IT News and Notes

Information to keep you informed about ways to get the most out of ALL of the technology used in our district
Happy Holidays!

Since we have moved to remote learning and you may be doing some more things from home, we wanted to remind you of a couple of key IT recommendations to help keep everything running smoothly and avoid downtime with your students. These recommendations will help you and your students.
  • Restart your devices (MacBook and iPad) at least once a week.
  • If your device is experiencing an issue, restart it immediately.
  • The same applies for your router at home. Most internet issues can be resolved by restarting the router. Simply unplug power for 30 seconds and plug back in.
Setting up Zoom Sessions
As we have moved into a few of days of remote learning, please remember these tips for your Zoom sessions. Please follow the steps below to create your Zoom links that can be copied into SeeSaw, Schoology and/or Clever:
  • Do not use last year's Zoom link as this will not work because of updates to Zoom. 
  • Go to Clever and click on Zoom. Click on Meetings on the left toolbar and then the Schedule a Meeting button on the right hand side of the screen.
  • While filling in the information for your Zoom session(s), click Recurring. Under Recurrence, choose NO FIXED TIME as this will allow you to use this link throughout the school year if needed 
  • If you want to add an Alternative Host (Co Teacher), click on Option - Show and this will allow you to add other teachers.
  • Once you hit save, you will see an Invite Link that can be copied into SeeSaw, Schoology and/or Clever.
  • IMPORTANT - If you are a new staff member this year and have not used Zoom, you will be prompted to join our district account when accessing Zoom through Clever. This step is needed to set-up your account.
GIF of the Month
Each month our IT Techs (Joe, Josh, and Tim) will share a GIF to remind you of an important item related to Technology in Mentor. This month's GIF is for MacBooks and checking the setting to make sure the top row keys work for adjusting volume and brightness, etc.

If you notice that when you go to use your top row keys to adjust your volume or brightness that they don't work as expected, check to make sure the proper settings are enabled/disabled. To check those settings you will open system preferences, keyboard and make sure that the "use F1,F2 as standard function keys" is unchecked. See the GIF below for a visual of these steps.
IT Support and Video

In IT Tips and Tricks this month learn some more helpful hints to keep your device clean and sanitized. As Todd says, "It's always a good time to tidy up!"
Infinite Campus NEW School Store

Infinite Campus is our most powerful tool in the district. We continue to find new ways to be more efficient and effective by using IC. Each month, Jan, Tracy and Joann will share information related to Infinite Campus.

Would you like a way for staff, students, parents, and community members to digitally purchase spirit wear, school supplies, pay for activity fees or make donations?  We now have the ability to set up a School Store within Infinite Campus.  Purchases can be made using bank eCheck or credit cards.  Items can be purchased online then picked up at school.  Parents can pay for field trips and sign permission forms all at the same time. 
Contact Tracy Gibson (gibson@mentorschools.org) or Jan Orlando (orlando@mentorschools.org) if you would like to learn more about the School Store.
A Little IT Humor!

Doug always manages to keep things light around our office so we thought we would have him share some IT Humor each IT News and Notes with you! Enjoy!
Mentor Schools | Adapting, Balancing, Collaborating