Training Notes

Come to the library in the morning and sign up for your new laptop.

Updating a blog is much easier than updating a web page. Once you click on “Save” or “Publish,” your blog is live for the world to see. Practically effortless!

Okay, you have that nice new Lexmark laser printer in your room, and even though the teachers around you may be sharing it with you, it has sort of become “your baby.” Just wanted to fill you in on a couple of things you may or may not be aware of.

First of all, the new printers came with a printer cartridge, but it isn’t a FULL printer cartridge. They’re shipped a bit more than half-full to prevent leakage during shipping. They’re shipped right inside the machine, so I guess this is a bit of a concern.

At any rate, if your printer suddenly comes up with a “Low Toner” message, gently remove the printer cartridge and then ever-so-gently tilt it from side to side - gently, please. Then put it back in the machine. What this does is redistribute the toner, which has probably merely settled to the bottom or one side of the cartridge. You should have enough toner in the cartridge for approximately 5,000 to 6,000 copies. A full cartridge should give you about ten thousand copies, depending on what you print.

Toner carridges are expensive, so you want to be frugal with your ink. Print one copy of your test and then run off the other copies you need on the Risograph machine. It costs less.

Thanks, and if you have any questions about this, please let me know. I can show you how to find the number of copies you have printed so far.

Melanie

It is better to always work online and connected to the network with an Ethernet cable. It just is. Over and over, teachers say, “But I’ve always worked offline, and I never connect with a cable. It always works fine!”
There are valid reasons for asking you to work online and plugged in with a cable. This advice is not coming from me. It’s coming from several different sources at Central Office, and I, for one, do not ignore what these people tell me. They are the ones handling the ultimate tales of woe — entire gradebooks lost or hopelessly scrambled.
Just because you’ve never had that experience before doesn’t mean that you never will have it. Minimize your chances for a big foul-up. Work online and connected.

Teachers, here are some critical issues of which you need to be aware:

1. If you have any assignments, categories, or scores labeled with a / mark in the title (for instance an assignment named Compare/Contrast or a category Homework/Classwork) the / mark needs to be removed from the name. The program uses that mark to delete items. This needs to be corrected ASAP. In other words, don’t use the slash mark.

2. To assist PowerSchool in collecting statistical information, PowerGrade will not be available to all schools every day. The PowerGrade load will be increased incrementally as more adjustments are made to PowerSchool. The PowerSchool Administrator in each school will be notified if access is available in that school. Access will be available for all schools at a minimum of every other day.

3. When using PowerGrade, be sure to plug into the network with an ethernet cable and choose the School EN or DHCP EN location. Working using the wireless network is sort of like using your cell phone. Sometimes calls get dropped. Well, if this happens with a gradebook, grades, classes, etc. can be scrambled or lost.

4. If you experience any problems with PowerGrade, please notify me. (mdeare@scsk12.org) It is helpful if you can provide the following information:
Your Name
Your School
Time of Day
Connection (Wireless/Ethernet)
Any problem (even if the problem was resolved)
Resolution (if there was one)

Thank you for your patience as we work through these issues.

Melanie