11 New Email Subscribers. Are Your Colleagues Subscribed?

If you are seeing this post in your email, great!

When there is timely information about Stride, you won't be left out. In the last few days, 11 additional teachers signed up for these email updates.

But what about the many teachers who haven't signed up for these updates? You could help them out. Ask your colleagues if they got this blog post in their email.

If they say "no," ask them to go to MotivatedData.blogspot.com. In the sidebar, they will see a spot to add their email address.

Important Summer News

Included here is information on the annual "archive." Please let your students know that coins do not roll over from year to year. Encourage them to spent their coins this summer playing games.Their same login will work all summer long. Your school will not want to opt out of the archive. Notice that Stride will not be available for several days: August 5-8 (Friday-Monday). Your school system will be able to put students into their classes once that archive has been completed. This means it will likely be at least several days in to the school year before the you will have students showing in your classes.  STRIDE DATA ARCHIVE MOVED TO AUG. 5-8, 2016  Schools who wish to keep this year's data intact MUST opt out by July 29.

To better serve our customers, we are rescheduling our annual data archive for ONE WEEK LATER than originally planned. Last Friday, you received an email stating the archive would take place on July 29-Aug. 1, 2016. We have moved the archive to Aug. 5-8, 2016.  If you have already completed your opt-out request, no further action is needed on your part. You are successfully opted out of the archive. Please make note of the amended dates in your calendar, as Stride will be unavailable during Aug. 5-8, 2016. If you have NOT completed your opt-out request and wish to do so, continue reading for instructions.

Our annual data archive has been scheduled for this summer. Effective July 29, we plan to archive your Stride data from the 2015-16 school year, providing a clean slate in your account for the fall. We perform this archive annually for many reasons. Why archive your student data? Here are a few benefits of archiving: Accurate Stride assessments for the 2016-17 school year – will NOT include data from the previous year. Accurate Stride reports for the 2016-17 school year – will NOT include data from the previous year. Once data is safely archived, you can still add and remove students from your Stride classes in the Fall, using the Archive Tool. Your class login codes and passwords will remain the same.   We will host weekly webinars in August to show you how to move students to the next grade or class.  Archiving only happens once a year during the annual archive, so make the most of this opportunity! When does this start? The annual archive will take place on Aug. 5 (beginning at 5 p.m. CST) and last through Aug. 8, 2016. A message will be posted on all Stride websites letting you know that the system is unavailable during those dates.    Want to opt out? If you would prefer to NOT take part in the annual archive and preserve your Stride data, here is some information you will need to know: The archive impacts an entire school or club, not just one class.  Only individuals with administrator level access can request to opt out of the archive.  The KCS Code and Password for your school or club is required to submit this request. You will need to click on the button below to fill out the form to opt out of the annual archive.  You must opt out no later than July 29, 2016 at 4:00 pm CST.  By opting out of the annual archive, you ensure all of your 2015-16 classes, student rosters, assessment and student performance data remains untouched.  Our Boys & Girls Club and YMCA customers will NOT be included in the archive. Rest assured that your Boys & Girls Club and YMCA Member data will remain intact. However, Stride will still be unavailable from July 31 - August 3.

Summer Use of Stride

One question often asked is, "Can students use Stride during the summer?" The answer is, "Yes." 

Students may use the program through July 31. The data will be recorded under the classes the students have been enrolled in during the 2015-16 school year. Teacher and principals will be able to run reports just as they have been during the school year.

New Stride Games!

Have your students tried out the new Stride games yet?  We’ve added three new games available for all grade levels!

1-3-9

As the numbers 1, 3 and 9 appear in the queue, decide where to place them next to matching numbers. Three in a row (or more) of a number will cause them to add up to a larger number! …1+1+1=3, 3+3+3=9, 9+9+9=27, and so on! As you play, learn to become more strategic about where you place numbers, so you can add up to larger numbers and boost your score!  Available for all grades.

Crowded Tower

Climb the Crowded Tower to the very top floor — but beware of dangerous obstacles and creepy things that go bump in the night! Tap 1 time for a short jump. Tap 2 times for a high jump. See how high you can  make it up the Crowded Tower! Available for all grades.

Quad 

Catch the falling blocks before they hit the floor — but you must catch them with a diamond of the same color! Click and hold to move all of the the colored diamonds horizontally at the same time. Release to move them back to their starting places on the sidelines. How many falling blocks can you “catch” to rack up points and move to the next level? Available for all grades.

Honor for Stride

Dear Friends, As another year closes, we are reminded how grateful we are for you, our Stride partners! Because of your dedication, your students are well-positioned to make #MonumentalAchievements in 2016!

We are also humbled to announce that this month, LTS Education Systems has been honored among 300 edtech companies as one of the “20 Most Promising K12 Technology Solution Providers” by CIO Review. CIO Review analyzed over 300 companies providing K12 solutions to select the top 20 at the forefront of tackling customer challenges. As leaders of digital learning in your school, you can relate: “Digital learning implementation takes time, investment, effort and planning. No matter what piece of digital learning schools use, it will fail or succeed based on how serious of a commitment administrators are willing to make. Also there should be an effort to help students use the new tools in thoughtful ways,” said CIO Review Managing Editor Jeevan George. Thank YOU for making the commitment to Stride and following through for your students!

The CIO Review K12 special edition highlights LTS and Stride for our merit in “Improving Student Achievement through Game-Based Learning.” We hope you will take the time to read and share with your colleagues this spotlight on LTS and Stride from our Founder and CEO, Brian Shulman’s, point-of-view. Click here to download the PDF.

Thank you for another great year! Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Sincerely, The LTS Education Systems & Stride Team

Stride Alabama December e-News As we close the final month of another year in our 9-year partnership with Alabama schools, we are so thankful for the gift of working with you! We wish every Stride administrator, teacher, student and parent a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Remember to encourage usage of Stride over the Winter Break with Holiday Stride Contests! (Here's how.) "Top Thinkers" at A.M. Windham Elementary  Congratulations to the winners of the "Thanksgiving Thinking" contest at A.M. Windham Elementary (Daleville City Schools).  These two Super-Star Second Graders, pictured below with their official Stride certificates, are from Mrs. Barbara Webb's math class and together earned a combined 57,272 Star Points during Thanksgiving vacation! Principal Chris Mitten, Mrs. Webb, your CLAS Academic Specialist Gina Price, and the entire crew here at LTS are SO PROUD of you! Keep setting an amazing example for your classmates! Litzy Diego is Dreaming BIG with Stride!Eighth grader Litzy Diego has dedicated herself to using Stride consistently after school. What's her motivation?  Litzy aspires to be a doctor one day! She chooses to focus her Stride skills practice mostly on Science content. Over Thanksgiving Break, Litzy correctly answered over 1,000 questions and accumulated over 3 million Star Points! We think her diligence and drive is going to prepare her well for the long hours of learning and helping others one day as a future MD!   Pictured below: Keisha Ragland (teacher), Litzy Diego, Rhonda Lewis (CLAS Academic Specialist)  Litzy attends Zora Ellis Middle School (Talladega City Schools). She says Stride is making a difference in her life by helping her learn more and make real-life connections to her school assignments. Her favorite game is Pigskin Passer. Litzy was awarded a Walmart gift card from CLAS Academic Specialist Rhonda Lewis for her success. Way to go, Litzy! Your dream is within your reach! Let's Talk Turkey at C.L. Salter Elementary! (Talladega City Schools) Stride Coordinator Linda Varnedore organized C.L. Salter's first Thanksgiving Stride Contest over the break (titled "Let's Talk Turkey!"). "Students really enjoyed it and asked me to please do another contest. What was funny is most of the students went back on Stride when given a chance to do any program!" said Mrs. Varnedore. Pictured below with Mrs. Varnedore are the Top Winners, having earned the most Star Points during the contest. Congratulations to: 1st Place Winner -  4th Grader Harmony Webb with 39,945 Star Points.  2nd Place Winner - 2nd Grader Corneilous James with 34,644 Star Points. DIY: Create a Stride Informational Video for Your School Website! Here's a great idea to communicate on your school website how Stride works and how parents and community members can support program use -- Create your own podcast or informational video! Media/Technology Specialist Jana Moon at Highland Elementary (Etowah County Schools) shared her own podcast with us as a great model that you can mirror for your own video. Make it a goal for second semester to storyboard, film and produce a Stride video of your own that your school can be proud of! Your students and teachers will love being a part of the production! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and we will see you in 2016! Amy Frith, editorStride Alabama e-news afrith@LTSed.com

End of Progress Monitoring Assessment 2

Just a reminder that the window for Progress Monitoring Assessment 2 closes December 5. Since the 5th is a Saturday, the last date students will be able to take PMA is December 4.