Biology Adoption

Savvas Experience Biology Adoption

In the summer of 2021, SDUHSD adopted Miller and Levine’s Experience Biology: the Living Earth (Savvas Publishing) for the Biology: the Living Earth course. The adoption includes 1:1 online access for all students and teachers, in addition to a class set of textbooks (40 per teacher). Teachers will each receive a Teacher’s Edition, and an extra class set of textbooks will also be purchased for each school site.

Savvas EasyBridge Realize Platform

Teacher and Student Login Instructions

Teachers and students will log into the platform via the Google Waffle (instructions here).
Please report any issues using our district Tech Ticket system.

Syncing with Google Classroom

Savvas is asking all teachers to sync with Google Classroom via "importing," rather than the "linking" option, which they have removed.
Click here for detailed instructions for importing to sync with Google Classroom.
This will hopefully eliminate the access problems some teachers and students were experiencing last school year.

Helpful Guides

What if My Classes are All Named the Same Thing?

Additionally, Andrea Lawless passed along this helpful information for those linking to Google Classroom: Not sure if this will apply to you all or maybe you already figured it out. For the physics pilot with Savvas I was having trouble syncing up my GC with the Savvas classes (cause all three savvas classes had the exact same name). However, you can skip linking it to the pre-made savvas class and just import your GC (with the name you gave it). See screenshot, you pick I don't see the correct class box a the bottom (attached screenshot for help). Bio, chem and physics in Savvas are different so I am not sure it applies to all but I thought I would hopefully save some people some time as I bounced emails with Savvas to figure this out.

If some of your students are still struggling to log in with Google Classroom, please take the following steps:

Go to the Classes tab in Easybridge Realize and hit the little sync with google button. (see image below)
Do this for each of your classes.
Submit a Tech Ticket if you / your students still experience issues. Include: student's name, class period, district email address.

Accessing the eText as a PDF

PDFs of the Student edition for both Biology and Chemistry have been added to the platform. Teachers can download the PDF for the Chapter/Investigation they are working on and upload it to Google Classroom or they can assign out the PDF version to Google Classroom so the students can download it and have offline access. Click here for detailed instructions.

Troubleshooting Tips

Several teachers have reached out and shared the problems they/their students are experiencing with the Pearson Savvas EasyBridge Realize platform. The following are troubleshooting tips that we are finding work to address many of these student issues related to logins and accessing materials on the site.

The following steps can correct most, if not all, of the issues students and teachers have been experiencing with the Realize interface.

Double check that you are completely signed out of any personal gmail accounts on your device. It is not enough to just close the tab/window; you need to sign out of any personal gmail accounts.
- How to do this on a Chromebook (video)
- How to do this on a Mac/PC (video)
Completely close down your Chrome browser and reopen Chrome.
Check Google Chrome to see if it is up to date (directions here)
If you are using a district Chromebook, check to see if its operating system is up to date (directions here)
Clear your browser cache and cookies . Our Tech Hub has instructions on how to do that here. (you will need to click on "Try clearing your cache and cookies". We are finding that you will need to clear your entire browsing history "for all time" in order to make this work.
Shut down and restart your device.
If all of the above fail, try opening an "Incognito Window" (instructions) and repeating steps 1-6 above. Note that if you are using a district-issued Chromebook, the Incognito Window feature has been disabled.
If you have tried all of the troubleshooting steps above and are still experiencing issues with a science online platform, please complete this Google Form for Teachers and Students.

Adding Labster

Our adoption of Savvas is accompanied by a Labster subscription.

To add Labster to the Realize platform:

1. Click on the down arrow by their name found in the top right corner of the screen.

2. Click on "Settings"

3. Click on "My Programs"

4. Click the box for "Labster Value Package"

5. Click "Save"

Savvas Support

Here, you can monitor system status and subscribe to updates should any planned or unplanned interruptions to service arise in our digital platforms.

To better support students and teachers who are experiencing issues with the Savvas Realize platform, our Customer Success Manager, Denise Contreras, has asked that we:

(1) Submit a case using this link for any issues teachers or students encounter (click on the arrow to the lower right of "Troubleshooting")

(2) Email her (denise.contreras@savvas.com) the case number so that she can track it and make sure it is resolved.

Step by step instructions with pictures are available here.

Additional Customer and Tech Support

Savvas has a robust tech and customer support department. Teachers and students can also contact Savaas at 1-800-848-9500 (M-F 5:00 am - 5:00 pm) with any questions and for assistance with troubleshooting. The http://savvaseasybridge.com/ also has resources available to assist with their platform and troubleshooting. Teachers are also welcome to reach out to the following representatives:

Stephan Bering, Savvas Account Manager (stephan.bering@savvas.com) is no longer employed at Savvas; instead, contact yvette.payne@savvas.com, Phone: (760) 717-7178.
Biology Adoption Only-Denise Contreras, Customer Success Manager (denise.contreras@savvas.com)
Chemistry Pilot Only-David Chinh, Curriculum Specialist (david.chinh@savvas.com)
Ruperto Gloria, Curriculum Specialist (ruperto.gloria@savvas.com)

Savvas Training and Q & A

2021-2022

Notes from 8-6-21 Savvas Biology Training (video recordings included in notes)

Notes from 8-6-21 Savvas Chemistry Training (video recordings included in notes)

2020-2021

Notes from Pearson Savvas GC Integration Training 8-31-20 & 9-4-20 (video recordings included in notes)

Notes from Pearson Savvas Training 6-11-20 (video recording included in notes)

Rostering

Please note that our district has set up full integration with Pearson/Realize EasyBridge, and that their system is set up to automatically roster students from Aeries. This rostering will be set to occur daily, so changes in Aeries may take 24 hours to appear in the Easy Bridge platform. Also, please note that students are not able to be rostered manually, and that this is a change from the 2019-2020 Biology pilots. You will not be able to assign from Savvas Realize to Google Classroom until the schedules are finalized. We previously thought you would be able to assign once the 2020-21 Aerires rollover occurred, but it won't actually happen until schedules are finalized.

Sharing Resources

Pilot teachers are welcome to use and share pilot resources in these Google folders.

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