Exploring Sycamore Education SIS

Sycamore Education is a SIS (student information system)

Bit.ly shortened URL: http://bit.ly/etqnRT:

Most users are aware of the grading, attendance, and lunch calendar in Sycamore, but in the past five years of using the system I have discovered many cool and useful features.

1. Improve parent and staff communication using Pass A Note, Bulk emails,text messaging.
2. New voice messaging features free with messaging plus upgrade! Send a trouble ticket to sycamore to request the upgrade.
3. Communicate easily to other sycamore users in other schools using the Associates options in Pass A Note.
4. Customize your classroom pages with colors, pictures, and a personal look.  It doesn’t have to match all the other pages in the school.Administration-Configuration
5. Lesson Plans – don’t reinvent the wheel every year!  Simple trick to copy last year’s lessons to current class. Teacher Desk, Lesson Plans, Change the year at the top, select the month, open previous lesson plan, change the date,  update to move it to current year’s plans.
6. Switch between classes quickly – hidden shortcut – Go to classroom home page, look in the top right corner, – drop down box by the header “My Classes” to jump around between classes without going back to Sycamore classes page.
7. Seating chart – includes student pictures!
8. Viewing frames so easier to print – right click (or control click with mac) in firefox, this frame, open frame in new window – can view and print without top and side frames messing up the printout.
9. Modify several assignments at once under Grade book, Reports, Classroom Assignment Maintenance.
10. Shortcut for attendance – you don’t have to go into each class!  My School, My Classes – attendance tracker blue box in the top right corner for quick and simple attendance.

All of the following  features are available in the school and classroom levels.

• Photo Albums –  through creating albums, uploading pictures, setting public and viewing options. http://www.sycamoreeducation.com/public_photos.php?id=1210
• Calendars – used to show current events, assignments, and lesson plans.  Available to be viewable from public web site. http://www.sycamoreeducation.com/public_calendar.php?id=1210
• News Items – wonderful public and parent communication tool.  Available both inside your classroom and publicly. http://www.sycamoreeducation.com/public_news.php?id=1210
• Documents – simple way to keep from sending duplicate forms home.  Let parents download and print their own copy if they lose something! Upload commonly needed documents into sycamore and they can be available on public school website as well. http://sites.esu7.org/holyfamily/sports/ NSSRS templates below are stored in Sycamore’s public document area too.

Advanced Sycamore Education Projects

• Exporting student and faculty data as csv and then modifying formats for error free upload to NSSRS.
• Excel Templates to copy csv data into for proper formatting: Staff Assignment Staff Snapshot Curriculum Student
• Creating custom templates for down’s letter mail merge.

If time allows – sharing and problem solving with attendees about their own Sycamore Education experiences.

Add comments to this page to note any topics that need covered if we have time.

Thank you to the Summer Tech. Institute attendees!  Now that my web site is back up, here are some answers to our F-11 full screen in PC question:

To do a similar action as F-11 in web browsers on PC’s on apples:

command-F full screens windows

You can also adjust size inside of windows by using two fingers at once to pinch and/or open windows.

System Preferences – Track Pad (2nd row) – Two Finger – Pinch & open (check) to enable two finger resizing.

Hope this helps, and sorry for my lack of organization due to loss of web site.