Great Start on Stride

Every Saturday, I receive a School Summary Report for each Stride School with which I work. It comes automatically in my email. Even though the school year is young, a number of teachers have gotten off to a notably good start.

Students in these classes answered over 1,000 questions each this past week:

Avondale Elementary

Jamie Harris

Sandra Martin

Lilla Norris

Inglenook K-8

Kimberly Stewart (over 2,000 questions answered)

Glennita Bell

Annie Montgomery

Calvin Barlow

Central Park Elementary

Kira Lawson- Pierce

Progress on Getting Students into Stride
For Calhoun County, Corey Murray has exported information from iNOW and imported it in Stride. From there each of the three high schools will go to "Import Students" and grab those students from the Master Roster.

For Birmingham City Schools, Dr. Kecia Chapman has prepared an export from iNOW and I received that Friday. Over the coming week, I will be importing that data into Stride and directly into each class. My to-do list for Monday includes calls to discuss with principals how they would like their upper grades configured and confirming teacher changes from last year.

Quite a few teachers in Birmingham went ahead and entered their own students into Stride so they could get up and going quicker. Thanks for that extra initiative!

There Have Been Hiccups
The Stride interface went through a major upgrade. For example, your students have probably noticed the "Progress Bar." More on the enhancements later.

At the same time, there have been glitches that were found as teachers and students began working in the program. Much work has happened over the past week fixing computer code.

One Thing You Can Do Now
Communication in any arena is a good thing. With 16 schools, keeping everyone informed is a challenge. Emailing each school and asking each contact person to forward the email adds one more "to-do" for those contact people. Plus, with overflowing email inboxes, it's easy to miss something. So, one missed email would mean the entire faculty would miss that information.

This blog is the place I can put information and it be available to you as soon as I hit the "publish" button.

Here's the easy way to stay on top of it all... If you have not already done so, please go to the sidebar and enter your email address. Watch for a confirmation email and be sure to approve it. Every time something is posted here, it will wind up in your email. Plus, you can always come directly to this blog to see anything that has been posted in the past.

Once you have signed up, encourage other teachers to do the same. I've always been a fan of using technology to make life easier. This blog is just one example.

Progress Monitor Assessment Dates

This year, we will administer the Progress Monitoring Assessment 3 times. In previous years, PMA was done 4 times. Since schools are also required to do Scantron testing, this move removes one test from the plate of teachers and students.

You will notice that the window for each PMA is shorter than before. That being said, the best strategy has always been for a school to establish a short PMA window for itself. That way, teachers and administrators have the results quickly. They can then share those results with students and adjust instruction. A short window also means that the school is able to take advantage of Quiz Builder, the FAST Adaptive 360 engine, and other modifications to the curriculum.

You will also notice that the PMA windows are outside of the Scantron testing windows. Therefore, students will not be taking a Stride PMA and a Scantron assessments at the same time.

Here are the dates for the Stride Progress Monitoring Assessment:

• PMA 1: October 1-Oct. 19
• PMA 2: February 25-March 15
• PMA 3: April 22-May 24

Here are the dates for the Scantron assessment:

• August 6-September 28
• December 3-February 22
• April 8-May 3

Stride Login Issues

Stride has made some updates for this year. That's a good thing. We are seeing some issues, however. Some have already been resolved and what remains will hopefully be solved over the weekend.

Right now there is an issue with logins. Here is a temporary workaround:

If you are using the Administrative login for the school, use this link: https://al.stridelogin.com/admin/login.php

Use the KCS code just as you did last year.

If you are using a Teacher login, use this link:
https://al.stridelogin.com/teacher/login.php

Use the KCC code just as you did last year.

Students will go to https://www.stridelogin.com/login/
They will need to use the ALC code. It's the same as the KCC code from last year just with the letters ALC instead. So if the KCC code for the class was KCC12345, the ALC code will be ALC12345.

The developers are working round the clock to get the issues addressed, so stay tuned.

For Birmingham City Schools:

Dr. Chapman is working on an export for iNOW that will allow me, in turn, to import the student names directly into classes in Stride. I will be able to begin that process early next week.

New Stride User Guide

Stride has recently updated its User Guide. This will be a great document for teachers who have never used Stride before. It will also serve as a great reference for any teacher.

Note: Ignore any reference to "GAP" testing. We will not be using that.

Access the Stride User Guide here.

Stride Archive Complete...New Features

Welcome Back to Updates in your Stride Account!

We've been busy this summer, and we've just unlocked new enhancements in your Stride account! You can enjoy these updates today by using your refreshed access codes to log in. If you haven't already, look up your new login codes using our handy lookup tool. If you used Stride prior to 8/10/18, please clear your browser cache before logging in today. This will help ensure a smooth transition to the new experience!   NEW LOOK AND FEEL, NEW GAMES Right away, you'll notice a new look and feel to Stride, as well as brand-new game options! Click on a subject area coin to view the new skill mastery progress bars,Help Me feature, translation tools, and more available to students in question mode! NEW SKILL REVIEW ACTIVITIESOne of the most significant enhancements is the new skill review mode available to your students for extra help while they're learning. Students can choose from several targeted review activities for a particular skill. EARN BONUS CHESTS WITH EXTRA COINSNew bonus chests offer an extra, fun incentive for students to work through these activities and master skills. How many bonus coins can they earn in a bonus chest?Log in to Stride today to find out! QUESTIONS ABOUT THE UPDATES?Read more about these enhancements at the FuelEd Service Station. For help with questions, create a case at the Service Station or call 866.552.9192. Welcome back to school—we hope you enjoy the new experience in Stride!

Welcome Back to School

My name is Frank Buck. I will be the CLAS Academic Specialist for the 3 Calhoun County schools and 13 Birmingham City schools using Stride this year.

My background includes almost 30 years in public education. Most of that was in school administration. Now, I write and speak on organization and time management across the United States and internationally. My passion is making life easier for other people. My specialty is using technology to meet that aim.

My affiliation with Stride comes from a long-held interest in how we can use technology to automate routine tasks. We all need more time to teach. Effective use of technology is one way we can do that.

What to do now

Two things. First, in the sidebar, look for a place to put your email address. Watch your email inbox for a message to verify your request, and you are done! Every time a new post appears here, it will also show up in your email. 

That means you don't have to remember to come back to this blog. It doesn't become "one more thing to do." (All of us have too many of those already.)

All of the information about Stride that you need to know during the year will show up in your email.

Second, continue reading the rest of this article. It contains information applicable to every Stride school throughout the country. Yes, it's a program available in all 50 states.

The articles talk about what will be happening in the next several days. 

Once the annual archive is complete, Corey Murray will populate classes for Calhoun County. I am presently working with the central office in Birmingham City about a plan for getting student names into classes.

Scheduled Stride Downtime Aug. 10–13

Please be advised that the Stride online learning program will be unavailable from 5 PM CST on Friday, Aug. 10, until the early hours of Monday, Aug. 13, 2018.  This period of downtime will be scheduled for implementing significant enhancements to the Stride program. These enhancements include new questions, new skill review activities, and new games! ANNUAL DATA ARCHIVE The annual data archive will also take place during this time, providing a clean slate in your account for the upcoming school year. If your school or organization selected to opt out of the archive, your data will remain untouched. ENHANCEMENTS COMING MONDAY We look forward to revealing exciting new features in your Stride account! Look for a follow-up message on the morning of Monday, Aug. 13, when access to Stride will be restored. At that time, please be sure to use your new Stride login codes to access your account. NEW LOGIN CODES Login codes are being refreshed to indicate your state abbreviation. For example, if your school is located in Alabama and your current login is KCC12345, your new login code will be ALC12345. To look up your new login codes for student, teacher, and administrator-level access, please utilize our handy lookup tool: https://www.stridelogin.com/lookuptool/. Questions regarding your Stride account? Create a case at the Service Station, or call 866.552.9192.