My district just bought this piece of junk and we've all been thrown into trying to learn how to use it.
The reply a couple of posts up from "Happy IC User" reads suspiciously like a reply to a blog I just read. The blog owner looked up the IP address of the "happy user" and discovered that it was owned by, guess who, Infinite Campus!
Previously we used SASI and Integrade Pro, neither of which were particularly good pieces of software. However, both of them are head and shoulders over Infinite Campus in ease of use and versatility. I can't believe how many clicks it takes to simply create an assignment and propagate it across five classes. I'm one of the more savvy computer users on my campus, the guy most folks go to when they are having problems and I find making headway with IC difficult.
Heaven forbid you forget to click "Save" before you try to navigate away from a page. You get that helpful window that asks you if you want to save before you navigate away. Click on "OK" and you're navigated away without saving. Click on "Cancel" and you're navigated away without saving. Simply close the window with the X-box and you're navigated away without saving. Why bother to warn the teacher if there's no way to salvage the data? I read posts from three years ago complaining about the same problem and it isn't fixed yet? The behavior isn't even consistent between pages!
I think that the net result with IC will be teachers using their own gradebook programs and then manually entering the grades every reporting period as required. They'll leave their IC gradebooks locked from the parent portal because they can't be sure that the IC gradebook will act in the way they want it to act. Infinite Campus has actually made teachers' workload far higher and reduced our ability to communicate with parents.
Established exchange still needs these states. Address labels will be provided, avoiding mistakes in addressing and therefore avoiding dissapointment. $2.00 requested for labels. There will possibly be a class website project in conjunction with this exchange to facilitate students sharing more information about their state. Let me know ASAP if you would like to join,
Each teacher will be responsible for sending a postcard to each of the other states. Please include information about your state such as state symbols and interesting facts. In return, you will receive a postcard back from each of the states involved. Address labels will be provided to you if you want. Also, a list of names, addresses, and school websites will be e-mailed to you. I would like to send address labels by the MIDDLE of October. Deadline for mailing out postcards will be sometime in November.
If you are interested in participating in this exchange, please email me personally with the following info. our email addresses: daniellemitchell1yahoo.com or uspostcardexchange.com Please make the subject line of your email read "POSTCARD EXCHANGE/ (your state abbreviation)".
Information to include in your email: Name
Grade you teach
E-mail address
Name you would like on mailing label (Ms. Smith's Second Grade Class)
Our group needs SD to help complete our postcard exchange. You will be responsible for mailing a postcard to each state and you will receive one from each state. If you are interested, email me directly at [email removed]
I am a graduate student at Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi. I am conducting research for my master's degree in Curriculum & Instruction, specializing in math. Specifically, I created a survey regarding the role of virtual manipulatives in today's mathematics classroom. I am in the process of distributing this survey to as many mathematics teachers as possible. Your help would be greatly appreciated. Below is a direct link to the survey:
[link removed]
PLEASE forward this e-mail on to any teachers you know who are currently teaching mathematics-- elementary, middle, or high school. With your help, I hope to receive results from all over the country.
Any help you can provide in publicizing this survey is greatly appreciated.
If you are a teach students in grades 4-9, we invite you to participate in a special pilot study for a federally funded research project, the e-Learning for Educators Initiative.
The Technology and Assessment Study Collaborative (inTASC) at Boston College is conducting a pilot study to examine the characteristics of test items that will be used in the large-scale research project and you may be eligible to participate in this pilot study. You will only need to complete an online survey, and administer two online tests to your students, and you will eligible for a $100 stipend.
ELIGIBILITY
In order to be eligible you must: • Be a teacher in grades 4- 9 • NOT be a teacher in the following list of states. (The larger research study will occur in these states and thus these teachers cannot participate in the pilot study). o Alabama o Delaware o Kentucky o Mississippi o Missouri o New Hampshire o Pennsylvania o West Virginia • Be able to administer an online test to a class of students.
COMPENSATION
All teachers who participate will receive instant feedback about student performance. You can use this feedback to assess your students and inform future instruction.
In addition to the feedback about your students’ performance, the first 140 teachers to complete the requirements (10 in each sub-content area) will receive $100 for each sub-content area. Completing the requirements means taking the teacher survey and administering both tests to your students.
REQUIREMENTS
You can participate in multiple sub-content areas (listed below). Participation requirements are:
• You will take one online survey, estimated to take 30-45 minutes to complete. • You will administer two online tests to a class of at least 15 students. Each test takes one full class period; the total amount of participation time needed from your students is two class periods. You will need Flash v8 or higher to administer the students tests. This software is free for download at [link removed]
These requirements are for each sub-content area chosen. The sub-content areas are:
4th and 5th Grade ELA sub-content areas: • Vocabulary • Reading Comprehension: Narrative • Reading Comprehension: Expository • Writing 5th and 6th Grade Math sub-content areas: • Fractions • Algebraic Thinking • Measurement
7th and 8th Grade ELA sub-content areas: • Vocabulary • Reading Comprehension: Narrative • Reading Comprehension: Expository • Writing 8th and 9th Grade Math sub-content areas: • Proportional Reasoning • Functions • Geometric Measurement
For more information about the study and to sign up, please visit:
[link removed]!”
Once you sign up, you will be directed to the Teacher Management Page. Here you can download the files “Pilot Instructions” and “Stipend and Contact Information” for further details.
You can also contact the researchers at efe.[email removed].
If you teach students in grades 4-9, we invite you to participate in a special pilot study for a federally funded research project, the e-Learning for Educators Initiative.
The Technology and Assessment Study Collaborative (inTASC) at Boston College is conducting a pilot study to examine the characteristics of test items that will be used in the large-scale research project and you may be eligible to participate in this pilot study. You will only need to complete an online survey, and administer two online tests to your students, and you will receive a $100 stipend.
This study will conclude on Friday, December 8, so sign up now and participate! We need your help to collect data for this important study! For more information, or to sign up, please visit [link removed]
ELIGIBILITY
In order to be eligible you must: • Be a teacher in grades 4- 9 • NOT be a teacher in the following list of states. (The larger research study will occur in these states and thus these teachers cannot participate in the pilot study). o Alabama o Delaware o Kentucky o Mississippi o Missouri o New Hampshire o Pennsylvania o West Virginia • Be able to administer an online test to a class of students.
COMPENSATION
All teachers who participate will receive instant feedback about student performance. You can use this feedback to assess your students and inform future instruction.
In addition to the feedback about your students’ performance, the first 140 teachers to complete the requirements (10 in each sub-content area) will receive $100 for each sub-content area. Completing the requirements means taking the teacher survey and administering both tests to your students.
REQUIREMENTS
You can participate in multiple sub-content areas (listed below). Participation requirements are:
• You will take one online survey, estimated to take 30-45 minutes to complete. • You will administer two online tests to a class of at least 15 students. Each test takes one full class period; the total amount of participation time needed from your students is two class periods. You will need Flash v8 or higher to administer the students tests. This software is free for download at [link removed]
These requirements are for each sub-content area chosen. The sub-content areas are:
4th and 5th Grade ELA sub-content areas: • Vocabulary • Reading Comprehension: Narrative • Reading Comprehension: Expository • Writing 5th and 6th Grade Math sub-content areas: • Fractions • Algebraic Thinking • Measurement
7th and 8th Grade ELA sub-content areas: • Vocabulary • Reading Comprehension: Narrative • Reading Comprehension: Expository • Writing 8th and 9th Grade Math sub-content areas: • Proportional Reasoning • Functions • Geometric Measurement
For more information about the study and to sign up, please visit:
[link removed]!”
Once you sign up, you will be directed to the Teacher Management Page. Here you can download the files “Pilot Instructions” and “Stipend and Contact Information” for further details.
You can also contact the researchers at efe.[email removed].
Every teacher is entitled to a duty-free lunch and planning and preparation time. Except for a few minor changes made in the 1995 rewrite of the Texas Education Code, the statutes have essentially remained the same.
Duty-free lunch – Texas Education Code, Sec. 21.405 By law, each classroom teacher and full-time librarian gets at least a 30-minute lunch period “free from all duties and responsibilities connected with the instruction and supervision of students.” According to a Texas Attorney General opinion, the term “duty” would include a directive that teachers remain on campus during lunch, because it would relate to student instruction or supervision. Districts cannot require teachers to stay on campus during their 30-minute lunch even if the campus is “closed” for students.
The law provides exceptions—personnel shortages, extreme economic conditions or unavoidable/unforeseen circumstances—which give districts the right to require teachers to supervise lunches, but not more than one time per week.
The rules adopted by the commissioner of education set the bar very high before a district can assign a teacher to lunch duty. Scheduling problems do not create unforeseen circumstances. They exist when an epidemic, illness, or natural or man-made disaster leaves no one available to do the duty. An extreme economic condition exists when hiring a person to supervise lunch would cause the district to raise taxes to the extent that the district might face a tax roll-back election. A personnel shortage exists only after all available nonteaching personnel—superintendent and business manager included—have been assigned to the duty and the district has diligently recruited community volunteers to help.
Planning and preparation time – Texas Education Code, Sec. 21.404 The law entitles every teacher to planning and preparation time, during which the district can require the teacher to engage in no activity other than parent-teacher conferences, evaluating student work, and planning. Teachers must have at least 450 minutes of planning time every two weeks in increments of not less than 45 minutes within the instructional day.
Examples:
A teacher could have five 90-minute conference periods within a two-week period, instead of a 45-minute conference period each day. A district can provide 50- minute blocks of planning time daily, and exceed the minimum requirement, but it could not provide 50 minutes one day and 40 minutes the next.
A district cannot schedule a 7:45 a.m.-3:15 p.m. instructional day, and then give teachers 3:15 p.m.-4:00 p.m. to plan after the students leave.
Conference period cases often involve requirements for group planning or staff development during planning periods. According to the commissioner of education, if a district gives teachers no more than the statutory minimum planning time, the district cannot ask teachers to engage in group-planning during one of those planning periods.
Example:
A district that schedules 50-minute planning periods every day could ask teachers to plan as a group one day every two weeks, but the district could not take one planning period for group planning and another for staff development.
This STILL ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH. 30 MINUTE LUNCHES ARE JUNK and all teachers need more than 45 minutes a day for planning, grading, parents, etc.
On 12/22/06, Just look at some of the rights that Texas teachers enjoy.... wrote: > Every teacher is entitled to a duty-free lunch and > planning and preparation time. Except for a few minor > changes made in the 1995 rewrite of the Texas Education > Code, the statutes have essentially remained the same. > > Duty-free lunch – Texas Education Code, Sec. 21.405 > By law, each classroom teacher and full-time librarian > gets at least a 30-minute lunch period “free from all > duties and responsibilities connected with the instruction > and supervision of students.” According to a Texas > Attorney General opinion, the term “duty” would include a > directive that teachers remain on campus during lunch, > because it would relate to student instruction or > supervision. Districts cannot require teachers to stay on > campus during their 30-minute lunch even if the campus > is “closed” for students. > > The law provides exceptions—personnel shortages, extreme > economic conditions or unavoidable/unforeseen > circumstances—which give districts the right to require > teachers to supervise lunches, but not more than one time > per week. > > The rules adopted by the commissioner of education set the > bar very high before a district can assign a teacher to > lunch duty. Scheduling problems do not create unforeseen > circumstances. They exist when an epidemic, illness, or > natural or man-made disaster leaves no one available to do > the duty. An extreme economic condition exists when hiring > a person to supervise lunch would cause the district to > raise taxes to the extent that the district might face a > tax roll-back election. A personnel shortage exists only > after all available nonteaching personnel—superintendent > and business manager included—have been assigned to the > duty and the district has diligently recruited community > volunteers to help. > > Planning and preparation time – Texas Education Code, Sec. > 21.404 > The law entitles every teacher to planning and preparation > time, during which the district can require the teacher to > engage in no activity other than parent-teacher > conferences, evaluating student work, and planning. > Teachers must have at least 450 minutes of planning time > every two weeks in increments of not less than 45 minutes > within the instructional day. > > Examples: > > A teacher could have five 90-minute conference periods > within a two-week period, instead of a 45-minute > conference period each day. A district can provide 50- > minute blocks of planning time daily, and exceed the > minimum requirement, but it could not provide 50 minutes > one day and 40 minutes the next. > > A district cannot schedule a 7:45 a.m.-3:15 p.m. > instructional day, and then give teachers 3:15 p.m.-4:00 > p.m. to plan after the students leave. > > Conference period cases often involve requirements for > group planning or staff development during planning > periods. According to the commissioner of education, if a > district gives teachers no more than the statutory minimum > planning time, the district cannot ask teachers to engage > in group-planning during one of those planning periods. > > Example: > > A district that schedules 50-minute planning periods every > day could ask teachers to plan as a group one day every > two weeks, but the district could not take one planning > period for group planning and another for staff > development. > > >
The United States Institute of Peace announces the National Peace Essay Contest for students in grades 9-12. For the 2006-07 contest, student's essay must examine the issue of youth and violent conflicts. First-place winners from each state receive $1,000 college scholarships and compete for national awards of $2,500 to $10,000. National award amounts include state awards. First-place state winners also are invited to attend an expenses-paid awards program in Washington, D.C., in June. To obtain guidelines for entering the contest, e-mail [email removed]].
My district just bought this piece of junk and we've all been thrown into trying to learn how to use it.
The reply a couple of posts up from "Happy IC User" rea...See More