itsLearning What You Need to Know to Use it Effectively at The Grove…

Table of Contents Logging on to itsLearningLogging on to itsLearning DashboardsDashboards My DashboardMy Dashboard Adding Missing Content BlocksAdding Missing Content Blocks The Events BlockThe Events Block Latest Changes BlockLatest Changes Block The Courses BlockThe Courses Block Hiding Courses Until NeededHiding Courses Until Needed Individual Course Layout Individual Course Layout The Tree LinkThe Tree Link Additional Help

Logging on to itsLearningitsLearning Currently we ask that you log in with your child’s information. This may not be the case in the future or currently at other schools.

Dashboards The default page at log in is My Dashboard. There is an FCS dashboard that the county will post FCS news items among other things to. There is also a PGMS dashboard. We too will post news and announcements here. But My dashboard is the one that you will want to pay the most attention to.

My Dashboard The My dashboard can be customized. This can be both good and bad. There are three (3) things on the dashboard that we want you to see. They are the Events Block, The Latest Changes Block, and The Courses Block. If they are not there for some reason, you will want to add them back. There may be more than these 3 items and that’s okay. But you definitely want these 3.

Adding Missing Content Blocks If one of the 3 blocks are missing, click on add a content box. Click on Aggregated. Select the box that is missing. Repeat if needed.

The Events Block Teachers will add HW assignments to the calendar in their course or from the events block on their course. The two are connected. When you look at the Events Block on My Dashboard you see HW for ALL classes. If you subscribe to this RSS feed while on your smart phone or tablet, the HW assignments will be added to your calendar! If a teacher assigns a HW assignment and the needed document has been uploaded to itsLearning, the teacher will insert or link the document in the assignment.

Latest Changes Block The Latest Changes Block is just what it says. Whenever a teacher does something new in their course, this latest action gets updated in the Latest Changes Block. You can see the changes for a particular course by going into it. You can see ALL changes in All courses on My Dashboard. By CourseMy Dashboard

Courses Block The Courses Block shows all of your courses for the year. It also shows indications of updates made to courses since your last visit. The problem is it shows ALL your courses for the year. This can be overwhelming for some. The next slide will show you how to hide them from your view.

Hiding Courses Until Needed Click the orange stars for all of the courses you do not have right now. Connections classes have numbers that indicate which 9 week period your child has it. ( ) means second nine weeks. Refresh your browser and check the Go to…drop down or the Courses Block on My Dashboard to see the changes. Ask your teachers before hiding Homeroom & Literacy Courses. Don’t forget to hide courses when no longer in them and unhide courses at the 9 week change!

Individual Course Layout In an effort to make your navigation easier, we have adopted a common layout for individual courses. You should find an Events Block, Latest Changes Block, a Bulletin Block for course announcements, a Links Block for valuable year-long resources for each course, and a Syllabus Block that will contain the general information about that particular course. Teachers may add additional blocks, but they should be added below these five.

The Tree Link (This was the Lesson Tab in ANGEL.) Found on the left side of the screen this is where teachers will upload things needed or used in class. Look for the course name. Teachers might organize things by Units, Subjects, Weeks, etc. Each teacher might be a little different than the next. I recommend getting familiar with what each teacher does. If you are not sure, ask. Some things you might find in the Tree Link… 1.Study Guides 2.Links to websites, games, movies, etc. 3.Assignments that require students to upload their work. 4.Assessments that can be taken on the itsLearning site. 5.Notes 6.Graphic Organizers 7.Copies of HW Assignments 8.Rubrics 9.Project Details

Additional Help Mr. Wiles and Mrs. Deuschle will be providing six face to face itsLearning / Parent Portal trainings. We ask that you or call to let them know the day that you are coming. This will help them plan for each training. The training does not take the fulltime. These are flex times. Please come get what you need and leave when you feel comfortable. Jim Wiles Ext Kristen Deuschle Ext. *Just have a quick question or none of these times or dates work for you? Please call Mr. Wiles and see if he can answer your question or set up a time to meet during school hours.*