Create & Connect

Each issue is packed with fresh ideas for bringing our district priorities—student learning experiences, Portrait of a Graduate, evidence of learning, and continuous improvement—into your daily teaching. Whether you’re looking to spark curiosity, amplify student voice, or make the most of your classroom iPads, Create & Connect is here to help you turn tech tools into learning powerhouses.

As we work to enhance our instructional technology offerings within the district, we invite you to share your ideas for in-district professional development sessions and express your interest in attending out-of-district technology conferences. This is a great opportunity to propose engaging topics that align with your needs, interests, and goals.

Elementary Instructional Technology PD Interest Survey 👈

Please note that the survey will close on Thursday, October 23rd at 4:00pm

After the survey concludes, we will use your feedback to design in-district professional development opportunities and notify those selected to attend a conference. Our goal is to ensure that every teacher has access to a meaningful PD experience—whether through an in-district session or an external conference—supporting professional growth across all buildings. We look forward to your submissions and to enhancing our professional development offerings together!

Finding the right activity is easier than ever—just search by keyword and sort results by activity, lesson, or collection. With thousands of ready-to-use, standards-aligned resources for PreK–6 (including Fundations, Second Step, Illustrative Math, and Heggerty), you’ll find quick ways to support whole group instruction, small groups, and centers. Many activities include built-in formative assessment tools and templates for student reflection and portfolio building—perfect for deeper learning and mastery. Plus, new features make it simple to assign activities to different student groups and encourage creation with iPads!

👉 Seesaw's Activity Library

Seesaw offers a variety of editable instructional templates for all curricular areas, making it easy to tailor lessons to your students’ needs. These templates are perfect for quick formative assessments, allowing teachers to gauge understanding in real time. They also provide a simple way for students to reflect on their learning, helping them track growth and take ownership of their progress.

👉 Seesaw Instructional Templates & Portfolios

Start giving students regular opportunities to reflect on their learning now—using Seesaw or Canva templates makes it easy and engaging! These quick, editable tools help students think about their progress, celebrate growth, and set goals. Building this routine now prepares meaningful insights for fall conferences and connects directly to standards-based grading, all without adding extra work for you.

• Promotes metacognition—students think about how they learn
• Builds confidence and agency
• Encourages goal setting and personal growth
• Supports mastery learning by focusing on progress over perfection

Finding the right formative assessments in Seesaw just got simpler! The updated Seesaw Activity Library offers a wide range of ready-to-use, standards-aligned activities. Use the search and filter tools to quickly find activities by content area and grade level and take advantage of all the WCASD gradebook standards, which can be tagged to activities for easy data tracking and progress monitoring. With these collections at your fingertips, formative assessment has never been easier—or more effective.

Teachers can select WCASD standards to tag Seesaw Library activities or their own teacher-created activities. Once standards are tagged, teachers can use the Standards Progress View, a dashboard that provides a complete overview of student progress on standards tagged to posts in their Seesaw classes. With Gradebook, teachers can easily track growth and progress.

Using clear, student-friendly language in rubrics helps learners understand expectations and reflect on their progress. When students can see what success looks like in terms they understand, it turns the rubric into a formative assessment tool—not just a grading checklist. It encourages self-reflection, builds ownership of learning, and supports growth mindset by helping students identify their strengths and next steps.

✨ Quick Tip: Let AI do the heavy lifting! Use the Rubric Generator on MagicSchool.ai to create rubrics that are:

• Clear and student-friendly
• Aligned to standards and learning goals
• Adaptable for different grade levels and learning styles

Supporting learning doesn’t stop at school! We’ve got tutorials you can share directly with parents, plus the Elementary Tech Handbook, a one-stop guide to everything WCASD technology. From navigating apps to understanding digital tools, these resources help parents stay informed, support their children’s learning at home, and feel confident with district technology. From navigating apps to understanding digital tools, these resources help parents stay informed, support their children’s learning at home, and feel confident with district technology—including instructions for logging into Clever from home, so accessing apps like IXL and Happy Numbers is simple for both parents and students.

👉 Parent Portal Resources - Standards-Based Grading Edition

Take the stress out of standards-based grading! We’ve put together a handy collection of quick start guides and step-by-step tutorials to help you master grading in PowerSchool and Schoology. You’ll find:

• Printable gradebook standards by grade level

• Guides for creating and grading assignments

• Creating an Assignment

• Grading an Assignment

• Delete old categories in PS

These resources make it simple to track student progress, keep accurate records, and showcase meaningful evidence of learning—so you can focus on what matters most: helping students grow.

Check to make sure that you are grading in the correct grading period! In the top right corner of your gradebook, toggle to T1.

• How to Check Out a Class Set: To ensure fair access, please use your building’s Logitech Calendar to sign them out. Once added, you’ll be able to see availability and reserve a set when needed. Before checking out, view this short Logitech Crayon Tutorial for K-12 educators.

  • Adding the Logitech Calendar with “New Outlook”

  • Adding the Logitech Calendar with “Old Outlook”

  
  

  Unsure where the Crayon cabinet is in your building? Check-in with your building tech specialist.

Did you know every teacher in the county gets a $10 monthly allowance to use at the CCIU Teacher Resource Center? From lamination to classroom materials, this service helps you save time and stretch your resources. You can even design posters in Canva and send them to the CCIU for full-size poster printing—check out these great examples from Hillsdale’s Design Lab! It’s absolutely worth exploring to see how they can support your classroom.