Tech Connect September 2025

ClassLink is our Single Sign On (SSO) portal that houses a majority of the school applications purchased and approved by the district. Please access ClassLink at this link: https://launchpad.classlink.com/davidson to sign in to various applications such as Canva and Adobe Express.

IF THE LOGIN DOES NOT HAVE THE DCS LOGO - YOU ARE ON THE WRONG LOGIN PAGE!

• You can find the direct link for the DCS ClassLink page from any school website under "Curriculum"
• Applications on your portal will vary by school. ClassLink is the start page for students this year when they log in to their Chromebooks
• See this document for login instructions for ClassLink: ClassLink Login Instructions
• For information on how to add applications to student dashboards in ClassLink, view this document: ClassLink How-To: Add apps to Student Dashboards
  
  

ClassLink is the new Single Sign On (SSO) portal that houses a majority of the school applications purchased and approved by the district. Please access ClassLink at this link: https://launchpad.classlink.com/davidson to sign in to various applications such as Canva and Adobe Express.

AI tools can support K-12 teachers by making lesson planning and classroom management simpler and more efficient. With ready-made prompts, teachers can quickly generate lesson and unit plans, create assessments, adapt activities for different student needs, and develop creative classroom ideas.

Additionally, AI can help organize classroom libraries by cataloging books using images and barcodes, making it easy to manage and track classroom collections.

Google has introduced significant updates that include Read Along, Gemini in Google Classroom, and Google Vids video creation app, enhancing both educational experiences and content creation capabilities.

Read Along in Google Classroom has been upgraded with new features to help students build independent reading skills more effectively. One key update is the introduction of a silent reading mode, allowing students to read books quietly without needing to read aloud, while still receiving AI-driven assistance with any difficult words. The tool also offers comprehension questions and rewards stars for reading accuracy and correct answers, making reading practice more engaging. Additionally, educators can now upload their own content directly into Read Along assignments, expanding the available reading material.

Gemini AI is now an an assistant right inside Classroom that helps you plan lessons, create quizzes, and personalize activities quickly. For example, you can ask Gemini to generate examples, build rubrics, or adjust texts for English learners—all from within Google Classroom.

On the video side, Google has launched Google Vids, an easy-to-use video creation app integrated with Google Classroom. This tool enables both educators and students to create, collaborate, and share videos seamlessly within their learning environment. It supports assigning video projects and posting video explainers directly to students, promoting creativity and interactive learning. Google Vids is targeted at Education Plus and Gemini Education customers, reflecting Google's ongoing commitment to providing personalized and multimedia-rich learning tools.

Please make sure when you are creating designs in Canva that you are changing your team in the lower left corner to your personal team!

The Canva Design School Cheat Sheets page provides quick-reference guides that help users master visual design concepts, typography, color theory, branding, and layout techniques. These easily accessible resources are ideal for beginners and professionals, offering concise tips that streamline the design process and enhance creativity. Regular use of these cheat sheets can make design projects more efficient and help users apply best practices consistently.

ChatGPT’s Study and Learn features offer substantial benefits for teachers by streamlining lesson preparation and enhancing instructional quality. With these AI tools, you can quickly develop interactive study prompts and step-by-step guides tailored to your curriculum, saving valuable planning time. The guided question approach not only enriches your lesson materials but also equips you with ready-made scaffolding for differentiating instruction and supporting various learning levels in your classroom.

These features also facilitate more targeted review and intervention. ChatGPT allows you to generate practice questions, explanations, and reflection prompts with ease, helping you address student misconceptions and reinforce key concepts without starting from scratch for each topic. By offloading repetitive content creation, you can focus more on analyzing student progress, providing meaningful feedback, and refining your teaching strategies.

Ultimately, ChatGPT’s Study and Learn tools act as a flexible digital assistant—helping you boost instructional efficiency, design higher-quality learning experiences, and dedicate more attention to what matters most: fostering student success and professional growth.

The Discovery Education PK-2 Activity Calendar provides teachers with a monthly set of ready-made, high-quality activities designed specifically for early learners, helping to save valuable planning time while ensuring students remain engaged and interested in their lessons. Easily accessible through the teacher dashboard by searching “monthly calendar,” these resources can be assigned as-is or customized to fit classroom needs, offering flexibility and differentiation to meet diverse student abilities. Activities are standards-aligned and cover multiple subjects, making it simple for teachers to integrate engaging content into their daily instruction and maximize student participation.

Discovery Ed 3-5 Daily Fix is a standards-aligned, ready-to-use activity from Discovery Education designed for students in grades 3-5, offering daily opportunities to practice and improve grammar, punctuation, and sentence editing skills. Each Daily Fix It presents students with sentences containing errors, which they must identify and correct—making these quick, engaging activities perfect for morning work, independent practice, or small group instruction and helping save teachers planning time. These resources are available through Discovery Education’s Activity Center and can be used as-is or customized, supporting differentiated instruction and making it easy for teachers to integrate essential language arts skills into their daily routines.

Sue Tobin - suetobin@davidson.k12.nc.us

Allyson Medlin - amedlin@davidson.k12.nc.us

Libby Moretz - libbymoretz@davidson.k12.nc.us

Listed below are the schools that each of us serve - please feel free to reach out to us!