June 2, 2023 RCSD Educator Blog

Technology Services

Teacher End-of-Year Checkout - Technology

As we near the end of the school year, we would like to share some guidance regarding the end-of-year checkout process for teachers' technology items. Please take a look at the below steps to ensure a smooth distribution and collection of items.

The Information Systems Technician team will be distributing Ziploc bags to each site no later than June 6th based on certificated rosters. Principals and site clerical should then work internally to distribute the bags to each teacher.

Ziploc Bag Distribution

• Each teacher will be provided one Ziploc bag for their current room.

• Teachers are required to place their iPad, Apple TV, charging bricks, charging cables, and remotes (both Apple TV and TV) inside the Ziploc bag.

• Each Ziploc bag should be clearly labeled with their respective current Room #.

Teachers will need to label the bags with their current Room #s.  Television, iPads, and Apple TVs’ must be secured in an alarmed classroom or library for the summer.

Elementary Chromebooks - Secured; if locked in charging station or cart, teachers must inform Admin where keys are located - per principal’s directions. Admin will inform their site Information Systems Technician where the keys can be located.

Middle School Chromebooks - Secured in the library.

Secure your Mac with Operating System (OS) updates:

We are pleased to announce that you can now update your Macs to the latest secure version of your current operating system. This update will enhance the security of your Mac and protect your information. For example, if your device is currently running macOS version 11.5, you can update it to version 11.7.7.  You cannot upgrade from version 11 to 12 or 12 to 13 without IT assistance. Versions 12 and 13 need updates as well so please update your device as soon as you can. 

To perform the update, please follow the instructions provided here. It is recommended to schedule the update outside of working hours, as it may take approximately one hour to complete. By allowing staff members to update their own devices, we can minimize the amount of time staff are without their Macs, as opposed to previous years when we had to collect devices for updates.

Thank you for your cooperation in keeping our systems secure.

If you have any questions please submit a Zendesk Ticket.

ACTION NEEDED - APPLE/MAC USERS SOPHOS UPDATE

On Sunday, June 4th, we are implementing an updated configuration profile for your antivirus software, Sophos. You might encounter a popup message on your screen, as shown below. If you come across this popup, kindly choose "Allow" to ensure that Sophos can continue safeguarding your device against viruses and malware. Additionally, please remember to restart your device at least once a month to receive the latest Sophos updates.

Attention Mac and Windows Users:

Coming Soon! The Filewave Kiosk application icon will appear in your Mac menu bar (located at the top right of your screen), or your Windows system tray (located at the bottom right of your screen). This icon, depicted below, is intended for troubleshooting purposes and does not require any action from you at this time. In the future, we will utilize the service to securely distribute apps, enabling you to install applications without the need for IT assistance or an admin password.

macOS:

Windows:

Educational Services

Cycle PD Dates for 23/24

The Ed Services team is busy planning professional development for next school year. We wanted to get you the dates that you will have PD at the DO. Please see the calendar below. You will need to click on the correct tab to see your schedule (for example Elementary Schedule, Middle School, or RSP). For elementary, teachers will come for the full day and in cycle 1 focus on continuing the work started this year around Math Tier I Small Groups (K-5), and the other half of the day focusing on Integrated ELD. The second cycle for elementary will focus on continuing the math work done last year and continuing from cycle 1, and the other half of the day focusing on ELA Tier I/II.

We will have more details about the entire PD plan at the start of the year next year but wanted to at least get you the dates for PD Cycles now.

Trimester PD Cycles (2023-2024)-Ed. Services

Contact: Megan Spears

K-1 Foundational Skills Assessments and Student Detail Reports in ESGI 

Please have the Trimester 3 assessment data completed in ESGI by June 6th, 2023. 

Please send home the Student Detail Report with report cards. For more information on assessments and how to access the reports within ESGI, please click the links below. 

2022-2023 Kindergarten Assessment Calendar

2022-2023 1st Grade Assessment Calendar

ESGI Student Detail Report Video

Contact: Megan Spears

Summer Student Lexia Access

Students will have access to Lexia until 6/30/23

Contact: Angela Garcia

Report Card Info

Attendance Records on elementary report cards are for the year. Attendance records for middle school are by trimester due to wheel classes and how we run the report cards.

If you have questions, please reach out to the following people:

Angela Garcia- TK

Jennie Ruvalcalba- Kaseberg, Woodbridge, Blue Oaks, Riego Creek,  Junction, Brown

Megan Spears- Cirby, Fiddy, Gates, Stoneridge, Thomas Jefferson, Spanger

Joe Clark- RVA, Middle School, Sargeant, Diamond Creek, Crestmont, Orchard Ranch

Supplemental Tools for Next Year

Please see the document below for information regarding different educational tools (such as Lexia, i-Ready, Edutpying, and more) for the 2023-24 school year. Most tools are staying the same. The one exception is Screencastify, see more information below.

RCSD Supplemental Tools Update for 23/24

Screencastify Information

As a District we are not renewing our Screencastify license for students or staff. All students and still will be able to record 10 videos after July 1st. There is a 30-minute limit per video. Below is more info on the free account version of Screencastify. 

What is the video limit on my Screencastify Free account?

Teachers that want to record more than 10 videos will either have to delete some of the 10 videos, upgrade their Screencastify account, or can use QuickTime on their MacBooks if they would like to record their screen. Below is a short video show showing how to use QuickTime.  You would then add the recorded video to your Google Drive.

How to Screen Record on MacBook Pro & MacBook Air 

Students are able to screen record right on their Chromebooks. They have the option to include their camera or just record the screen. Here are details on how they screen record. We will create a video and guide for next school year but we wanted teachers to know that students still will have the ability to screen record.

Contact: Brandon Blom

Thank you from Otus

Otus sent us some data from the year and wanted to thank and acknowledge all of the amazing work that our RCSD educators have accomplished while using Otus. Since August 2022, RCSD staff have graded 1,315,716 Assessments in Otus and completed 182,829 Lessons in Otus!