Dec. 17, 2020 - Home Base Bulletin

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Home Base Bulletin

Dec. 17, 2020

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Home Base Maintenance Set for this Weekend

 

Our next Home Base maintenance is scheduled to begin Friday, Dec. 18.  PowerSchool is the only application that will undergo maintenance.  All other Home Base applications will remain available. 

 

The PowerSchool application will be brought down on Friday, Dec. 18, at 5 p.m., and returned to service no later than Monday, Dec. 21 at 6 a.m.  This maintenance window has been extended a little longer than usual due to the PowerSchool 19.11.2.4 upgrade that will be implemented.  Details of what this upgrade will include are listed in the item below about the PowerSchool 19.11.2.4 Upgrade. Once the upgrade has completed, PowerSchool will be returned to service. 

 

Note: Each year, a schedule of maintenance windows is published by NCDPI.  We publish this in advance to help teachers and administrators better prepare for temporary outages and loss of access.  Please review the 2020-2021 maintenance schedule and add these dates to your calendar. In most cases, the entire maintenance window is not necessary, and we can return systems to service earlier than listed. If emergency maintenance is required in addition to these scheduled dates, all users will be notified in advance. 

 

If you have any questions pertaining to this maintenance, please contact the Home Base Team at home_base@dpi.nc.gov.


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PowerSchool 19.11.2.4 Upgrade 

 

NCDPI’s statewide PowerSchool upgrade to version 19.11.2.4 is planned for the Dec. 18- 21 maintenance weekend.  The upgrade will include two new enhancements, as well as resolutions to several issues users may be currently experiencing. Beta testing for this release is in progress. Details of what this upgrade entails are available in the release notes for PowerSchool SIS 19.11.1.0 through 19.11.2.4. The new enhancements include: 

  • PowerSchool Admin – Demographics - Using the new Default Country for Student Demographics setting, you can choose a specific country and display only the states for that country.
  • PowerSchool Admin – PowerTeacher Pro Settings -- Districts now have the option to hide the PTG links in the PowerSchool SIS Teacher portal. This setting can be found under the Start Page > District Setup > PowerTeacher Pro Settings > Default Gradebook Type page.

PowerSchool will be taken offline Friday, Dec. 18, at 5 p.m. and will resume operations no later than Monday, Dec. 21 at 6 a.m.  Questions pertaining to this upgrade may be addressed to home_base@dpi.nc.gov.


canvas

Canvas Teacher Spotlight

District: Union County Public Schools

Contributor: Courtney Hawkes, Teacher

Topic: “I can honestly say I would be lost without Canvas this year and I will be integrating it into my plans when class returns to hands-on assignments.”Courtney Hawkes, Teacher

 

 

courtney

I’m in my fifth year of teaching, and I teach at East Union Middle School in Marshville in Union County.

 

As an art teacher, I have never really used Canvas in the past.  The work in my class has always been hands-on. Of course, when you throw a pandemic into the mix, the dynamic of my classes has changed dramatically. I have stretched my mind and my talents to research new ways of teaching, without shared materials. I had some knowledge of Canvas from past professional development sessions, but I admit, I was very green when it came to using it.  Union County has provided myriad Canvas tutorials for teachers, and they have been invaluable as I was getting my bearings.

 

 Since then, Canvas has revolutionized how art class works -- in this time of COVID-19 -- and it has made my life so much easier!  Being able to copy modules to other classes is a game changer!  My entire year has been planned out and is ready to go!  With one swift click, I can publish assignments, and students get a notification that they are available.

 

I can honestly say I would be lost without Canvas this year, and I will be integrating it into my plans when class returns to hands-on assignments.

 

Canvas PD Mini-Course - Crafting High Quality Feedback in Canvas

 

Our next Canvas mini-course is now open for self-registration in NCEES. Learn all about the different ways you can give high quality feedback in Canvas.

 

This course is designed to be completed in one hour, and upon course completion, 0.1 CEU of Digital Learning Competency Credit will be applied to your transcript in NCEES (within 48 hours).

 

Register here (must login to NCEdCloud): https://bit.ly/3nxtogw

 


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New Items in the NCDPI Benchmark and NCDPI Released Banks

 

A total of 7,834 new assessment questions are now available in Schoolnet from the NCDPI Accountability team! 4,833 of those items were added to the NCDPI Released bank for use by teachers, and the other 3,001 items were added to the NCDPI Benchmark bank for use by PSU administrators. We hope these are useful to educators building Schoolnet assessments.

 

December Webinar Recording & Other Videos

 

If you missed the December Schoolnet webinar on Advanced Assessment Creation, the recording is now available on YouTube! Additionally, check out the NCDPI Schoolnet Playlist to the right of the video for past webinar recordings and other Schoolnet video reference guides from the Home Base team at NCDPI.

 

Coming in January: Schoolnet Mini-Course

 

We’re excited to announce that the first Schoolnet mini-course in NCEES will be available in January 2021! Like the mini-courses for Canvas and #GoOpenNC, these will replace the monthly Schoolnet webinars and will be designed to be completed in one hour. Within 48 hours of course completion, 0.1 CEU of DLC Credit will be applied to your transcript.

 

The January 2021 course topic is Keeping It Simple in Schoolnet. In this course, participants will learn to build and analyze a simple quiz in Schoolnet.

 

Stay tuned to the Schoolnet Google Site for the release date and additional information as it becomes available!


go open

New Mini-Course: Remix and Add Your Own Content to #GoOpenNC!

 

Our next #GoOpenNC mini-course is now available for self-registration on NCEES. Learn how to remix and add your own resources to #GoOpenNC.

 

Each mini-course is designed to take one hour to complete and within 48 hours of course completion, 0.1 CEU of Digital Learning Competency Credit will be applied to your transcript!

 

Register here (must login to NCEdCloud): https://bit.ly/3amydp9

 


NCEES Unified Talent

Did you miss NCEES December Webinars on Middle of Year Plan Activities and Reporting?

 

Click here for a full list of NCEES webinars and recordings.

 

Also, Check out our NCEES YouTube Playlist!


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DID YOU KNOW?

 

Follow us on Facebook and begin receiving "Did You Know" tips featuring each Home Base product. 

 

These messages will include upcoming changes, tips and even hidden treasures within each product to make your job easier.  If you are not following us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, click on the links below and begin today!  Make sure you share this information with other staff within your school.

 

Instagram:  @nchomebase 

 

Facebook:  @nchomebase

 

Twitter:  @nchomebase