Let’s say that you’ve been using your home computer regularly to access PowerTeacher with no problems. Then, all of a sudden, you try logging in to PowerTeacher one day, and you cannot connect. What happened?

First, check to make sure your Internet connection didn’t drop off, particularly if you are using a wireless connection. If you are still connected (i.e., you can visit other websites in your web browser.), then this was not likely the problem. In this case, you may need to clear your Java cache. (For example, a recent update to Java caused problems with the PowerTeacher Web Gradebook. These problems were resolved with a patch that was loaded on to our servers. Nevertheless, for some users, they may need to empty their Java cache and then rebuild it by launching PowerTeacher.

From Pearson, the makers of PowerSchool and PowerTeacher, here are directions for clearing your Java Cache, if you should need to do so.

How to Clear the Java Cache
Windows

• On the client workstation, exit PowerTeacher Gradebook.
• Navigate to Control Panel > Java. The Java Control Panel appears.
• Select the General tab.
• Click Settings under the Temporary Internet Files section. The Temporary Files Settings dialog appears.
• Click Delete Files. The Delete Temporary Files dialog appears.
• Select both checkboxes, and click OK.
• Close the Java Control Panel.
• Launch PowerTeacher Gradebook.

Mac

• On the client workstation, exit PowerTeacher Gradebook.
• Navigate to Applications > Utilities > Java.
• Open Java Web Start.app. The Java Application Cache Viewer appears.
• Select the User tab.
• In the Application column, select all PowerTeacher Gradebook listings.
• Click Remove Selected Application.
• Close the Java Application Cache Viewer.
• Launch PowerTeacher Gradebook.

If you are a District 21 employee who is on the Microsoft Exchange e-mail, calendaring, contacts server, you also can, and should be using Thin Client, via Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Connection. Printing in Thin Client has stymied many in the past, but District 21 has begun using Thin Client technology at just the right time because printing is easy.

First, whatever machine you are using needs to be set-up to print to a printer. So, if you are on a Mac at school or a PC or a Mac at home, it needs to be set to print to a printer from its regular programs, such as a word processor or the web browser. Your computer, particularly at school, may actually be set-up to print to more than one printer. For example, as you can see below, my MacBook is set to print to printers all over School District 21. (If you go to File > Print, then, click on the pull-down menu next to where it says Printer, it will show you all of the printers to which the computer is set to print.) **To have your computer set to print to additional printers, in the case of a laptop, contact your school’s iTech teacher. For District staff, including District-wide Support Services staff, you will need to call in to the Help Desk.



Again, any computers in this list can be used to print from within Thin Client.

The next step is quite easy. In Remote Desktop Connection, you need to open the Preferences (RDC > Preferences). On a PC, you will click on the “Options” button in the main RDC dialog box.



In the preferences box, click on the printers tab. This tab is very simple. Check the box so that the remote machine can see the printers connected to your “local” machine, or the machine on which you are actually typing. (In some versions of Remote Desktop Connection as well as in some Linux remote desktop programs, there will simply be a checkbox to connect to “local” printers in the main dialog box.)



Then, when you go to print in Thin Client (File > Print), you can choose from among the same printers that are available on your local machine as you can see in the picture below.



If you look carefully at the list of printers, you will notice that they are the same printers as were available when printing “normally” on my Mac.

If you do not quit out of the Web Gradebook correctly, you and/or your teammates will see the dialog box upon your next login that asks if you want to “Terminate Other Users Session”. To avoid this, please quit correctly. Here’s how...

STEP 1
When you are done with your Web Gradebook session, go to PowerTeacher Gradebook in the menu bar at the top of the screen. Then, go to “Quit PowerTeacher Gradebook.”

STEP 2
Then, after the Gradebook quits, click the “Logout” button in PowerTeacher.

Finally, quit of your web browser (i.e., Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer).

So, you and your teammates have already taken the step to begin implementing student groups in your PowerTeacher Web Gradebooks? That’s great, but then, you find that you misplaced a student in the wrong group. How do you fix this?

1. Launch the PowerTeacher Web Gradebook.

2. Go to the “Students” tab.

3. On the left column in the Student Groups section, click on the triangles next to the groups to expand the groups so you can see the names of all of the kids in the groups.

4. Now, click on the name of the student that you want to move. You will see the name highlight. While still holding the mouse button down, drag the student’s name over the name of the group TO which you want to move that student. When you move it, you will see a blue rectangle outline the new group when the name moves over it. Let go of the mouse button.

5. The student’s name will now be moved. Congratulations!

Do you have a Mac running OS 10.4 at home? If so, do you feel like the PowerTeacher Web Gradebook is running slow?

Our friends and colleagues in nearby Prospect Heights School District 23 have discovered that performance is significantly improved if you have completed all of the OS 10.4 system updates to OS 10.4.11. These updates are free and come directly from Apple over the Internet.

If you have not installed these system updates, simply click on the Apple icon in the upper left corner of your screen and click on Software Update.

Then, the Software Update will contact Apple’s servers and determine what software updates are needed.



You can select the updates that you want to install, and click “Install”.

One of the coolest features currently included in the PowerTeacher Web Gradebook is the ability to eliminate an assignment/assessment or an entire category from the Final Grade of all of the students’ grades. Some people have asked, “Can I exempt just one student’s grade from his or her final grade?”

Of course. That’s easy. (You actually could do this in PowerGrade, too, but in the Web Gradebook, you can also include the student’s score on the assessment in the Gradebook, and you can still exempt it.)

1. Enter the assignment so that it IS included in the final grade of all students who receive a score on the assignment. (Make sure that the “Include in Final Grade” checkbox is checked on the Assignment Creation screen.)

2. Enter scores for all of the students, including the student whose score you do not want to include in his or her final grade.

3. Right-click on the score that you want to exempt from the student’s final grade. A new window pops up from the cell that contains the score.

4. Choose “Exempt” from the menu that appears by clicking on it.

5. After you have selected it, the number will become gray and italicized. It does not impact that student’s final grade.

Have you clicked in the backpack to get more information about a student, such as a phone number, historical grades, or to look at Quick Lookup? We hope so as there is a great deal of information available there to use by teachers.

Sometimes, though, you may stumble upon a screen that appears in your browser that says, “Not Found Error 404”.

This screen typically appears after you click the Backpack and then click on the name of an individual student. You should not receive this screen at all, but if you do, here’s how you can fix it.

1. Click on the Personalize tab on the left navigation menu in PowerTeacher.

2. In Personalize, click on “Default Student Screen”.

3. In there, re-set your default student screen, and click “Submit”.

4. After you have submitted this new default student screen, you can re-choose your preferred default student screen, and click “Submit” (again).

5. Now, you should not receive the error message!

If you’ve entered an assignment and received an error, you may:
-Not have entered information in the required fields
-Or... You may have entered more than 15 characters in the abbreviation field--particularly, if you let PowerTeacher auto-fill the abbreviation for you.

If the assignment abbreviation is more than 15 characters, you will get an error. The abbreviation field auto-fills the name of your assignment, so you must be sure to shorten the name, if necessary. (See below.)