Franklin Township

Professional Development

October 11, 2010

Overview

Today’s TrainingHow do we update a Teacher Contact

section?

“Nuts and Bolts” Session

Teacher Contact Sections Teacher contact sections will be

provided for free on the school home page.

Pages have already been created by the technology department.

What should I do first?

• Go to your school’s home page.– Use the school where you are home-based

• You will see a row of headings called “Channels”.

• Please click on the Teacher Contact channel.

• Next, find your name and click on it.

Location of Teacher Contact Channel

Inside the Teacher Contact Channel

What should I do next?

• At the top right corner, click the “Sign In” button.

• Provide your username and password.• Since the website does not attach to

your “regular” login, you will use first initial and last name as your username and only last name as your password.

Example of Username and Password Staff member: John Smith

Username: jsmithPassword: smith

Why do I need to login?

Allows you to edit content on the website for the sections you have access to.

Allows you to see restricted information that might not be available to the public.

Screen shot after login…

So how do I access my Teacher Contact section to work on it? Click on “Site Manager” in the top right of

the corner of the page. You will notice that your screen has

changed. You are now on the “back end” of the

Franklin Township Board of Education website.

Since you have already navigated to your page prior to logging in, you will see the “back end” of your section.

Your Section Workspace

Pages in your section

You will see two pages. The first page is the Overview page. The second page is the Assignments

page.

Overview Page (Back End)

In order to add or change any of your contact information (i.e. add phone number, add grade level, etc.), click on the word “Overview”.

The overview page is a Flex Page.

Overview Page

This page should contain: Your NameYour School(s)Grade Level/SubjectEmail AddressSchool Phone NumberBrief description of what will happen in your

class this year.

What about the greeting on the page? This should be changed. It should now read:

“Welcome to $SN’s Teacher Contact Information!”

$SN takes the place of your name when you edit your page. It will fill it with your name when others view it.

Assignments Page

This page appears as a default in your section.

You will learn how to make this page inactive (if you would like).

It is not mandatory to update your assignments on this page. It is your choice whether to display this page or not.

This page is optional.

Assignments Page (Back End) To get to the assignments page, click on

the word “Assignments” in your section. Please notice that the check box to the

left of the word “active”. That means that the page is active.

What should I put on my Assignments Page? List of upcoming assignments. This may include homework and long-

term projects.

Again, this page is optional!

What is a Flex Page?

A flex page is a page that can be used many different ways.

It is similar to a Microsoft Word page. You can add hyperlinks, attachments,

etc.

Flex Page

When editing is completed… Click save at the bottom. If you need to get out of the page

without saving, click cancel.

Your Teacher Contact Section

How do I make my Assignments Page inactive? To the left of the word “Active” is a

checkbox. Click on the checkbox to remove the

check. This will make your page inactive.

What do you mean the page is “Inactive”? It means that you can work on the page

on the back end, if you would like. The user of the website will not see this

page if it is inactive. They will only see the overview page.

Assignments Page is a Flex Page This is the same type of page that the

overview page is. You can type your assignments here.

What font should I use in my Teacher Contact section? For general text, please use Tahoma as

your standard font.

Here is a suggestion…

This is only a suggestion! The easiest way to put assignments in

the flex page is to paste them in. You will need to have your assignments

typed in a Microsoft Word document to paste them in.

If you prefer, you can type straight into the flex page instead of using Microsoft Word.

How to paste from Word

Open your Word Document. Highlight the whole document. This can

be done by hitting Ctrl-A. Next, copy the highlighted selection

(Ctrl-C). Go back to the Assignments page. Click on “Paste from Word” (top row, 8th

button from left).

How to paste from Word (continued…) A box will pop up. Paste the contents from your Word

document into the box. Click OK. The contents of Word document are

now in the Assignments page. Make sure the Active button is checked. Click Save.

Why are you suggesting that we type in Word and then copy and paste? By using Word, you don’t need to be

logged in to work on your document. You are limiting the time that you have

to be logged into the system. If you cannot access the website, you

will still have access to the document that you can copy and hand to the students and keep a record for yourself.

How can I see my update? At the top left corner, you will see the

tab “View Website”. If you click on it, you will see the

website. You may need to hit “refresh” to see

your changes.

What do I do to update my assignments page? Go back to your section. Go into the assignments page. Delete everything in the flex page. Follow the procedure for copying from

Word to paste into the flex page. Please remember that use of the

assignments page in optional.

So what is expected of me regarding my Teacher Contact section? Make sure that your contact information

is accurate on your overview page.

Can I do more than the minimum? Yes. You may use the assignments page as

outlined earlier. You may also create more pages if you

would like. Please follow the policy guidelines

set forth by the district about website content.

Where can I find the protocol? The protocol, as well as this PowerPoint

presentation are available online. Please sign in the district home page. Click on the “Faculty and Staff” channel. Click on “Instructional Technology”. Please note: If you do not login, you will

not see the Instructional Technology section.

What if I want to have outside websites linked to my page? Please post the following message

and disclaimer on any pages that connect to an outside link:

Important Message to Parents and Guardians:The following website link(s) are provided for educational purposes.  Please be aware that, while on-line, there is always potential for a child to access links that may lead to inappropriate content.  It is recommended that parents and guardians supervise children while they are on the Internet.  For more information please see the US Department of Education's Parent Guide to the Internet or the Guide to Internet Safety offered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (insert link so parents can click on the guide).

Disclaimer:  The Franklin Township Public Schools website contains links to government Web sites that our educators have recommended as resources to students, parents, and/or community members.  The Franklin Township School District is not responsible for any content or advertising which may be posted on these websites.  The links provided do not indicate any endorsement by the Franklin Township School District.

Can I use pictures or names of students? In order to display a picture or name of a

student, a parent/guardian must opt-in to the program by signing a specific form.

You also need prior approval from an administrator.

If this form is not signed and you do not have administrator approval, these images or names are not allowed on our website.

What if I work in more than one school? Your teacher contact sections can be

linked so that you only need to update one teacher page.

Please make a note on your overview page that the visitor has been redirected to your teacher contact section at your home base school so that the visitor realizes they are now looking at a different school in the district.

What are strings? A string ($) allows you to use a code to

find data and use it on your website. Earlier, you looked at $SN on your

overview page. $SN = code for Section Name For you, your section name is your

name, which is why it already on your teacher page.

Can I use a string to welcome people to my section? Yes! You would use the code $UF to list

someone’s first name. This code will only display the user

name if someone logs into the Schoolwires website.

If not, it will list as “guest”. So, if you type in “Welcome, $UF”, you

will see “Welcome, Guest” on your screen.

Where can I find other $?

Blocks

What strings will I find here? You will find items such as date, user’s

full name, and others.

Questions or comments Questions or comments about creating teacher about creating teacher sections?sections?

Sample Sample Teacher Teacher Contact Contact SectionsSections

Idea starters for teacher pages... Look through different Teacher Contact

Sections (both inside and outside the district).

What do you like? Why?

Polls/SurveysPolls/Surveys

How do I use a poll or survey within Schoolwires? At the front page of your section, you will

see a tab for “tools”. Click here to find the section called

“Forms and Surveys”.

“Tools” tab in your section

“Forms and Surveys” area

Creating a New Survey

Click on New Form/Survey. Once working with the new form, you

will need to provide a title for your form. (You may also copy an existing form if you have created one previously.)

Then, click “save”.

Adding questions… Once you have named and created your

survey, you will need to insert questions. Click the insert button on the right hand

side. In the dropdown, you can select from

many different question types (i.e., multiple choice, checkboxes, open-ended questions, etc.).

Fill in the appropriate data, as necessary.

What do I do after adding the first question? You may add more questions by clicking

on “Insert” at the bottom of the screen. If you are finished, you may select

“Done” at the top left of the screen.

Why does it say design instead of active? Once you click “done”, you will be taken

to the main form screen for you section. You will still be in “design” status. Click the checkbox next to design to

make it active.

Now that the survey is active… Click the word “Home” at the top left of

the screen. Then, create a new flex page. You may want to name the page Polls,

Surveys, etc. Once in the flex page, click on the

“Insert Form Link” (8th from the left on the bottom row)

Once the form link is posted… Please type a title on the line above the

form so that people know this is a survey link.

Make sure that your flex page is active and then click save.

How do I see my results?

From your main section page, click the “Tools” tab and then click on “Forms & Surveys”.

You should see the survey that you have posted to the flex page.

Once a survey has been submitted, you will notice that “analyze” is now a option.

Click on “analyze” to see your results.

Manage Forms & Surveys Page

Results Overview Page

How can I use these surveys? You can use the surveys as alternative

and snapshot assessments of your students (at school or at home).

You can also use them to communicate with parents to get a sense of where the majority of parents stand on an issue in class.

Can I use other surveys?

I have used surveys before with my classes. Can I post a link to surveys I create using sites such as Google Docs or Survey Monkey?Yes, you may post the link or even embed

the code for these surveys. If you are planning on this, please remember to include the disclaimer so that students and parents know they are going to an outside website.

Let’s Review!Let’s Review!

Teacher Contact Sections Will be used to communicate your

contact information. Can be used to add pages for

assignments, links, etc. (optional). Sections have already been created for

you.

Please take the rest of the Please take the rest of the time to utilize your Teacher time to utilize your Teacher Contact Section and discuss Contact Section and discuss with your colleagues.with your colleagues.

Thank you for Thank you for your time today!your time today!

Franklin Township

Professional Development

October 11, 2010

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