MC Digital Blog

Google Classroom has released several new features: the ability to post discussion questions, reusing announcements and assignments from previous classes, and the ability to bump a post in the class stream page. Discussion Questions: Using the plus button in the bottom right corner, teachers can now create discussion questions for students to respond and comment. Reusing Announcements and Assignments: Also using the plus button, teachers now have the option to reuse a post. Simply select the class and previous assignment or announcement, then make any desired changes before adding it to the new class. Bump Posts on the Stream: Click on the three dots on any post in the stream and click "Move to top" to bump the post. This is very handy to focus students on current tasks or assignments. More to come! Google Classroom will be releasing integration tools for Calendar and Google Forms over the next month. Stay tuned for more details!

    Approval Process In an effort to give you, the teacher, more access to educational videos found on YouTube that will support your curriculum, we have given you the ability to approve videos for use in the classroom with your students. But as Uncle Ben once said to Peter Parker, “With great power comes great responsibility.” When you encounter a video that you would like to use please ask yourself these questions: Does it violate copyright laws? (blatant infringement includes full movies or soundtracks posted to YouTube) [for further information, please see below] Does this video support my curriculum? Is the video short? (a best practice is 2-5 minutes) Have you previewed the video first? Will the video be used to deepen student understanding of current curriculum objectives? When you are viewing a video (on our network), you may encounter one of two blue boxes underneath the video itself: Once you, the teacher, approves a video for use in the

Did you know that Schoolnet has over 60,000 assessment items linked to the Common Core State and North Carolina Essential Standards that you can use to build quality assessments? These assessments can be completed online by students and automatically graded and imported into your PowerTeacher gradebook. If you are looking for resources to get started with Schoolnet, please visit the JCS  Schoolnet help website . The website has recently been updated with information for 2015-2016 including: -New student login process and instructions -RCD test instructions  

Student accounts for PowerSchool/Schoolnet are now managed by Rapid Identity which means that logins from last year and last year's method of accessing student logins may not work. According to DPI, students in grades 6-12 MUST claim their NCEdCloud account in order to access PowerSchool/Schoolnet. We have prepared documentation for how 6-12 students can claim their accounts as well as how K-5 teachers can access their students account information. Please click here for 6-12 student claiming information. Please contact Megan Cox for password resets.

2015-2016 CHHS Staff  Directory has been a work in progress, but HERE is the latest. Please email me at megancox@johnston.k12.nc.us if your extension is wrong. Thank you! 

You may begin to see in your emails a "Voicemail". This is directly linked to your voicemail extension on your phone. Please click on  Voicemail Emails  to learn more.  

Please familiarize yourself with the Social Media Guidelines.  Six Keypoints: Remember that social media in the classroom is an extension of your physical classroom. What is inappropriate in your classroom is also deemed inappropriate online. Teachers who use social networking to interact with students and/or parents in an educational manner or as a communication tool must find ways to interact without giving students and parents access to their personal information and posts. Many social network sites allow you to create “groups” or “pages” where you can interact with students without giving them access to your personal account. Please see detailed Facebook guidelines for more information.  When contributing online do not post confidential student information. Do not post pictures of any students on your personal sites.  Use a JCS provided e-mail as your e-mail contact for official or school-related pages. Do not use your JCS provided e-mail as a username or e-mail contact for

 iBoss filtering  which has been turned on, this will be our new filter.  If you have websites showing as blocked that you would like have unblocked you will see this option - simply "Request Exception" and enter your email and a small description of how you use the site for it to be reviewed. You will also see one time authentication page that looks like this.  You will simply click "Accept" and continue.  This will show for all users one time.

Please take 3 minutes to do this today. I have included directions for you as follows: Login to SharpSchool using your computer username and password> Click on your name at the top of the page to update your SharpSchool Profile> Edit User > User Profile > Update User > User Profile Photo Make sure to add a professional profile photo and information. Keep it professional - years of experience, degree information, professional goals, accomplishments. Remember this is your first impression to the community you serve! Sharp School Photo Choices are (in this order): 1. Professional looking photo (no avatars or icons) 2. or, c lick to download   School Logo  to upload  Need a refresher?  The Skinny on Sharp School

To add an email signature, please watch this short tutorial .

I just wanted to share some information regarding our technology devices within our school. Tech carts that can be reservation are housed in the media center. The procedure for checking out technology devices is as follows or you may watch this tutorial video http://goo.gl/iUTy6l : 1.        Login to your Sharp School account (computer username and password) by visiting our school webpage www.johnston.k12.nc.us/chhs . 2.        You will find “ RESOURCE RESERVATION” at the very top of the screen. 3.        Choose “Browse Rooms” Rooms aka Carts 4.        Remember, our technology devices are to be used only for instructional use as outlined in your lesson plan. Also, tech devices should not be in substitute plans unless prior approval from administration or Megan Cox. 5.        Students are NOT allowed to check out our technology devices. It is the teacher’s responsibility to monitor students using technology devices. Please make sure students are using the devic

Quick Step Guide for IT Requesters Open your Internet Browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape, etc), type in www.myschoolbuilding.com in the address bar, and press Enter or click on Go . Refer below if you are a first time user or if asked to enter an Organization Account Number. If prompted, enter the Organization Account number ( 252107268 ) and click Submit Organization . You may also copy this link and paste it into the web address bar of your browser: http://www.myschoolbuilding.com/myschoolbuilding/itdgateway.asp?acctnum=252107268 Log into the system by entering your full email address: If this is your first time submitting a request, you will be prompted to enter your Last Name and then First Name before being logged in. Make sure you are on the “ IT Request ” tab.  If not, simply click on this tab to access the IT request form. Fill out each step of the request form.  Any field marked with a red check box is required.  Other

A Google Chrome update went out today, but you may have encountered an issue. If you can still access Chrome on your desktop or laptop (Chromebooks  ARE NOT   affected), no further action is necessary. If Chrome is not on your machine, you will see this error message when attempting to open Chrome: Please click “No” and SHUT DOWN (fully power down)  your computer. A RESTART will NOT resolve the issue-you must SHUT DOWN.  Afterwards, you may POWER ON your device and log in to ensure that Chrome was installed by launching it. If you still receive the error message, please submit an  IT DIRECT  ticket under IT Direct (note the #252107268; make sure you are on the IT tab at the top; submittal password is password). Please note, you may have the Chrome icon in your TASKBAR. Once you have verified Chrome has installed successfully in your Start Menu ( found in the lower left corner of your screen) > ALL PROGRAMS > Google Chrome > Google Chrome browser. Once Google Chrome op

As of July 6th, 2015 you will need to use a new NCEdCloud IAM account to access PowerSchool and the Home Base suite. Login OR Claim your account if you have not already done so by going to the  JCOC page  or  NCEDCloud IAM :  https://my.ncedcloud.org ****Your Staff UID/username is your 10 digit number that you used for Homebase/PowerSchool.****  LEA code: 510 The NCEdCloud IAM account is a single-sign on service that is mandated by DPI. The process to claim your account is simple and takes just a few minutes. Your new account is based on your current PowerSchool UserID number. All staff must claim their accounts  prior to July 6th, 2015 or they will be unable to access PowerSchool or the Home Base suite until they claim their account. One benefit to this process is that teachers will have access to their student's usernames and passwords to aid in access to PowerSchool. Here is the three-minute instructional video ( click here for the direct link ). Inf