DIRECTOR' S CORNER
Contacting your local political representatives is an important part of the democratic process. It is an effective way to make positive change and share your opinions on issues that affect your life. The steps below can help you prepare to call, write, or meet with your Representatives:
- Prepare your message: Know what legislation is being written, prepare your message, and then share it.
- Find your legislator at https://le.utah.gov/
- Pick the appropriate medium for your message:
Hard Copy - This provides a dignified method to really commit to your message about a topic that will be debated.
Email - Use this method when the vote is happening that day. Many legislators check messages right before voting. Phone Call - You may not talk directly with the legislator, but your message will get passed on.
Meeting in Person - If your representative has a public meeting, go to it and talk with them. Share your story! But don’t come across as out of touch.
Address with the appropriate salutation unless invited to address by name. (ex. Senator, Representative, Superintendent) Get to the point because they represent many individuals. Their time is important. Back up your point with facts that are real and not made up. Most important
Be Respectful
OVERDRIVE
There are a lot of changes happening with our CUES Overdrive library. Overdrive has released a new app for reading which is much easier to navigate for younger readers than the Overdrive app. The new app is called SORA and it is available for download on iPad and devices. To access this format on computers and Chromebooks, just visit www.soraapp.com in your browser window. After finding our Central Utah Educational Services library, your log-in is the same as with the other app. Although many of our districts have a new log-in name and password this year so if you are having problems logging in to the app, please talk with your librarian or contact us here at CUES and we would be glad to help you. We are not using the google email address anymore, the districts are using an LDAP server for authentication. So check with your media specialist for log-in formats for your district.
We are having tremendous number increases in our check-outs for Overdrive and it is exciting to us to know that schools are using this great resource. Last year for the last 2 months of the year, we had 8000 checkouts and this year for that same time frame we have had over 11500 checkouts. That tells us more students and schools are using this resource.
We have had several teachers contact us to add books to our library that correlate with assigned reading lists, so if you have lists of required reading for your students, please feel free to reach out to us with your list and we will do our best to add titles that you request to our digital library to give your students another resource for accessing these required reading titles.
Thanks for your Overdrive support!
TECH TIP
Be mindful of how your Google Docs and folders are set up to share with others. To change sharing permissions, click on the blue "Share" tile in the upper-righthand corner, or look for the icon of a person's head with a plus sign next to it. Make a special note if you are wanting to share with others outside your domain. This link will take you to a graphic that outlines which "permission" allows others to do what with your document/folder. You may have to click on "Advanced" in the bottom right-hand corner to access all sharing permissions options.
SECURITY
Avoid Using Free WiFi
There are a number of ways attackers can steal personal information from you and your devices while using free WiFi. This includes (but is not limited to) hotels, restaurants & libraries. You can spot an insecure network by the absence of a lock icon next to the network name.
Always use secure networks that you have been authorized to use and given the password to. When using a mobile device, use your cellular data when possible rather than insecure WiFi networks. When using a non-cellular device, tethering is a favorable option (sharing the network connection from your phone to your computer).
In the event that you have to use an insecure connection, using a VPN (a virtual private network) is recommended. They're simple to set up and oftentimes free. Good luck and stay safe!
MENTAL HEALTH TIP
Everyone is busy and our minds are running fast. Our minds are full of all kinds of information and our days are filled with the task. So I suggest that each one of us this coming year take some time to slow down and clear some space in our lives. One way we can do thisistotake5to10minutestobemindful. If you have never learned this technique, hey guess what, there is an app for that. It is called Headspace. (www.headspace.com) You can try it for free on any personal device. All it takes is a few minutes to sit undisturbed and be aware of where you are emotionally, physically and mentally. If greater well-being isn't enough of an incentive, scientists have discovered that mindfulness techniques help improve physical health in a number of ways. Mindfulness can: help relieve stress, treat heart disease, lower blood pressure, reduce chronic pain, improve sleep, and alleviate gastrointestinal difficulties. (https://www.helpguide.org/harvard/benefits-of-mindfulness.htm )
So try it out and see what benefits you can discover.