We've released several new features, improvements, and bug fixes for PlusPortals. The highlights of this update include:
| New Features | ||
|---|---|---|
| Co-Teaching Integration | Integrated co-teaching into PlusPortals and TeacherPlus Gradebook to allow co-teachers access to their classes and calendars using their PlusPortals account. | |
| TeacherLists Integration | Integrated TeacherLists, a service that allows administrators and teachers to upload classroom supply lists with direct links to retailers. | |
| Improvements | ||
| Parent Portal: Discipline Access | Added parental access to students' disciplinary incidents on the parent portal Home page. | |
| Image Optimization | Improved image optimization by automatically down-sizing large images to an acceptable size. | |
| Coursework Tab | Replaced the Homework/Assignment tab in the student and parent portals with the Coursework tab. | |
| Bug Fixes | ||
| Group Head Calendar Fix | Fixed an issue that prevented some group heads from seeing group events on the group calendar. | |
| New Year Transition Mode Fix | Fixed an issue that allowed some teachers to see their classes during New Year Transition mode. | |
| Fourth Term Score Sorting Fix | Fixed an issue that, in some instances, caused fourth-term scores to display incorrectly when sorting by marking period. | |
New Features
Co-teaching
Co-teaching for PlusPortals is integrated with co-teaching in TeacherPlus Gradebook to allow settings to be shared. When a co-teacher is added to a class, the co-teacher can access that class and its calendar through their PlusPortals account.
Class names that include a leading asterisk ( * ) indicate co-taught classes.
Co-teacher views include the following:
- Co-taught classes display on the Calendar page.
- Co-taught classes display on the Home page.
- Co-taught classes display on the Settings page.
- Co-taught classes display in E-mail dialog boxes.
- Co-taught classes display in Message dialog boxes.
- Co-taught classes display in E-Locker.
- Co-taught classes display in the Class drop-down list on the Overview tab.
TeacherLists Integration
TeacherLists is integrated with PlusPortals. Using this service, administrators and teachers can upload classroom supply lists that contain direct links to participating retailers (currently Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Office Depot). When integration goes live, PlusPortals sends reminders to administrators to activate the integration. After integration is activated, teachers receive reminders to create and post their supply lists, and at login, students and parents are directed to the PlusPortals Supply List to purchase their supplies.
TeacherLists integration includes the following changes and additions:
- Under Setup, Integrations replaces Single Sign-On and provides access to the TeacherLists Integration settings.
- Using the TeacherLists Integration settings, administrators can activate the integration, add a link to TeacherLists to the login page, and write a description for TeacherLists that displays on the PlusPortals Home page.
- The administrator's PlusPortals Home Page Customization settings contain an option to display TeacherLists on the Home page.
- The teacher's Home page contains a link to TeacherLists.
- The administrator's TeacherLists Notification dialog box reminds administrators to activate the integration.
- Teacher's TeacherLists Notification dialog box reminds teachers to create and post their school supplies list.
- The Parent/Student's TeacherLists Notification dialog box reminds parents and students to order their school supplies.
- The Supply page contains the school supplies lists.
Improvements
Parent Portal: Access to Disciplinary Incidents
Added parental access to students' disciplinary incidents on the parent portal Home page.
- Parents can view a summary of their student's disciplinary incidents.
- When parents click
, they can view the details for a disciplinary incident.
Image Optimization
When uploading a large image, PlusPortals automatically attempts to down-size the image to an acceptable file size. If the down-sizing attempt fails, an error message appears.
Coursework Tab
In the student and parent portals, the Coursework tab has replaced the Homework/Assignment tab.
- On the Coursework tab, students can filter coursework by class, due date, and types of work.
- For each assignment, students can email the teacher, submit the assignment, or mark the assignment complete.
- Parents can view student's upcoming assignments on the Coursework tab in their Parent portal.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue that prevented some group heads from seeing group events on the group calendar.
- Fixed an issue that allowed some teachers to see their classes during New Year Transition mode.
- Fixed an issue that, in some instances, caused fourth-term scores to display incorrectly when sorting by marking period.