Outlook Email, Voicemail with a Bonus tip, and Safety

Happy Short Week of School and hope everyone is staying healthy!  Special thanks this week to guest author Diane Miller, Director of Technology.  

1.  Outlook Email Signature-  

A reminder that it is best to use the Outlook App version of Outlook 2016, rather than the online version.  The functionalities are better, especially with calendars and contacts.  To be sure you're using the App version, simply go through the Windows button at the bottom left of your screen.  Search for Outlook 2016.  Once open, you can right click on it in the bottom dock of your computer to "Pin to Taskbar", which will allow a one-click process each time you check your email.  

All Users- please be sure to have your email signature updated.

 To accomplish this follow these instructions:

1.       Open a new mail message

2.       Choose the Insert Tab

3.       Choose Signatures

4.       Edit the Signature you are using with the updated information

5.       Save it

Teachers, please make sure your updated voicemail extension (222xxx) is in your signature as that is how people will leave messages for you. 

Also, as per direction from Dr. Rattigan, please make sure your signature has your position and your location in it.   Remember, you can internally call any other school with the 6-digit extension.    You do not have to dial the outside number any more.

Example:

Thomas Jones-3^rd Grade Teacher

Grasse Elementary – 215-723-7501

In District Ext:  ######

Voicemail:  222123

2.  Voicemail/Email Relationship

Common Question: I get an email indicating I have a voicemail but when I go to check my messages, I do not have a new message.   What happened to it?

Answer:  Think of the voice message and the email as one and the same.   If you read the email (just open it or click on it; not necessarily listen to the message) it will no longer be a ‘new’ voicemail, but will be in your saved messages when you retrieve from the phone.   If you delete the email, it goes into your deleted messages on the phone.  It works inversely as well.  If you listen to a message on your phone that is ‘new’ and you save it, the email will be in a ‘read’ state in Outlook (no longer BOLD).  If you delete a message from your phone, the email will be moved to the Deleted folder in Outlook.

To change the status of the message from ‘saved’ to ‘new’ via your email,  mark the email as ‘read’ by right clicking on the email and choosing the option “Mark as Read”.   It will now be a ‘new’ message when you check it on your phone.

BONUS Phone TIP! – Did you know you could bypass any user’s message (hello, you have reached the desk of Joe Jones….) simply by pressing the # key.  

3.  Scams, Spams and Viruses-

If you receive an email about updating your software, a potential virus on your computer, an invoice that needs to be paid, or something similar that sounds suspect to you in any way, please close it immediately and contact the helpdesk at helpdesk@pennridge.org. Sending a screenshot of the suspect email is best.  Do not forward the email to someone else.  Do not open any attachments or click on any links from companies you are not familiar with. If you think you have opened a malicious attachment or clicked on a malicious link, immediately shut down your machine and contact Diane Miller directly at 122341. Remember, the FBI will never send you a message stating you have a virus!  Microsoft will never ask you to send your password to them!  And your bank will never ask for your account number!  In addition, never call any phone numbers that pop up on your screen or give out any credit card or school information without checking with the district technology department first.  Always best to be over-cautious when dealing with potential viruses or hackers!  

Microsoft Sway- An alternative to Powerpoint

Happy New Year!  Are you looking for a different way to have your students present their information?  Tired of Powerpoint?  Microsoft Sway is the way to go!  Sway makes it easy for professional use for presenting information, but is also very user-friendly for students to create great looking presentations quickly and efficiently.

1.  Check out these Sway examples recently created by students in the district:
4th graders:
https://sway.com/IqlKt1NKmVEaRDvE

https://sway.com/qhwfkCK9QqZQRQkG

Professional Use of Sway:
https://sway.com/zG1FDUUzc2SMMQsi

2.  To get to Sway, simply click on Office 365 in your bookmarks, find it in any of the eLibrary sites, or click here!  You will use your Office 365 credentials to sign in, so for most people your log-in will look something like this:  E#####@psd.pennridge.org.  Your password is the same you use for your computer password.

3. Here is a 2 minute video of the basics of Sway, if you are interested.  And as always, I'd be happy to share more with you and/or your students at any time!

Have a great day!

Skype for Business and Wireless Projection

1 and 2.  Skype for Business and Microsoft Educator Community-
All users in the Pennridge School District have Skype for Business accounts.  This allows all teachers to connect with all parts of the world.  If you have not yet Skyped (whether with someone inside or outside of the district), I encourage you to make an extra effort  to do so before the end of this school year!  To find wonderful presentations that have been "vetted" and are particularly good, please visit the Microsoft Educator Community.  You will use your Office 365 credentials to sign in.   On the left of the website you'll see Skype in the Classroom and you can choose from the items you see in this picture.

There are presenters and activities for all grades and all subject levels!  Don't forget to watch this 1.5 minute video to be sure your Microsoft Educator Community profile is set-up correctly to communicate with presenters!  As always, if you'd like help, or you'd like me to set up a presenter session for/with you, please email me at anytime!  To view the Pennridge Skype Site, click here!

So how Do I find my Skype Account?

•  Click your start window at the bottom left of your screen.  
• Go to All Apps and find Skype for Business  (if you do not see it, please contact Cara Gurysh or myself)
• You will use your Office 365 credentials to sign-in.  This will most likely be your E#@psd.pennridge.org and your password is the same password you use to log-in to your computer each day.  Example:  E09456@psd.pennridge.org.  Note- there are a few cases that do not use the E#. If you need your account info, contact me!
• Once into your account, follow these printable steps to make/take a call or watch the video tutorial Chris Brockman created here!

For users who have had a successful, recent Skype experience, please take a minute to fill in this Google table to share with other users who may benefit from the experience.  I will also add these to our Skype Success tab on the Pennridge Skype Site in the near future!

3.  Wireless Projection Systems- (Middle Schools and High School)
For teachers with wireless projection, please take note of the directions on how to connect to your wireless projection here.  Very Important- If you are in a shared classroom, you must be sure to disconnect your wireless projection before you leave, or the other teacher will NOT be able to use it.
If you have any wireless projection questions or you have tips/tricks that others could benefit from, please use this Padlet.
Happy Holidays!

Device Care

1.  It is very important that students close down apps and websites on the iPad when they are done using the iPads.  Most students are familiar with closing down apps by clicking the home button 2 times, and then swiping the app up and off the screen.  However, it's also important to close down any websites used, so student information, test scores, etc. is not shared.  To close down a website, you will click on the website and see 2 squares at the top right (see picture).  By clicking on them, it will show you all websites open and make it easy to "x" them out from there.

To review both techniques, click here to view this 30 second clip.

Please teach your students both techniques to "clean up" before the next class uses the iPads!

 In addition, if you are a teacher who uses iPads often, please be sure to take a look at iPad Management!  Attached here are iPad use posters you can easily print and display in your classroom!  (All of these links are also found on the Tech Integrator's website under Tutorials for Teachers).

2.  Please take a moment to review appropriate surface cleaning techniques for iPads and laptops, especially as we are in cold and flu season!

3.  This Saturday at 9:30 AM is our first ever Seesaw Social.  If you'd like to know more, please use this Evite to RSVP! Please share this with any local teacher friends, as it is open to area school districts, as well!  The "more the merrier"!

Thank You!

1.  Thank You!

Check out some of the many reasons why I am so thankful to be one of your technology integrators this year in this brief slideshow (you'll need to be signed-in to your Google account).  In addition, if you haven't heard, the board approved moving from 2 to 3 full-time tech integrators beginning in January.  I am grateful to have met so many new people in this role, and I look forward to continuing to work with you in the years to come.  Happy Thanksgiving to all!

2.  Computer Science Education Week- December 4th through 10th

Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek) is an annual program dedicated to inspiring K-12 students to take interest in computer science.

Seesaw users- Check out these awesome Computer Science Projects  (How to Build an App?, Product Design 101, Jobs in Computer Science, Girls Who Code, and Preparing for a Career in Computer Science) coming up in the first week of December.  #SeesawCoders

Here is a 3rd grade example of one way Seesaw was used for this marking period's conferences.
A 2nd grader used ChatterKid to reflect on the 1st marking period to share with her parents at conferences.  

This 3rd grader used Seesaw to persuade Macy's to include his Beatle's inspired balloon design in the Thanksgiving Day Parade!  

* If you would like to get to know more about Seesaw or if you'd like to share and receive more ideas for using Seesaw in your classroom, please come to our first ever Seesaw Social at the high school on Saturday, December 2 from 9:30-10:30 AM.   Click here for the flyer and Evite.  Please remember that Seesaw can be used at ALL grade levels and all subject areas, and it can be used on both iPads and laptops!

3.  Voicemail:

 If you have not yet set up your new voicemail:  

1.       Dial 122373

2.       Enter your ID  followed by #– (ID is your voicemail extension)  

3.       Enter your PIN followed by # - (147369 when setting up)

4.       Follow the prompts to set up your messages and to set a new PIN

DO NOT HANG UP UNTIL ENROLLMENT IS COMPLETE.

Power Teacher Gradebook

Special thanks to Linda Bealer, Database Administrator, for her input in this week's post!

1. The font is too small for me to read in my Gradebook-

To make your text larger in gradebook, simply click on View in your toolbar, and select Zoom.    You may notice the comment box/text does not get bigger with this fix.  We have looked into this issue and it continues to be unresolved.  Because of this, we suggest using the magnifier tool.  To access the magnifier tool, you can click on the small magnifying glass at the top right of your browser.  Or, you can hold down the CTRL button and use the + and - keys.  (If you have a new laptop and haven't yet changed the default font of your computer, you will want to click here.

2.  Reports in Gradebook- Some teachers find it helpful to run reports for students prior to conferences, meetings, etc.  

A.  Quick Look Up-One way to run a quick report is to follow these steps for "quick look-up". This is especially quick and helpful for a parent phone call, or a student who is wondering where they are.  In the PowerSchool homescreen, click on the backpack icon.  

• Select the student, and in the Select Screens dropdown menu, click on "Quick Look Up".  There you'll see grades to date, and an overall grade for the year.

  B.   Another popular Report- Use the reports tab.  This will allow you to customize the report you'd like to run.

• Make sure you've selected the correct class.

• Choose Individual Student Report

• Select Student and customize the screen for what you're looking for

• OR choose "All Enrolled" to get a report for each student.

3.  Launching the Gradebook-

The new version of PowerTeacher Gradebook is no longer compatible with the "old launch".  Please use the "new launch" method.  Directions can be found here.

Side Note as we prepare for conference time:

Attention Seesaw users-  Keep Seesaw in mind for sharing student work at conferences.  In addition, a few teachers have had their students do a self-reflection video in Seesaw (or a separate app and uploaded to Seesaw) and the teacher will share with the parents at conference time.  Click here for an example sheet.  This example uses the Shadow Puppet app, but keep the Chatterpix app in mind too. (Thank you Tracee and Amy from Deibler and Peg from Grasse for sharing).  Stay Tuned next week for some student examples, and please share some with me if you can!

New Phones- Helpful Tips

As you all know, the new phones have launched!  Here are some helpful tips provided to you by this week's guest co-author Diane Miller!

1.  Can I check my voicemail from outside of the district?

• Dial 215-453-2373
• Enter your ID followed by #
• Your ID is your voicemail extension (222xxx) for teachers and your phone extension for all other users.
• Enter your PIN followed by #
• Follow the prompts to retrieve new or saved messages or to reach set-up options.

2.  How can parents leave me a voicemail?

• Call 215-453-2765- District Wide Faculty Voicemail Call-in Line    OR
• Call into your school main number (remains the same as the old system)
• From either number, the caller is prompted to enter the 6-digit voicemail extension they are trying to reach.
• The caller will also have the option of reaching the staff directory to get to your mailbox.
• The caller is prompted to leave a message.

3.  How can I make an outside call from my classroom phone?

• Dial 8 for an outside line- *Note-you will not get a dial tone!
• You do not need to dial a 1 within area codes 215, 610, 484, 267- these are not long distance.
• For long distance calls- Dial 1+number
• You will hear 2 beeps and your phone display will read "Enter Authorization Code"
• The Authorization code is your 5-digit employee number (same as your copier code) followed by #.

Please remember, you can search this blog for other phone tips that have been published in the past.  The blog can be found on the Tech Integration site, and also on the eLibrary sites under the Educators tab.  Have a great rest of your week!