When I was in elementary school,
I remember every single one of my teachers owning and carrying a green spiral
book where they kept both attendance records and grades. The teachers did not
have access to online grade books in class, because most of the computers did
not work. They could not rely on the three bulky computers in the classroom. When
I entered high school, I realized that the teachers registered all the
information straight into the computer. There were approximately 24 computers
in each classroom, and every teacher had a computer at their desk.
As teachers, it is our job to make sure that we keep accurate records of our students’ grades and attendance in an organized fashion. If we are privileged enough to working in a school that has computers, it would be great to use an online grade book. Unless required by the school, there are so many different websites that we can use to help up keep track of our records. Two websites that I am familiar with are Engrade and ThinkWave; they are both FREE programs which I plan to use in my English classroom.
For my methods class, we were provided with a list of “students” and “grades.” We were instructed to input the grades and create a reasonable scale for grading. I am currently using ThinkWave. When I create an assignment, I can decide how much I want each category to weigh and whether I want to provide a letter grade, percentage, or simply a check. Once all grades are inputted, the computer calculates the grades. I then get a class average. In the future, I can use this average to reflect on the class as a whole. Parents and students can also register and have access to their grades. This is a great way to get parents involved in their child’s education. Also, if students and parents keep up with the grades, there will not be any surprises at the end of the semester.
Another advantage of using these websites is that I can always have access to my students’ grades. I can input grades over the weekend from home. Also, if I am required to hand in a hard copy of my records, I can simply print from the website. I do not have to worry about copying grades by hand into a grade book.
As teachers, it is our job to make sure that we keep accurate records of our students’ grades and attendance in an organized fashion. If we are privileged enough to working in a school that has computers, it would be great to use an online grade book. Unless required by the school, there are so many different websites that we can use to help up keep track of our records. Two websites that I am familiar with are Engrade and ThinkWave; they are both FREE programs which I plan to use in my English classroom.
For my methods class, we were provided with a list of “students” and “grades.” We were instructed to input the grades and create a reasonable scale for grading. I am currently using ThinkWave. When I create an assignment, I can decide how much I want each category to weigh and whether I want to provide a letter grade, percentage, or simply a check. Once all grades are inputted, the computer calculates the grades. I then get a class average. In the future, I can use this average to reflect on the class as a whole. Parents and students can also register and have access to their grades. This is a great way to get parents involved in their child’s education. Also, if students and parents keep up with the grades, there will not be any surprises at the end of the semester.
Another advantage of using these websites is that I can always have access to my students’ grades. I can input grades over the weekend from home. Also, if I am required to hand in a hard copy of my records, I can simply print from the website. I do not have to worry about copying grades by hand into a grade book.
Online Gradebooks are a great tool for teachers. People now do not want to recieve a sheet of paper with grades on them. They want to have easy access to everything and keep track of how they are doing. These websites allow students and parents to access the information whenever they want. Students can also keep track of how they are performing in your class and have no excuse of falling behind with their grades. I too intend to use a website like this for my classroom. It is convenient, fast, and a great resource for the time period we live in.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Michelle. I clearly remember the old spiral gradebooks as well. Towards the end of my time in high school, my school district began to put all of the grades online, and everything involving grades is now done via computer (hard copies of report cards are no longer distributed). Programs such as the ones in your Method course are helpful to the teachers, as it makes for an easier way to document their student's grades, helps the students and their parents be more aware of their performance, and is also more environmentally friendly, as well.
ReplyDeleteOnline grade books are a great example of how technology can improve the classroom! It is just so much easier to input grades online and have the computer analyze the averages, etc. I know that a lot of schools these days have a database that the parents can log on to and see student grades. These databases are also used to post homework and other assignments. I see my students using them all the time, and they love it, because they often forget to write things down. Parents no longer get paper copies of progress reports; it's all online. I find that online grade books are just an easy way to keep things organized, and I will definitely be using them as well!
ReplyDeleteMichelle,
ReplyDeleteI really like this post because I can relate to remembering those green spiral notebooks that always had my grades in it. Even after elementary school and into middle school and high school my teachers always seemed to have grades in both their computers as well as a backup green spiral notebook. I remember my teachers not being able to rely on the technology because sometimes they could not access the grades on the computer. I definitely think times have changed and technology has become so much more reliable and using the websites you suggested could be so much easier and accurate. As a person who has trouble with math, I think excel is also an excellent way to keeps grades where the program basically does the math for you if you put in the equation. I have tried Engrade with this class and I really like how easy it is to find my grade and everything is broken down so I understand where I got what points. I have never heard of ThinkWave but i definitely want to try it because I agree that online grading has become the most efficient way to keep grades. I really liked this post since it helps us as teachers with technology.
Aside from being convenient and more reliable, online grade books provide students (and parents) and with an up to date tally of their grade. This can help students to be more accountable for their grade. When i was in middle school, our math teacher provided us with that sheet that she used to record our grade, but had us keep track of them as well. We would go over them often and were able to see what kind of grades we needed to earn an overall grade in the class. It was nice knowing what our grade was day-to-day so there were no surprises at the end of a semester. An online grade book available to parents is also a great tool. This allows for parents to be directly involved in their child's educational life, which is an issue in some school districts. I think that providing parents with their children grades also helps to 'protect,' the teacher in a way. My friend, who just started her first teaching job this fall, recently had a parent send her a very nasty email regarding the grade her child had received for the marking period. My friend referred her to the online grade book, and was able to show her that the student had failed four quizzes and hadn't received anything higher than a C all marking period. It turns out that the student was telling his mom that he was getting As and Bs in the class, when he clearly wasn't. By having the grade book available to parents, nothing should be a surprise.
ReplyDelete