May 2020 Newsletter
Welcome to May!
Before we get into this month's topics, we want to first say we hope you and your loved ones have been staying safe during these unprecedented times. If there is any way that we can help on our end with Print[ED] please let us know.
Second, we would like to share some exciting news as we congratulate three schools in Georgia for earning their accreditation this week. This marks a Print[ED] milestone as the first programs to have been evaluated using our new interactive forums and virtual inspections. We are hoping these will help streamline the application and renewal process for the future. Congratulations once again to Megan DeBisschop of Hiram High School, Jaime Russell of East Paulding High School, and Haley Etter of Paulding County High School!
Print[ED] Group Forum
Have you ever found yourself with a Print[ED] specific question, but not sure where to go to get the answer? Maybe you're looking for a specific type of activity or want to get an opinion on a piece of equipment before making a purchase. Well, we now have the solution you've been looking for with the Print[ED] Professional Learning Community (PLC) Forum. This is an open forum for instructors to collaborate on various Print[ED] topics, ranging from accreditation questions to content development, and anything else that your peers may have insight on.
If you would like to become a member please send us an email with your name, organization, and the email you would like to have associated with the forum. With this new forum and our shared drive, we hope to bring Print[ED] instructors together and grow our PLC for the benefit of all!
Teacher Prep Guides for Assessments
The Career Essentials: Assessments Teacher Preparation Guide provides an easy-to-follow road map to prepare your students for the Career Essentials: Assessments. The guide provides specific information regarding the Assessments so teachers can identify existing curriculum areas that may need additional emphasis.
Each guide consists of an overview of the Career Essentials Assessments, a Blueprint containing the weighting of competencies, a student "Knowledge Check," and a 10 question sample assessment.
Teacher Guides for SkillsUSA Career Assessments are available at no cost on our website.
File Naming Conventions
After you've finished loading Print[ED] skill area skeletons to house the content for your curriculum, what's next? The directory structure of the skeleton naturally organizes your content. Turbo boost your organizational strategy by implementing a file naming convention.
One of the great features of Print[ED] is that it provides a framework of competencies shared by everyone. Consider the competency Introduction to Graphic Communications A11: Describe common printing processes. Instructor "A" may teach the competency one way and Instructor "B" a different way. Both instructors named files related to the content descriptively. If the instructors wanted to quickly share their content related to describing common printing processes, it might be a challenge.
Using a file naming convention that incorporates Print[ED] competency numbers makes sharing infinitely easier. Adding IGCA11 to a filename makes the file more shareable and instantly identifies the content as being related to describing common printing processes.
There is no "right" way to define a file naming convention. The key is to define a naming convention that fits your environment. Most important is to include a competency identifier in the file name (i.e., IGCA11). See one example of how to define a file naming convention here.