Getting Connected!
How to log-in to Microsoft & Google for Remote Learning
INTRODUCTION - Issues with logging in...
The closure of our schools has shunted our education system into the world of Remote Learning. Luckily the concept of Remote Learning is not a “new” idea, people have been utilizing online tools for quite some time to complete, expand, or continue their learning. What IS new, is the implementation of it on such a vast scale, and, with little to no warning to prepare. As such, even our ability to log-in to some of our basic platforms is proving to be one of the biggest obstacles that we, students, parents, and teachers alike are facing right now.
The Goal
This page is intended to offer some guidance into the process for students to log-in to their student Microsoft and/or Google accounts. While there are other systems teachers are utilizing, these two platforms are the most critical for students to be able to access at the present time. It is a lot to read, and it's about as fun as filing your taxes, but it should at least get you pointed in the right direction.
Microsoft
Usernames, passwords, and email, OH MY!
The first thing to understand is that the student username for both platforms is the same, but the passwords are not synchronized with each other and therefore a likely NOT the same.
The username for students is their student email address. Student email addresses are all made the same way (note the beginning "s" is lowercase):
“s” + student ID number + “@student.misd.org”
Therefore an email address for a student with ID number 123456 would be:
Some students have something called a "leading zero" at the start of their ID number (ex: 012345). In these cases, do NOT include the leading zero:
PASSWORDS:
For Office 365 - students need to use the same password they use at school to log-in to a school computer.
For Google & Google Classroom - students must first initiate their Google account. If you have already done so, use the password you created. If not, enter your full student email address as the password but use a capital "S" at the beginning. This will prompt you to establish your password for Google.
FORGOTTEN PASSWORD?
If you forgot either password, you can fill out the Password Reset Request form under Password Help at: http://www.misd.org/page/dis.remotelearning. You can request a reset for your Microsoft password, Google password, or both.
REMEMBER: These passwords are not connected. If you change one, the other does not change.
About Google Classroom
TROUBLESHOOTING ISSUES WITH GOOGLE CLASSROOM
In order to participate in a class in Google Classroom, the student must first "join" a class either with a link or a code provided by the teacher. To do this, the student MUST be logged in to Google with their student credentials. A personal Google account will NOT allow a student to access their classes in Google Classroom.
When a student receives the "invalid code" error when attempting to join a class, it is because of one of the following reasons:
Reason A - the student is still logged-in to Google under a personal Google account. Just closing a tab/window or opening a new tab/window isn't the same as actually signing out. Click the user account icon in the upper right then click the Sign Out button. Also, close any other tabs/windows you have open. Then log-in with your MISD credentials.
Reason B - the code may have been input incorrectly, especially if you try to copy/paste it. Ensure that there are NO SPACES before/after the code and that you differentiate between letters and numbers that are similar to each other depending on their case (i.e. a letter "O" versus a zero, a number 1 and a lower case l or upper case I, a lower case g vs q, etc.)
Reason C - the teacher may have inadvertently created the classroom with their personal account and not their MISD account. Please give our teachers some grace on this point as this is a very new experience for many of our teachers. Our teachers are REQUIRED, without exception, to create their Classrooms with their MISD credentials; and anything to the contrary may require intervention from a campus administrator.