Command & Control-Keyboard Shortcuts
November 2, 2014
Tags: Lenovo, Staff, Staff Laptop, Windows
For those staff members who use keyboard shortcuts frequently, the move from Mac OS X to Windows 8.1 may present the simple challenge of changing muscle memory. Rest assured that beyond that, your most frequently used keyboard shortcuts will easily transfer from one staff laptop to the next. On the Mac, the “Command” key was […]
Google Drive: 2 Ways to Navigate
November 7, 2014
Tags: Google Apps, Google Drive, Lenovo, Staff, Staff Laptop, Windows
Nearly all of the time that School District 21 staff members interact with their Google Drive, they do so in the Chrome browser. This is the best way to use Google Drive and will work for nearly everyone, nearly all of the time. Additionally, during the laptop set-up process, all staff configured Google Drive in […]
Windows 8-Adding School Printers
November 7, 2014
Tags: Lenovo, Printing, Staff, Staff Laptop, Windows
By default, all staff laptops will automatically receive all of the major printers for the school to which the computer and staff member are assigned. Nevertheless, there are times that a staff member will need to individually and specifically add another school printer to her or his computer. These times include: Working at multiple schools […]
Taking Screenshots in Windows 8.1
November 20, 2014
Tags: Lenovo, Screenshot, SnagIt, Staff Laptop, Windows
There are a variety of reasons why staff members need to take “pictures” of all or part of the screen on their laptop computers. Important on-screen items that staff members might take screenshots of include: a graph in Inform to be included in a year-end team summary or a student’s IEP a screenshot to illustrate […]
Google Hangouts: Getting Things Done
May 7, 2015
Tags: Chat, Google, Google Apps, Google Hangouts, Hangouts
Beginning today, Google Hangouts is enabled for all CCSD21.org users, students and staff. (Hangouts was originally opened as an option to staff only when it became mostly compliant with Google Vault.) Google has recently made Hangouts fully compliant with Google Vault, the service that School District 21 uses to necessarily archive email and chat messages. […]
Google+ Photos: Now in Drive
May 7, 2015
Tags: Google, Google Apps, Google Drive, Google Photos, Google Plus, Photos, Pictures
This week, Google is rolling out a new feature to Google Apps for Education domains. Google+ Photos will now appear in Google Drive on the left side titled as “Google Photos” as pictured below. There are some great benefit to this feature, and staff members also need to understand the distinction between the storage of […]
End-of-Trimester Timelines 2015-2016
September 16, 2015
Tags: Gradebook, Grades, Report Cards
For 2015-2016, we will continue using the same process that we have been using for a number of years to close out the trimester for grades K-8, verifying grades, and publishing report cards. Please note that Kindergarten teachers are now included in this process for second and third trimester. There is no longer a paper-based […]
Using Google Drive in the browser
May 28, 2013
Tags: Google, Google Apps, Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Sheets, Google Slides
While Google Drive will work in most browsers, CCSD21 students and staff members will use it most frequently and to the greatest effect in the Chrome browser, and all features and apps are supported when using Chrome. If you haven’t done so already, sign into Google Apps with your CCSD21 Google Apps account. Once you […]
Google Apps Collaboration: Sharing Files & Folders
May 28, 2013
Tags: Collaboration, Google Apps, Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Teams
In Google Drive, you can share one or more of your files or folders with people by sending them a link to your file or sharing the file with an individual’s email address or a mailing list. To share a file: 1. Go to your Google Drive. 2. Check the box next to the file […]
Protecting your Chromebook
October 20, 2013
Tags: 1:1, Chromebook, Student Devices, Students
As Mr. Hopkins, the principal at Holmes Middle School, likes to recount, in 1976, calculators made their way in to the classrooms of 7th and 8th graders to change, improve, and deepen mathematics instruction. In the following years, the first computers and computer labs appeared in our schools. In 2009, as a result of the […]
Each District 21 school is named after an American author, and learning and literacy is at the center of our Professional Learning Community. The Modern Pen provides a collaborative location in which District 21 teachers can come together to learn the skills that will enable their students to learn new skills and to understand concepts at an even different level than before.
Preparing all students for success
