Help Desk
For Technology help, use the following FAQs, call our Help Desk at (413) 499-9568, or email: helpdesk@pittsfield.net
Please read this if you cannot open PDF’s!
And - read this if your web page says: “This document cannot be displayed properly.”
- Macs
- Log-in
- First Class
- Backup
- Building Your Website
- PowerSchool
- Gradebook
- Printers
- Applications
- PLATO
- Blogs, Podcasts & Wikis
1. Macs
- The Macintosh Operating System, OS X (Tiger)
- The MacBook (laptop)
- The iBook (laptop - BWLI students & faculty)
- Useful Key Commands
- Using foreign language (diacritical) marks: accents, circumflexes, etc.
- More on using accents in your documents
2. Help with Logging In - Special Situations
- Traveling Teachers: Mounting your globe on a desktop computer -
to access your account from any school - Substitute Teachers: Logging into a desktop computer -
and then getting to your account and your documents - Substitute Teachers: Logging into PowerSchool -
to take attendance for the class’s regular teacher - Substitute Secretaries, Nurses, SPED: Logging in at any school -
and then getting to your documents
3. First Class Email
- Accessing First Class email at home
- The complete First Class training tutorial - review it to learn how to:
- change your password
- attach a document
- create a signature
- save a mail list
4. Backup: the ins and outs of how to save your stuff.
- Backing up your documents to the server
- Backing up to our flash drive
- Backing up to another type of flash drive
- Backing up to an exterior hard drive
- Backing up your iTunes to CDs
- MacWorld article on backing up iTunes - a variety of methods
- Apple’s page on backing up your iTunes library to CD or DVD
- Apple’s video tutorial on backing up and restoring iTunes files of all kinds
- Backing up your iPhoto library
- Apple’s video tutorial on backing up and restoring iPhoto libraries
Don’t forget your Movies folder! See directions (above) for backing up to an external drive … or burning to CD or DVD - Backing up your bookmarks (Safari)
- Backing up your bookmarks (Firefox)
- Backing up your iCal
- Backing up your Address Book
5. Bulding Your First Class Website
- “This document cannot be displayed properly”
a quick fix for this common problem - Beginning your website
- Posting a document to your website
- Adding a second page to your websit
- Saving your PowerPoints to the web (hard method) -
(Easy method? save your PP’s as PDF’s, then see “Posting a document” handout) - Adding a counter to your website
6. PowerSchool Help
- Administrators & Staff: Follow these directions to log into PowerSchool
- Teachers: Taking Attendance in PowerSchool
- Teachers: Checking Class Attendance in PowerSchool
- Substitutes: Logging in to Take Attendance in PowerSchool
- Teachers: if you click on the backpack and see an error, use this handout.
- Coaches, Specialists, Itinerants, Admin users: switching from one school to another.
7. Setting Up & Managing Your Web Gradebook
- Launching and setting up your gradebook
- If your gradebook will not launch
- If you get a gradebook connection error
- PowerTeacher “Cheat Sheet”
- Assigning a grade of Incomplete
- Reviewing last quarter’s grades
- Entering grades through the web final grade entry page (special approved cases only)
- Using the online PowerTeacher gradebook training
8. Printers
- Tutorial on how to add printers
- Tutorial on how to clear your print queue
- Reset your Print Center
Please be advised that this application will delete all of your printers!
After clicking the link, this application will download to your desktop.
You must run this from the icon on your desktop after downloading. - Printer addresses
9. Applications
- Making a quick movie from an iPhoto slide show and posting it on your website
- Using YouTube videos in your classroom
- Creating a Jeopardy game using this template and Keynote
(need current version of Keynote - may take a minute to launch) - Creating a Jeopardy game from scratch, using Keynote (tutorial)
- Using ComicLife in your classroom
- A cheat sheet for Keynote, Apple’s presentation program
- A cheat sheet for Pages, Apple’s word processing and layout program
(ideal for kids to use for brochures, menus, ads, posters, etc.) - Making enhanced podcasts using GarageBand
- Using Boardmaker : a quick tutorial
- Teaching your computer to talk—and read aloud—using Text to Speech.
10. Help with PLATO Learning: Online Learning for Credit Recovery
- Creating Assignments in PLATO