At Your Fingertips: February 2022

At Your Fingertips

February 2022 | Issue 5

WE'RE BACK!

It has been over 6 months since we sent out our newsletter. We hope that you noticed! Either way, fingers crossed that you will welcome this mailing with a smile and find the included information useful.

Part of the reason for the gap in updates has been the number of different projects we are working on at ASLdeafined. Some of those are included here, and others will no doubt be mentioned on our social media pages and/or other places where we communicate with you. Which brings us to the subject of ADDRESSES

(see article to the right).

** NEW FEATURES **

One of the reasons we have been quieter lately is our continual focus on providing new features. We are pleased to announce that some of what you have expressed interest in doing is now possible!

SHARING LESSONS & QUIZ LOCKOUT: We recently sent out Instructional Manuals with directions on how to share lessons with students or lock them out of the site during quizzes. If you did not receive this, please contact our Director of Communications (Holly) at holly@asldeafined.com with your complete mailing address and she will send this handy reference guide out to you ASAP.

STUDENT PERCENTAGES: Did you know? You have the ability to change the grading percentages for lessons from the default amounts. Go to your dashboard. Click on the name of your class. You should see three options up top: Student Activity, Student Lockout, Settings. Click on Settings. Once there you can change the percentages.

CUSTOM WEBINARS: Do you think you might benefit from a custom webinar for you and/or your colleagues? If you would like to better understand how to best utilize ASLdeafined or specific features, this is a wonderful, personalized option to increase your comfortability with the site. Please reach out to us with your request at info@asldeafined.com.

(N0T) GOT GIFTS?

Send mailing address!

We have a number of ways that we reach out to you. One of our favorites is surprise mailings!

In the last several months we have sent out...

Holiday cards, a "Warm Winter WIshes" box containing goodies like a thermal mug, lip balm, hot chocolate and more, as well as a handy flipchart for easy reference when navigating ASLdeafined.

Others may have received BIG D vs. little d posters, resource cards for the alphabet, numbers, and handshapes, or bookmarks. Still others may have randomly received one of our knit beanies.

If none of this sounds familiar...

It is probably because we never received a complete mailing address for you. If it was missed during your subscription sign-up or renewal, you should have recently received a reminder message asking for this information.

Here is another reminder to please send your complete mailing address of choice (whether home or school) to gift@asldeafined.com so we can be sure to have you on record.

One of the things we are working on is to streamline this process for all involved, but until then, we hope you can get in on the fun by sharing it now! Again,

please ensure that it is your FULL address.

Any incomplete information

(incorrect spellings, missing zip code, etc.)

will still leave you out of the loop.

We love these opportunities to share our appreciation, so THANK YOU in advance for making sure we know how to reach you by mail!

NEED CONVINCING?

Our website underwent a Consumer

Product Review within the last year! We wanted to share this news with you because we feel it is one more vote of confidence in what we hope to provide, all in the interest of better communication.

Have a colleague that isn't sure about making the switch from an ASL textbook that is out of date as soon as it's printed? Dealing with an administrator who needs a little more evidence to feel confident about a subscription for your students? Feel free to share this extensive magazine write-up so they know more about what we offer straight from someone who tested us out with a critical eye.

ASLdeafined Product Review

!! KEY TEACHER TIPS !!

Just a reminder that ASLdeafined provides...

OFFLINE LESSONS: School network down? WIFI acting fussy? The site experiencing technical difficulties? Do not despair! If you have not taken a peek, be sure to visit the Teacher Resources folder for a handful of lesson suggestions to tide you over during offline surprises. Best to do it today while you still have access!

CUSTOMIZED CLASS LISTS: We often receive suggestions to provide a way to separate your students into different classes. Someday you may be able to do this yourself, but for now, we'll do it for you! We can quickly and easily get you started on sorting your groups as you prefer. Please just send us the chosen names for your classes (i.e. Beginning ASL, 1st Hour ASL or whatever you want). Once we create those on our end, you will be able to separate them as you choose in the Manage Your Students area of the site. It is a good idea to mark your calendar with a reminder to do this when you know there will be a roster change. Again, please don't hesitate to reach out to us and we'll do it in a snap!

STUDENT PASSWORD RESET: Just a heads up that many schools often block emails from third party vendors like us. If a student requests a password reset, many times they will not receive one because the school blocks it from ever reaching the student. If the student provides their own personal email address when they set up their account, then they should receive a password reset (providing the school doesn't block their personal email address).

MOBILE APP! We continue to urge you to download our Free Mobile App and encourage your students to do the same. We are always looking to improve it as a part of our goals and your suggestions. One thing to note (that we are currently working on) is to be a bit patient with it. If you move too quickly within the app you may find that it starts acting up.

The above and more are the main reasons we repeatedly suggest you join our ASLdeafinED Lounge Facebook Group for educational subscribers. We often get queries about things we have advertised there or via this newsletter, mailings and elsewhere. Once you join the group you can learn about new features, be alerted to the rare site outage, be introduced to resources you may have missed, etc. Better still, you can connect with other ASL teachers using our program, ask questions and make suggestions!