Electronic Gradebook

You will find handouts on EasyGrade Pro at the EDU 241 homepage under Computer Application Handouts.

This application is an easy way to manage student grades, seating, and attendance with minimal teacher effort. Once classes, student names, and assignments/scores are entered, the application automatically calculates grades based on criteria set by the teacher. Each time a new assignment or test score is entered, the overall grade for each student is updated. Another advantage of Grade Pro is that a teacher can provide regular progress reports to each student, again simply by printing what has already been calculated by the program.

There are many electronic grade book applications available and most school districts have adopted one. Regardless of type, the basic functions are nearly identical so once you learn Grade Pro you can use virtually any grade book application.

An Exercise With Comments by Herman and Aarsvold

You are teaching several classes to start the school year and have received student rosters. In this exercise we will create one class – Health 10- so that you learn essential features of the program.

Students in Health 10
Mike Bexell
Betsy Campbell
Peter Dodge
Tai Mau
Cam Rodriquez

1. Open Grade Pro by double clicking the file.
   
2. Choose NEW GRADEBOOK from the choices in the window.
   And save to Temporary Items on your desktop.
   
3. A window opens, choose ADD CLASSES.
   
4. Type in the name of one class, Health 10. Click TERM 1 box.
   
5. Type in the name of the second class, Intro to Biology. Click TERM 1 box.
   
6. Click DONE.
   
7. A grade book sheet opens. Go to the upper left hand corner to CHOOSE A CLASS and highlight Health 10.
   
8. A window asks, View/Edit Class Options? Click it.
   
9. You will see three scales. Choose STANDARD and then notice the grade and related percentages in the window. Change this to what you think is a fair system you might use. When finished, click done. Notice you can make adjustments in several different aspects of the grade book by clicking on the menu tabs and making changes. Note that once you adjust class options, your adjustments apply to all classes in the grade book unless you change them.
   
10. Next, a window opens. Click TYPE STUDENT NAMES.
    
11. Enter the five student names listed earlier in this exercise. Notice that last name goes first. You can change the format of a grade book if you prefer some other system. When finished, click DONE.
    
12. Now go back to HEALTH 10 class and add some assignments and scores. Click ADD ASSIGNMENT -vertical on the score sheet. There are menu items that can also take you to ADD an assignment, ADD a class, etc.
    
13. Enter the following assignments and point values,
    Chp. 1 Questions 10 of 10
    (Go down to CATEGORY and highlight HOMEWORK. Explore the other items in this list.) Indicate the DATE this assignment is due by selecting the month and date in the calendar displayed to the right. The due date is Sept. 9.
    
    Click NEXT ASSIGNMENT and enter:
    Quiz-chapter 2 20 of 20
    CATEGORY is QUIZ and it is due Sept. 18.
    
    Click DONE.
    
14. Notice your gradebook sheet for Health 10 now includes the two assignments and due dates.
    
15. Now, we are ready to add student scores on each assignment. Simply enter the score on each assignment in the appropriate box by the name of each student. Make some scores up based on point totals possible.
    What happens if you enter 25 by a student name and there was only 20 points possible? Try it.
    
16. Notice that as you add assignment scores, the cumulative grade for each student changes to reflect the added points. Remember you set the percentages early in this exercise.
    
17. Now practice writing a memo or note regarding participation of a student and quality of his or her work. Teachers are expected to justify a grade and report effort, behavior, and other intangibles on a report card so why not let students know how they are doing by writing a comment that will be included with the progress reports you print out and hand students.
    Click the CHART symbol at the top symbol palette. Then click the tab that says STUDENTS. Now you see student one, Mike Bexell. Click the PENCIL symbol and then type a message to Mike about his work in your class. Write a couple of sentences and be positive but instructive. (Remember that progress reports are shared with parents.)
    
18. Now, print a progress report that we might actually give to a student in Health 10, perhaps about three weeks into the term. Go to the PRINT symbol (or print from the top menu). A window opens, click SINGLE CLASS PROGRESS.
    Then you will see three circles with phrases next to each. Click the circle in front of SELECT STUDENTS. A window then opens that allows the teacher to decide what he or she wishes to print and give to the student. Explore these a bit. Generally, I would click Grade Summary Sheet or Assignment Chart, and Summary Notes. Print these three and look at what you would share with Mike Bexell. Very useful information. Sharing this also tends to reduce whining since the student can clearly see how he or she scored on each assignment, where assignments are missing, and so on.
    
19. Now explore the ATTENDANCE part of this application. Click Attendance from the menu bar. It will then ask you to set up a calendar. Set the first day of classes and the last day of classes. You can also indicate vacation days if you wish. Play with this a bit.
    
20. Now go to the menu bar and find SEATING. Notice that the five students in Health 10 appear on the seating chart. Now, you have been having some problems with Mike whispering and chatting with Peter Dodge so move them away from one another in your seating chart. Click and slide where you want them. Can you see other benefits of this part of the application? What about when you wish to use groups? Change groups? Other uses?
    
    At this point we will have you experiment a bit more with Grade Pro and we will add some other fun features during our conversation.