OnCourse & PowerSchool
Learning Support Materials from Kath & Jess
New Stuff
All teachers in K-12 will be using these tools. We will be creating and posting our lesson plans in OnCourse and no longer using SharePoint for LPs. You'll be able to set up your own LP template and soon you'll find that it's easier than ever to write, access, and share your plans!
We will be using a newer version of PowerSchool for recording and posting student grades. For 3rd-5th grade, this will be a slight change in the user interface (it will look different and have a few new features), and you won't have to set up your weights and categories every year! For K-2, we know this is new, but it's honestly not going to be a huge change from what you were doing with report cards before. You'll still do the BDS thing at the end of each marking period.
Through it all, we are both here to help you! You're not alone, and we encourage you to call us with questions or for support whenever you'd like and as often as you'd like until you feel comfortable. Our contact info is at the bottom of this Smore newsletter.
All About OnCourse
Now for the good stuff. Here are some of my favorite tips for making Oncourse even easier:
- Use those copy/paste buttons! You can copy a cell, a row, a column, a whole page, or even just the standards from a box. This is a HUGE time-saver!
- Use last week's lessons and just copy them into the new week. You can go in and just edit the things you need to change. If you're not a person who needs to start with a blank slate every week, this might be a game-changer for you! You don't need to reapply a template if you do this.
- If you did create a template that you like to use weekly, be sure that you checked the "Default Template" box. It will automatically open that template every time, and on every page.
- Have you played around with column widths? These can be found in Settings (the wrench icon). Some teachers have found that they prefer to make custom sizes, or even make 3 columns instead of 4 by setting to 33%, 33% + 34%.
- Favorite Standards - this might work for some of you. You can click the little yellow star at the top right of your standards screen and it puts them into "My Favorites". From then on, the standards categories that you like best live in the yellow star above the blue flag.
- Printing just isn't pretty. It's not. It seems to be a little bit nicer when you export to Word. By the way, uncheck those 4 boxes when you do (Homework, Standards, Unit Plans, and Documents) - and don't forget to set it to print all of your pages 1-???.
- Feeling advanced? Try plopping in a photo, hyperlink, or attached document next week. They're all just handy little buttons in the editor box.
- Good question: Someone told me that their admin kept asking questions in the comments. Well, there is no way for us to respond to comments in Oncourse, so that would require a separate email.
- The boxy grid - You don't need to keep that table in each of your lesson planner cells. Keep it if you like it, but all you really need are SLO's, Learning Activities, Eval/Assessment, and Resources. It prints much nicer if you get rid of the table.
- Put your HW in that box way at the bottom of the editor, and that goes to something called the Oncourse calendar (yes, we all have one). You can put a link to that HW calendar directly on your Schoolwires page! Book me and I can help!
- There's an Oncourse Lesson Planner app! Try putting the free app on your phone. It's not for writing, but it's great for viewing your plans, comments, and whether you've posted or not.
Create-Your-Own OnCourse Template: A Screencast Tutorial
- For those who like to learn via tutorial video: check out this Screencast to learn how!
- For those who like to learn from a step-by-step printout: Printable Directions
Printing from Oncourse
PowerSchool Basics for All To Enjoy
We know that as time goes on and as you begin entering grades, you'll think of more specific questions that pertain to your class or situation. Call us! We'll be happy to come and help. As we learn new PowerSchool tricks and tips this year, we will keep sharing them with you in our monthly Smore newsletters.
Weights and Categories - New info for 3-5
The new PowerTeacher gradebook allows for us to push out categories and weights. We needed to create broad categories that can be used K-12. Those category weights for ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies are as follows:
Summative – 40%
Formative – 30%
Supportive – 20%
Supplementary – 10%
CATEGORIES....what exactly am I supposed to put where?
A list has been created to help you with this question! Our district’s suggestions for the types of assignments that you would find in each of the categories can be found on our district website at wtps.org. To access it, sign in to SchoolWires, click STAFF in the menu bar, click Elementary Assessments, and then click Category and Weight Suggestions on the left-hand side of the screen.
PowerTeacher Pro - Full Color Screenshots
Want to explore the deepest detailed depths and dominate PowerTeacher Pro? Do you love color, step-by-step full-page PowerPoint slides? Well then, HERE is a presentation that is 56 slides long, but it sure does have some beautiful explanations. (If you'd like, schedule one of us to visit you (and some buddies) and we'll go through this slide by slide and practice/explore together in a supported group!)
Kathi Kersznowski
Email: kkersznowski@wtps.org
Website: kerszi.weebly.com
Location: WW, HV, BE, & Grenloch
Phone: 856-227-8110
Twitter: @kerszi
Jessica Soulliard
Email: jsoulliard@wtps.org
Website: jstis.weebly.com
Location: BI, TJ, WH, & Grenloch
Phone: 856-232-1290
Twitter: @MrsTechTeacher