Welcome to the 2022-23 school year! PWCS continues to use Canvas as its online learning platform. Though we are mostly in person this year, teachers keep their Canvas pages updated for students who may be temporarily at home and as a resource for in person students. Please see some resources below to help you better understand the program, as well as how parents can be involved.
Parents can participate in a Practice Canvas for Parents course. It will show you some of Canvas's main features, as well as how to obtain your Parent Observer Code.
Parents can also check out PWCS's Canvas page with links and support.
Canvas for the PWCS Parent Video
Need to activate your student PWCS Zoom account? Follow the easy steps in this Zoom for the PWCS Student video.
Reminders on Internet Safety and "Netiquette"
Look to the left for several fun videos to watch with your child(ren) about being safe on the Internet.
Clever Dashboard
Has your child shown you their Clever dashboard yet? Clever syncs up students' PWCS login with many programs we use in school (i.e. Canvas, IXL, Wixie, Lexia, Seesaw, and more). Kindergarten students can use their Clever badge; first grade and up are expected to learn and use their Office 365 login. There are directions in the "Files and Documents" on the left side of this page.
Clever will sync August 19, 2022 for the new school year.
- Younger students need help learning their computer logins. This login will follow them throughout their PWCS career and gives them access to many educational programs used in PWCS. Kindergarten students have Clever "badges" (QR codes) to make it easier. First grade and up are expected to be able to remember and use their logins regularly.
- Check out www.abcya.com for some fun games to help students learn to navigate the keyboard. Typing apps are also available in students' Clever dashboards.
- Kindergarten parents, be sure your children are holding the mouse correctly and are able to drag and click. Double clicking a mouse is much harder and takes more fine motor skill coordination than you'd think for the little ones! Help younger children realize they need to click twice very quickly and not drag the mouse. I teach them to say, "Pizza Pizza!" (like the commercial) when double clicking so they understand how fast they need to do it.
- Keyboarding needs to be taken up a notch! Not only should upper elementary students know where the letters on the keyboard are located, but they should also begin to use proper hand placement on the keyboard when typing. Students have Typing.com in their Clever dashboard to help them practice.
- Upper elementary students also do much of their work and testing online. As such, students are responsible for learning and remembering their usernames and passwords.
- Social Media Sites: Parents, please be aware that children under the age of 13 are not allowed to create Facebook accounts. If a parent chooses to create an account for their child, it is the parent's responsibility to monitor when, where, and how their child is using that site. What happens online in the afternoon and evening oftentimes carries into the next school day.