Monitors 101

When you connect your laptop to your presentation station, you have choices about how to view your digital content. If you have an external monitor, you have even more choices.

Mirror Laptop & Projector

When you connect the USB C cable to your laptop, you can chose to have the projected image "mirror" exactly what's on your laptop.

Follow these steps to mirror your laptop

1. Plug USB C cable into laptop.
2. From the apple menu, select System Preferences.
3. Select Displays.
4. Click the Arrangement tab.
5. Click the checkbox for mirroring.

-> ->

Considerations for Mirroring

Teacher does not need to turn around to see projected image
Privacy must be protected
- Turn off email & other application notifications
- Do not display Zoom chat if students are using Host-only chat feature
- Close all tabs and programs not used for class purposes

Extend Screen to Projector

When you connect the USB C cable to your laptop, you can chose to have the projected image "extend" your desktop and provide a second screen for displaying content.

Follow these steps to extend your display

1. Plug USB C cable into laptop.
2. From the apple menu, select System Preferences.
3. Select Displays.
4. Click the Arrangement tab.
5. Move the screen representations (rectangles) to match your physical setup (left, right, top, bottom). DO NOT check mirroring.

-> -> extenndedscreen

Considerations for Extending Display

Teacher needs to turn around or to the side to see projected image which is different than what is on the laptop.
Projector display is like a 2nd monitor, but behind or to the side depending on table configuration.
Teachers must move content to projector window for students to view on screen.
Zoom, mail and other content can be visually separated (teachers only see laptop and students will see content moved to projector display).
Drag the small white rectangle on the Arrangement tab to identify where the menu and dock will appear. Notifications will appear on this screen.
Practice moving your mouse between screens. You may encounter "invisible walls" where your mouse cannot move due to screen resolution differences. Check out the video below to learn more about this issue:

Laptop, Monitor & Projector

When you connect the USB C cable to your laptop, you can chose to have the projected image "extend" your desktop and provide a second screen for displaying content. If you add an external monitor, you will have 3 screens for managing content. Working with this arrangement takes some time, but once you have a comfortable workflow, you'll have ways to share content with students, see Zoomies and protect confidential information such as email and notifications.

Follow these steps to arrange your displays

1. Plug USB C cable into laptop.
2. From the apple menu, select System Preferences.
3. Select Displays.
4. Click the Arrangement tab.
5. Move the screen representations (rectangles) to match your physical setup (left, right, top, bottom). You may want to have all 3 screens in a single row that matches your Left-Right physical movement. DO NOT check mirroring.

-> ->

Considerations for Extending Display

While we don’t have district-provided additional monitors, we know many teachers have been using them. We cannot guarantee functionality of a personal device but we hope these instructions will help you.
The 2 USB C ports on the laptop will be used:
- Dock connection for presentation system
- Monitor (may need adapter if the monitor cannot connect via USB C)
You will likely need to practice moving content between screen in order to develop a comfortable workflow.
Drag the small white rectangle on the Arrangement tab to identify where the menu and dock will appear. Notifications will appear on this screen.
Practice moving your mouse between screens. You may encounter "invisible walls" where your mouse cannot move due to screen resolution differences. Check out the video below to learn more about this issue:

Using Extended Screens

Learning how to move between extended screens will take practice but Ann says it's totally worth it given the flexibility and control of content this setup provides. This screencast models using three screens, but the basic concepts also apply if only using the laptop and projector WITHOUT mirroring. The projector image becomes your second monitor.

Moving Your Mouse Between Screens

The mouse can only move between displays where they touch in the arrangement window.
In the arrangement below, the mouse will hit an “invisible wall” if you try to move from the very top of the projector or second monitor to the laptop.

Classroom Layouts

Here are sample classroom layouts: