December 2020

Computer Science Education Week

This week, December 7-11th, is Computer Science Education Week! This annual event is held in recognition of the birthday of computing pioneer Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, and aims to inspire K-12 students to learn computer science, advocate for equity in computer science education, and celebrate the contributions of students, teachers, and partners to the field.

You can join in the fun in your virtual classroom (any classroom!) by encouraging students to join in an Hour of Code. Below are two choice boards (K-5 and 6-12) with a variety of activities for all ages and ability levels -- some don't even need a computer.

Computer Science Education Week 2020 Choice Board

K-5 Choice Board (by Erica Covey, Arthur Jacobsen Elementary)

Coding for Secondary

6-12 Choice Board

CS Week Slideshow

Some photos and quotes from teachers from last year's CS Week.

Are you celebrating Computer Science Week? Take a screenshot of your class and upload it in this form.

Tech Tools

Outlook Distribution Groups

When inviting a distribution in a calendar invite, all members are marked "optional" by default. To make all members of a group "required" attendees, expand the group by clicking the + symbol (see picture). This will ensure any future updates to your invitation go to all parties intended. Outlook does not appear to be updating optional attendees as it does required.

Animation of a contact group being expanded in Outlook

Editing PDFs on Chromebooks

As teachers and students have gone paperless during Distance Learning, the need to annotate PDF documents has increased. Online tools, such as Kami and Dochub, have been removing their free features. Thankfully Chromebooks have some PDF editing capabilities built into them:

You may annotate PDFs on a Chromebook from the Files app

From the Chromebook Shelf, select the Launcher (typically, this is in the lower-left corner).
Type "Files" in the search box.
Click or tap on the Files app to access your Chromebook files.

4. From the left-side menu of the Files app you may browse My Files (items stored on your device) or your Google Drive files (items stored on Google Drive). Navigate to the PDF you want to edit, then click or tap on it to select it.

5. Select Open (above the list of files), then select View (Default). This will open the PDF in a new browser tab for viewing.

6. To switch from View to Annotate mode, select the pen icon in the upper-right corner. This activates a menu with five icons: A pen, a highlighter, an eraser, an undo button, and redo button. The pen and highlighter options both allow you to adjust color and line width.

You may use the above PDF annotation tools from the File app for any file you can access while offline, as well.

To add and edit typed text in PDFs, you can use Google Docs. Opening PDFs stored on Google Drive with Google Docs will convert the PDF into images and text in a Google Doc:

Go to Google Drive
Go to the PDF file you want to access on either My Drive or a Shared Drive.
Click or tap on the file once to select it, then select the three vertical-dot menu to display several options. Alternatively, right-click on the file.
Choose Open With, then select Google Docs. The system will open the PDF in Google Docs.

Instruction

Emojis to Support Google Classroom

Did you know that Emojis can be added to text within Classroom Topics, Assignments, and Materials? Teachers are using Emojis to enhance their Google Classroom organization by color coding subject areas, adding emphasis onto specific tasks and making the Classroom more enticing for students to engage within. You can find Emojis to copy into the text of assignments or topics at https://www.emojicopy.com/ to begin elevating posts in a new way!

Example of emojis in Google Classroom assignment titles.

Seesaw Icon Shortcuts for Activities.pdf

Click here for a printable PDF copy of the Seesaw Icons.

Seesaw Icons Support Student Directions

Seesaw icons are a great way to make activity instructions more visual and easier for students to follow. You can use these shortcuts to create Seesaw icons in your activity instructions. Type in the text shortcut in between two colons (for example, :photo:) and when you save your activity, the icons will turn into emojis.

An example of using Seesaw icons can be found in the exit ticket below.

Data Security & Privacy

Personally Identifiable Information (PII) Online

During this time of remote working across many industries, staff are finding ways to move towards paperless transactions. This is wonderful for convenience, but not always for security.

To avoid identity theft and unauthorized access to your personal information, never send the following over email:

Bank account numbers/ABA routing (e.g., checks)
SSN documents (e.g., W-4)
Tax returns
Credit card information
Usernames, passwords, and PINs

Help Desk

Windows Updates

The Department of Technology is performing feature updates this month on all district Windows 10 computers. These updates to the systems will keep them running smoothly.

Updates will run Friday afternoons, after 3:30pm, December 11, and 18, 2020. For Windows computers being used in buildings, staff should leave their machines powered on Friday afternoons. Updates will take about 2 hours after which the machine will reboot.

Staff with Windows machines at home have received separate email directions for bringing their machines in to receive these and other required licensing updates.

Tech Help in Languages other than English

Auburn School District continues to maintain this fall technology assistance lines for families in our most prevalent community languages. Spanish Distance Learning Technology Assistant (DLTA) Edgar Salinas Romero can be reached at esalinasromero@auburn.wednet.edu, (253) 887-2105. Oksana Grinakh, ogrinakh@auburn.wednet.edu, (253) 237-6165, is receiving questions from Ukrainian-speaking families.

Contact information for all DLTAs is provided on the DOT webpage. School-based staff are encouraged to share this information with families.

Shout Out!

Transportation/Library Partnership

A huge shout-out to our colleagues in the Transportation department who, during school closures, have enabled our school libraries to send books home to students via their "big, yellow limousines"! This has helped to keep our students reading and researching while at home, and keep their passion for literature alive. As one 6th grade teacher reported: "My email is filling up with students chatting about books!!!! It's crazy! They are doing all the talking! And it's creating trust and more community!!! I love it!!!"

Driver Rick Drouet will also be assisting with Chromebook pick up and delivery to support repairs and additional checkouts throughout the district.

Thanks to: Karen Arnzen (Transportation Co-ordinator), Kyle Carrier (Transportation Dispatcher), Dennis Millard, Jennifer Yanez, Caleb Friend, Vicki Jenson (Transportation Routers) and all the drivers who have made this possible:

Barbara Abernethy, Susan Aiton, Wanda Akers, John Alling, Rachel Arlin, Janie Bartro, Shelli Bender, Marisa Bowman,

Rick Bredereck, Peggy Buckley, Kimberly Capitan, David Chang, Matthew Chociej, Kimberlie Cleary, Cindy Crawford,

Diana Darlington, Deane Davies, Daniel Davis, Sherry Dehoet, Richard Drouet, Max Evavold, Virginia Flascher, Amber Flores,

Steven Foreaker, Randy Forsberg, Jodi Gagnon, Benjamin Galati, Karin Garl, Donnamaria Gerasimczyk, Brayden Grim,

Jolene Grove, Christopher Harkey, John Hembree, Lynda Hembree, Zane Hembree, Jon Holmes, Terrie Honeysett,

Lizeth Jauregui-Delgadillo, Wendy Jezek, Darcie-Rae Knusten, Kimberly Knutsen, Thomas Kucharski, Christina Lacy, Charles Lake,

Stacie Lane, Tradene Lanes, Brittney Lovelace, David Lovelace, Virginia Luckenbach, Kimberli Mattox, Bruce McAtee,

Janet McCart, Carol McKee, Patricia Meyer, Rizwana Nawaz, Brenda Nelson, Leslie Newman, Janice Oten-Jensen,

Laura Oliver, Laurie Pack, Paul Parmenter, Susan Parmenter, Eileen Plantz, Shandra Pollard, Carmella Ponis,

Jeannette Preston, Jodi Pretz, Linda Riola, Fabian Sanchez, Myra Schlosser, Tamie Scholter, Lisa Schut,

Leonakay Semones, Mary Sisson, Merissa Sisson, Adam Spear, Susan Spencer, Raymond Spicer, Courtney Tanner,

Bernadette Tranholt, Ashlee Turner, Kathryn Turner, Caylee Jo Vike, Debra Vike, Catherine Walker, Daniella Walter,

Christopher Webster, Rowena Westlake, and Starlynne Wolters

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