Orange County Public Schools

High School Families: missing out on spring college tours? We have 50 virtual reality tours of national and international colleges and universities.  Each includes a chance for research, discussion, and reflection. 

Virtual Reality College and University Tours

Did you know you can take a virtual field trip with your family? We have curated the best of the best so you can start traveling today!

• Virtual Museum Tours
• Virtual Zoo and Aquarium Tours

We recommend that students read at least 20 minutes a day independently and this is a great way to motivate them. Not sure how your students log-on to Beanstack? Need books to read at home? No problem, head on over to LaunchPad  and visit Destiny Discover for a selection of OCPS e-books or use your Orange County Virtual Library Card to access thousands more. Click the links below to learn more. 

• Beanstack for Students Guide
• Accessing Destiny Discover E-Books

What's faster paint drying or your child typing their assignment? Help them work smarter and finish faster by encouraging keyboarding practice. Learning to keyboard is as essential as handwriting for students in grades 3 and up. Check out these self-paced keyboarding practice lessons to get started today! 

• Self-Paced Keyboarding Lessons

 

• Internet Access Information

• Hotspot Request Form

Safety is our top priority when students are learning in school or at a distance. Help us encourage online safety for students by a) Using sites that protect student information. Look for sites that start with an https//: like LaunchPad, b) Requiring students to be signed in to the Chrome browser using their OCPS student account, c) Use technology in open common spaces, if possible, never allow video conferencing behind closed doors and d) Discuss the difference between personal vs. private information with students and remind them to keep passwords private.

• Common Sense Media Family Engagement Toolkit 
• K–5 Family Tips_ Privacy & Security (English) 
  • Spanish
  • Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Korean, Russian, Tagalog, Urdu, and Vietnamese
• 6–12 Family Tips_ Privacy & Security(English)
  • Spanish
  • Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Korean, Russian, Tagalog, Urdu, and Vietnamese

Keep students safe online is a team sport and you are the MVP. OCPS supports families by continuing to filter student internet usage on OCPS devices at home 24/7 . You can support student safety too by updating your home internet settings to address areas that are specific to your family. Depending on your internet provider parents may be able to pause internet access, schedule wi-fi availability, set time access limits, and more. Click on the links below to learn more about the parent controls available from your cable provider.

Spectrum- https://www.spectrum.net/support/tv/about-parental-controls/

Comcast- https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/set-up-parental-controls-with-comcast-networking

There is nothing more frustrating than internet issues when you are trying to use technology for learning. Here are five tips for maximizing your bandwidth.

1. Call-In: Some platforms like BigBlueButton have a call-in numbers that teachers can provide in a pinch to improve audio when connections are low. Don't forget to mute!
2. Change video resolution: We want to see your student's face but it does not need to be in high def. You can adjust the resolution down for the web camera to 480 or 360. This will make it less likely to freeze up.
3. Stay close to your router: When at home try to have students sit in the same room as your router. Make sure your router is on a table or elevated to approximately the same level/height your student is working at with no items obstructing it.
4. Quit multitasking: Encourage students to close additional tabs and programs when video conferencing. More tabs equals more working memory being used and slower speed. 
5. Limit the amount of people on the network: When at home, more people may be using the internet than you think at one time. When students need to use video conferencing or other work for school, limit the number of people use the internet for gaming, watching tv, surfing the web, or using their mobile phone. It helps!

• School Email Address List

Every OCPS student is provided with their own email account but not every OCPS student checks their email account regularly. Beginning in late elementary encourage your student to check  and delete their email regularly. 

Teachers use email to send updates and students receive updates from Canvas and other district systems. 

OCPS provided tablets and laptops come with all of the applications your child needs pre-installed. But OCPS also has important mobile apps you may want to consider installing on your student's mobile devices like a phone and/or tablets if you choose to use a personal device!  Apps available for iOS and Android devices. 

LaunchPad

• Classlink for iPad App QuickStart Guide
•  Using the OCPS Student LaunchPad Mobile App
• LaunchPad iOS App
• LaunchPad Android App

 Canvas Student

• Canvas Student iPad App QuickStart Guide
• Using the Canvas Student App
• Canvas Student iOS App
• Canvas Student Android App

Microsoft Teams

• Microsoft Teams for iPad App Quick Start Guide

Online or offline- LaunchED is new for everyone! In some cases your child's teacher may provide assignments that are due by the end of the week. Help your students avoid the Friday crunch by planning out their week, so [email protected] fits your family's lifestyle. Try these tools to help! 

•  Weekly Planner
• Using the Agenda in Canvas
• Create a Weekly To-Do List in Canvas
• Syncing the Canvas Calendar with Google Calendar

A key feature of the [email protected] model is daily live lessons which occur through one of two video conferencing platforms: Microsoft Teams or BigBlueButton(Canvas Conferences). Before your first live lesson, make sure your child has their device placed on a hard surface and that the webcam is roughly at their eye level. They should be sitting far enough away that the teacher can see them from the shoulder up. It is also helpful, but not required, for students to either sit facing a window or have desk lamp on near them. 

         

BigBlueButton (Canvas Conferences)

• Kdg and 1st Grade (iPad)
  • What to do when on BBB Call 
  •  Joining a BBB Conference in Canvas Student
  • Troubleshooting Sound on BBB (Spanish)
• 2nd thru 12th Grades (Web)
  • What to do when on BBB Call 
  • Joining a BBB Conference for Students (Spanish) (Haitian Creole)

Microsoft Teams

• Kdg and 1st Grade (iPad)
  • Joining a Teams Meetings in Canvas Student
• 2nd thru 12th Grades (Web)
  • What to do in a Teams Meetings
  • Joining a Teams Meeting for Students

Did you know that there is a parent version of LaunchPad too?! We call it the OCPS Parent Portal. But instead of access to textbooks, it gives parents access to important platforms like Canvas, Skyward and more with just one password. Register today to see what your child is working on!

• Video directions for registering for the OCPS Parent Portal

Your child may be submitting  assignments in multiple places. However, we want you to know that teachers will post all assignments that contribute to your child’s grade to Skyward, the official gradebook for OCPS. A suggestion would be to set a reminder to log in to the OCPS Parent Portal weekly to check the Skyward gradebooks for information on missing work, assignment grades, and overall class averages.

• https://parents.classlink.com/ocps

Giving your child kudos and helpful tips when they are learning from a distance helps them see the value in what they are doing. If your child's teacher is using Canvas to post assignments, you can monitor your child's progress using your Canvas Parent Account from any device. Remember your OCPS Parent Portal account gets you access to Canvas Parent and much more. Haven't registered for an OCPS Parent Portal Account yet? Do it today and access Canvas Parent tomorrow!

Check out the video below to learn the TOP 10 Tips for Parents on Canvas.

Progress Reports (aka Interim Reports) are provided once each marking period. For some parents, this may be the first time they have checked a student progress report online. You can get to progress reports and report cards using your OCPS Parent Portal account in just four clicks. The link below is a step-by-step YouTube video to show you how.

Now you can quickly access course information from your Canvas account with Alexa—without ever having to open Canvas.

The Skill lets students or parents who have an Alexa-enabled device simply "ask Canvas" things like…

• What are my grades
•  Do I have anything missing?
•  What's due on Friday?
•  Are there any new announcements? 
• Alexa will tell students what they need to know—right that moment, using whatever information is already in their teachers' Canvas course sites.

Click here to learn how to set up the Alexa Skill for Canvas on your Amazon device.

• https://studenttechrequest.ocps.net

In partnership with the manufacturers of district purchased devices, the following guidance has been provided to clean and care for devices. Before cleaning, devices should be off and unplugged. Liquid should not be poured onto any device for cleaning or disinfection purposes

Several of our computer manufacturers have posted cleaning documents for mobile devices:

Apple Device Care

Dell Device Care

HP Device Care

Lenovo Device Care

Student devices are updated wirelessly and remotely during the school year, to keep devices in tip top show. But in order for some updates to take effect you MUST restart your device. We recommend totally shutting down and restarting each device once per week in order to ensure it is working at its best. Make it a Sunday routine to get ready for the week!

Sometimes students get caught up in learning and forget to step away. When learning online, the American Optometric Association and the American Academy of Ophthalmology say it is important that students plan to look away from the screen every 20 minutes for at least 20 seconds. Guess what! There is an app for that! Try one of these Chrome extensions to encourage healthy breaks and reduce eye strain.

• Take a Break for My Eyes
• Break Helper
• Eye Care: Protect Your Vision

Whether your child is working online or offline, recent brain research tell us it is important to give their brain frequent breaks! Taking just a 1-3 minute break to get up and get active or practice mindfulness can help your child stay engaged and on task longer. Our youngest learners may need breaks every 10-15 minutes but most students benefit from a break every 25-30 minutes. Not sure how to make brain breaks fun? No problem! Click on the link below to check out a ready-made brain break activities just for you!

• Brain Break Activities

Using technology for learning, doesn't mean you can't stay active. Students need to get up and move frequently. To ensure they stay on top of their game engage in least 60 minutes of activity every day. Get outside and walk, run, bike, or skate (maintaining six feet of distance from those around- of course!). Too hot or rainy to go out? We've got you covered! Check out the at-home activities for virtual recess below.

• Go Noodle
• Zumba Kids Turn  
• Zumba Kids Beat Go Pop
• Indoor Physical Activity Ideas for Families

Using dark mode can help eliminate the blue light that is emitted by some devices. Blue light has been linked to having trouble falling asleep. 

Windows 10 Laptops

Click here to learn how to turn on Night Mode.

iPads

The Night Shift on an iPad is designed to automatically adjust the colors of the display to the warmer end of the spectrum — making the display easier on eyes between sunset and sunrise when enabled. 
Click here to learn how to use night shift on iPad.

The Dark Mode on an iPad help students better view the screen in low light environments anytime of the day or night. 
Click here to learn how to use dark model on iPad.