August 28, 2020 RCSD Educator Blog

Message From Jamey Schrey

Happy Friday!

In Educational Services, we pride ourselves on getting better each day and taking feedback from school staff very seriously. After the first week of school, I received a letter from Lisa Shrider, the RTA president, sharing that distance learning is overwhelming, and the staff needs time to plan and learn. We have also heard from families that a common lunchtime across a school site would be very helpful, and they would like to reduce directed screen time for their students daily.  With this feedback in mind, each of our schools will be revising their current bell schedule.

I am sure we have all heard the statement, “With every action, there is a reaction.” We realize that changing schedules means having to revise what staff has been putting in place in the last three weeks. However, we all have to plan for the marathon and not the sprint. While we begin Phase II, we look to November 4th to enter the Phase III stage in the RCSD  Reopen and Remain Open Plan, we have to plan for a distance learning that allows the adults and the students to get to a point to be able to sustain a reasonable pace. I can remember when I ran my first marathon with Team in Training, and the coaches would say, “You will feel exhausted at the beginning of your training. You will go out too fast, you will hurt, and you will feel overwhelmed. Keep going, modify your plan, reflect on what is working for you, and don’t compare yourselves to those around you. Find a pace partner, find someone that will champion you, and for you to champion, and remember that your efforts are ultimately helping to cure cancer.”

Beginning on Tuesday, September 8th, your school will be modifying their daily schedule to mirror their Monday PLC schedule and have a common lunch and recess (elementary only) time across the school site. While the live instruction dismissal time will be earlier, students should complete assigned independent work before the next school day. Also, with parent permission, some specialized services may be provided after the live instruction dismissal time as needed. 

Distance learning is our marathon to run. We are not sure of the finish line, and can’t keep up a finishing kick. We hope that a little more time will help find your pace, and your students’ pace. We hope that while a marathon and distance learning is hard, we have to celebrate what each of us is doing in education, so find your pace partner and champion a near or far colleague. And know, each of you is positively impacting over 11,000 students every day!

Thank you for your continued support and feedback.

Jamey

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Otus

Thank you for continuing to share your learnings and best practices regarding Otus.  Many of the resources below are from our teachers sharing different ways they are using Otus with students.

Editing Assigned Lessons

If you forget to add something in Lessons and have already assigned it, you can go back to your drafts and edit it there.  Please watch the video below to see how to do that.  Thank you Jolene from Cirby for sharing.

Edit Assigned Lessons

We know there are also requests to be able to edit the links in cloned lessons and that will come out in a future Otus update.  Unfortunately, we do not know the exact timeframe (they are saying this Fall), but we know that will save our teachers a lot of time.

Rubrics and the Word Assessment

We have heard feedback around rubric assessments in Otus.  For example, not liking how that is the only way to make a copy for students, the only way to leave audio and video feedback from the teacher, and the word assessment being attached to this feature. More than a few teachers have said they will not use these tools just because of the word assessment being attached to it.  

As a system, we need to begin redefining the way we think of assessment.  We can think of assessment as a way to collect student evidence, check for understanding, and receive and give feedback.  We understand that this is a shift in how we think about the word assessment, but we are asking that we do not let a word get in the way we use the tools that are at our disposal. 

Give Students Audio and Video Feedback

If you are using rubrics, you can give students audio and video feedback.  Use the plus button and you can add a photo, audio, or video feedback.   Thank you to Travis from Chilton for the GIF below that shows you how to do this, or you can watch the training that Zach from Otus gave last week. We know students love hearing from their teachers!

Training from Zach- 20 minute video Access Passcode: RCSD95678!

Instructions for Parents and Students on How to Submit 

Thank you to Jill from Cirby for sharing this document that she created showing parents how students can submit a photo with an assessment. 

Submit Photo With An Assessment

Blog vs Portfolio

While students can add resources to the Portfolio, it is designed to showcase student work, and the items added to the Portfolio follow the student from year-to-year in their profile. The Portfolio is not designed for students to submit daily activities. We recommend that the student use the Blog to share daily work that is not part of an assessment.  The teacher can comment on the post, and the student will see a notification. 

The video below shows students, parents and staff how they can use Blog.  Please note, that it is important that students put "Private" if they do not want other students to see their post, and leave comments on if they want their teacher to be able to comment.  You cannot grade blog or attach standards to the blog.

Using the Blog Feature in Otus

Teachers are notified when there is a new blog post from a student, they are not notified if students add to an existing blog post.

Placing Links for Recordings

We know a lot of you are putting your recording links in your calendar that you created and that is great.  Another idea is to place your recording links on a Google Doc, and post that doc in your pinned Class Board post.  You can then just edit the doc and not have to post again and parents always know where they can find the recordings.  Below is an image of what that can look like.

iReady Data

The District will be updating the data from the first iReady diagnostic test at the end of the testing window (October 9th) into Otus.

Recognitions in Otus

How to Use Otus Recognition Feature - Teacher (Internal Use Only).  We have given the feedback that it would be great if school sites only saw their recognitions but for now please make sure you label your recognitions with your School Site if you are making them in a District account.

Polls

There are no plans to remove this feature within this school year.  We know there has been a lot of positive feedback from teachers using this feature in Otus.  Both Questions within Lessons and Polls are ways that teachers can get quick feedback from students.  Please know that the results of both questions within lessons and polls are public, but do not show student names.

Grading in Otus

There have been a lot of grading questions in Otus.  Below are a lot of helpful resources, and we know we will need to continue training with staff.  For example, the next two Monday optional PDs, there will be sessions going over grading.  We will continue to learn how to use Otus for grading, and will continue to share best practices.

Manually Adding Grades

Below are videoes showing how you can enter a single grade in Otus, or how you can use rubrics to enter multiple grades at one time. 

Manually Entering Grades in Otus- 5 Min Video

Manually grading a Simple Assessment- 3 Min Video, thank you again Jolene.

Removing Grades

If you graded an assessment and want to remove the scores do not delete the assessment, instead, unassign the assessment so the scores are removed, and then delete.  

Unassign Assessments- Article

Where to find Domains & Standards in Otus Assessment Creator

There have been some questions about why state standards and custom standards show in Otus.  Custom standards are the domains that we use in RCSD, and that is what we will pull on the report card.  We know some teachers wanted to have information on individual standards and that is why we left the state standards folder in there.  A reminder that you will need to place the domain (under Custom Standard) for that score to pull to the report card.  

Where to find Domains& Standards in Otus Assessment Creator- 5-minute video

Also a reminder that once you have selected standards, if you go to recent, it will save you clicks to find the standards or domains you use most often.

For Middle School, Learning Behavior Standards are in the "Other" folder.

How Assessment Works in Otus

Each item, rubric descriptor, or score added directly to the gradebook and linked to a standard is a separate attempt towards mastery. If you create a 5 question test and link the same standard to all 5 items, you now have 5 additional attempts that will be tracked for the student on the standard. 

We know this can make the gradebook look very busy and we are working on best practices.  There are two potential solutions.  The first is to filter by assessment in order to see specific data on that one assessment.  Another way that some teachers have started taking that data and simplifying it, is marking the test as Formative, and then entering one score for Summative.  Once again we will do more training with staff on how this would work but wanted to get the information out now.

Multiple Attempts in Otus
Teachers can select "Allow Multiple Attempts" when they assign the assessment. Allowing multiple attempts means that the student can submit their assessment again for grading. The teacher must grade the first attempt before the student can retake the assessment. There is not an option to "unsubmit". We have shared that feedback with Otus that unsubmit would be very helpful. 

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Technology

UPDATE - Admin Site RCSDKIDS Account Process

In the past, the ability to reset student passwords and approve Youtube videos was shared with all staff. Unfortunately, it was brought to our attention on Monday, that the admin site rcsdkids accounts provided, was being shared with students. While unintentional, sharing the Internal Only resources and credentials outside of District staff, potentially compromised student accounts, and the Youtube approval process we set up to ensure COPPA compliance.

Moving forward, please work with site leadership (i.e. Principals and Assistant Principals) and school site clerical to request student password resets or Youtube video approval.

Zoom and Email Access for Student Teachers and IAs

Please use the form below to request a District Gmail account, Zoom License, or access to any third-party application for Student Teachers or Instructional Aides/Assistants currently supporting students during Distance Learning. Please complete one form for each user.

Email and Account Information

Zoom Updates - Only Authenticated Users Can Join

This communication (internal only for now, please take the time to read it) will be shared with families later today. Beginning on September 1, 2020 all staff and students will be required to first sign in to Zoom with Google to be allowed into any Zoom meeting.

Following virtual instruction on Monday, August 31st, please log in to Zoom using the steps outlined in this video, and Edit each of your virtual meetings to enable “Only authenticated users can join”.

If you have student teachers or interns with university accounts that you would like to invite, after enabling the above setting, click the Edit button and include their email domain in a comma-separated list and click save (as shown below).

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Curriculum and ELD Information

A message from Benchmark Advance...

“...We are currently creating distance learning activities aligned to the curriculum that teachers can assign during school closures. It’s our sincere goal to tap into the collective wisdom of the Benchmark community. We’ve got you!  Sincerely, Benchmark”

You can access these Distance Learning resources by visiting Benchmark Universe and clicking the “Distance Learning” button on the left side of your screen. Some additional resources are listed below: 

• Click HERE to access Benchmark Distance Learning activities and resources. 

• Click HERE  for Tech Talks video clips to help you and your students access Benchmark Universe.

• Click HERE  to access Benchmark “How To” videos for students and teachers. 

Elementary Designated ELD Resources in Benchmark…

Benchmark Advance is adding Distance Learning resources to their Designated ELD online platform. While they have not completed the ELD resources for all of the units, they will be adding more units as they become available.  Please follow the steps listed below to access these new resources. 

1. Access your Benchmark Universe online account.

2. Select your grade, then select Designated ELD, then select Distance Learning, then scroll to the bottom of the page to view the resources

Designated ELD During Distance Learning

With the upcoming schedule changes, we would like to clarify a few things surrounding the expectations for Designated ELD during Distance Learning. Please read this linked document for more information: Designated ELD during Distance Learning Document

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Optional Monday PD

Every Monday the Educational Services Team will be providing optional Professional Development.  All PD will be recorded.  You can find the Zoom link, presentation guides, and recordings after the PD is done on the document below.  

Monday PD Document