December 2017

Why Computer Science in Auburn?

Last week, many teachers and students across the district recognized Computer Science Education Week through the popular Hour of Code activities. While STEM education has grown in emphasis over the last several years, it’s actually the ‘T’ in STEM that presents the greatest job growth opportunities to our students today. LinkedIn’s top 10 in-demand skills of last year were all computer skills. Edward Lazowska of the University of Washington, identified from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that in “the decade ending in 2024, 73 percent of STEM job growth will be in computer occupations.” According to the Washington Report Card Computer Science is the only STEM field where more than half of graduates are employed in their field. Further, in Washington state, the average salary for a computing occupation in WA is $105,584, nearly twice the average state salary.

To begin preparing more students for these opportunities, computer science education will be further developed in eight elementary schools this year through a grant from OSPI. All of ASD’s middle schools now offer the Computer Science Discoveries curriculum while high schools prepare to add an additional course, AP Computer Science Principles, next school year.

Tech Tips

This extension blocks many undesirable and or distracting advertisements from being displayed when browsing the internet. The recommended version can be found in the ASD section of the Chrome Web Store. In the Chrome Web Store select "For auburn.wednet.edu" from the left toolbar, choose AdBlock, and complete your free download.

The first time AdBlock is installed it may open a new tab with an installation complete message. Close this tab and continue to work as normal.

Copying comments and suggestions in Google Docs, Slides, and Sheets

A new feature has been added to Google that allows you to copy comments and suggestions if you make multiple copies of the same document:

Choose "file" - "make a copy"
Select "copy (file name)"
Choose "Copy comments and suggestions"
Launch new document with copied comments

Export Google Classroom grades or scores to Google Sheets or CSV files through these easy steps:

In your Google Classroom, click on the assignment
Click settings and choose an option:
- Copy all grades to Google Sheets
- Download all grades as CSV file
- Download these grades as CSV file

Instruction

Google Cast for Education

This free Chrome App allows wireless sharing of screens in a clasrom across the WIFI network. Cast for Education has built-in controls for teachers and works smoothly with Google Classroom. The app runs on the teacher's device which is connected to a projector. Students share their screens with their instructor's permission using the Cast feature in Chrome. Check out this helpful video Tutorial and instructions page. (Provided by iteachwithgafe.com by Robert Pohl and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.)

Actively Learn

Sixteen teachers (general and special education) from 7 of our 8 secondary schools just kicked off a pilot of Actively Learn in the contents areas of ELA, Social Studies and Science. Actively Learn is an e-reading platform that improves students' reading comprehension and retention by empowering teachers to reach students inside a text. Teachers can customize instruction, provide real-time feedback, allow peers to collaborate, and get analytics on student performance. Actively Learn also assists teachers in developing high quality content to increase rigor and support students in reading for depth and complex thinking. A free version of Actively Learn is also available for classroom teachers to try out.

Data Security

Email & Safety Protocol

As we know from the recent virus attack called "Emotet", viruses may damage or destroy data files or spread to other computers. Never open anything that is attached to an email message unless you know the contents of the file. If you receive an email message with an attachment from an unknown sender, you should delete the message and email postmaster@auburn.wednet.edu with the information. DOT has had multiple reports of emails from unknown senders with attached invoices and false PayPal notifications. These should be deleted unless you are assured of the content. Check out Social Engineering Red Flags for how to recognize potential scams.

It is also recommended you regularly back up any data on your hard drive to Google Drive or a portable drive (i.e. thumb drive) so that in the event of a virus infection, you do not lose valuable data and work.

Shout Out!

Three high schools, two middle schools and eight elementary schools reported participation as part of the 143,930 globally registered events for the annual Hour of Code 2017.

Special Shout Out! for these school wide efforts:

All Lake View Elementary classrooms buddied up for an hour of paired programming. Specialist Trina Lutes-Johnson pre-taught intermediate students to lead the paired activities. Katie Mikel and Jessica Udd supported implementation.

West AHS opted for an all-school optional assembly offline activity to demonstrate the exactness needed in computer programming. Nice work, Marina Hiles, Jacalyn McClure and Josh Melanson.

Auburn Riverside Computer Science teacher Robyn Saarenas and students went on the road, teaching other classes throughout the day how to build an ARHS App!

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