2014 Oregon Civics Conference for Teachers

Whether you have attended before or this is your first conference, there is something for you. New topics, old friends, elected officials from every branch, and talented educators with amazing material for your classroom: check it out!  Experts will quench your thirst for knowledge. Teacher-led sessions on the Oregon Trail, Project Citizen and town hall role plays will give you the strategies you need for ready-to-go lessons for your classroom.

Knowledge and strategies make for a good conference but there is an added dimension that makes it unforgettable:  place.  This is an opportunity to surround yourself with history. From the rare opportunity to sit in the Senate Chambers, to the Governor’s office, to the Supreme Court courtroom, to workshops in hearing rooms where current issues are being thrashed about, the State Capitol is the home of this conference. The building will satisfy your sense of place. And that is why this conference checks every box.

Professional improvement funds are available to PAT members

PAT members who are active employees, half-time or greater, are eligible for $1,500 in Professional Improvement Funds to use over a three-year cycle. (Note that these funds are separate from the PAT Tuition Reimbursement program, which reimburses PAT members up to six credits per school year.)

Professional Improvement Funds may be used for registration costs for

• conferences, 
• workshops, 
• seminars, 
• site visitations, 
• travel costs, if the activity is outside a 25-mile radius of Portland.

Please consult the Guidelines for Use of Professional Improvement Funds for additional information about the use of these funds.

You can contact the Travel Desk at x63378 or traveldesk@pps.net to ask questions about Professional Improvement Funds as well as to check your current fund balance. (You can contact Donna Williams in HR at x63063 for questions about PAT Tuition Reimbursement.)

Google Apps for Education is Live!

Google Apps for Education is a suite of tools including Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Calendar, Sites, and Google+. Google Apps gives everyone the ability to quickly, and easily, create and share documents on any computer or mobile device. For more information on the benefits of Google Apps click here.

To access your Google Apps account please go to the https://activategafe.pps.net/ and enter your PPS username and password. After you have activated your account, to begin using Google Apps for Education, visit the District domain at http://www.apps4pps.net. Your username will not be your normal PPS email. It will be your PPS username followed by @apps4pps.net. For example, if your email is rsmitch@pps.net you would use rsmitch@apps4pps.net. Your password will be the same as what you entered on the activate page.

If you have any questions regarding Google Apps for Education or have trouble activating your Google Apps account, please contact the IT Service Desk at 503.916.3375 or emailitservicedesk@pps.net for support.