1.  While in Gradequick, and in one of your classes,  click on Reports, then on Edline Reports, and then on Single Term Only.  (This one is formatted for Edline, so is your best bet.)
2. You’ll see a possible report for one student.
3. Under Options, you may wish to uncheck Print Grade Scale (since it’s not the SBS grade scale).  You uncheck it by clicking on the check mark that’s there.
4. Under Tests, click on Test Info.  Here you’ll have many choices.  Do you want your students to compare themselves to the average (Mean), or do you want them to compare themselves to the high score (High Score).  I click on Use long test names so that the long description of each assignment is on the main part of the report, rather than at the bottom (reduces parent and student questions). 

You may want to experiment to see what you like.  You’ll have to click on OK to see what each of your choices looks like. 

Similarly under Tests there is Score Info.  You have some choices here, too. 

1.  Under  Students and Student Overall Statistics, you can add some statistical information to each student’s report.  Many reports when we first see them from Edline start with Rank showing, but I find it makes kids nastily competitive, so I have unchecked rank. 
2. When you have the report the way you want it, you want to save what you’ve selected.  This will save the report format for all your classes.  Click on Print, then Save Report Configuration.  That saves the report format for the Single Term Only report.

If you need help, please let me know.

Edline top part of adding document

Documents

 

Suppose you want to add your syllabus, or a study guide, to a class Edline page.   Here’s how to do it:

 Roll over My Classes and Shortcuts, and click on the class you want to add the document to.  Don’t worry that you want to add it to more than one class – you’ll get a chance to do that.

Click to the right of Contents. 

Click on Add to add a document.

 Enter a document name that will be meaningful to your students.  For example, Syllabus.   You can also add other information, and even a date, if you want this to display on the calendar. 

 On this same page, your next choice is how to add the document.  You can enter text by hand or import an existing file (like a Word document).  Click on Import an existing file.

Hint:  Formatting within Edline is tricky in Enter Text By Hand, especially if you copy from a Word document.  Save yourself a lot of grief and just import the Word document (says the voice of experience). 

You will see a new choice, which is to Browse through your files to find the one you want to post.  Click on Browse, and you’ll see your files, so that you can click through where your files are to find the one you want.  I like to save documents I’ve prepared for Edline on my desktop, so that they’re easier to find.  (If you are having difficulty navigating through your files, let me know and I’ll give you a quick tutorial.)

Find your file, and click on it.  Then click on Import.    If you got the wrong document, click on delete, and go look for the right document. 

Now you get a chance to select which other classes you want to add this document to.  For example, perhaps you have two sections of the same class.  This will save you having to go through all these steps for each section.  Hint:  you won’t see the name of the class you’re working with, only the names of your other classes.  Click on the classes you want to add, then click on Add, at the bottom of the list.  If you added the wrong one, click on it and click Remove.

Edline summary of add at bottom

Then scroll down to the bottom and save your work.  You can Save and Return (go back to general activities in Edline), Save & Add Another (add another document), or Cancel (start over because you made mistakes and this isn’t what you want to do). 

Don’t stop now, though.  You have one more step.  Click on Done.  Then you’re really done!

You’re back at your class page, and the document you added is now there!

Links

Adding links is almost the same, but instead of clicking to the right of Contents, you click to the right of Links.  You will have the opportunity to enter the actual URL (internet address) of the link.  Hint:  copy and paste the actual address, so that you have everything you need (including the http:// at the start of the address) and you haven’t made any typos.

When you need to tell a parent about a concern, give praise for particularly good work, or tell all parents about something that’s happening in your class, you can email either individual parents or all parents in the entire class. You can also email all students, if you wish.

From your Edline Home page, roll over My classes and shortcuts to see a list of all your classes. Click on the class you want to communicate with (or the class that has the student you want to communicate about).
Then roll over Command Center and click on Send email.

You will see a list of all student Edline accounts in this class. Ignore the Administrator system user ID at the top of the page. You can see, by last name, which accounts are active, which have parent email and which have student email.

To send an email to an individual parent
Click on the box to the left of the information about that student. Then scroll down to the bottom of the page. Click on Compose Message.

Then click on who to send the message to, and click on Continue.

You’ll now have a lot of information.

• You can double-check who is receiving the message by click on Who.
• You can see the email address where replies are being sent. Edline will also send you a copy of the email to this address unless you tell it not to.

Then you can add subject and message.
When finished, click on Send the Message to Recipients, below the message.

Remember that email is written and it’s forever, so consider:
• Is email the best way to communicate with this parent?
• Is my tone friendly and approachable? If you are upset with the student or parent, it’s wise to draft your message in Word, then sleep on it, then even get another teacher to read what you wrote, until the message best represents you and SBS.

To send an email to all the parents in the class (at least those who have Edline accounts)

Instead of clicking on the box next to the name of a specific student, scroll down to the bottom of the page, and click on Select all.

Then follow all the steps for sending an email to an individual parent.

One item you may want to check is the Email Recipient Summary, as this will tell you which parents will receive the message, and which won’t. Click on who to see who won’t get the message; these are parents who either don’t have an Edline account at all, or who have not provided an email address.
You cannot control which parents have current Edline accounts, unfortunately. Every effort is made to get parents to set up their accounts. But if the parent hasn’t provided an email, and it’s urgent to contact a parent, use more traditional methods.

• Set up your Edline pages for the year (most of you know how to do this)
• Copy images and other materials from last year’s Edline pages

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Refreshing Your Edline Class Pages for the New School Year

We have a slightly different home page.

• My classes and shortcuts is where your classes are. See below how to make changes.
• My content is where your “old class materials,” previous year’s classes are. If you want to copy images, assignments, class description from last year, you’ll start here.
• Command center is where your Gradequick gradebook is accessed. (Gradequick is also accessible from the top menu.)

To edit your Edline page

• First roll your mouse pointer over My classes and shortcuts, and you’ll see a list of your classes for this year.
• Click on the class you want to edit
• Click on Contents (on the right).
• To make changes in class description and picture, click on Manage class.
• You can change the class description to something a little more meaningful, but don’t touch the class ID number.

Class Description is a good place to add information about your class.

To add a different image, scroll down, click on Browse, and find an image that you have stored in your computer, for example under . Click on the image you want and the address will be stored on the edit page.

Click on Save and then click on Done.

To copy over last year’s picture, class description, and so on

On your home page, roll your mouse over My Content, then click on Old Class Materials.

You’ll see a long list of classes from previous years. “Be sure you get the class from the correct school year,” says the voice of experience, so look at both the class title and the date the page was last modified. Click on the class you want to use. You will see a menu with choices to copy.

Select the items you want to copy over, such as

• Group info (image and class description)
• Links

Click on Copy to.
You’ll have the opportunity to say which classes you want to copy it to (you can copy it to more than one). Don’t forget to click Done.

Edline gives you that ability. When you’re in the home page for a class, look on the lower left part of your screen and click on “Send email.” Then click on “select all” and down at the bottom “send email.” You’ll get to choose if you want this to go to just parents, just students, or both. Then you’ll have the opportunity to write your email. The editor is plain vanilla – no bold, italics, or bullet points – but you can get a message sent. A copy of your email will be sent to your email address as well, so you have a record of it.

A few caveats:

• · Be sure to remember to include a subject line.
• · Be sure to include a signature (unlike in a normal email program, one won’t be added automatically.)
• · If you copy and paste from Word, formatting disappears – including spacing between paragraphs – so be sure to check through the email to make sure you like the spacing before you send it.

You could also use this feature this to communicate with individual parents, simply by selecting just their names when you first start this process.

]]> http://franblo.edublogs.org/2008/11/23/want-to-communicate-with-parents-of-an-entire-class/feed/ 0 http://franblo.edublogs.org/2008/09/27/sharing-files-between-school-and-home/ http://franblo.edublogs.org/2008/09/27/sharing-files-between-school-and-home/#comments Sat, 27 Sep 2008 11:09:05 +0000 franblo http://franblo.edublogs.org/?p=33 Sharing files between school and home

                Do you ever start working on a test, or a new unit plan, at school, and then want to continue using it at home?  Or vice versa.

                Some of us email documents – or spreadsheets, or PowerPoint presentations –  back and forth (as attachments).  But there is another way using Edline.  This might be handy if you are having trouble with your email account.

                After you’ve logged into Edline, look for My File Locker, in the top left corner of the screen.

                When you click on “My File Locker,” you’ll get to the usual Edline screen where you can “Add a document,” just like you do for many other Edline functions.  Click on Add, then give the document a title.  Scroll down to “Import an existing file” and click on Browse.  Find the file on your computer and click on “Import.,” You’ll see the file name showing (so if you picked the wrong one, you can delete and start over).  If this is the right file, click  on “Save and return.” 

                You’ll see that the file (as the document name you used, not the file name) is displayed. 

                Later, when you’re at the other computer you want to work on, you can go to “My File Locker” and click on the document to work on it.

                One of the tiresome features of Edline is that it doesn’t like Office 2007 documents/spreadsheets/PowerPoints.  This is true here, too.  When you try to open the file, if it’s in the Office 2007 format, you’ll get an error message (even though both computers have Office 2007 on them).  But all is not lost; simply save the document and then open it, which will work just fine.  Or you can just save all your documents/spreadsheets, etc. as “Word 1997-2003 document,” which you have to do if you plan to post it on Edline, anyway. 

                This is also a handy way for students to transfer files without having to go into their personal email accounts, where they then have to read and forward the 42 joke chain-letters they’ve just received…  

• 1. Decide what you’re trying to communicate. Hint: What overheads would you use? Or if you wished you could use 35 mm slides, what would your presentation look like?
• 2. At minimum, you’ll need a title, an introduction of what you’ll cover, content, and a conclusion/wrap-up. You might want to consider, do I want to close with a question for students to consider?
• 3. When you open PowerPoint, you will be at a new, blank presentation. The first page is automatically a title page. Create a working title; you can always change it later. Click in the spaces provided to enter text.
• 4. Add a new slide; click on “New Slide” on the Home tab. . It will default to a standard slide format as shown below. You can add a title to the slide, and can add text in bullet point form. You can also add pictures (see below for more on that).

Think about what text you want to include.  You can modify your format by clicking on Layout on the home tab.   There are many layouts and if you don’t like one, you can change to another easily.

• 5. Think about what you want your overall presentation to look like. Click on the Design tab, and explore the basic “themes.” Play around until you find one you like. You can always change it later, and can even delete the background for individual slides if you decide you want to.
• 6. What else would you like to add? Pictures? You can cut and paste from other applications. You can also insert quite a number of different media. Click on the appropriate medium shown below and you will be prompted to enter the location for that particular item.
• 7. Bells and whistles you may want to consider include transitions from slide to slide, sounds, and “animation.”

Transitions from slide to slide are on the Animations tab.  You can control speed and associated sounds of transitions here.  Click on the arrow in the lower right-hand corner for many more transition options.
Custom animation, also on the Animations tab, provides many, many effects. Click first on the item you want to “animate,” then on “Custom Animation” on the Animations tab.  When you click on Add Effect, you’ll have many options to choose from.

• 8. Now, test your presentation. The SlideShow tab is where you can most easily control your show. You have many options here. To see the entire show, click on “from beginning.”

Consider:   how will you present your show?  Consider alternatives.  You could link your computer to your TV using a special cable (ask Anthony how to get one).  You could use a projector tied to your computer (sign out from the library).  In a pinch, you can have students crowd around your monitor.
Also, how will you make the presentation available to students who are absent?  Possibilities include Handouts (Print and identify handouts. You can use Preview to see if you’re getting what you want.  Click on “Properties” in the Print dialog (partly shown at left) so that you can select “print color as black and white” for slides that are easier to read.
You can also modify what’s on handouts within the View tab (click on Handout master).
Post to Edline.  Edline can’t accommodate the huge files of PowerPoint, but you can Publish to a Word document (Microsoft Office button, top left-hand corner) and post the Word document to Edline, just as you’d post an assignment sheet.  Note that these files are still large, due to the graphic material included, and will take awhile to load up to Edline, and also for users to download from Edline.