TECHNOLOGY: IT’S GREAT (WHEN IT WORKS)!
Hello COA Families! I’m Mr. Strauch here along with my technology para extraordinaire, Mrs. Alesia. We’ve been asked to share some information about technology as we navigate our way through this new world of distance learning. As my colleague, 5th grade teacher, Mr. Romero, is fond of saying, “Technology is great…. when it works!” And he’s right. Technology is a great thing, especially when it works without issues. The problem is, all technology is are machines and machines at times have a mind of their own. What worked beautifully yesterday, may decide not to do so today. A site that worked flawlessly yesterday, makes you say, “Why can’t I log on to this site TODAY!?!?!”
The best information we can provide to you is, don’t let it stress you out. Don’t let it overtake your emotions. If your students’ laptop/Chromebook is having issues, please contact your teacher via phone call or e-mail using cell phone or other computer in the home. This lets the teacher know that technical issues are preventing your student from joining a Zoom meeting or accessing their assignments at that moment. There might even be a need for you to return the computer to the school and exchange for a different one (as they are available).
We do suggest, along with ALL of our teachers, that your student access Zoom meetings and other school related web- sites (Google Classroom, Math Whizz, Lexia, etc.) using a laptop/Chromebook/or other full-sized computer as many features of these sites are not fully compatible with a cell phone and the student has a much bigger view of work being shown, examples provided by the teacher, links to other work, etc. So please make sure your student is using a full-sized computer/ laptop for their classes.
Logging on to the school computers has a couple of different ways. If your student is using a school CHROMEBOOK, when they start it up and see the log in screen, they will need to enter their 9800# provided by their teacher (the @gcccharters.org should already be visible on the screen)… and then enter their password (also provided by their teacher). They click LOG IN or ENTER and they will be logged in to that Chromebook (and Google Chrome web browser) ready to do work.
If your student has one of the school HP laptops……when they start it up and come to the log in screen… it should say “student” as the account… and all you have to do is hit EN- TER and they will be logged in to the computer. The extra step with HP Laptops is logging in to Google Chrome.
When logging in to Google Chrome, they will type:
accounts.google.com into the browser. If the screen says “Welcome (and their name)”, they are logged in already and set to go. If the screen says “Welcome (a name not theirs)”, they will need to click on the circle (with a letter or picture) in the top right corner next to what we call the “Google Waffle”. Then a menu will drop down where they will click on ADD ANOTHER ACCOUNT (or, choose their name if it’s already there). At that point the Google Sign In window will pop up asking for username… which is their
9800#..This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (yes, you need the entire e-mail address) and then their password. At that point, they should be logged in to Google Chrome and ready for the day. Frustration can be overwhelming when technology doesn’t work, but if you only make one attempt to try and get it to work, you will not be successful. If usernames or passwords do not work (and remember they need to be input EXACTLY as the teacher has given it to them… lowercase letters if lowercase, uppercase letters if uppercase, numbers, etc.) please contact your teacher and we can reset them for you.
We fully understand the problems that arise with technology and also understand the difficulty when it doesn’t work properly but if you remain calm and contact your teacher after a few attempts, we can all work together to make sure it works for you the way it’s supposed to.
One more thing we’d like to share with you before you can check out our “Parent Technology Help Worksheets” and other resources we’ve created to help at home, is that all of our programs….Google Classroom, Math Whizz, Lexia, etc. are NOT controlled at the school site….nor are most controlled by our district technology department. If these sites don’t work for you, please give it a little while and try later. If you still encounter issues, then please contact your teacher and inform them you are not able to access the site and we can look into it further.
Mrs. Alesia and I thank you for your time and are here to help you as much as we can... as best we can through distance learning. Below are some resources you can use at home to help you get started on Math Whizz and Lexia….as well as other resources for home use.
Getting Started on Math Whizz Tutorial (on YouTube):
Getting Started on LexiaCore5 Reading Tutorial (on
YouTube): https://youtu.be/nWdnbKfrFxA
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