Holidays 2019

Table of Contents

Security Tightening

An ironic reality is that school systems are more vulnerable to security breaches than others due to the 'sharing' nature of our collaborative atmosphere. We encourage students and teachers to work together, on the same documents, in real time and at any time. We share our documents and information with colleagues. And today's young people exist in an ethos of shared social media. There have been over 800 significant security breaches in school systems and educational institutions over the past decade. The 'Age of Sharing' is at odds with standard security frameworks and controls.

No one, nor any institution is invulnerable to attack. But we can each take steps to make all safer. Specifically, we can foster a culture of 'reporting' by pointing out weaknesses in our systems or procedures and always notifying the Tech Department. We can follow your lead and routinely and vigorously address your concerns. Each user, particularly those with access to lots of sensitive information (i.e., all of us, teachers, staff, administrators) should regularly change passwords, check our computers for up-to-date operating systems and programs, and report any attempt to hijack or pfish your login credentials or sensitive information. Check here for guidelines specifically for Bloomfield staff.

The Tech Department has informed the schools through the District Tech Committee that we will begin enforcing policies long in-place that may not have been enforced as rigorously, as they should have been recently. We will begin excluding from the network any personal devices on the instructional WiFi channels. Teachers and staff and student teachers should use only district-owned computers and devices. If you have a Chromebook and need a Windows laptop, see your school librarian about the exchange. If you are a student teacher, see the school librarian about receiving a district device for working with students. If you need other, specialized equipment, contact your Supervisor about making a special request. The District is committed to providing the technology that you need to do your job AND to protecting everyone's data and privacy.

The P WiFi channel is for the mobile phones of staff and teachers. Follow the directions below for connecting.

Here is a fascinating list of major data breaches over the past decade. There have been over 9,000 incidents. Test your spreadsheet skills. Make a copy of the spreadsheet (it is a Google Sheet, culled from various sources) and see if you can identify the breaches just in New Jersey, in 2018 & 2019. (Click here for the answer.)

New URL Links for Bloomfield PowerSchool

Please update your links for PowerSchool to the following:

The upgraded site inludes the Training Videos which previously did not launch.

Updating Chrome Browser on Windows 10

You should update the Chrome browser on mini-PCs attached to SmartBoards and LCDs and laptops regularly:

  1. Open the Chrome browser. Click on the more options icon (three vertical dots icon).
  2. Click Help.
  3. Then click About Google Chrome option to open About Chrome page.

The About Chrome page not only displays the current version of Chrome installed on your PC but also automatically checks for updates upon opening the page.



As of January 22, the current version of Chrome browser should be:

Version 79.0.3945.130 (Official Build) (64-bit)

Directions For Connecting to P WiFi

  1. Staff and Teachers can connect their mobile phones to the P WiFi channel in all the schools. (Chromebooks and other laptop/tablet computers are prevented from signing-on.)
  2. The P network is non-broadcasting, everywhere except in the BOE Building and the HS Library, during BOE Meetings. You do not see it in the list of available networks (except at the BOE Office Building.)
  3. To connect to the P wireless channel, select WiFi, add network, Manual, and type and enter 130410P.
  4. There is no password or key to enter when adding the WiFi.
  5. Launch your web browser and log in with your district Gmail/Google account and password.
  6. If you are later kicked off P (when the system performs a random purge of unrecognized devices), create a Spiceworks ticket and submit your phone's MAC address.
  7. On iPhones, the MAC address is the 'Network Address' and is found under Advanced WiFi settings. On Androids, the MAC address is under WiFi, Advanced Settings.
  8. It is a series of hexadecimal numbers, such as 1A:2B:56:7C:90.
  9. To recover Gmail, use only the authorized Google GMail app. Do not use iPhone's native Email app.

End of Windows 7

As previously announced, Microsoft ends support for Windows 7 in January 2020. There will be no more security updates, bug fixes, patches, or technical support. Users of Windows 7 will be vulnerable to cyber attacks, hacking, and poor performance. Please submit for upgrade any Windows laptop, or remaining desktop, with Windows 7 via Spiceworks for upgrade. Windows 10 is different in appearance from Windows 7, but not markedly so. Users have made the adjustment easily. In fact, Windows 10 appears to run certain of our laptops better than its predecessor. Beginning in January, we will begin disconnecting and disabling any Windows 7 devices that we detect.

School Messenger for Teachers

Teachers can email the parents of students in their classes, as long as they have registered accounts in the PowerSchool Parent Portal. As of 12/11/2019, 90% of students district-wide have parents or guardians with Parent Portal accounts. Demarest has 100% registration; Berkeley, Carteret, and Watsessing have 99% participation; all the other schools have participation in the high 90% range, except the HS, all of whose grade levels are above 85%, save current Seniors, who are only at 54% (212/457 are without associated Parent Portal accounts). Only teachers of Seniors should not count on messages via School Messenger reaching parents.

To send messages to all the parents of your students in a class, as scheduled in PowerSchool -

  1. In PowerTeacher, click on 'Message Sender' in the Navigation bar on the left.
  2. Type a 'Subject' for your email message.
  3. Select 'Class Sections.'
  4. Select your 'School.'
  5. Select the section(s).
  6. Click 'Add Recipients.'
  7. At present, you cannot add or upload additional recipients.
  8. Click Continue, then click on Email. Type your message.
  9. Please identify yourself as the sender in the body of the message, particularly if you opt to select a different name or address as the sender.

Messages will be queued and sent. You can check for delivery status.

Gynzy for K-6

Three years ago, we asked teachers to move away from SMART Notebook software. We explained that SMART had begun to charge for the program -when it had previously been free!- and we were moving away from SMARTBoards. In September, we let everyone know that Adobe and Google were ending support for 'Flash' software -on which the SMART Notebook was based. Subsequently, we told teachers who still had Notebook lessons that they could email them as attachments to smart@bloomfield.k12.nj.us and we would conver them to Slides or PDFs. You can still do that. The Tech Committee reported that many teachers still relied on the 'interactive' features of the Notebook software, particularly for the youngest learners. They wanted to be able to display and interact with clocks, number lines, use special screens to display lessons (money and coins, word spiders, blank sheet music, task planner for daily activities, aquarium images where fish float of swim, birthday cakes with candles, etc.) The Librarians identified Gynzy software as a final replacement for SMART Notebook. The Tech Committee trialed the software with a handful of teachers at each school. Based on that feedback, we will purchase the software for January-June and renew for next year, if the reviews and use continue to justify the program. Logging in should be via Google; directions will be forwarded as soon as the subscription is finalized. (See below)

Above is an Introductory video to Gynzy above. And here is a link to the Gynzy YouTube channel with additional support and training videos.

Directions for logging in are below.

Classroom Management tools.mp4

Getting Started with Gynzy

Gynzy is a web based series of tools designed to help create truly active interactive board activities and lessons. It was purchased -subscribed to for the remainder of the year- at the recommendation of the elementary teachers who continued to feel the loss of the Smart Notebook software

To log into Gynzy, use the Google sign-in option at the bottom of the login page:

https://accounts.gynzy.com/login

If logging in with Google does not work, please submit a Tech Help Desk ticket and let us know exactly what is occurring when you or a student tries to login.

Teachers can modify tools for lessons and save them in the 'My Lessons' folder on the left.

The "Extras" tab includes some tools that are exactly like what was in Smart Notebook and some new resources.

Under Extras, Classroom Management, there is a 'Voice Level' or 'Noise Meter' which measures the level of background noise in your classroom. (It requires that you have a microphone attached to your PC.) There are also the standard clock and timer.

Under Extras, Widgets, you can also find these -

Bar Chart - to help create bar charts on your interactive whiteboard.

Sticky Note - Write text on a note and stick it on the board.

Curtain - A full screen curtain to hide and reveal something on the board - - like the 'Screen' feature of SmartBoards.

Money Drag - Drag and drop bills and coins on the board - like one of the more popular tools in SmartTools.

Spin The Wheel - A turntable to assist cooperative learning.

Fraction Bar - Display and manipulate fraction bars on the board

Fraction Circle - Display and manipulate fraction circles on the board.

Adjustable Analog Clock - An Analog Clock that can be adjusted using the hands or the + and -.

Text-to-Speech - Turn text into speech.

Cover - A cover to cover texts and images.

PLEASE NOTE: IF THIS IS A POPULAR TOOL, PLEASE LET YOUR TECH REPRESENTATIVE KNOW SO THAT SHE OR HE CAN RECOMMEND ITS RENEWAL FOR NEXT YEAR.

Spring 2020 Teacher Academy

43 courses were offered as part of the just concluded 'Fall 2019' Term of the BTA. There were 512 total registrations by 209 teachers. Of the 512 approved registrations, 390 (76% attendance rate) registrations showed-up for the course and received compensation. Course Evaluation reports for the just concluded Fall 2019 term and all terms are available here. The reports are very large, particularly the ones that include text comments, and are NOT intended for printing, just screen viewing. Search for a course, title, instructor, topic, etc..

You should be able to propose courses for the Spring BTA beginning on Saturday, 12/21, until Tuesday, 1/14. As of now, registration for approved courses will open on Monday, 1/20/20. Courses could begin only after BOE Approval, probably on Monday, 2/18. The spring Academy always runs on left-overs, whatever was not spent on the summer and fall. Higher priority will be given to courses that offer instruction on current curriculum goals and objectives, existing software, specifically subscriptions to be renewed next year (check with your Tech Committee representative), including Google programs and approved apps, and the newly acquired Gynzy in K-6 and WeVideo in 7-8 (see below). Please check here for updates and other important dates. (Note that the date for the start of courses is tentative, until after the BOE reorganization in January to set meeting dates for next year.)

Bloomfield's Technology Coaches/Librarians

Bloomfield has a highly productive group of teachers and staff involved in the Technology program. Where other districts have Tech Teachers in every school, or at many different grade levels, we have relied on existing Library-Media Specialists to shoulder a great deal of the work. They manage the inventory of tech devices in their Follett Destiny Library program. Many other districts now have multiple Technology Coaches, or Tech Facilitators, or even Instructional Supervisors to support faculty and staff in the most effective use of Technology. We have the generous work of just two formal coaches, without whom there would be no 1:1 or Tech Program of great note at the HS or MS.

The Library-Media Specialists have a 168 years of total teaching experience, 83 of them as Library-Media Specialists. The K-6 Librarians teach between 22 and 41 scheduled periods every two weeks to every class at each grade level. Several barely have time to handle their teaching duties and manage the school library book collections, in addition to managing the inventory of Chromebooks and computers. Most importantly, they interact with all the teachers in the building, planning instruction and technology implementation. The Librarians are absolutely indispensable in the evolution of the Tech program.

The roll-out of the 1:1 program at the HS and MS would not have been possible without the additional work, patience, and diligence of our tech coaches. They have each been acknowledged by their colleagues for their work and support. It remains astounding that they support the work of hundreds of teachers, as successfully as they do. Please recognize their talents, expertise -and take full advantage of them -along with our Librarians- and the generous members of the Tech Committee- as we advance in anytime/anywhere learning and growth!

Literacy & Digital Videos

For over ten years, 21st Century Learning standards have touted the special role of understanding, interpreting, sharing and creating videos. On-line reading of news, events, and data often entails watching videos. "Visual literacy is crucial to understanding how the world works. If you don't understand how to process the visual text, then you're missing a lot of what's out there." More than consumers, we want students to be creators of new ways of learning. "Producing a trailer for the play is a means to understanding how to construct meaning in a visual sense as well as in a written sense." Some even suggest that 'technology' as a distinct learning discipline or subject be replaced by the new literacies of intepreting visual images and media: "If we can establish an expanded sense of what it means to be literate in this new information environment, then we may achieve more progress, in terms of better preparing children for the 21st century, by integrating contemporary literacy, instead of integrating technology." (See The New Literacy | Scholastic.com. (2019). Scholastic.com. Published March/April 2005, on http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=263&scrlybrkr=f8fa35dd.)

A big part of the planning for the 1:1 now in place for grades 6-12 has been providing video resources and repositories to support student learning. Below are just some of the sources of educational videos to support instruction. One of the first subscriptions specifically purchased to support the 1:1 was Screencastify, for the production of videos with the Chromebooks. Beginning in Januarcy, the MS will start using the paid professional version of WeVideo for more refined and specialized editing of Screencastify and other videos. (We expect logins to be authenticated through Google, but will communicate directions as soon as the subscription is finalized. For an update: See below.)

See below for a list of available video sources for students and teachers.

WeVideo for MS

All MS students and teachers have an account on WeVideo, as explained below. Students use their school email and password; teachers use their school email and employee id, preceded by AA. The only exception to these credentials are users who had or have existing free accounts on WeVideo under their district email - this applies to both teachers and students. Teachers and students with free WeVideo accounts under their district email have to use the special code available from Mrs. Hughes or Mrs. Rice in the Library to port their free account and work into the Bloomfield domain. Teachers should have receive an email with  the code -which when intput into their account settings will automatically enroll them in the Bloomfield domain. They can give the same code to students who have created free accounts with their district emails.
  1. Every student has a license.
  2. Every teacher has a license.
  3. The account name for both teachers and students is their full district email.
  4. The password for all students with seats is the same as their network/Google password.
  5. The initial password for teachers is their 'Teacher Number' (what they use to log into Paper Cut for printing) PRECEDED BY 'AA'. For example, if your teacher number is 3456, then your initial password for WeVideo is AA3456.
  6. Students are 'users'; teachers are assigned 'lead' role and can create classes of students.
  7. Each seat includes 5 GB of storage and 1 Hr of publishing time per month.
  8. Mrs. Hughes and Mrs. Rice will be administrators of the account and have the super-secret code for moving your free account into WeVideo. 
All accounts, per the above criteria, are active.

New student accounts should be submitted through Spiceworks or by contacting the Library.

Sources of Instructional Videos for Student/Teacher Use

TeacherTube = TeacherTube is a video sharing website. It is designed to allow those in the educational industry, particularly teachers, to share educational resources such as video, audio, documents, photos, groups and blogs. The site contains a mixture of classroom teaching resources and others designed for teacher training.

Khan Academy = Everyone knows about Khan Academy. It was founded in 2008 by Salman Khan. The entirety of the content on the site is presented in the format of YouTube videos - that you as a teacher can 'Approve' for view by students in 'bloomfield.k12.nj.us.' The layouts of the pages are very simple and straightforward.

PBS Video = This free service has been around for almost ten years. PBS has optimized its video player for computer display, giving users access to more than 1,500 videos , including full screen videos from favorite PBS KIDS series such as CURIOUS GEORGE, DINOSAUR TRAIN, THE CAT IN THE HAT KNOWS A LOT ABOUT THAT!, and SESAME STREET.

Kids Should See This = a growing library of smart, short, and "super-cool, not-made-for-kids, but perfect for them” videos that can be watched in the classroom. 8-12 new videos are added each week. There are over 3,200 videos in the archives. Available categories/selections are SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, SPACE, ANIMALS, NATURE, FOOD, DIY, MUSIC, ART, ANIMATION, and RANDOM SELECT.

SchoolTube = Video sharing platform for schools featuring original content created by students.

Ted Talks = Another very popular and widely known source of challenging and inspirational videos. Probably more appropriate for older children.

Internet Archive = The Internet Archive Project is a world-wide effort to make available literature and all kinds of resources in copyright permissible fashion for personal use and for instructional use in schools. This is a link to the video archive. It requires previewing by the teacher, yet contains an amazing collection of useful content.

Amazon Inspire (BETA) = Amazon Inspire depends on its users to improve the site by rating resources, writing reviews, and reporting questionable content. Content must be reviewed prior to class use, but it is a rich source of varied materials.

Crash Course For Kids = a bi-weekly posting every Tuesday and Thursday about grade school science. Topics include Earth, Habitats, Space, Chemical Reactions, Engineering.

Videos for Teachers

Videos of Teachers in Sample Observations = A long time ago, as part of a 'School Improvement Network,' it became popular to videotape teacher lessons and review them for best practices. These are some interesting videos of teachers actually teaching students. They are sorted by grade: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12.

Effective Use of Educational Video = Effective learning with videos requires engagement with text, as well as video and audio resources, relevance for what students are actually doing in the classroom, and brief, pointed, targeted clips. This is a discussion on the most effective video use.


Password Purge

New students in grades K-8 receive randomly assigned eight-character passwords to log into Google, GMail, the network, etc.. Originally, several years ago, this list exceeded 60,000 words. It has been culled down to under 40,000 . Still, some words not wholly appropriate for our youngest students remain.

To win a Tech T-Shirt, help us remove words not fully suitable for our youngest by editing the spreadsheet to the right. Only teachers and staff have access. You can expand the window to edit the list. It is very large so be patient while it loads. Simply be logged in as yourself and delete any words that you deem inappropriate. The two persons who help the most and remove the most inappropriate words will win the T-Shirts.

Now, in the spirit of the holidays, please don't be a grinch and try to cut corners and cheat. The Tech Department has philological experts who specialize in words that are inappropriate for children. If -in their expert opinion- you delete words that are in fact OK for children to use, you will lose one point for each valid word that you remove. You will receive one point for each inappropriate word that you delete. Winners will be notified after the holidays.

Good luck! And Thanks!

Response to some questions: (1)We need a list of 40,000 passwords, because if we ever have to reassign passwords to all 6,300+ students we would not want to assign duplicate passwords. (2)Google recommends a minimum of 8-characters.

PLEASE NOTE: YOU HAVE TO DELETE THE WORD, NOT JUST CHANGE ITS TEXT COLOR, OR FILL-IN THE CELL. ONLY DELETING EARNS POINTS.

Word Search

And The Winners Are . . .

For their 'credible' edits of words not wholly appropriate as passwords for all students, the winners are -with the indicated number of audited edits-

Barbetta 19

Pericone 94

Piwowarski 24

Data Performance Carousel

For the first time in many years, NJ DOE NJSLA/PARCC results included District DFG's or District Factor Groups as indicators of socio-economic status. Comparing Bloomfield to like schools and districts highlights the District's success in education, particularly when including consideration of the many non-metric, immeasurable benefits in being a Bengal, on any day!

The data charts above compare Bloomfields' school performance in a few of the 2019 NJSLA against "like" schools, as explained below-

  1. There are 26 9-12 High Schools in the State that have enrollments above 1,000 students and are in the DE District Factor Group (DFG) - in other words, like Bloomfield High School - the two graphs above show BHS's performance in the 2019 NJSLA ELA09 and ELA10 compared to the other 25 like-high schools.
  2. There seven Middle Schools in the State that have just grades 7 and 8 and are in the DE DFG -like BMS- the two graphs above show BMS's performance in 2019 NJSLA ELA07/08 and MAT07/08 to the other six like-middle schools.
  3. Finally, in the entire State, there are 24 elementary schools that go to 6th grade and are in the DE DFG -like Bloomfield's eight K-6 elementary schools- the four graphs above show their comparative performance in 2019's NJSLA ELA for 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th grades.

In all graphs, Bloomfield's schools are in red -and compare more than favorably vis-a-vis their like schools around the State. Congratulations to the educators, staff, students, and parents in all the schools!

Answer to Question on Security Breaches in NJ Based on Available/Reported Data in Spreadsheet -

There were 13 reported breaches in NJ since January 1, 2018 at such institutions, as Bed Bath & Beyond, Thomas Edison State University, American Neighborhood Mortgage Acceptance Company, Union Lake Supermarket, Lord & Taylor's, Cornerstone Foot & Ankle, etc. Here are some of the descriptions:

  • Thomas Edison State University discovered that an unauthorized user accessed a Thomas Edison employee's email account. Based upon its investigation to date, Thomas Edison reasonably believes that the Unauthorized User improperly acquired the personal information of 557 individuals, including 13 residents of the North Carolina. The personal information acquired includes names and Social Security numbers. This incident was isolated to a single email account and the Unauthorized User did not gain access to Thomas Edison's network.
  • "Unauthorized parties accessed certain AnnieMac Home Mortgage employee email accounts through an email phishing scheme. After learning of this incident, AnnieMac Home Mortgage conducted a thorough investigation and determined that the unauthorized parties gained access to the personal information of some of our customers. The personal information that was the subject of the incident was in electronic form."Records exposed include Account Number and SSN
  • Hackers have stolen the personal and financial information of customers who shop at Lord and Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue in the latest of a string of data breaches in recent years.Records for more than five million credit and debit cards used at all the chains’ North American locations were compromised, according to Gemini Advisory, a cybersecurity firm. Most were obtained from stores in New York and New Jersey, Gemini said.

Source:

Data Breaches | Privacy Rights Clearinghouse

Data Breaches | Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. (2019). Privacyrights.org. Retrieved 12 December 2019, from https://privacyrights.org/data-breaches