WWPS Technology

Using the MTSS Workflow in Aspen Initiate the MTSS Workflow The West Warwick Public Schools uses the MTSS Workflow in Aspen to help district staff keep track of the Multi-Tiered Support System for our struggling students. The process begins with an educator in the district initiating the workflow. You can review the process using the print directions or follow the video clip below. Locating an Initiated MTSS Workflow Aspen has added a great new feature to located an initiated workflow for a student. Simply locate the student, click on the Transactions side tab, and click on the Workflow submenu item. Locate the desired MTSS Workflow link. You can view the annotated image and/or the video clip below. Step-by-Step Detailed Directions The following annotated directions explain the detailed step-by-step process for each phase of the workflow. You can also review the print directions for the workflow phases. ...

Using the Conduct & Bullying Referral Workflows in Aspen This blog post will focus on the following uses to guide conduct and student safety in Aspen. We'll explore the following: How to submit a conduct referral. How a conduct action is posted. How to fill-out a restraint form. How a bullying workflow is started. How a bullying workflow is processed. As always, if you need any assistance feel free to request a Google Hangout Meeting for just-in-time assistance. How to Submit a Conduct Referral in Aspen The short video clip below explains the process for filling out a conduct referral in the West Warwick Public Schools. The first form available to staff is the WWPS Conduct Referral form. This form should be completed by staff members and should only contain factual, evidenced-based statements.  If the student involved in the conduct referral was involved in a restraint the supervisory assistant, building level administrator or dean must post the conduc...

How to Use Aspen for Staff Attendance & Substitute Replacement The West Warwick Public Schools partnered with Follett many years ago to use the power of Aspen for staff attendance and substitute replacement. We have three different workflows that staff members use for attendance and replacement purposes. Each one of the workflows will be explained below. How to Fill-out the Staff Absence Request Workflow in Aspen If a WWPS employee is going to be out for any reason that doesn't require approval they fill-out the Staff Absence Request Workflow. Sick, personal, bereavement, family illness, district sanctioned professional development, IEP meetings, and religious days are all examples of absences that do not need administrative approval. Staff members simply need to fill-out the Staff Absence Request Workflow. View the directions below for the one-step process. Once a staff member completes the Staff Absence Request Workflow an attendance record is created that al...

How to Create a New Collections & Basic Settings... Once you've learned how to access Destiny Discover's Collections tool you'll want to start on your own Collections. This blog post will review how to do the following: Create a new Collection & Configure the Collection Details Add Resources to your Collection using the BookMarklet or the Upload a Resource Method Access Lesson 3 - Create a New Collection (prototype companion tool to Collections) Collections is an incredible way to collaborate with your peers on curriculum development. Our district uses GSuite to build collaborative documents for our units of study. Collections fit seamlessly into the process and provide greater flexibility during the creation process. Educators can add and curate resources during the brainstorming process without having to decide where or whether or not the item fits into the unit plan. Before we can get to the rich collaboration tools we need to first learn how to add, e...

Add Shared Documents to My Drive Since Google has made the switch to the "New Drive" users have struggled with shared documents. It is difficult to search for documents in the "Shared with Me" portion of Google Drive. Don't fret because there are some easy solutions to getting documents that are shared with you into your Drive so they can be easily searched. In our district people usually share a document or folder using the email notification option in Drive. Often a shared document or folder will look like the screenshot below. Once you've opened the folder it allows you access to documents, but sometimes the documents behave as if they are in view mode.  Recently when I open a shared folder the documents were displayed in the following manner. Clicking on the document allowed me to access the information from items that are shared with me, but I often struggled to locate the document in the future.  We have over 3/4 of a millio...

Use Your Chomebook to Make Phone Calls Since the district has moved over to a new phone system many of our classrooms no longer have the ability to dial an outside line. One way to get around this problem is to use your Chromebook to make a phone call. You can access Google Voice through your gmail account, or use Google Hangouts to make a call. There are several ways to initiate a phone call. Follow these simple directions to place your call. Click on Google Hangouts or Google Voice Simply click on either the Google Hangouts icon, or the Google Voice icon once you've accessed your gmail account. If you haven't setup your Google+ account you will have less features when using the Google Hangouts option. If you click on the Google Voice option you can simply type in the phone number that you want to call, or search for a number in your contacts. Phone calls made in the United States are free, and you can add money to your Google Voice account for international cal...

Is Your Chromebook a Managed Machine? Enrolled Devices: As we get closer to PARCC testing it is important insure that your Chromebook is enrolled in our domain. Enrolling the device in the domain insures that you will have the  appropriate Test Nav application on your device.  It is possible that some of the devices in your classroom didn't get properly enrolled. Review this blog to learn how to check whether or not your students' machine is enrolled properly. Check Your Device Settings: Check your settings by clicking on the Settings Taskbar on your Chromebook. Once you click on the settings tool bar you will be able to discover whether or not the Chromebook is managed. The picture below shows an unmanaged machine. The video below shows you how to check the tool bar settings. The picture below shows a managed machine. The video below shows you what the settings look like on a managed machine. Is Chrome OS Up to Date? It...

Aspen - Did You Know About Aspen's Field Sets Opiton? Or As I like to say, "Field Sets: Seeing the Data the Way YOU Want to See It!" I thought I would use this space to provide additional information about some of the powerful, less well known features of Aspen, our SIS, from Follett School Solutions. One of the hidden gems that I use all of the time, but few people change is the "Field Sets" tool. This tool allows you to organize your data in a manner that makes sense to you, and meets your needs. It's really the tool that allows the end user to see the data in a spreadsheet view that makes the most sense for the specific job at hand. Field sets used in conjunction with queries, and quick charts are a powerful trio that will allow you to get a lot of use from Aspen. Users can find the Field Sets Menu tool whenever the access any of the data tables in Aspen. Once you click on a table heading (commonly known as a top tab in "Aspenspeak") severa...