May 2024

Tech Tips

AI Guidelines for Auburn School District

ASD is pleased to announce that we have released new guidelines for AI use in the district! This was the result of a lot of work by a lot of people: students, teachers, school administrators, Business Services, Department of Technology, and Superintendent Staff - we wanted everyone to be supported and empowered with this new technology.

ASD Artificial Intelligence Guidelines

The approved AI tools are ready for use by staff, with student access to select tools beginning in September. Check the page for more details.

Look out for professional development on AI at the Spring Training Series (which begins 24th May).

If you have questions or want more training/support in the meantime, please reach out to your tech coach.

NB: We are aware of intermittent issues with ChatGPT, which we are working to resolve. Please use Google Gemini if you have issues.

Image generated by Canva Magic Media

ASD Cultural Calendar

The Equity and Family Engagement Department has a new website that is now live. On it, you can find a cultural calendar of events throughout the year, and resources that you can bring into your classroom to recognize these important events. Check it out at the link below:

ASD Cultural Celebrations

Helpdesk

Hotspots for Families

We have a limited number of internet hotspots available to be checked out for families who do not have internet access at home. A number have been supplied to each school, but if you are in need of more hotspots, please complete the request form below so that more can be provided to you.

Hotspot Request Form

Instruction

Innovation Funds - Deadline 20th May

Do you have an exciting, innovative idea for tech in your classroom? Do you know that there is money available from the Technology Levy for that?

We are currently soliciting proposals for the final round of Innovation Funds this year. The deadline for submission is May 20th. To learn more about how to submit a proposal, please see our guidelines below.

Innovation Funds Process

Check Out Classroomscreen!

This is a free website that all teachers can use! This resource allows you to add different widgets, such as a timer, traffic light, noise levels, QR codes, random name selector & more. Get crafty and create your very own Classroomscreen or get a little inspiration by visiting their library. I use Classroomscreen to create clear expectations for my students, support time and classroom management, and help with the flow of an active classroom.

Guest Article from Jennifer Zayshlyy, ITSS at HZD

Screen recording 2024-05-01 3.47.58 PM.webm

Calander March.pdf

Using Canva to Organize Lessons

Guest Article from Sam Ankerfelt, ITSS at LEA

At this point most people probably know Canva as a design tool, however this is just the beginning of what can be done here. I am one who uses it to keep organized and plan out my week. The ability to have a digital lesson plan calendar in one spot has been saving me time throughout the school year. With the example attached you can see that a simple name is given to each lesson and the grade level, each one of those names is also linked to any sites that I may use for the lesson. As an elementary school specialist there is very little transition time from when one class period ends and when the next begins. I needed my resources available as quickly as I could. If you are going to be using more than one link there is another option to attach a google document with each link to the websites/ videos that you may use.

Recap the Year with Digital Portfolios in Seesaw

New in Seesaw is their Highlights Collection! These digital portfolios are a great way for students to capture and share learning that makes them feel proud. There are pages for everything, including a learner profile, the main subjects, and even science and social studies! As we move closer to the end of the year, making space for kids to reflect on their work through the year would be a great way to engage students. The Highlights Collect makes this quick and easy to prepare for your students. Check it out!

Digital Citizenship & Media Literacy

Keep Your Personal Information Safe

Your personal information is of high value to cybercriminals. As you navigate the internet -- at work and at home -- you should ensure that you protect this at all times. Some tips to help are:

Don't use your birthdate or SSN as part of your passwords or usernames
Don't send your bank account details via email, text, or online message
Don't enter information on a website after following a link in an email

As cybercrime is on the rise, make sure you are protected and don't be an easy target.

Tech Tools

Using Favorites in Outlook

Have you ever tried clicking on that "Add favorite" button in Outlook? It has some really neat features! One that we find very useful is the ability to favorite a person. When you add a person as a favorite, it allows you to click on their name, and then magic happens! It will pull up all your email correspondence with that individual, making it so much easier to find that one email you've been searching for. Another way to get organized and save time.

Noodle Tools

Our School District has access to a number of Gale databases for student research and resources/content for teachers to use in lesson plans. The Gale databases can be found on your school library’s web page and no password is needed when using them at school. For outside school use, please check with your librarian for the username and password. Additional Gale databases are available from the KCLS’s online library. For login instructions, click on staff or students. Classified staff who live in King County can apply for an e-Card on the KCLS website.

Beside the ability to send articles to one’s Google Drive, users can export sources directly to NoodleTools with just a couple of clicks. This online platform is paid for by the ASD and can be found on the Symbaloo page as well as your school’s library page. Students can build accurate source citations as well as write and organize their notes.

NoodleTools cites all of the different sources seen below (more than what Microsoft Office and Google Docs allows).

Exporting a Citation from a Gale Database to NoodleTools.mp4

To use NoodleTools, the user will need to sign in using their Google account. Once signed in, follow these directions to import a citation from a Gale database directly into NoodleTools. NoodleTools allows the export of sources into a Google Doc for a correctly formatted bibliography.

Data Security

Report Spam Messages in Outlook

If you receive an unwanted email, remember to use the Report Message feature in the Outlook App or Outlook Web Access (OWA).

Simply click on the "Report" button and select which type of message this is: phishing or junk. This will report the message and can prevent other staff from receiving it.

Further details can be found on Microsoft's Support Page.

Reporting a message in the Outlook desktop app (L) and OWA (R)

Skyward

Student Year End Processing

The student school year will switch from 2023-24 to 2024-25 between July 22-24. Some areas of the student system will be unavailable during all or part of this time. Emails will share out more details on those days.

This does not impact other areas of the Skyward software.

Training is currently under way to help prepare for the end of the school year.

Skyward Help

The Data Services Website provides help and information for Skyward users with specific pages for employees, teachers, Skyward training, and submitting help tickets.

Shout Outs

Code.org CS Fundamentals Workshop Attendees

A big hooray to the sixteen teachers that volunteered their time to learn about CS Fundamentals and bringing computer science into their classrooms on April 20th, 2024.

Karey Benavides, Amber Carter, Zachary Garner, Nicole Harlor, Danby Kim, Kaitlyn Miller, Genesis Moncrease, Elizabeth Schuster, Carol Scofield, Emilia Shuman, Naomi Simpson, Sandra Skutt, Holly Stilnovich, Ernest Thomas, Don Thomas II, Deisy Vargas

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