Thursday, March 24, 2016

Mastery Connect- Getting Started

Image result for what is mastery connect

MasteryConnect is a cloud-based software platform allows teachers to track student mastery of standards, both state and Common Core standards.

After you get logged in (see below) check out the Interactive Tour under Help.


1.       Account
·         Check to see if you have an account by trying to log on
o Use wcpss email:  lsmith@wcpss.net
o Click on “forgot password”
o Mastery Connect will email you your password
2.       No account
·         If you receive an error message “email address not found”
o Click on the “sign up” tab
o Click on the “Free account” tab
o Use wcpss email to register
Creating Groups (Trackers) and Assessments
1.       Click on the “Add Tracker” tab
1.       Choose subject, core (CCSS Traditional), class and description (e.g. 2nd grade Reading Intervention, 3rd grade Math Intervention,  Mrs. Montgomery’s Guided Reading Red Group, etc.) and folder color.
2.       Add students: choose individually, cvs or copy from previous tracker.
3.       Click “Create Tracker” tab
2.       Add Assessments
1.       Click on the  “+ Assessments” tab OR the orange “hamburger” icon beside tracker name
2.       Choose where you want to get the assessment from
o Search from the Community-lots of tests from other teachers!
o Select from my Assessments-allows you to choose a previous test you’ve used
o Create New Assessment-allows you to use the Case 21 item bank or create your own questions.
1.       Choose standard or multi-standard (note: this must match #5 below or you will get an error message)
2.       Give your assessment a title and description
3.       Choose an assessment source: upload your own questions OR choose from the Case 21 Assessment Builder
4.       Choose a question format (multiple choice, T/F, open answer, etc.)
5.       Choose Standard (STD)
6.       Choose Grade Cam if you want to score using the computer’s camera
7.       Questions that have a “gold badge” are peer reviewed and typically high quality.
8.       Click on the item number to review the question
9.       Click on the + tab to add the question to your assessment
10.   Click on the “Scoring” tab at the bottom to set mastery, near mastery levels
11.   Click on the “Create Assessment” tab and voila!

3.       Need help:  Click on the “Need Help” tab on the right to access quick instructional videos!


Assessing Students
1.       To print out assessment
·         To print out assessment click on the “Assessment” tab and then click on the assessment name.
·          The assessment questions will come up and you can click on the edit or print icons.
2.       To print out the bubble sheet that goes with the assessment
·         Click on “Trackers” then the name of the group you want to assess
·         Click on the Assess tab over the standard you are assessing
·         On the next screen click on the standard and choose print out bubble sheet
·         Note: if using an ipad  to scan student answers you must get the test number: click on the assess button above the standard
3.       To score electronically click on the “Enable Camera” icon
·         Hold bubble sheet up until you hear the “click”
·         Click on Edit answer – save answer and score will automatically go to your student/class under tracker.
·         Note:  Some laptop cameras require a great deal of ambient light to scan the Mastery Connect answer sheets. You may need to increase the light level near the laptop or you may find it easier to use the Mastery Scan app available for free on itunes.

Other Nifty Stuff:
1.       Mindful: A library of short how-to videos on using Mastery Connect.
2.       Pins: A pinterest type place to find great teaching ideas.
3.       Socrative: A cloud based student response system.  You can create simple quizzes kids take on laptops or even smartphones.

4.       Mastery Student app-allows students to take your assessments online.

Monday, March 21, 2016

NCTIES 2016: PLAY with Your Phone

Free DownloadPLAY (Personalized Learning AnYwhere) with Your Phone
Presented by Pam Batchelor and Amy Stanley

At the beginning of this presentation there are some very interesting facts about kids and their devices.

On slide 10, we start to see some fabulous resources that have been tested on iOS and Android platforms.

Check them out!
  • Poll Everywhere
  • Doodle for scheduling meetings
  • Quizizz is like an educational version of Kahoot; Note: You can turn off memes; it integrates with Google classroom; there are pre-made quizzes
  • Nearpod- great for teachers who are beginners; has Google classroom integration, has augmented reality lessons, free lessons, but download them when you see them, because they go could away
  • AWWAP- like a whiteboard. It's a link.
  • Zaption: can ask questions embedded in videos, can share a link with students, integrates with Google classroom, grades multiple choice questions, students don't need accounts. Note: When showing videos, use this rule: students can pay attention for one minute/ their age. A 14 year old can watch a 14 minute long video
  • Great presentation for BYOD help

Check out the favorite apps list on Slide 16!!

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Discovery Education Professional Development


Did you know that Discovery Education has Professional Development?

They have added some really fantastic opportunities!

Just log in- for WCPSS employees, your username is wcpss+your employee number and your password is either your employee number or something that you've made up. You can always click on the "Forgot Username or Password" link if you can't remember it.

Then, up at the top, click on Professional Development and choose PD Home. 

This is where you will find several `1 hour courses. You can do this at home, at school or anywhere you have internet.

Check out #4- My DE if you're just getting started with Discovery Ed. 
A lot of you have heard of Board Builder: #7 is 50 Ways to Use Board Builder.

There are also Science. Social Studies and Math Techbook options that look great!

Enjoy!!


Friday, March 11, 2016

NCTIES 2016: Imagine!


NCTIES 2016 was a huge success! I'll be posting lots of awesome resources and ideas from the conference. If you share any of them, please be sure to give credit to the publisher's of the presentations. 

The Keynote Speakers for the Opening Session were Drew Minock and Brad Waid. 
Some of the things that they said that really spoke to me were:

  • Teach kids that failure is part of the process, but tell them that when you fail, it's an opportunity to grow. Understand why you failed and use that to learn.
  • You don't have a one year contract with your students. 
  • Create a Analog Twitter Wall: Use sentence strips with magnets. Kids make a "twitter" handle and "tweet" each day by writing a 144 character or less message on the sentence strip. Learn about your kids and teach about digital citizenship at the same time. 
  • Education means inspiring someone's mind, not just filling their head.  
  • It's not about the devices.
  • Are we preparing them for our future or their future?
Lots to think about- and more to come with ideas on how to conquer some of these challenges!

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

NC Live Video Collection


Just a reminder that the following EBSCO resources are being discontinued and have been replaced by Explora:
  • ​Student Research Center
  • Kids Search
  • Searchasaurus
Explora is now available from the left side navigation in each of the zones.


As you may know, PBS videos have been accessible through an NCWiseOwl partnership with NC LIVE. This collection includes videos from PBS including Ken Burns’ documentaries, Masterpiece Theater, Scientific American, American Experience, and more. This content has been accessible for districts and charter schools from the www.ncwiseowl.org site by clicking on the link for "PBS Videos". We are pleased to announce that there is now an additional way to access this content.


On March 8, 2016 students and teachers will be able to access the NC LIVE streaming video collection using an application within the NCEdCloud IAM Service. LEA and charter school users will also now be able to access this content using the icon below that will be made available on their my.ncedcloud.org applications page:

We are excited to provide you with additional ways to access this content. Provided that your district has registered external IPs with NCWiseOwl, you will still be able to automatically authenticate and access the streaming video content through the NCWiseOwl site. Please choose the best access option that works to meet the needs of your students.