio and video to create”:
— From Bookcreator.com
Here is an ebook that describes 50 ways to use Book Creator in your Classroom. To learn more, watch the video below that provides an overview of the Book Creator site and some of its many features or visit the Book Creator for Chrome “how to” page for specific directions and help.
Book Creator for Chrome from Book Creator on Vimeo.
Below is an example of a student-created book in Mr. Rodriguez’s Garden Spot High School Spanish class. The assignment had students add both text and visuals to an ebook that also had student’s include their voice reading the text. Click on the image to read and listen to the book.
Using the Science Journal app, turn your phone into a pocket science laboratory with tools to measure light, motion, sound and more. – Google Science Journal
Science and Math Teachers – Take 5 minutes to explore the capabilities of the FREE Google Science Journal mobile app.
An advanced feature in Canvas that could be utilized for both formative assessment and differentiated assignments is the MasteryPaths in course modules.
“The Canvas MasteryPaths feature allows you or a course designer to customize learning experiences to students based on student performance. With MasteryPaths, you identify activities for each student’s learning path and differentiate assignments for required learning, optional learning, or choosing their own content and assignments within a specific path, which helps them achieve course mastery.
MasteryPaths is based on differentiated assignments, which allows assignments to be assigned to different users and sections. With MasteryPaths, assignments are differentiated to individual students automatically and no additional work is required aside from grading student assignments as usual. After the initial assignment has been graded (either manually or automatically), the student’s score designates which conditional items(s) will be assigned as a learning path.” –From community.canvaslms.com
Visit this page on the Canvas help site to learn “How do I use MasteryPaths in course modules?”
Watch this video from the Canvas Tutorial Video Series to learn how to create your own MasteryPath in Canvas.
542 – Mastery Paths from Canvas LMS on Vimeo.
A few recent Canvas updates that might be of interest to you:
First – for those of you who regularly use the Canvas gradebook to collect and assess quizzes and assignments, you’ll see that our Canvas Grading Periods have been added to this year’s courses. This allows you to filter your Canvas gradebook and your Canvas assignment views to only show those assignments with due dates in their respective marking periods.
The grading periods have also been weighted to match how F1 grades are calculated for the middle and high school in PowerSchool. For the HS, the grading period dates and weighting are setup as seen in the image below, while the MS would has the Q1-Q4 each weighted at 25%. E2 is the exam period for Semester 2 at the HS. As always, the only official grades for the students are what appears for them in your PowerSchool gradebook, not in Canvas.
Second – Canvas has recently released a new Canvas Teacher mobile app for both iOS and Android. It’s free to download to your personal mobile device. You wouldn’t use the app to modify pages and modules in your Canvas courses, but it’s a great tool to manage discussions, post announcements, and grade assignments and quizzes without having to use a laptop. Here’s more information from Canvas on the mobile app.
“No more staring at illustrations and covering labels with your thumbs. With Quizlet’s diagram-specific study activities, you can review and master material in fun and interactive ways. Creating diagrams on Quizlet is simple. With convenient annotation tools, locations and definitions, you can quickly add new layers of customization to your study material.” Quizlet diagrams allow you to upload an image and add identification points on the image to create a diagram that your students can study.
To use Quizlet diagrams or to create your own, sign up for a free account at https://quizlet.com. Explore existing Quizlet diagrams at https://quizlet.com/diagram-showcase.
Teachers – you may have recently noticed new features that are available in the Canvas navigation bar. Google Drive, Office 365 and Class Notebook have been enabled in all of your Canvas courses (see image). These new integrations provide teachers and students with easy access to their cloud-based content that is saved in their Google Drive and OneDrive locations. Teachers can also create assignments that ask students to submit edited versions of any Google Documents that you’ve assigned to them. The Office 365 integration works similarly and also provides easy use of sharing OneNote class notebooks with the class.
If you are interested in learning more about these tools, the resources and videos below have more information about them. If you are not interested in utilizing these tools at this time and would like to remove them from your Canvas course navigation, you can manage that in the course settings using the directions below.
Since the OneNote App has already been enabled, you can start the video at 5:10.
Google Drive has brought back the ability to create documents, slideshows, and spreadsheets from a template. Teachers have the ability to upload their own Google documents, slideshows, and spreadsheets into the district template gallery for any student to locate and use.
Follow the directions from Google Support below:
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Submit a template to the gallery so others can use it. To submit a template, someone at your work or school must be the file owner and you must be an editor. Sharing of the file can’t be restricted.