Weekly Lessons Learned Archive

Weekly Lessons Learned 2/5/21

  • The Newsela/BLEND integration is now available to all teachers/students in grades 3-12!
  • What is the easiest way for a teacher to save a photo as a pdf?
  • Can I get more information about Google Assignments in BLEND?
  • I’m not sure if I have the latest version of Zoom. Is there a way to tell?
  • I am looking for ways to structure collaboration in breakout rooms. What collaboration structures do you recommend, and what examples of classroom application can you share?
  • My registrar made changes in TEAMS/Frontline. When will I see these roster changes made in BLEND, Seesaw, and other district-rostered systems?
  • My students had a schedule change. How do I help them rearrange the BLEND Dashboard?
  • I accidentally saved a change I don’t want on my BLEND page. How can I find and restore previous versions of my page?

Weekly Lessons Learned 1/29/21

  • When I use the “Copy to function” in BLEND, why is it producing such a long list of courses for me to choose from, and what can I do to easily find my course?
  • Will the Discovery Education BLEND integration improve? So glad you asked!
  • Is there a way for my students to annotate a PDF in BLEND without additional software or licenses?
  • How can I request a website unblocked?
  • An updated BrainPOP resource for teachers has been added to the BLEND Commons!
  • Is there a way to subtitle a presentation in another language as I present?
  • Are there any resources for using the New Rich Content Editor in BLEND?
  • I am trying to load my BLEND grades and I can’t see any grades for this grading period. The grades show when I have ALL Grading Periods selected.
  • Why is my PlayPosit video STILL giving students the error “Video Streams Fail to Load”?
  • How do I assign a Seesaw activity to only a select few students for differentiation?
  • How do I (re)connect my student’s iPad to BLEND, Seesaw, and other apps?

Weekly Lessons Learned 1/22/21

  • Why is my PlayPosit video giving me the error “Video Streams Fail to Load”?
  • Is there a way for a teacher to manually submit a BLEND quiz for a student if they accidentally forgot to submit?
  • How can I help students who are having issues accessing content embedded from Google Drive in BLEND?
  • Where did my concluded BLEND courses go? How do I access them?
  • My student teacher for this semester has finished orientation and has their A number now. How do I add them to my BLEND course?
  • How can I log into Google on an iPad? Is there a video I can share with parents?
  • What next steps might I take to help a student whose sound/audio recordings are not getting captured on their Seesaw assignments?
  • My student teacher for this semester has finished orientation and has their A number now. How do I add them as a co-teacher to my Seesaw course?

Weekly Lessons Learned 1/15/21

  • How do I set a grading policy for late work?
  • Why are student assignments not showing up in Speedgrader, even when it says they have been turned in?
  • How do I filter by grading period in my BLEND gradebook?
  • What other filters are available in the BLEND gradebook?
  • In what ways can I support my students who need to rename themselves in Zoom?
  • What are my options for copying in BLEND?
  • My students have several old courses cluttering their BLEND dashboard. Is there something they can do?
  • My Course navigation changed! What might have happened?
  • Is there a way to forward my BLEND inbox emails to my Outlook email?
  • Did you know BrainPop has a new feature – co-teachers?

Weekly Lessons Learned 1/8/21

  • How do I add a long-term or short-term substitute to my BLEND course?
  • What resources are available to help me get acclimated to the New Rich Content Editor (RCE) in BLEND?
  • How do I help students authenticate through Zoom to make my meetings safer?
  • How do teacher changes in Frontline/TEAMS affect gradebooks and BLEND?
  • The Teacher Checklists for Blueprint Courses have been updated.
  • What does the new background look like for the district-issued iPads?
  • Families on district-issued iPads are experiencing Zoom login issues. What can I do to help?

Weekly Lessons Learned 12/18/20

  • I have heard Zoom will do auto-captioning. How do I set that up?
  • I had a course number change during the semester or a student transferred, how can I see the grades for students who have been concluded?
  • How can I provide feedback on the blueprints?
  • My students’ iPads just updated and now images are gone in BLEND or Seesaw!
  • How can I close all the tabs that are in my Safari browser?

Weekly Lessons Learned 12/11/20

  • Changes are coming to elementary blueprints!
  • My students can’t hear the audio from a Playposit! How can I help troubleshoot audio issues for Playposit bulbs?
  • How does a student retake a PlayPosit bulb?
  • My students’ iPads just updated and now images are gone in BLEND or Seesaw!
  • Do you have any short iPad tutorials?
  • How do I install Adobe Spark on an iPad?

Weekly Lessons Learned 12/04/20

  • The New Rich Content Editor will be automatically enabled in ALL BLEND courses by January 2, 2021.
  • How do I access Adobe Spark? All staff and students can locate Adobe Spark in their AISD Portal Applications.  
  • Did something happen to the custom edits that I made to my blueprint?
  • Want help finding an approved YouTube channel?
  • Want to peruse previous Weekly Lessons Learned?
  • Is something not showing correctly on your screen?
  • How do I upgrade my Zoom account? What Zoom learnings have happened this week?
  • How can I get Zoom help?
  • How do I set up my new teacher iPad for JAMF School?

Weekly Lessons Learned 11/20/20

  • Students and Staff can now access Adobe Spark through the new tile in the AISD Portal!
  • My student can’t see Google content in BLEND.
  • What information is most useful to get my ServiceNow ticket properly routed and quickly addressed?
  • Should I set starting and ending dates for my courses in BLEND?
  • My students’ iPads just updated and now images are gone in BLEND!
  • How can I tell if my student’s iPad is registered and getting updates?

Weekly Lessons Learned 11/13/20

  • How do I set and/or change due dates in BLEND, and why is this important?
  • What new Playposit learnings have arisen this week?
  • How do I set BLEND notifications at the course level?
  • A site I need to use with students is showing up as “BLOCKED.” Is there a way to unblock websites for students?
  • My 3rd-5th-grade blueprint has content linking out to MackinVIA and/or Ebsco that my students cannot access. How can I help them?
  • Students are doing a lot of scrolling within one BLEND page. How can I create a link to something within a BLEND page (like a “Return to Top” link)?
  • Where are some of the district-pushed apps on the district-issued iPads?
  • How do I know if a student’s district iPad is not syncing with district settings?

Weekly Lessons Learned 11/06/20

  • 3-5 Blueprint Update
  • How do I create custom sections in BLEND (Canvas) so that I can differentiate and assign things only to specific sections?
  • How can I use GoGuardian to support student engagement?
  • How do I create an announcement for my individual BLEND course?
  • How do I find past/archived Global Announcements that I closed from my BLEND Dashboard?
  • Why is my PlayPosit video giving me the error “Video Streams Fail to Load”?
  • How do you save videos you’ve created using PlayPosit’s built-in recorder?
  • How does ownership of PlayPosit bulbs work?
  • How do I change how my grades post in BLEND (Canvas)?
  • How do I put a BLEND (Canvas) page on students’ To Do lists?
  • How do I reduce the amount of past activities my students see in Seesaw?
  • Why can’t my students see the HMH leveled readers when they access HMH through the Portal from their iPads?
  • How do I download a student’s Seesaw journal?
  • What are some guidelines or best practices with Seesaw?

Weekly Lessons Learned 10/30/20

  • As rosters change in TEAMS, how does this impact systems that use TEAMS to auto-roster students? If a student transfers to my class, what if I need access to students’ previous work from a different BLEND course?
  • Need an easy way to copy a module or individual BLEND item from one course to another? If you are a Teacher or Co-Teacher in a course you can use the Copy To function.
  • Do you need help modifying or setting the “Due date” for a BLEND item (such as a BLEND assignment, graded discussion board, or quiz)?
  • UPDATED: To help make it easier for students to message me via the BLEND inbox, is there a way for me to create a link that I can embed on my BLEND homepage that will allow students to message me via the BLEND inbox?
  • I like New Quizzes because of their functionality in putting stimuli side-by-side with the questions attached to that stimulus. But I can’t add read-aloud support…can I?
  • Are you experiencing issues when duplicating a New Quiz or copying it from one course to another?
  • I need a link refresher! How do I link things in BLEND? How do I relink a button?
  • Need some resources on concurrent teaching?
  • Are you looking for resources to support MAP Growth testing with remote learners?
  • As rosters change in TEAMS, how does this impact Seesaw?

Weekly Lessons Learned 10/23/20

  • Remember all those links we’ve shared in past Weekly Lessons Learned Updates for the status of apps and websites? They’re now all consolidated into a new page on the AISD website!
  • GoGuardian – “Student offline” is sometimes seen by teachers when in an active session.
  • Grade filtering
  • What are some suggestions on how to provide continuity of instruction to the kids of a teacher who may be taking leave?
  • Any new Zoom learnings this week?
  • My students are turning in work via BLEND, and when I look in SpeedGrader, a student’s submission gives me this error:
  • Students on iPads are reporting issues with the visibility of images when using the Canvas Student App. What can I do to help?
  • Some students are getting an error message on their iPads that they “do not have enough storage” to turn in work via Seesaw. How can I help?
  • How do I know if a student’s district iPad is not syncing with district settings?

Weekly Lessons Learned 10/16/20

  • As the end of the grading period approaches, what are some timesavers for grading and tips for communicating missing work to students?
  • What are some best practices for adding grades and assignments in SIS Frontline TEAMS?
  • Zoom Odds’n’Ends
  • How can I get Zoom help?
  • BLEND (Canvas) Odds’n’Ends
  • What new learning has happened around Playposit bulbs and ownership?
  • Curious about the status of a system that AISD uses?

Weekly Lessons Learned 10/9/20

  • How do I upgrade my Zoom account? What Zoom learnings have happened this week?
  • How do I connect to the EduDisplay and manage the sound?
  • Want to reduce the number of clicks to our core academic resources?
  • How do I organize my side navigation menu in a BLEND course?
  • A student is getting an error message like the one below on a district Chromebook. How do I connect to the Education network?
  • My registrar made changes in TEAMS/Frontline. When will I see these rostering changes made in BLEND, Seesaw, etc.?
  • As the end of the grading period approaches, what are some timesavers for grading?
  • How can students and caregivers get an overview of assignments and due dates within BLEND?
  • How can I submit and “upvote” BLEND (Canvas) request features, such as giving observers in BLEND a list view option on the Dashboard?
  • My gradebook is showing “Select Student Group- Due to the size of your course you must select a student group before launching SpeedGrader.”
  • How do I create an IXL or Dreambox link for BLEND?

Weekly Lessons Learned 10/02/20

  • What are some ways I can get real-time tech support as we return to the physical classroom?
  • What are some considerations or tips for using the EduDisplay with Zoom as I set up learning spaces for my virtual and in-person students next week?
    • Could I still use the DocCam as part of my Zoom, EduDisplay, laptop setup?
    • You can plug directly into the EduDisplay or use MiraCast if you prefer to be mobile/untethered to the EduDisplay.
  • Need some EduDisplay reminders?
  • Why is a student getting a proxy authentication or connection error on their iPad or Chromebook?
  • What are ways to manage course notifications for an individual BLEND course?
  • I’m having trouble integrating HMH in BLEND.
  • How can I easily message students who have not turned in work in BLEND?
  • Tips for Google Docs and Slides Submissions for BLEND Assignments
  • What are some tips to help students be safe online, especially with YouTube?
  • My Zoom links don’t work sometimes. Any tips on troubleshooting?
  • How can I and my students help prevent eye strain from all this screen time?
  • Students are getting iPad enrollment errors and/or their iPad apps are not loading properly.
  • Why are students’ iPad scenes changing at different times of the day?

Weekly Lessons Learned 9/25/20

  • My gradebook in BLEND isn’t showing my course assignments, quizzes, etc.!
  • Google Drive will not authorize.
  • What are the best ways for parents to see a global view of what their child needs to do and feedback/grades they have received?
  • How can I connect BLEND and Google in different ways?
  • How can I help my students with Portal login issues?
  • How can I ensure my students have the latest version of Chrome on their Chromebooks?
  • Are students experiencing issues trying to login to different AISD digital resources?
  • How do I troubleshoot accessing AISD digital resources such as Seesaw, Dreambox, Imagine Learning?
  • Is your button not automatically authenticating students to an AISD digital resource?
  • What can I do if my students on an iPad using the Canvas Student App can’t see my BLEND items?