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DTL Spotlight

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🍂 September 17: GEG UT Fall 2026 Meetup: "Badges and Bites"

Join us for the GEG Utah Fall Meetup next Thursday, Sept. 17 (3:15–4:15 PM) We’re diving into the new Google AI Educator Series microcredentials to help everyone stack 4+ new digital badges. For those joining in person, we’ll have a DIY Trail Mix Bar fully provided! (Extra mix-ins are welcome, but definitely not required). Drop in as your schedule allows—we hope to see you there!
📍In-Person: Juniper Elementary School (Herriman)
💻 Virtual: Google Meet (Scan the QR code on the attached flyer to join via Google Meet)

🍂 September 19: GES Badge-a-Thon 

We're excited to join the Google for Education community for the upcoming Google AI Educator Series Badge-a-thon on Saturday, September 19th! We are looking forward to tuning in and checking out our favorite sessions from Dr. Tyler Tarver, Eric, Curts, Alice Keeler and more! During the badge-a-thon, attendees will: 1. Explore concrete, high-impact AI workflows for the classroom 2. Complete the Google AI Educator module step-by-step 3. Earn official badges live on stream with dedicated Googler support 4. Join me and educators nationwide for this collaborative day of learning! Register and RSVP here: https://goo.gle/GESBadgeathon

Badge-a-thon

Brand Kit for sharing on your socials and at your schools

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Episodes in order from newest to oldest.

Sept - Effective Communication with Coaches with Melanie Leavitt

Episode Summary - Our hosts Jared and Kiera sit down with Melanie Leavitt, the newest member of the Innovative Learning team, to talk about effective communication. Each month we will focus on one of the following pillars of the district strategic plan: High Quality Instruction, Culture of Belonging, Opportunities for All Learners, Student & Staff Wellness, and Effective Communication. We asked Melanie about her new role in the district and how it connects to effective communication between teachers, coaches, and students.

Aug - Belonging within the MTSS Cycle with Dr. Melanie Dawson

Episode Summary - Our hosts Jared and Kiera sit down with Melanie Dawson, Assistant Director in Teaching and Learning to kick off the newest season of the podcast. This year, we are focusing on the pillars of our district's strategic plan. Each month we will focus on one of the following pillars: High Quality Instruction, Culture of Belonging, Opportunities for All Learners, Student & Staff Wellness, and Effective Communication. We asked Melanie about her new role over MTSS in the district and how it connected to a culture of belonging within our schools and within the district.

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This month’s focus is on effective communication and Canvas is a versatile tool to communicate with lots of different groups. For this month, I have spotlighted two ways to use Canvas to communicate with your stakeholders.

For Elementary: Media Recordings in Announcements

When creating a new Announcement, teachers can click the Upload/Record Media icon directly inside the Rich Content Editor toolbar to film a quick 60-second video or record audio. Enabling the "Show recent announcements on Course home page" setting in Course Settings ensures families see it immediately upon opening the app. 

Tutorial: https://community.instructure.com/en/kb/articles/660657-how-do-i-create-a-homeroom-announcement-in-canvas-for-elementary-as-an-instructor

For Secondary: Different Types of Feedback in Speedgrader 

Giving targeted feedback doesn't have to mean typing out the same detailed paragraph 30 times. Canvas SpeedGrader offers several types of feedback in the sidebar, allowing secondary teachers to match their response style to student needs:

  1. Text & Rich Content Comments  or paste reusable, standard responses using the built-in Comment Library.
  2. Audio & Video Feedback
  3. Speech-to-Text Recognition: For faster typing in Google Chrome, teachers can activate the Speech Recognition tool to dictate detailed, long-form feedback directly into the comment box.
  4. File Attachments

Tutorial: https://community.instructure.com/en/kb/articles/664292-how-do-i-leave-feedback-comments-for-student-submissions-in-speedgrader

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Optimizing Student Mastery: Proficiency Calculations & The Power of Decaying Average

Mastery Connect allows educators to customize how student understanding is calculated across standards within a Mastery Tracker. Adjusting these settings ensures that the gradebook accurately reflects a student's current proficiency level rather than an outdated average.

How to Change Proficiency Settings in a Tracker

  1. Open Your Tracker: Navigate to your course in Canvas or Mastery Connect and select the desired Mastery Tracker.

  2. Access Tracker Settings: Click on the Tracker Options (gear icon or drop-down menu) in the top-right corner.

  3. Select Proficiency Calculations: Click Edit or Proficiency Settings.

  4. Choose Your Calculation Method: Select your preferred calculation formula (e.g., Decaying Average, Most Recent, or Mean) from the available options configured by your institution.

  5. Save Changes: Confirm and save to automatically recalculate student scores across all standards in the tracker.

The Value of the Decaying Average Setting

The Decaying Average calculation is one of the most growth-minded, student-centered evaluation tools available in standards-based grading. Instead of traditional averages—which permanently penalize students for early mistakes made during the learning process—decaying average applies a weighted formula that prioritizes recent performance while still accounting for historical data.

  • How it Works: By default, the calculation weights a student's most recent score higher (typically 65%) and decays the weight of older scores (35%).

  • Rewards Growth Over Time: If a student struggles on an initial attempt but demonstrates strong understanding by the end of a unit, their score shifts upward to reflect that mastery.

  • Provides an Accurate Snapshot: It prevents early failures from dragging down an overall grade while ensuring that a single recent slip-up doesn't erase consistent past performance.

By using Decaying Average, educators shift the focus from when a student learned a standard to whether they learned it, turning the tracker into a true tool for measuring progress.

Another way to change the proficiency settings for individual standards is highlighted in the video below.