Student TechBytes

Vote for the fattest bear of the year! Some of the largest brown bears on Earth make their home at Brooks River in Katmai National Park, Alaska. Brown bears get fat to survive. Fat Bear Week is an annual tournament celebrating their success in preparation for winter hibernation.

Voting ends today at 6 pm!

A new study from Common Sense Media reveals that 70% of teenagers are using AI for schoolwork, with 63% using it to get direct answers rather than working through assignments themselves. While many teens admit that reliance on AI reduces their independent thinking and learning, they often turn to these tools to manage heavy academic pressure and "grind culture." Unfortunately, bans and network blocks have proven ineffective, leading students to bypass rules on personal devices. Adults have largely left teens to navigate this landscape alone, with 73% of teens reporting they have never discussed how AI works with a teacher.

Experts emphasize that building AI literacy requires prioritizing human skills—like critical thinking, wrestling with complex ideas, and collaborating with others—over tech skills. Instead of outright bans or expecting teachers and parents to be technical experts, adults are encouraged to hold open conversations and co-learn alongside students. Significantly, teens themselves seem to recognize this reality: when asked about skills for their future, 55% prioritized working well with others and 50% chose critical thinking, while only 21% prioritized knowing how to use AI tools. The key takeaway for families and educators is to focus on strengthening the human connection and critical reasoning that technology can never replace.

• New Limits (Starting Oct 1): Elementary students get 5GB; Middle and High School students get 10GB. (Temporary 20GB limit ends Sept 30).

• Check Your Usage: Look at the bottom-left corner of your Google Drive; a red warning bar indicates you are over the limit.

• Save Personal Files: Use Google Takeout to download or transfer personal files to a flash drive or personal account before deleting them. Start early, as downloads can take time, and ITS cannot unlock accounts after September 30th.

• Clear Drive Storage: Click Storage in Google Drive to sort files by size, delete unneeded large files/videos, and empty your Trash to permanently free up space.

• Clean Up Google Photos: Turn off "Sync" in the Google Photos mobile app first to protect local photos, then select and delete unwanted photos at photos.google.com and empty the Trash.

All students who are over the limit or within 1GB of the limit received an email on Friday, September 4th or Tuesday, September 8th. For more details and instructions, click on the link below.

We are excited to share that you can now access the For Families report with your student’s results on their i-Ready Inform™* for Reading and/or for Mathematics assessment through their i-Ready student dashboard. The i-Ready Inform Reading assessment is given to students in grades 3-12, the Mathematics assessment is given to students in grades K-12.

How can I access my student’s results?

1. Log in to your student’s i-Ready account. Use the district or school’s portal credentials and then click the i-Ready icon. Students in Pasadena Unified School District access i-Ready via Clever. See directions below for logging into Clever on a personal (non-PUSD) device.

2. Select the Subject (Reading for grades 3-12, and Math) tab.

3. Click on the For Families dropdown and select the For Families report.

4. Select a language for the report.

5. Enter your district’s report code NPXTLF.

Thank you again for your continued partnership and support of your student’s learning. Please contact your student’s teacher with any questions.

Wondering how your child is doing in math? Your child’s i-Ready results can give you helpful information about their learning and progress, but understanding the report isn’t always easy! Join us for a family session where we’ll walk through the report together and help you make sense of what you’re seeing. Spanish interpretation will be available.

i-Ready Parent Night

Join virtually at bit.ly/iready2pusd.

Wednesday, September 30

6-7 p.m.

In order to access PUSD apps, your student will need to use Clever from the Google Chrome browser.

1. Download & Log in to Chrome. If you don't have the Chrome browser downloaded, you can access it HERE.
2. Sign in the to Chrome browser using your student's login credentials (username and password). If you have a younger student and don't know your student's username and password, please reach out to your student's classroom teacher or the front office for this information.
3. When prompted to turn on sync, select "I'm in"
4. The PUSD bookmarks will appear in the bookmarks bar. Select PUSD Apps to access Clever

To view your student's i-Ready Reading or Math assessment results, follow these quick steps:

1. Log in: Go to Clever and click the i-Ready icon using your student's login.

2. Select a subject: Choose either Reading (grades 3–12) or Math (grades K–12) at the top.

3. Open the report: Click the For Families dropdown menu and select For Families report.

4. Enter the code: Pick your language, type in the district report code NPXTLF, and view the results.

Why might you want to powerwash a Chromebook?

• Fixing software issues: Clears out glitches, persistent crashes, or login loops that normal updates cannot fix.
• Starting fresh: Clears out clutter like old downloads and cached data to give the laptop a clean slate.
• Resolves issues, such as the device not connecting to WiFi.

Welcome to the 2026-27 school year! Please note that ITS is experience a high ticket and high call volume. If you are having issues, we ask that you submit a ticket. Someone will respond as soon as possible.

• If you are having account access issues, please submit a ticket and provide a valid callback number.