Creating Accounts

New student accounts should only be created if the student does not have an existing account. When checking for an existing student account, make sure you have the “Status” column set to “All” in the student screen. It defaults to “Active” which hides students who are archived, on hold, or disabled.

The only acceptable way to create a user name for a student is to use “firstnamelastname”, no spaces and no caps. Do not use students’ initials. Their student ID number should always be used as their password. If you get an error message that says the username already exists, that means the student already has an account. If two students have the exact same name, use “firstnamelastname” and then add the last TWO digits of the student ID. For example:  “johndoe23”

It is important that students do not have more than one account. Multiple accounts can lead to record keeping issues and cases in which students could mistakenly repeat courses or not receive credit for courses they have completed.

NOTE: Not all teachers have access to create new students.

Removing Students from Your Account

When logged in as a teacher, you should only see students who are currently assigned to you. If you have taught OCR in the past, you may see students who are no longer yours. If you have students who should not be assigned to you, DO NOT archive them. If the course is 100% complete with a passing grade, you can archive the course. Otherwise, you must change the individual student’s teacher:

       ·        Click on the “go to” button next to the student

       ·        Click on the “Course Enrollment” button

       ·        Click on the “edit” button next to the course

       ·        Click on the arrow to the right of the teacher name to select a different teacher

       ·        You may assign the student to the “highschool” or “middleschool”

Archiving Students vs Archiving Courses

When a student is archived, he or she disappears from everyone’s list of active students. This makes it difficult to find the student’s account in the future. Students should be archived only when they graduate.

The course that an individual student is enrolled in should be archived only when a student has 100% completed the course with a passing grade. Once archived, a course can only be recovered for a short period of time. 

Campus Identifiers

Odysseyware has moved the campus identifier (MHS, SHS, etc...) out of the last name field in student accounts. The campus identifier is now in the Campus ID field. This means when searching for a student by last name, you only have to type in the first few letters of the last name. To filter students by campus, type the campus identifier into the Campus ID field.

From this point forward, when creating new student accounts, the campus identifier needs to be typed in the Campus ID field instead of before the student’s last name. If you run across students who still have the campus identifier in the last name field, feel free to edit the students’ accounts and move the campus identifier to the Campus ID field.

NEW Common Core Assessment & Remediation Tool

Odsseyware has added another exciting tool to help students be successful.  Common Core Assessment & Remediation Tool is supplemental instruction for Language Art and Math designed for K-8th grade.  Teachers may find this tool helpful for struggling 9th graders and ESL students as well.  This tool is very similiar to Study Island.  Lessons are broken down into common core standards.

Please click here to watch instructional video on Common Core Assessment & Remediation Tool.

NEW Odysseyware Writer

Teachers,

There is a GREAT new tool that will help students with writing assignments in Odsseyware.  The new tool is very similiar to tools found in Microsoft Word such as spelling, grammar, and evaluating grade level.  The tool makes suggestions on what changes the student should make before they submit the assignment.  Students have the opportunity to keep making additional changes to improve their grade.  This tool is NOT designed to replace the teacher grading the writing assignments.  You will see this new tool pop up for the writing assignments starting TODAY, April 29, 2013.

Click here for the Odysseyware Writer User Manual.

Please click here to watch an instructional video.

BASIC ODYSSEYWARE TRAINING

Are you new to Odysseyware? Are you struggling with the basics?  Please click on this link for free Odysseyware webinars.  The Basic Training webinars are on January 8, 15, 22, and 29th.

ENGLISH COURSE REQUIRES STUDENTS TO READY "MY TOWN"

The students are required to read the book My Town and it is not found on the Gutenberg site.  Where can students get access to the book online?

Please click this link, My Town, to access a PDF version of the book.

VERY IMPORTANT - STUDENT LOG OUTS

Teachers,

As a district, we have a set number of licenses.  Because of this, we can only have a specific number of students in Odysseyware at a time.

We have an issue.  What is happening is that students are not logging out.  If they just close the program, just turn off the computer, or if on their IPAD, they just click out of Safari, the student IS NOT logged out of the system.  When the next class starts, we have a whole new set of students logging in and now we are over our license limit and students cannot login. 

Please stress with your students EVERY DAY that they must log out by clicking on logout at the upper righthand corner of the screen.

 

 

Teachers, you must check everyday before you leave the lab that all the students in your class have logged out.  You do this by logging in with your teacher username.  (You should already be logged in).  Hit the Student Tab. If a student is still logged in, the people icon will be bright blue.

 

 

Click on the people icon and click Yes to log the student off.

 

 

 You will have to do this with every student that is still logged in.

 





HOW DO I CHANGE MY PASSWORD

Please login to Odysseyware at https://mansfield.owschools.com.  Click on My Preferences.

Click on the Change Password tab.

Type in your new password.  Repeat it in the second field, and hit Save.

 

 

 

I HAVE A STUDENT THAT STARTED A CLASS LAST YEAR

Does the student have to start over this year?

The answer is no.  Students get credit for past work.  This year's teacher must login under highschool (middle, inter) and change the teacher of record. 

HOW DO I ENTER A P/F GRADE FOR OCR STUDENTS?

I have answers!

Please click on the following link to get the instruction sheet on how to assign OCR students to the Pass/Fail format.  You must follow this instruction in order for the student to receive a grade of P/F.

After you have the students assigned, you will have to go into the course and set up a category with 100% weight.  Let's call the category Computer Lab. 

You will set up an assignment and give a grade of 70 or above if you want a student to earn a P.  Below 70 if you want the student to earn an F.  The Skyward software will convert the numeric grade to P or F.

HOW DO I DETERMINE IF A STUDENT SHOULD RECEIVE A PASS OR FAIL

Very good question!!!!

There is no hard fast rule on deciding whether a student gets a P of F.  Do keep in mind that OCR classes are designed for students to finish two 1/2 credit courses OR 4 6 weeks courses OR one 1/2 credit and 2 6 weeks.

With that being said, if you feel like a student is working hard and making good use of their time, they should get a P.  If they are not working hard and not making good progress, they should get a F.  Keep in mind that some students work faster than others but since you have spent 3 weeks with them, you should be able to judge who is working hard. 

WHAT HAPPENS IF MY OCR STUDENT IS SENT TO BIC

When an OCR student is sent to BIC, the counselor/lead teacher at BIC will login under highschool and change the teacher from the home campus teacher to a BIC teacher.  The BIC teacher will be responsible for monitoring the student and grading any assignments while the student is assigned to the BIC campus.

DISPLAY ISSUES

My student can't see part of the lesson or a question on a quiz/test.  Changing the display setting on the computer is not fixing the problem.  What is wrong?

Most display issues are caused by using Internet Explorer as the browser instead of Firefox. Odysseyware is designed to run on Firefox.  Have the student logout. Close Internet Explorer.  Open Firefox and login.  If the student computer does not have Firefox, go to http://mozilla-firefox.todownload.com/?gclid=CPvip-Ppq7ICFcFgTAodg2gABw and download it.

STUDENT GRADING REPORTS

There is an issue with the grading data that was migrated to the newly updated software.

If you have a student that started a course last year and has finished the course this year, you will want to print a grading report that shows all the grades for all the lessons.  If you pick one of the preexisting time-frames, the report will not include any grades on lessons that were taken last year.  When you go to the Detailed Student Grading Report screen, it will ask to Select Time-frame.  Don't put a check mark in any of the listings.  Right below, there is a space to put a date. Put in a date that is before the student originally started the course.  For an end date, you can put today.  Fill in the other questions and select to export to PDF.  It will print the report showing all the individual grades on the lessons.



CAUTION: SETTINGS NOT RIGHT FOR STUDENTS WHO WORKED ON COURSES IN PAST YEARS AND WANT TO FINISH THEM NOW

Teachers,

For students who have started courses in the past but not finished them, but want to finish them this year, you HAVE TO go back into the settings and block quizzes and test.  If you don't, the students will be able to retake tests and quizzes over and over and move on to the next lesson even if they fail the assessment.

Find the student, go to Course Enrollment, scroll down and find the course.  Click on Edit and put a check on in Block Quizzes AND Block Tests.



ODYSSEYWARE ON DEMAND TUTORIALS

Struggling with the software?

Get more help with http://www.odysseyware.com/resources/on-demand-tutorials/

FAQ: I CAN'T FIND THE COURSE

I found the student in the system, but when I go to enroll them in a course, the course is not in the list.

This happens when the student has already been enrolled in the course.  The system doesn't show any courses in the course list that the student has already been enrolled in. You can find out what courses a student is enrolled in by clicking on the Student tab, and then Go To Course Enrollment.   All the courses will be listed at the bottom of the page.  You can also see the courses by clicking the Course Enrollment tab and then find the student. 

FAQ: I CAN'T FIND A STUDENT IN THE SYSTEM!!!!

Problem:  I can't find a student in the system, but when I try to add them in, it says the account already exists.  How can I fix this?

This means the student is in the system, but is inactive.  When you are searching for students, if you will change the status to ALL instead of ACTIVE, you can see all the students in the system.  When you edit the student, you need to make them ACTIVE. 

GRADE AVERAGING

The question has come up about grade averaging and I wanted to make sure we were all on the same page. 

If a student is only doing a 6 week recovery, he had to get a 70 or above in his online credit recovery course to get credit.

If a student has to complete a whole semester, in other words he/she has to complete 3 - 6 weeks, does the student have to pass every 6 weeks individually?

The answer is no.  As long as the average of the 3 - 6 weeks is passing, the student will get credit for the course.

WHAT DO I DO IF I HAVE A SUB?

This is always a difficult situation for teachers that facilitate an OCR lab during the school day.  There is no ideal situation, but security has to be our number one priority.

First, make a copy of the Teacher User Manual that is linked in an early post.  Keep it available for your sub so he/she can work in the program.

If you have another teacher on your campus that you trust with your password, you can have them come down and login for the sub.  If not, you will have to give the sub your password.  As soon as you can after the school day is over, change your password. Your password MUST be change within a 24 hour period from when you were absent.

Keep in mind that if your password gets out, the students can login and see all the answers and change their grade. 

INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO TO SHOW STUDENTS ON THE FIRST DAY

Odysseyware has developed a short video that you can show your students on the first day of class to show them how to use the software.

The link is http://www.odysseyware.com/resources/video/11

COURSES ARE READY

All the courses are now ready for you to assign to students.  Login in under high, middle, or intermediate school login.  The courses that you can enroll in your students in are darkened. 

If you have any questions, refer to the MISD Teacher's User Manual in a previous post.

ENGLISH BOOKS

The English courses for OCR have required reading.  The books can be found online at http://www.gutenberg.org/

CLARIFICATIONS OF LOGINS

Just wanted to add a blog about logins.  There are three logins for adding students. One for high, middle, and intermediate school.  If you will be adding students to the system or reassigning students to a new teacher or campus, you will have to use one of these logins depending on the grade of the student.  To get the username and password, please email the principal or AP on your campus that is responsible for OCR.  By adding all the students under these logins, we have the ability to see every student at every level in one place. 

After the students have been inputted, you can login with your individual teacher login and only see the students that will be in your OCR class.  It is a lot easier to manage when you can only see your students.  You have the rights to assign courses to them.  All courses that will be taking for credit will end in "for course credit".  If the courses are designed for enrichment, they will be labeled as such.  We have had a lot better success if students are assigned one course at a time.  As soon as they finish one, you can sign them up for the next one.  The courses will be ready for you to start assigning on, Monday, August 20th.

If you don't have a teacher login yet, please email your principal and we will get it set up for you.

I hope this clears up some misunderstandings.

QUICK START GUIDES FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS

Below are links to the Teacher and Student Quick Start Guides.  These are from Odysseyware and are a great tool along with the 2012 MISD Manual included in a earlier blog.

TEACHER QUICK START GUIDE

STUDENT QUICK START GUIDE

NEW MISD POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR 2012-2013

Principals, Counselors, and OCR Teachers,

It is IMPERATIVE that you read the Policy and Procedures for the 2012.  We have worked hard to create a plan so that all schools will be consistent and award credit in the same manner.  The attached Policies and Procedures will cover the responsibilities of principals, counselors, and OCR teachers.  There is also a Powerpoint so that you can share the 2012 plan with your staff.

In the back of the Policies and Procedures document, there is a MISD OCR Form for students signing up for classes and an MISD Student Contract.  Both of these documents have been approved by central office and must be used.  Again, the goal is to be consistent.

If you have any questions or concerns, please post comments on the Blog or email at catherinehudgins@misdmail.org

MISD POLICIES & PROCEDURES 2012
MISD POLICIES & PROCEDURES 2012 POWERPOINT

NEW MISD TEACHER'S USER MANUAL 2012

The Odysseyware upgraded software is basically the same, but the pages have a new look and a LOT more options.  To view the new MISD Users Manual for 2012, please click below.  This manual is written for MISD employees. 

Odysseyware Teacher's User Manual 2012

NEW WEBSITE FOR ODYSSEYWARE

The Odysseyware software has been updated over the summer and has a lot of great new features!  If you worked with the software last year, your username and password have not changed, but the website has.  Please click on https://mansfield.owschools.com to login.

WELCOME 2012-2013 ONLINE CREDIT RECOVERY

Welcome OCR APs, Counselors, and Teachers!

This blogger is here to help you be more successful in the OCR lab! I will attach documents and manuals that can help you and also FAQ's that teachers have asked me.  If you have a question, post it here and either I or another OCR teacher will help you.  If you see a question posted that you know the answer to, please respond!

My name is Cathy Hudgins and I am at Frontier High School.  If you have questions that you cannot get answered here, please don't hesitate to email me at catherinehudgins@misdmail.org