echalk Classes for Teachers

COURSE MATERIALS echalk Classes for Teachers PARTICIPANT HANDOUT support@echalk.com 800.499.2741 www.echalk.com

Today s Activities Getting Started: echalk Classes for Teachers A. What is echalk? How will it help me and my students? B. First time log-in & echalk Overview 1. My Profile 2. My Email 3. My Account 4. My School C. Using echalk Class Pages 1. Introduction and Finding My Classes 2. Create Classes (if needed) 3. My Class Page tools a. Announcement: for class news and reminders i. Using the Rich Text Editor b. Events: for assignments, deadlines, and activities i. Sharing assignments across multiple classes ii. Repeat events iii. Homework Drop Box with students c. Resources: for web links, files, web pages, surveys, and more i. Files ii. Web links iii. Web pages d. Discussions: for writing, responding, reflection, and discussion e. Members: for communicating with class members, adding/removing students D. What will students and parents see? E. Using media on your Class Page 1. Image tools 2. Embedding Web tools F. Wrap-up & evaluation Contact echalk Customer Support at support@echalk.com or 800-499-2741 (M-F 8am to 7pm, EST)

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS ACTIVITY / THINK ABOUT IT: MINI-SESSION CHECKLIST FOR TEACHERS School/District echalk Teacher Training Checklist for New Teachers During today s short introduction to echalk, use this checklist as your own personal learning guide. Check-off an item as you learn about and practice that topic. This is a great way to honor your own learning and indicate, Yes, I can do that! 1 st -Time Login Logging in for the first time to my new echalk account. My school s echalk Web site address is: Enter your username and initial password and click LOGIN. Your instructor will provide you with your username and initial password. ACCEPT your school s User Policy CREATE a new password COMPLETE your Profile Choose a position title, select Grade(s) and Subjects/Courses options, click SUBMIT. My Personal echalk Tools All of my personal features of the echalk system, including my profile and email, bookmarks, and file storage. Setup Auto-forward of My echalk Email (optional) Go to MY EMAIL>Options. Click on the Forward/Reply section. Use the ADD button if you would like to have your school echalk email forwarded to another email address. Update my echalk Profile page Go to MY ACCOUNT>Profile. Use the Edit Profile button to update my personal information: school phone number, school hours, room number, biography, and select a picture. Set MY SCHOOL Preferences Go to MY SCHOOL. Select each checkbox and click the NEXT button. Can you find yourself in the Faculty & Staff Directory?

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS ACTIVITY / THINK ABOUT IT: MINI-SESSION CHECKLIST FOR TEACHERS School/District echalk Teacher Training GETTING STARTED WITH MY echalk CLASS Creating, managing, and using echalk Classes for Teachers, Students, and Parents Create My Class Go to MY CLASSES. Click the Create a Class button or Create this class link. Three Steps: Choose Subject, Name and Grade(s), FINISH. Post a Homework Assignment and other Events Using my class calendar (WORK & EVENTS) Publishing Class Announcements, Reminders, Updates (ANNOUNCEMENTS) Publishing Web Links, Files, Surveys, and Other Class Materials (RESOURCES) Adding Student Members to My Class (only if school is providing echalk student accounts) Creating and Using Discussions (only if school is providing echalk student accounts) WORK & EVENTS homework assignments mini-lesson activity information quizzes and tests w/study tips projects (due dates, requirements) class trips ANNOUNCEMENT important class news or updates reminders inspirational quotes/messages highlight/recognize student success and achievements; e.g. Student of the Month, Math Challenge of the Week! DISCUSSIONS pre- & post- unit questions provide writing prompts continue in-class discussion on stimulating or controversial issues and questions allow cooperative learning groups or project teams to use their own online forum for project work create a student-to-student help desk use as a posting area for student reviews and recommendations about books, articles, or movies create a practice area for foreign language students provide teacher online office hours RESOURCES post links to online resources post class rules, syllabus, procedures, requirements, etc. create F.A.Q. Web pages for units or projects post class PowerPoint files share examples of student work (projects, images, PowerPoints, music or video clips) create a Survey of the Month related to an upcoming/past unit post photos of class projects or trips publish diagrams, pictures, etc. post project templates and documents (reports, presentations, etc.)

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS LEARN ABOUT IT: ECHALK CLASS PAGES FOR TEACHERS FLYER echalk Class Pages for Teachers With your echalk Class, you can Post assignments, projects, tests, trips and more in the Events area. Display class news, updates, and reminders, in the Announcement area. Post documents, Web links, pictures, videos, create surveys in the Resources area. Extend learning beyond the classroom using the safe & secure Discussions area. Public view of an echalk Class In the teacher view of a class, you can easily see your four main echalk tools. Events calendar Announcements area Resources area And the online discussions area (viewable only to logged in members of the class to ensure safety and security for students and teachers.) Sample echalk Class Email Alert for Parents Teacher / Student View of an echalk Class Class Email Alerts Improve the school-to-home connection through Class Email Alerts. When a parent signs up via the parent registration form, an automatic electronic newsletter is created and emailed to the parent s email account. Parents will receive an email alert in their Inbox that contains upcoming announcements and events for all of their children s classes. My School s Web Address: http://

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS REFERENCE: ECHALK CLASS PAGE TIPS FOR TEACHERS echalk Class Page Tips for Teachers echalk Class Pages provide teachers with a variety of tools and options. Here are a few ideas for each of the four main areas of your class page. WORK AND EVENTS homework assignments mini-lesson activity information lesson objective(s) quizzes and tests w/study tips projects (due dates, requirements) class trips DISCUSSIONS ANNOUNCEMENT important class news or updates reminders inspirational quotes/messages highlight/recognize student success and achievements pre- & post- unit questions provide writing prompts continue in-class discussion on stimulating or controversial issues and questions allow cooperative learning groups or project teams to use their own online forum for project work create a student-to-student help desk use as a posting area for student reviews and recommendations about books, articles, or movies create a practice area for foreign language students provide teacher online office hours RESOURCES post links to online resources create topical Hotlists using echalk Web pages post rubrics for projects or units create F.A.Q. Web pages for units or projects post class rules, syllabus, procedures, requirements, etc. post class PowerPoint files share examples of student work (projects, images, PowerPoints, music or video clips) post photos of class projects or trips publish diagrams, pictures, etc. post project templates and documents (reports, presentations, etc.) create a Survey of the Month related to an upcoming/past unit create weekly opinion polls to gather research data to use in class create online scavenger hunts and/or WebQuests using echalk Web pages

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS REFERENCE: ECHALK CLASS PAGE TIPS FOR TEACHERS WORK AND EVENTS ANNOUNCEMENT SAVE YOURSELF TIME! Post information one time and cut down the number of phone calls/emails about what did you do in class today or when is this paper due? Short summaries mean: Students/Parents can identify the goals of your lessons/ assignment due dates without asking you Next year, or when you teach this class again, all the material can be pulled out of your archive and reused. Principal/Administrators can identify what is going on in your class without pulling you out of class to ask Gives you documentation for end of year review or to help prove you didn t give a 10 page research paper the day before it is due DISCUSSIONS Can be a specific date coming up (highlighting test dates/field trips, etc.) What unit are we studying? Give some context for your work and events section NO teacher vocabulary or abbreviations Safe place for peer tutoring that may be monitored by the teacher Highlight student achievement or offer free resources to parents to help make them your friend. Save TIME! As with all areas: Once you ve posted it, Administrators, Parents and Students can all find it without asking you for it again. Safe place for students to ask additional questions for clarifying understanding OR Save classroom time for more instruction by giving students a place out of the classroom to seek directions/clarifications RESOURCES Teachers have all the resources (Personal knowledge/textbook resources/ District resources). Parents have none. We want our parents to be effective in helping their students in the classroom. Give your parents/students everything you can. Did you watch a video? Post it here. Did you use a power point? Post it here. Did you give a handout/rubric? Post it here. No more time spent making extra copies or RE-handing out information you ve already distributed. For your students who need to see the video/power point more than one time to get it. For your absent student (no need to spend time sending packets to the front office) For your homebound student. For your student who only spends part of the year in your city/town. To make friends with your parents (give them the guidance they need to be effective. Students become responsible for their learning when they have the resources.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS LEARN ABOUT IT: THE NEW ECHALK CLASSROOM The New echalk Classroom echalk is excited to announce a number of enhancements to the echalk Classroom with Version 12.0 (Summer 2011) for teachers, students, and parents. A new look! Less clicks! Enhanced Homework Drop Box and Discussions for teachers and students! NEW LOOK! A new modern look for the class homepage for teachers, students, and parents. New design, color, and icons help identify key classroom areas. View and edit Course Description on the homepage.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS LEARN ABOUT IT: THE NEW ECHALK CLASSROOM LESS CLICKS! Streamlined publishing, editing, and content management options. One click to add new resources. One click to add new assignments and events. Quickly edit resources from the homepage. Quickly edit, copy, or delete events from the homepage. ENHANCED HOMEWORK DROP BOX & DISCUSSIONS! Integrated commenting between teacher and student on submitted homework assignments and discussion threads. Bidirectional commenting & file submission through the Homework Drop Box. Local time zone support for submissions. NEW! Homework Drop Box for all students including an archive of homework submissions. Updated discussions interface, and added profile images to keep track of who s posting. Streamlined discussion forum listings feature personal profile images. Easily submit feedback, comments, and upload file revisions to students about their assignments.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS LEARN ABOUT IT: THE NEW ECHALK HOMEWORK DROP BOX The New echalk Homework Drop Box echalk s Homework Drop Box provides enhanced collaboration and management options for teachers and students. Enhanced display and management of submissions Integrated teacher-student commenting Student Homework Drop Box View and Archive Local time zone support ENHANCED DISPLAY OF DROP BOX SUBMISSIONS! A new modern look for the class homepage for teachers, students, and parents. New design, color, and comments indicators streamline management for teachers!

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS LEARN ABOUT IT: THE NEW ECHALK HOMEWORK DROP BOX INTEGRATED COMMENTS! Teachers can upload any revisions they make in Word, Excel, PowerPoint or other files and include a comment back to the student. Integrated teacher-student comments thread with file attachment. Added profile images in comments thread. Students and teachers receive automatic emails notifying them of posted comments. STUDENT DROP BOX VIEW AND ARCHIVE! Convenient summary view of all submitted homework assignments and archive for students. Teachers can easily send a comment and/or file to students about an assignment! LOCAL TIME ZONE SUPPORT! Submission deadlines now account for the local time zone of your school. Students now have immediate access to their own Drop Box archive! Deadline for submissions now reflect local time zone!

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS HOW TO: PREPARE TEACHERS FOR A NEW SCHOOL YEAR Prepare Teachers for a New School Year Did you know? Now is a good time to start planning for the classes you will be teaching this year. At a minimum, make sure you (A) have active and visible echalk Classes for the courses you will be teaching, and, if your school is using echalk student accounts, (B) update the members list for each class. Here s a quick guide to these two typical back to school activities. Are all of the classes I will be teaching this term up-to-date? 1. Go to My Classes. Select the All Classes option in the View Another Class drop-down at the top of the page to see a list of all of your active and, possibly, inactive classes from last year. View All Classes to see your active and inactive classes. 2. Now click on Settings in the left toolbar under My Classes. Review the list and update the Visibility and Term Dates as needed and click the Save All button at the bottom. 3. If you need to update the Subject, Grades, Course Description or Name for a class, click the Edit Options link on the right. Check the Visibility, Term Dates, Subject, and Grades for each of your classes. You may update this information for an individual class at any time by going to: My Classes > [click on a class name] > Settings > Edit Options > Edit You may set the End Term Date in the past to archive a class and make it inactive thereby keeping all of that class s Events and Resources to use again in the future. If you need to create a NEW class, click on My Classes and use the Create a Class button at the bottom of the page

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS HOW TO: PREPARE TEACHERS FOR A NEW SCHOOL YEAR Are all of my students listed as Members in each class? 1. Go to My Classes > Members. 2. Choose a class. Click the Manage Members button. Teachers can add students, assistants, co-teachers, or others! There are two options to add members to your class: Add Members Manually: If you have a list of student names or ID numbers, you may copy and paste that list into the Add Members Manually option. Select Members: If you would like to select individual students from a list, use the Select Members option. Copy & paste a list of student names or IDs. Or, select students from a list. Post Class Announcements, Assignments, and Resources Now you are ready to begin posting class information for student and parents! Go to My Classes and click on a class name to view the homepage. Use the + buttons to post class assignments in your Events, Announcements, and Resources areas for the first week of class.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS ACTIVITY: 90-MINUTE ECHALK CLASS CHECKUP/REVIEW My 90-minute Class Page Check-up/Review Today s echalk Class Page Check-up is an opportunity to review, refresh, and renew to ensure you feel comfortable and confident in your abilities to support teaching and learning in your class using echalk. Follow along with the instructor or use this activity guide on your own to make sure you re at your BEST when using echalk with your students and parents. EVENTS: Posting Assignments, Projects, Trips or Events Make sure you feel comfortable and confident with how to ADD a homework assignment, test day, or class trip Choose date, enter title, description,maybe add an image or attachment, and save. Use the Repeat Event option for multi-day or repeated class activities Type it once and have echalk repeat it for you. Use the Show as a separate page vs. Show as a short description option Give students and parents ALL of the information they need for that assignment, project, or class trip. Enable the Homework Drop Box for an assignment Allow students to turn-in their assignment online. ANNOUNCEMENT: Update Class News or Congratulations to Message Make sure you feel comfortable and confident with how to Include some style with the Rich Text Editor Format, bold, italicize, add some text color to your message text. Use the Horizontal Rule tool Separate sections of your announcement area using this Rich Text Editor favorite (2 nd row of icons). Insert multiple images Use the Insert/Modify Image tool on the Rich Text Editor to add additional images in your announcement area.(look for the picture frame icon in 2 nd row.)

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS ACTIVITY: 90-MINUTE ECHALK CLASS CHECKUP/REVIEW RESOURCES: Links, Files, Surveys, & Web Pages Have you really tried out each of the echalk Class Resources tools? Make sure you feel comfortable and confident with how to ADD links to other web sites Be sure to enter a Description for each. Be creative with your Titles, e.g. Go Here for Fun Math Games! or Click Here to Visit. Enter Descriptions for your uploaded file resources Don t just add a file and go! Enter a short description for each file so students and parents know what they will get if they click the link or what they should do with the file. For example: Download this Word document to read our class newsletter. or This is the PowerPoint file used for our recent Food Chain unit. or Watch this video to learn about and practice factoring binomials. Got a question? Need to collect info. from parents/students? Create a Survey! Even creating simple one question opinion polls once a month is a great way to ENGAGE students with your class. Consider planning to feature your own This Month s Class Opinion Poll. If you give your students a chance to participate, they WILL! Embed a widget Don t miss the opportunity to integrate other web tools into YOUR class! Educational sites like TeacherTube.com, YouTube.com, Voicethread.com, Animoto.com, or Glogster.com all give you the ability to EMBED their content into your own Web page. Look for the keywords Embed or Share on these sites. Copy the HTML code they provide, and Create a Web page in your Resources area and paste in the code under the NO FORMATTING option in echalk. Ask your instructor for a copy of echalk s Integrating Class Media Resources handout for examples and how-to instructions. Create a Scavenger Hunt Use the Create a Web page option. Identify three websites you want students to visit and use for research. Type in a question for each of the three websites that requires students to read for understanding. Use the Rich Text Editor s Insert Link tool (chain link icon) to highlight keywords in each question and hyperlink those words to the website. DISCUSSIONS: As the Teacher, You re in Control of Your Options Make sure you feel comfortable and confident with how to [Requires echalk Student Accounts] Moderate or not? Get automatic email notifications or not? Allow students to create topics or only reply to topics you create.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS HOW TO: INTEGRATE CLASS MEDIA RESOURCES Integrate Class Media Resources echalk s content and class management tools provide the flexibility and control teachers need to integrate any of today s online media resources. Whether its unlimited storage for PowerPoints and video files or easy ways to integrate other online media tools, echalk continues to provide the most complete set of safe-and-secure tools and options for teachers and students. Here are a few tips and tricks for how to publish various types of media resources on your echalk Class. Publish Your Own Videos Created Using: Windows MovieMaker Windows Photostory imovie Flip Video cameras SMART Board Recorder Promethean FlipChart Recorder Resources > Add a file Use the Add a file option in your Class Resources area. 1. Click on My Classes. 2. Click on class name. 3. Click the Add button in Resources. 4. Choose the Add a file from your local computer option. 5. Browse to find your file and enter a title and description. 6. Click Save. Embedding Videos from the Web: TeacherTube, SchoolTube, YouTube and other online services provide a variety of educational videos you can integrate into your class. Look for the embed option and copy the code. Resources > Create a Web page Use the Create a Web page option in your Class Resources area. 1. Copy the embed code from the TeacherTube video. 2. Click on My Classes. 3. Click on class name. 4. Click the Add button in Resources. 5. Choose the Create a Web page option. 6. Enter a description and title for the page. 7. Click on the HTML tab at the bottom of the Rich Text Editor window. 8. Paste in the embed code. 9. Click Save.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS HOW TO: INTEGRATE CLASS MEDIA RESOURCES Embedding Web Widgets: You can find a variety of educational tools, games, applets, widgets, and more on the Web today. Many of these enable you to embed them into your own Web site, blog, or Web page. For example Stop Watch & Timer http://www.online-stopwatch.com/download-stopwatch/# AudioPal http://www.audiopal.com/editor.html Scientific Calculator http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/whizz-scientific-calculator For more examples of Web Widgets, visit the Web Widget Directory at www.learn2echalk.com. Resources > Create a Web page Use the Create a Web page option in your Class Resources area. 1. Copy the embed code. 2. Click on My Classes. 3. Click on class name. 4. Click the Add button in Resources. 5. Choose the Create a Web page option. 6. Enter a description and title for the page. 7. Click on the HTML tab at the bottom of the Rich Text Editor window. 8. Paste in the embed code. 9. Click Save. PowerPoint Conversion: There are NO LIMITS to the number of PowerPoint files you may publish on your echalk class using the Add a file option in Resources. However, if you re looking for more advanced options and techniques, you may want to explore authorstream. With your own authorstream account you can upload your PowerPoint file, wait while it converts it into Flash, and then embed the Flash version into a Web page on your Class. www.authorstream.com Resources > Create a Web page Use the Create a Web page option in your Class Resources area. 1. Copy the embed code from your uploaded and converted authorstream PowerPoint. 2. Click on My Classes. 3. Click on class name. 4. Click the Add button in Resources. 5. Choose the Create a Web page option. 6. Enter a description and title for the page. 7. Click on the HTML tab at the bottom of the Rich Text Editor window. 8. Paste in the embed code. 9. Click Save.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS LEARN ABOUT IT: MAKING SURE YOUR CLASS GEST AN A+! Making Sure Your Class Gets an A+! Ensure your echalk class earns an A+ from students and parents by making it clear, concise, relevant, timely, and specific. Here are some common questions parents and students are curious about and want to know. Use this checklist to make sure your echalk class helps students and parents find what they need. What s happening in class? Publish important and exciting class news, updates, and student highlights in your ANNOUNCEMENT area. When is that coming up in class? Add all major dates for class exams, tests, quizzes, projects, field trips, and special class activities to your EVENTS area. What does my child need to do for class this week? Post specific daily/weekly class assignments to your class calendar using your EVENTS area. Where is a copy of that form I need to fill-out and return to my teacher? Post important deadlines or due dates. Attach the form or document to the item in your EVENTS area.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS LEARN ABOUT IT: MAKING SURE YOUR CLASS GEST AN A+! What are my teacher s expectations? How can I help my child at home? Where can I find additional learning materials and resources? Create or upload these materials to a Teacher s Desk folder in your RESOURCES area. Teacher s Desk Grading policy My class philosophy Class forms Class rules and expectation Create or upload these materials to a Tips for Parents folder in your RESOURCES area. Tips for Parents Effective study skills How to become a better reader Test prep resources and information Highlighted Internet Safety resources Create or upload these materials for each unit, chapter or learning topic in your RESOURCES area. Study guides and handouts for each unit, chapter, or project Practice and review materials (PowerPoints, videos, worksheets, web link s) Age-appropriate general educational research and learning websites Class Email Alerts for your classes! Parents can register at your school and sign up to receive an email alert that contains all of your class announcements and events. echalk generates and sends the class email alerts automatically for teachers! No extra work required! Be sure to add a link to your school s echalk Parent Registration page at: http://yourschoolwebsiteaddress/parents/register Sample echalk Class Email Alert for Parents

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS LEARN ABOUT IT: MAKING SURE YOUR CLASS GEST AN A+! ANNOUNCEMENT Post important featured news or updates Celebrate student achievements and success Highlight special awards, recognitions, and projects Share this month s Theme or Essential Question EVENTS Add calendar entries for all major class exams, tests, quizzes, and projects Post daily / weekly class activities and assignments Publish special events and field trips RESOURCES Provide grade-level or subject curriculum summaries or outlines (units of study, key learning topics, themes, syllabus, key standards). Upload study guides and handouts for each unit, chapter, or project Publish practice and review materials (PowerPoints, videos, worksheets, web links) Add age-appropriate general educational research and learning websites Here are two ideas for Resource Folders and materials to add to your echalk Class. Teacher s Desk Grading policy My class philosophy Class forms Class rules and expectation Tips for Parents Effective study skills tips How to become a better reader Test prep resources and information Links to Internet Safety resources

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS LEARN ABOUT IT: MAKING SURE YOUR CLASS GEST AN A+! Example PRIVATE Teacher/Student/Parent view of echalk Class Page Example PUBLIC view of echalk Class Page