Author: chriss

Naplan Testing and Student Chromebooks

chriss / / Uncategorized

Locked Down Browser Sessions for NAPLAN

Could you please make sure that ALL Chromebooks in Year 3 and Year 5 have been fully charged today and then

1. Logged out 

and

2. Shut down

in readiness for the Locked Down Browser for NAPLAN testing beginning tomorrow.  During the testing times, there will be no access to student Chromebooks. This is to ensure that students participating in Naplan have all the resources of our internet connection and speed available to them during the testing times.

For Years 4 and Year 6, please ensure that students have logged out and shutdown at the end of today in order to avoid any issues with the locked down browser being pushed out. Providing they have done this, there should be no issues for them when they re-boot the machine after the testing windows.

Nforma Log in Issues this Morning

chriss / / Uncategorized

Hi all,

I’ve jsut spoken to Nforma re the log on issue this morning. They are in the process of adding more servers to their system which will alleviate this issue, however, in the interim, please log into Nforma as soon as you log on to your system in the morning. This will stop your account from being caught in the huge amounts of traffic going up into their servers from every school who is using Nforma at the same time each morning.

They are hoping to have this actioned by the end of the week and apologise to all.

Class Dojo “Class Announcements” feature

chriss / / Uncategorized

Good Morning Everyone,

I’ve noticed a few teachers have been using the ‘class announcements’ feature that was recently introduced by the program.  Can I ask everyone not to use this feature please, and instead, continue to put out announcements via your ‘Class Story’.

The new message feature is confusing a lot of parents, with the feedback I am receiving from them being that ‘there are just too many places to look for information’ . The other downside of this feature is that if parents reply to a class announcement, they don’t realise that the reply can be seen by the entire class.

Parents are familiar with the Class Story – it’s where they go to get their information, and 99% of our parents are comfortable with using the text message feature to contact you directly if there is something that they need you to know. It will just keep our communication consistent if everyone is using the same process 🙂

As always, if you have any questions, please contact me 🙂

 

 

Student User Accounts

chriss / / Uncategorized

A reminder to all staff that under no circumstances should teachers be creating online classes for students with any programs/software etc . There is a whole review process that goes on behind the scenes for software that we use in the school and the Administrator account is responsible for  setting these up.

Once you have been notified of your class being made,  then you can create your own groups within your account. If you have found a product that you think could be useful for your students, please let me know so that we can start the background investigations that need to be done prior to the school taking on a new product.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions..

 

Nforma Username Change

chriss / / Uncategorized

Good Morning Everyone,

Please be aware that your usernames when logging into Nforma are now your Google Username minus the @stgeorgepreca.catholic.edu.au

I’ve just sent password reset links out to those teachers who weren’t able to make the 2 hour window for changing their password the other day. Please make sure that this is done this morning before you mark the roll.

Any issues, please contact me 🙂

Teachers Guide to Nforma V4

chriss / / ICT

Everyone has had a new ‘password’ reset email sent to them this morning. If you haven’t received this, please check your spam folder. The email will have come from Nforma. You will need to follow the link to log in for the first time using the username and password provided. It should prompt you to change it, however if it doesn’t, you are now able to do a password reset at a later stage.

You will need to enter stgeorgepreca for the domain name and click verify. Once you have completed these steps, the program should now remember you. Please choose the option to save this information to make it quicker for you.
Below is the new teacher guide regarding the changes you will need to be aware of as well as walking you through the new features. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with this.

Nforma is now syncing with ICON so if you notice that you are missing students, or any other issues, please email me asap.

IMPORTANT Update information regarding NFORMA

chriss / / Uncategorized

Our version of Nforma will be offline for the next 24-36 hours while the software company performs some major upgrades.

Over the next 2 days, please use the CRT Roll to make your rolls. That link is on the Staff Desktop under forms – 2023 CRT Roll 

Once I have been notified that the rollover has been done and has been tested successfully, you will receive an email from  no-reply@nforma.com.au. This will contain a temporary password link that when clicked, will allow you to reset your password. I will also send you out a ‘Teachers Guide’ for the new version of Nforma.

Please note that if you try to log in while the rollover is happening, you will be denied access until I send you the new log on information. If you have any questions, please drop me an email.

 

Student Responsible Use and Chromebook Agreement Sample

chriss / / ICT

Please find below the Student Responsible User and Chromebook Agreement Form. Can you please go through this form with your students as a whole class as they will need to complete this form before they have full access to their Chromebooks. (I will complete the class and student names section prior to releasing it to the students to sign off on)

I have colour coded and filtered all your returned digital technology permission forms this morning, and there are a number still missing. I will post out a skoolloop notice to families this afternoon reminding anyone who hasn’t completed the form to do asap so we should be good to go by Wednesday.

If you still have families who haven’t completed the form by Tuesday, can you let me know which students they are so it can be chased up.

Thanks…

Student Access to Digital Technology – Class Dojo Settings

chriss / / ICT

Chromebooks and Student Accounts

Good Morning Everyone, 

Please be advised that ALL students in the school need to have a completed Digital Technologies Permission Form completed BEFORE they can use any digital tech in the school. These forms were sent out to parents 3 weeks ago and while the results have been good, there are still a large number of students who haven’t had this form completed by their parent. 

I have linked the datasheet HERE for you to look at and you may want to let your students know who hasn’t got their permission form completed. Student Accounts are coming back online on Wednesday. Each classroom teacher/year level will need to go through this agreement as a whole class prior to Wednesday. (I will post the agreement on the Staff Desktop over the weekend)

On Wednesday, the children who have a completed permission form, will be asked to complete the agreement and will then be able to use their Chromebooks.

This process is essential in providing the school with documentation to support any mis-use of the device, intentional damage i.e. picking off keys – (btw – keys don’t ‘just fall off’ – they are always picked off!!!) cyber incidents etc which happen throughout the year so please ensure that this is completed BEFORE Wednesday

Once you have completed this step – please notify me and I will unlock the accounts for your year level. If you have any questions about this process, please let me know via email or if you get time, come for a chat. 

Class Dojo Settings

It is an expectation that ALL classrooms are using ClassDojo to connect with families using the Class Story, Events tabs and the messaging features of the program, however it is vital that boundaries are set regarding contact times.

Please click on the video link HERE  and follow the steps to check/change your settings ASAP. 

The video shows you how to change your settings in ClassDojo to ensure that you have activated ‘quiet times’ – disabling comments – accounts etc.

As always, if you have any questions, please let me know

 

Nforma and Class Lists

chriss / / Uncategorized

We have been made aware of issues with student’s showing on your Nforma Class  Roll but they are not on your class list that you were given at the end of last year. It appears that this is an ICON issue. Leah is currently going through each class list and comparing it to the list in Nforma (the spreadsheets used to create the rolls come from ICON) so that we can lodge a support request with ICON to get this sorted.

I will let you know as soon as we find out any further information.