Tue, Oct. 24, 2023

Penney Matos

Centennial HS's Digital Learning Coach

Penney Matos taught for 13 years before transitioning to instructional technology classroom support at Centennial HS.

What is a DLC?

Status Dashboards

Having trouble with a site? Check out their dashboard:

Canvas Status
Clever Status (you can subscribe)
Google's G Suite Status
Kami Status (you can subscribe)
Lightspeed Status (you can subscribe)
Nearpod Status (you can subscribe)

Let me know when you're doing something awesome!

For Everyone!

Restart Reminder

This is your reminder to reboot your PC at least once each week! No need to log off! Just lock your computer (<Windows>+L) at the end of each day.

This is also a refresher of the Sept 12th update that we should no longer be turning off PC computers (classroom walls, office desktops, etc)! They need to remain on so they receive updates.

In the Know...

Approved Websites & Apps

Just a reminder to always check this list before selecting a site/app for students to use for class. If the site isn't listed, students CANNOT create an account on the resource, even if they are able to (like by creating an account with their personal Gmail). If students are able to use the resource without an account (like joining a game with a code), they can do so.

This policy is to protect our students' data and to protect you!

Collaboration Corner

AP Human Geography Collaboration

Recently, AP Human Geography teachers Art Saunders, Shawn Robbins, and Kenny Wooten collaborated with IC Dr. Teddi Martin and DLC Penney Matos to update an existing assignment. Dr. Martin focused on the assignment outline and rubric and Penney Matos included a digital resource and instructions for students. A few possible options were discussed then APHG teachers selected the option they preferred. Other ideas that were generated could be used for future lessons/assignments. If you would like to collaborate on a coming lesson/assignment, please reach out!

News and Noteworthy Ed Tech

Digital Learning Today: October 2023

In this newsletter, you will find a lot of exciting things, including:

🤖 AI and how it’s revolutionizing education.

🌎 Future Ready strategies & resources for innovative learning.

🔊 Canvas Speedgrader - Providing meaningful feedback with Canvas!

💻 Cybersecurity Awareness Month - Test your knowledge

Take a look, click around! Your DLCs are ready to answer your questions, support, & coach you. Click here to see what it's all about!

Google Chat Update and Alternatives for Students

The district has made the decision to block the Google Chat feature for students. When we restrict one avenue of communication, students tend to migrate to others like Google Docs or even Gmail for chatting, which can result in automatic Google email account suspensions due to low-quality messages being flagged as spam. To mitigate this issue, we urge all teachers to stress the importance of using student email accounts solely for school-related conversations, fostering a secure and productive digital learning environment.

If a student's Google account becomes suspended, please send them to the CHS Library to change their FISD password and to request their Google account be re-activated.

If you are looking for alternatives for students, consider using:

Canvas messaging or discussions
- No teacher set-up needed: How do I send a message to a user in a course in the Inbox as a student?
- Teacher must set up first: For group discussions, first set up groups for each class or collaborative group (How do I manually create groups in a group set?) then set up a group discussion (How do I create a group discussion in a course?). Students in each group will have access to the discussion with other members of their same group.
Remind direct messaging
- Teacher must set up first: How can I change my class participant messaging settings? Select "Role-based" in most cases.

See me for help with any of these options!

Canvas Blueprint Reminder: LOCK Everything!

This is a reminder to Canvas Blueprint users to please LOCK everything in the Blueprint. Items can be locked from the list of Modules, Pages, Assignments, and Quizzes or from within a Page or Assignment. Only unlock items that you purposefully want to be disconnected from the Blueprint and edited from individual S1/S2/Yearly courses (like the Teacher Info page or a page with a list of links that are teacher specific). When an item is locked in the Blueprint, in the S1/S2/Yearly course you will see:

Pages - The Edit button is removed. This keeps the Page connected and syncing with the Blueprint.
Assignments/Quizzes - The Edit button allows you to edit Due/Availability Dates but not the content of the Assignment or Quiz. This keeps the Assignment/Quiz content connected and syncing with the Blueprint.

If you have questions about how locking works, please reach out!

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