Tuesday Tips October 18, 2021

 TECH TIP:  Setting Up Your Google Meet or Zoom Link

For Parents Conferences, you can select which format you would like to use:  Google Meet or Zoom.  On Wednesday, during the afternoon PD, Tom and I will be going over how to use youcanbookme.com to set up your ten minute slots.  

Prior to that, you will need to have set up your Google Meet or Zoom link.  This video will show you how to do that:

Creating Google Meet or Zoom Link in Calendar Author: Kara Staunton-Shron https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mywmh3bUa2Q

BOOK TIP:  Graphic Novel Section

  The graphic novel section has moved to right as you walk into the library from the H wing side.  The collection has expanded and these are the most circulated items in the library right now! There are some great ways to use these in classes as well.   Students could read ones or make their own for a project.  

Tuesday Tips, October 12, 2021

 TECH TIP: Turnitin: Plagiarism Detector and Feedback Studio

  A reminder that you all have access to Turnitin for your classes.  Turnitin is a plagiarism detector and it also has a full suite of tools called Feedback Studio, which gives students suggestions on grammatical errors.  

These tools together can be a great part of the revision process.  Turnitin can be fully integrated with a Canvas assignment or as a separate individual assignment.  See me with help in setting up assignments through Turnitin.

BOOK TIP:  A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

  It seems like this would be a good book for my Halloween display, but it is an incredibly powerful book of loss, love and grief.  A student who I recently gave this book to told me it was the best book she'd ever read as it really resonated with her.  Conor's mother is sick, and ever since she began treatments, he has the same dream every night.  It is, though, in this dream, with this monster, that Conor is able to come to grips with what is happening in his life.  Be sure to have tissues handy. 

Tuesday Tips, October 4, 2021

 TECH TIP:  Syncing Grades to Powerschool from Canvas

This is a reminder about how to sync any grades you have in Canvas to Powerschool.  There are a few steps to this, so follow the directions in the following documents (all of which include video tutorials as well).

Step 1:  Bring over grade categories from Powerschool 

Step 2:  Syncing grades to Powerschool from Canvas

Step 3:  Any grade sync issues?  Check for these possible issues

BOOK TIP:  The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

 One of my favorite books of the summer!  Jacob Finch Bonner is "one hit wonder" of a novelist, relegated to teaching creative writing at a community college.  In this class, a student shares an incredible plot for a novel, one guaranteed to be a success.  Years later, when Jacob finds out that student has died, he writes the novel based on that plot.  One day, Jacob gets a note that says, "You thief".   And how far will Jacob go to protest his story?  A great, fast paced read.

Tuesday Tips, September 14, 2021

 TECH TIP:  How to turn off Canvas Notifications

I've been getting a lot of requests and questions about why there are now so many courses on your Canvas dashboard and the flood of notifications that you are now getting for these courses.   My understanding is that the Advisory Committee had you added as an observer in Canvas to all of your advisees courses.  It will tell you under the course card on the Dashboard which students you are observing in each of those classes.  

You have two options to turn off notifications:  a global shut off all Canvas notifications (this would include for your own courses) or you can go into each individual course you don't want notifications for and turn them off at the course level.  

To do a global shut off of all notifications:

• In Canvas, go to Account on the left hand side.
• Go into Notifications.
• For each of the items there you, select how often you would like to get these items: never (off), daily, weekly, or immediately.

To turn off a single course:

• Go into the course from the dashboard
• On the right hand side, select View Course Notifications
• For each of the items there you, select how often you would like to get these items: never (off), daily, weekly, or immediately

BOOK TIP:  Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

  I read SO MANY great books this summer (this is my self-care...) and one of my favorites was Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid.  The four adult children of a famous rock musician (I pictured a Mick Jagger kind of guy) have a party one night at their Malibu house that will change the lives of all involved.  Interwoven with this story of one night are the background stories of all the characters that culminate that night.  

Tuesday June 8, 2021

 TECH TIP:  Setting a Vacation Response in Your Gmail

There may be time when you are completely away from your email this summer.  It is a good idea to buy yourself some time and space from email by setting up an automatic vacation response.  To do this in Gmail:

• Go to Settings
• Scroll down to Vacation Responder
• Input the dates you will be away
• Fill in your message and subject
• Hit Save

BOOK TIP:  73 Books to Read This Summer from The New York Times Book Review

Summer is a great time to read, and I hope you all find that time this summer!  To give you some ideas of what to read, check out this list of 73 Books To Read This Summer from the New York Time Book Review.  I'm also happy to make some suggestions, stop into the library!

Tuesday Tips, May 18, 2021

 TECH TIP: Annotation Submissions now in Canvas

A recent update to Canvas is that students can now annotate a document that you upload right in Canvas (before this students would have to use an external tool like Kami to do this) and submit it back to you.  To create the Assignment, under Submission Type in your Assignment settings, you can now select Student Annotation and then upload the document they will be annotating:

Students then do the annotations in the document viewer and submit that back to you in Canvas.

BOOK TIP:  We Begin At the End by Chris Whitaker

  I just finished this book and I can't stop thinking about it.  It is the story of Duchess, Walk, Star, Robin and Vincent and how all their lives changed a night 30 years ago when a young girl was killed and Vincent went to jail for her death.  Part detective novel, part coming of age book, it is a wonderful book about family, hope, and being an outlaw.  

Tuesday Tips: May 11, 2021

 TECH TIP:  VideoAnt:  Create online discussions around a video

  Video Ant was developed by the University of Minnesota as a way to create interactive, online discussions based on a video (from Youtube or one of your own).  At VideoAnt, you upload your video, add in any annotations (aka "ants") that you'd like and then share the video with your students.  Depending on your permissions, students can add in their own annotations or comments to the video, thus making it a bit more interactive than just answering questions.  Here is a quick overview video on VideoAnt:

BOOK TIP:  Is This Anything? by Jerry Seinfeld

  A couple years ago, my husband and I went to see Jerry Seinfeld in person and my cheeks hurt from laughing so much.  This new book by Seinfeld is a compilation of his years of joke writing.  Comedians will write their material, then share it with other comedians and ask, "Is this anything?" Seinfeld cleaned out 45 years of folders of notes and jokes and put them in this book.  I did this as an audio (which I highly recommend), with Seinfeld himself narrating, and laughed at out loud throughout.  If you need a laugh, this is the book for you.