The T&L Times
The Department of Teaching and Learning Newsletter
November 19, 2021
Feedback welcome!
As a team, the Department of Teaching and Learning has a goal of: Creating a sense of trust, reliability, compassion and support through accurate communication and seeking feedback for continued improvement. To meet this goal, we are asking you to complete a few short questions based on interactions (via phone, email, in person, etc.) with people from our team. This anonymous survey is for our internal use only. As we move forward, we'll have this feedback form on our future newsletters, on our website, and in our email signatures.
T&L Feedback form
This anonymous survey helps our team grow. Thanks for any feedback!
SOPPA Clarification
Over the last few months, as we’ve refined our LearnPlatform library, we’ve had a few questions about some websites. When the SOPPA team initially started the process, we used information from different tools/websites to see what websites had accessed student accounts and data. We then worked to get agreements from those tools/websites to make sure that our students’ data was protected in the event of a data breach. As we have moved forward, some of the websites that we have agreements for are being blocked by our content filter because of things like pop-up ads, banner ads, embedded videos, and inappropriate content for our students.
Getting a signed data privacy agreement doesn’t mean that a website is appropriate for students, and sadly, we cannot control content on websites as they constantly get updated by creators. Our priority is always student safety, and high quality instructional content. Remember to check our library, as we update resources as we can. Please submit a Helpdesk ticket with any blocked site or SOPPA requests.
Pilot Program Updates
The three curricular pilots happening in the district will be completing use of their first materials over the next month. The 6-8 science, K-5 math, and 7-8 ELA pilot groups are excited to jump into their second material after the district returns from winter break! These pilot groups will engage with a second program materials and then utilize rubrics to make selections on any new curriculum adoptions. These selections will be taken to the board in April for final approval. The full adoption of these materials will take place during next school year!
The Hour of Code is coming!
Computer Science Education Week is an international celebration of all things CS, including an Hour of Code! Consider having your students participate in an hour of coding, and share our D15 Hour of Code resource site. Get as involved as you’d like-- there are resources for students that are self-paced/self-led, but also a lot of opportunities for pair coding, working as a class to solve problems, unplugged activities and more.
CCSD15 Hour of Code Website
Please feel free to use resources from this website in your classroom!