Getting Started with ParentSquare

Your one stop shop for everyting you need to start using your PS account.

Created by Scott Aten, November 18, 2024

As you all are aware of by now, we will be transitioning from Remind to ParentSquare.  We believe you will find this tool user friendly and provide you with more accurate parent contact information.  With any new tool there will be a little bit of a learning curve, but I have tried to break down the tasks into manageable parts that will make this transition smooth for you.

Introduction
ParentSquare has created a short 5 minute video that provides a "Navigation Basics Overview".  This is a great place to start and will get you familiar with the overall interface of Parent Square.

Quick Start Guide

The tasks listed below are common things you will do in ParentSquare.  This list can serve as a reference for you in the event you forget how to do something.

• Login to your ParentSquare account. (click "Sign In with Google") - if you are unable to sign in please complete a technology help desk ticket.
  
  
• Creating posts. - useful for sending a message to your entire class.  Posts will show up in a parent's feed making it easy for them to find the info again when they need it.
  
  
• Create a direct message -  send messages to individual parents or groups of parents. 
  
  
• Add a co-teacher or aide to your class  - note it also talks about how to add room parents, but check with your building principal before you do it.  The directions work the same for adding another staff member.
  
  
• Create a group - You will already have your classes in ParentSquare, but groups give you the ability to create a subset of students.  Groups can also be helpful for after school groups or clubs.  Note we believe we can get athletic teams created automatically for coaches (more info to come on this).
  
  
• Training Resources for Teachers - ParentSquare has created a self-paced training module that provides opportunities for hands on practice if you feel you need additional support.

When to use a Direct Message Vs a Post?

Below is some guidance and best practice for teachers and group managers on when to use direct messages versus a post. 

Think of direct messages (DM) as as the message app on your phone.  It is meant for short conversational back-and-forth chats.  Think of posts as emails meant for informational messages that allow formatting options such as bold, underline, tables, bullets and more.  Both DMs and Posts allow private replies.

So how do you decide to use Posts vs DMs? Answer these questions and look at suggested use cases.

1. Is this an informational message for the entire class?  -- use a Post
   Example "I hope everyone had a restful week off! We’ll be going on our field trip this Wednesday! If you have not turned in your permission slip, please do so by tomorrow."
    
2. Is this an ask for the entire class? -- use a Post
   Example "We will be having a hot chocolate and holiday cookies party on Thursday. Please sign up or comment to let me know if you can donate an item."
   
   
3. Is this a conversational message to your class where you'd like to start an individual (bcc) or group conversation with everyone?  -- use a Direct Message
   Example "Hi, I would like to know how I can support your child best when it comes to learning math.  Any ideas or suggestions or things I should know that work best with your child?"
   
   
4. Is this a message that is not meant for the entire class but for individual delivery to each recipient?  -- use a Direct Message (recipients will not know that the message was sent to others.) - Example "If you are receiving this message your child is receiving an award at Friday's assembly" 
   
   
5. If this message is meant for just one person or a family? -- use a Direct Message
   Example "Charlie is a star of the week! This means that we get to highlight him this week and learn new things about him."
   
   
6. Do you think new families and users added to the class or group after you have sent the message would benefit from seeing the message? -- use a  Post and not a DM. With Posts, new families will have access to their student’s class post feed for the entire school year, even before they joined the class.
   
   

Customizing your account

Below are a few things you can do to your account.

•  Add a photo and other profile information to your account
  
  
• Set your notification settings (works the same way for parents too)
  
  
• Set your office hours Let people know the best times they can reach you via Direct Messaging.
  
  
• Access your class directory See parents and students who are connected to your class.
  
  

Hopefully the information above will get you started using ParentSquare as your communication tool with families.  Note that Canvas is still appropriate for communicating assignment and grade information to families.  At this time there is no ParentSquare connection to Canvas like there was for Remind, but we are hoping that is added soon.

If you would like me to come and help you please feel free to schedule me to come and assist you.  I am always ready to come help.  

[Green Technology Training Center]

[Click here to go to the YouTube Channel]

For more helpful information and the archive of previous posts, look for items in the menu to the left.

Green Local Schools

Tech Integration Team

 

Google Docs Document Tabs

Organize your lengthy Google Doc with Document Tabs!

Created by Scott Aten, November 1, 2024

Recently Google added a new feature to Google Docs called Document Tabs.  You may have noticed when you open a new Google Doc there is an icon in the left margin. 

If you give this little icon a click you will see you now have th option to create "document tabs" within the doucment itself.  Think of it like a notebook with many different pages.  The process will look something like this...

As you can see it is very easy to do and it essentially give you a new blank doc every time you create a new document tab.  There are a lot of practical uses in the classroom.  Here are a few ideas:

• Organize notes for a class.
• Create a class notebook where each student adds their content on a specific tab.
• Breaking down large document into more managable pieces.
• Presentation of data in its own area

You can also add some visual organization to the tabs by adding an emoji in front of the title.

The emoji can be added by clicking the three dots to the right of the tab title.  Here is a link to a Google Doc that I made that has Document Tabs added.  Feel free to add your ideas on how Document Tabs could be used in the classroom on the "Ideas" tab in this document for everyone to see.

If you would like me to come and help you please feel free to schedule me to come and assist you.  I am always ready to come help.  

[Green Technology Training Center]

[Click here to go to the YouTube Channel]

For more helpful information and the archive of previous posts, look for items in the menu to the left.

Green Local Schools

Tech Integration Team

Adding Co-Teachers in ClassKick

 

ClassKick

Adding a Co-Teacher to ClassKick is easy!

Created by Scott Aten, October 16, 2024

This will be a short update, but one that many of you will be happy to learn.  ClassKick now has the option for you to add a Co-Teacher to your class.  There are many applications for this that you will find helpful, so it is awesome that this feature is now a part of ClassKick.  The video below demonstrates how to set this up and how to use it.

If you would like me to come and help you please feel free to schedule me to come and assist you.  I am always ready to come help.  

[Green Technology Training Center]

[Click here to go to the YouTube Channel]

For more helpful information and the archive of previous posts, look for items in the menu to the left.

Green Local Schools

Tech Integration Team

Translate Any Document with Google Translate

 

Google Translate

Translate entire documents for students who need them

Created by Scott Aten, May 10, 2024

It seems like we have more and more students coming to us that English is not their native language.  Now with Google translate, it is possible to upload a document and have it translated into whatever language you need.  The great thing is that this includes PDF documents.  Following these simple steps will allow you to take an existing document and convert it into the language needed by your student.  Then once you have the document in your google drive, you can simply share it with them.

You are able to translate documents up to 10 MB in any of these formats: .docx (Word), pdf, pptx (PowerPoint), xlxs (Excel).  PDF documents must be less than 300 pages.

Here are the steps:

1. Go to Google Translate (note this is blocked for students)

2. At the top of the page, click "Documents"

3. Choose the languages to translate to and from.

4. Browse your computer or Google Drive

5. Select the file you wnat to translate

6. Click "Translate" and wait for the document to finish

7. Click "Download translation" to save it on your computer or in your Google Drive

It is that simple.

If you already have a document created in as a Google Doc. You can use the built-in translator tool found under the "Tools" menu.

This is a great little tool to keep in your pack pocket should you have ELL students in one of your classes in the future.

If you would like me to come and help you please feel free to schedule me to come and assist you.  I am always ready to come help.  

[Green Technology Training Center]

[Click here to go to the YouTube Channel]

For more helpful information and the archive of previous posts, look for items in the menu to the left.

Green Local Schools

Tech Integration Team

May the 4th ~ Fun Star Wars Themed Activities

 

May the 4th

Fun Star Wars themed activities to do post testing

Created by Scott Aten, May 1, 2024

With testing winding down, I thought you and your students could use some fun and educational activities that can be integrated into your content area.  I ran across this article from Tech & Learning that has a lot of activities for May the 4th.  What is May the 4th?  It is the day Star Wars fans celebrate the Star Wars franchise (May the 4th be with you - get it?).  Below are a list of some activities suggested in the article that you may be able to use or tweek to use with your students. You may want to have a student try the links to be sure nothing is blocked before you do it with the class. 

Here we go...

May the 4th Be With You: Real-World Connections in the Classroom and Beyond

Award-winning English teacher Katherine Mulrooney offers great ideas for relating Star Wars to classroom subjects, including engineering, social studies, music, math, and literature. Each standards-aligned digital teaching resource is shareable via Google Classroom (get the links and you can use them in Canvas)  and forms the basis for a complete lesson.  

Create Star Wars Art

As an art or graphic design assignment, have your students focus on an aspect of Star Wars they find meaningful, such as good vs. evil, relationships and community, or mythic heroism. Then ask them to illustrate this theme, either by creating their own artwork or developing a specific prompt for AI-generated artwork (some of these may be blocked) . To complete the assignment, students write an essay (but not AI-generated!) explaining how their art exemplifies their chosen motif.

Starwarigami
What does origami, the ancient Japanese art of paper folding, have to do with Star Wars? Strictly speaking, nothing at all. But that’s where the novelty (and fun!) lies. Combine the intricate paper engineering of origami with the futuristic spacecraft design of Star Wars and you will have a lesson that appeals to your entire class. The brainchild of software engineer Martin Hunt, Starwarigami provides 18 printable fold-and-crease patterns in addition to a gallery of finished artwork and links to other patterns. 

Star Wars Crawl Creator

One of the most iconic features of the Star Wars movie franchise, the inclined scrolling text lends an air of historic importance to any words. Users simply replace the existing text with their own, and share the generated URL. Let your students show off their creative vision with this free, fun and easy-to-use Star Wars movie introduction generator. 

Star Wars Trivia
Test your knowledge of Star Wars—and yourself—with these online quizzes and polls. Whether matching the quote with the correct movie or pondering which Star Wars device you can’t live without, rest assured that any result is a good result. The greatest teacher, failure is.

Star Wars - Would You Rather?

A high-energy, feel-good exercise program that asks kids to choose between two Star Wars choices, then perform the indicated activity. 

The Cave Challenge: Star Wars Mindful Matters

Ashley Eckstein, who voices Ahsoka Tano on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, leads youngsters in a brief guided mindfulness lesson. Just as Luke Skywalker faced his fears in the dark cave, so must everyone explore their own dark spaces, illuminating them with calm acceptance rather than anger.

May the Force = mass x acceleration

What do Star Wars, NASA's Dawn spacecraft, and Newton's Laws of Motion have in common? From the renowned Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, this Star Wars-inspired, standards-aligned lesson about ion-propulsion includes background, student activities, example spreadsheets, and more. Want to go deeper into the physics? Check out the fine collection of force and acceleration lessons here. 

NASA STEM Education Resources

Transform your students’ Star Wars enthusiasm into genuine learning with this extensive collection of STEM-teaching resources for K-12 and beyond. Included are lesson plans, educator guides, interactive multimedia learning modules, contests, challenges, and much more. Searchable by grade level, subject, and type of activity. 

Not So Far, Far Away

A lesson about latitude and longitude based on Star Wars fictional planetary locations and their Earthly analogues. Students learn how filmmakers used various extreme Earth landscapes as the basis for other-worldly Star Wars scenes, then map latitude and longitude of the real-world locations. Includes follow-up questions.

Star Wars Day STEM Activities

A wealth of Star Wars STEM activities can be found here, from creating colorful lightsaber greeting cards to building robots from junk. Many of these excellent resources are aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. 

Teaching With Star Wars

In the Star Wars saga, the most valuable lessons extend beyond technological advancements. Rather, they explore life’s problems and solutions, whether in a distant galaxy or right here on Earth. Star Wars authority and educator Dan Zehr thoughtfully delves into timeless themes such as dedication, resilience and effective leadership.  

Teaching ‘Star Wars’ With The New York Times
The Times takes Star Wars lessons to a level above Cloud City with its Shakespeare, history, physics, science, math, and yes, economics, Star Wars-themed lessons. An exceptionally strong resource, especially for middle schoolers and above.

Yoda speak translator

This Yodish speak translator just for fun, try. Even better, use it as the foundation for an English grammar lesson.  For computer science classes and advanced students, the Yoda translator API allows users to integrate the Yoda speak translator right into their website or application.  

Star Wars Lessons for the Music Classroom

John Williams’ Star Wars score is one of the best known movie themes of all time. But what about other avenues to combine Star Wars and music in a single, thought-provoking lesson? Teacher Jessie Powell, the force behind the popular YouTube channel Music and Motivate, provides a detailed narration of her favorite Star Wars music lessons, as well as a link to her blog, where the interactive lesson can be accessed for free. 

Hopefully you can find something useful in this list.  Have a happy May the 4th day and "may the force be with you aways."

[Green Technology Training Center]

[Click here to go to the YouTube Channel]

For more helpful information and the archive of previous posts, look for items in the menu to the left.

Green Local Schools

Tech Integration Team