Recent Professional Development
Explore our collection of recent professional development sessions designed to empower and inspire educators. Here, you'll find recorded sessions, presentation slides, and additional resources that will help you implement innovative teaching strategies and applications in your classroom. Whether you’re revisiting a favorite session or diving into new content, these materials are here to support your professional growth. Stay connected and continue your learning journey with us!
August, 2024
What's New in Canvas? Grades 7-12
In this session, educators received a brief overview of the latest updates in Canvas for grades 7-12. Key topics included new Mastery Connect standard links, enhanced features in Discussions and Gradebook, feedback in New Quizzes, the Smart Search tool, and assigning modules, pages, and discussions. For a deeper exploration of these new features, please contact Beth for additional support.
Back to School With Mastery Connect: 7-12
Kick off the new school year with this MasteryConnect refresher! In this quick yet comprehensive virtual PD session, participants reviewed the basics of MasteryConnect, including setting up profiles, creating trackers, and exploring the new standard alignment for assignments in Canvas. For a deeper dive into any of these features, please contact Beth for additional support.
Setting Up the Gradebook in Canvas & PowerSchool
This PD session focused on setting up and optimizing the gradebook in both Canvas and PowerSchool for grades 7-12. Participants learned how to set up grade sync, whether using categories or not, and explored features designed to make managing their gradebook more efficient and effective. For those interested in further exploring these topics, please contact Beth for additional support.
Pear Deck: Engaging Students in Real-Time: K-6
This introductory session on Pear Deck provided educators with a brief overview of how to effectively use the platform to engage students. The session covered the basics, including different question types, navigating the Pear Deck dashboard, accessing resources, providing real-time feedback, and finding Pear Deck Certified Slides. For those looking to explore these features further or to have someone come into your classroom to model with your students, please contact Billie Jo for additional support.
Pear Assessment: A Guide for Grades 2-6
In this introductory session on Pear Assessment (formerly Edulastic), educators received a brief overview of the platform's key features. Participants explored the basic layout and settings, navigated the item bank, and learned how to create and assign assessments. The session also touched on generating reports and insights to track student performance. For those interested in a deeper dive into any of these aspects, please contact Billie Jo for further guidance and support.
What's New in Seesaw? Grades K-6
This session provided a brief introduction to the exciting new features in Seesaw for this year. Educators explored updates, including lessons in the Seesaw library, attaching and grading standards, bulk-assigning activities, and utilizing the new Highlights collection and folder. The session also introduced tools such as the reading fluency assessment, read with me scaffolding, new formative assessment options, flexcards, and focus mode. For a deeper dive into any of these features, please contact Billie Jo .
In this session, educators were introduced to using Jamf Teacher to manage student iPads effectively. The session covered key features of Jamf Teacher, including how to monitor student device usage, manage apps, and create a focused learning environment.
The following Help Desk articles can be very helpful in navigating JAMF teacher:
Using the Tools in Jamf (this goes over the restriction options you have within Jamf)
Jamf Restrictions (how to quickly set up restrictions)
Jamf Lessons (our favorite way to use Jamf!)
Hidden links (this will help when allowing websites in Jamf)
There are also articles that you can share with parents, if they inquire about managing their student's iPad:
We also discussed that app tiles can get reordered when using Jamf teacher. To eliminate this from occurring, you will want to limit the allowed app to just one. If you allow more than one app, it will reorder the app tiles when the restriction/lesson ends.
For further guidance on using Jamf Teacher in your classroom, please contact Billie Jo or Beth.