Using PowerTeacher to get Parent Email Addresses

Hello Everyone,

We have had a few visitors today in the tech corner asking how to email their advisory parents about our Holiday Basket drive.

Here is a link to a how to video - https://youtu.be/2l1lOiU5atg

Also if you are looking for an email message to send, this is the one the Jen and I sent to our advisory parents this morning (be sure to edit the email however you like).

Dear Families,

We hope you are enjoying the holiday season.  Mrs. Dennis and I have really enjoyed getting to know your child in advisory this year and are looking forward to the year ahead.  

We are emailing you this morning to let you know about a project our advisory is working on this holiday season.  Every year the Lurgio Student Council organizes a Holiday Food Drive.  Lurgio staff and students collect food and money donations to put together 36 holiday baskets for families in town.  Our advisory has been tasked with bringing in a total of 17 cans of cranberry sauce along with two to three dollars to contribute towards perishable items.  Our donations are due by Wednesday, December 18th.  We have advisory on Silver days but students can bring donations into school at any time.  Mrs. Dennis and I are located in the Tech Corner in the back of the Media Center. 

Thanks so much for your support and contributions.

All the best,

Mrs. Manley and Mrs. Dennis

Tech Tip of the Week - Chrome Extension to Stay Focused

Are you looking for ways to keep your child more focused when they are working on their chromebooks?  Here are two Chrome extensions on our approved list that are available for students to install. These extensions are free for everyone so feel free to install them for yourself if you have a personal Google account and need a little help keeping focused.

Stay Focusd - StayFocusd is a productivity extension for Google Chrome that helps you stay focused on work by restricting the amount of time you can spend on time-wasting websites.

Strict Workflow - Strict Workflow is a productivity extension for Google Chrome that enforces a 25min/5min workflow: 25 minutes of distraction-free work, followed by 5 minutes of break.

Tech Tip of the Week - Find a Common Meeting Time with Doodle

 Have you ever needed to figure out when a group of people can get together for a meeting or a night out?  Well Doodle is the site for you! 

Thanks to Matt Lane for reminding me of this site at our recent Advisory Committee meeting.

How it works

Suggest times

Set up and customize your meeting request.

Invite participants

Send the link and let participants indicate their availability.

Select the best option

Once the availabilities are collected, pick the final option and fix the meeting! 

Tech Tip of the Week - Canned Responses in G-Mail

Do you have email messages that you feel you send out all the time? Are you sick of rewriting or copy and pasting the email every time you have to send it?  If so then you may be interested in using Canned Responses in Gmail.  Using Canned Responses, you can create email messages and/or responses that are easy to retrieve and use.

Check out this video for instructions:

If you prefer written instructions, check out this page.

Tech Tip of the Week - Removing Backgrounds in Images

Need to remove a background from an image??  Deb Rodd, Tech Integrator from Riddle Brook came across this site for removing backgrounds in images. Only works on images with people now but they are working on all images.

Visit https://www.remove.bg/ to give it a try!

Guidelines for Installing OS Upates (MacOS Mojave)

Have you been wondering if you should upgrade your MacBook Airs to "Mojave"? We have been told by our trusty Technician Brandon has given us the A-OK as he has found there to be no major issues that I am aware of at this time. 

In order to avoid data loss and suffering, please be aware of the following: 

1. This update generally takes up to OHE HOUR to install. Please plan to not have access to your laptop for at least TWO HOURS prior to installing the update. 
2. DO NOT try to stop this update BEFORE it completes. Attempting to interrupt this (and any major system update) prior to completion will result in DATA LOSS, or an unusable system. 
3. Laptop MUST be plugged into AC adapter PRIOR to starting update process. 
4. Laptop can be connected to either WiFi OR Ethernet during update process. 
5. Some older 32-bit (user-installed) apps may no longer function after the update. Generally, anything we've installed on your laptop within the past two years will work. If any of your applications fail to function afterward, we will assist you if an updated version is available. 

Post-install notes: Avoid enabling "two-factor authentication"

Choose "Set up later" when asked to sign in with your Apple ID

Choose "Light" OR "Dark" color scheme depending on your mood/personality. 

When setting up "iCloud" after the install, un-check EVERYTHING except ''Find My Mac."

(Try to) Enjoy Mojave!

BHS Course Recommendation & Registration Information

BHS Course Registration Timeline

Thu, Jan 10, 2019 at 12:01 PM - FROM NATE FELLMAN

We were able to come to some clarity and agreement in the MA/SCI BHS meeting today. Here's where we are:

All Course Recommendations are Due Friday 2/1 (this is a hard stop date)

BHS Course Information night is Monday 2/4

BHS Course Registration window Tuesday 2/5 to Thursday 2/14

I also suggested today that our PT conferences be on Thursday  2/7 and Tuesday 2/12. I don't think we are married to those dates, and we can discuss at our next GL meeting. We just have to hold two nights of conferences between 2/5 and 2/13.

Thanks,

Nate

No Science 9th Grade course#  3NOD3100N0

Enter Course Recommendations for 8th graders

Fri, Jan 4, 11:33 AM - FROM KERRI LUNN

Good afternoon everyone!  

It's that time of year again to enter Course Recommendations for 8th grade students course selections for next year.  Recommendations must be entered by January 18th. I have included instructions on how to enter recommendations.  

BHS staff will be coming over to Lurgio to discuss course recommendations and answer any questions you have.

- Jan 10th 11:30-12:30 Focus on Math & Science

- Jan 16th 11:10-11:50  Focus on Humanities

These recommendations are used during the BHS Course Registrations process for students/parents to make informed decisions during course selection.  Your recommendations will appear when they are selecting courses. The BHS registration will open on Feb 5th and close on Feb 12th.  

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact Donna or myself.  

Thank you!

Kerri~

RAL Teachers - Course Recommendation Instructions