Friday Buzz...
One School, One Team, One Goal!
Click on button below to nominate staff of the month for February
Upcoming Week in Review!
B Week: February 20th-February 23rd
PLCs:
Grade 3: Tuesday, February 20th
Grade 4: Wednesday, February 21st
Grade 5: Thursday, February 22nd
**PLCs for K-2 will not meet at their regular time during the week of February 27-29. PLCs for K-2 will resume on March 13th. Please see your team lead for more information. Thank you.
The end of the interim for MP3 is March 2nd. Please make sure grades and HAC are up to date. Thank you.
Read Naturally: There will be read naturally training/refresher on Thursday, March 1st at 3:45 p.m. in the Media Center. Training will be provided by Mrs. Dvorak, SMCPS ELA Supervisor.
In the Know!
- Information Technology Services (ITS) tech tip: Last week a new ransomware was discovered on one of our SMCPS computers. The computer was affected by downloading a font from a website. When attempting to install the font, the download installed the malicious software. This ransomware encrypts and locks your files. You are then prompted to pay a “ransom” in digital currency in order to decrypt your files.
As with any potential threat to your computer, the ABSOLUTE FIRST STEP is to take your computer off the network. If you have a network cable, unplug it from the machine. If you utilize WiFi and know how you can disable your WiFi. If you are uncertain of how to remove your computer from its Internet connection, the easiest thing to do is to power down the computer. The next step is to inform an IT staff member so that we can begin containing the issue. We will walk you through the necessary steps to take in order to attempt to restore your machine, but with ransomware like this, it is NOT advised to pay for file decryption from the malicious group. There is no promise that they will unlock your files, and if they do, there is no guarantee that your files are not compromised. Please remember, NEVER store all of your important information in one place. Always have a backup of your files. ITS suggests placing a copy of your data in your Google Drive. Documents stored on your local computer ARE NOT BACKED UP BY SMCPS. Also, ALWAYS bring concerns to the attention of IT immediately so that we are able to assist. - Unify: Access archived data for your current students
The below link directs to a resource describing how to view archived data for students currently in your class.
https://sites.google.com/smcps.org/unify/reports/baseball-card
Further questions about building Baseball Card reports can be referred to the Office of Accountability and Assessment. - Unify: Creating Tests From PARCC Release Item
The Unify question database contains pre-created PARCC release items for ELA and Math. For directions about how to build and release tests using these items, you may look at the Unify Support Site.
https://sites.google.com/smcps.org/unify/create-resources/create-tests
Further questions about building tests from existing PARCC items can be referred to Jeff Gibson in the Office of Accountability and Assessment (jsgibson@smcps.org).