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Post date: May 23, 2017 4:45:36 PM
Ahhhh, the end of May.
MCAS testing has been completed :)
F&P testing continues :(
The placement process is in full swing.
The Gym Show is here, the band concert is on the horizon, and Field Day awaits.
While there are more events, activities, trips, and meetings I could layout I'll stop here. I don't want a panic attack to set in and I do want you to finish reading this post.
As you've heard from Faculty Senate members and read in Friday Memos and emails, we are going to be offering a new, web-based Gradebook in the fall. As we continue the implementation of Standards-Based Grading by adding Math to the Personal Development grades for the 2017-2018 school year it seems prudent to equip you to manage that transition as best as possible. Aspen, as it is now, is unable to meet the needs of our transition to a Standards-Based Report Card. We attempted a small pilot this past Fall and it did not pass the test. Our current alternative to Aspen, eGrades, does not have a Standards-Based Grading component rendering it almost useless going forward. As we continue with more traditional grading in some subjects and move to SBG in others this limits the Gradebooks that will work for us.
After some serious vetting, we have found a Gradebook that will be an asset during this transition to SBG. TeacherEase offers a hybrid Gradebook that can capture SBG in Math and Personal Development while still keeping traditional grades in the other subjects. The TeacherEase Gradebook works similarly to other Gradebooks you have used. You add your graded assignments and it will determine the final grade based on a predetermined calculation. This is an effective way to calculate SBG because, within each graded assignment, the teacher will determine what standards were assessed and then enter how the student fared on those standards. In addition to the grading features, there are some detailed progress tracking graphs and tools that give a deeper look into how a student is progressing or where they are struggling. This Gradebook will also sync with Aspen. There will be nothing you need to do in order for your end of term grades to be populated in Aspen's end of term grade columns.
I think it would be worth your time to log into our temporary gradebook in TeacherEase and give it a try for yourself. The login information for you to check out the gradebook is in the email I sent with the link to this Tech Tuesday Blog.
After logging in, Click the Standards Based Scores tile
Then, toward the top of the screen, next to the Subject heading, click the down arrow and choose your grade level.
(If this were your real gradebook, this is where your list of subjects would be. Since this is only for the purpose of a trial all grades appear in one list.)
In order to begin entering grades, you will need to create an assignment (which refers to anything students do that is graded whether a test, homework, project, or other.)
To do this click Create Assignment.
This will bring up the Create Assignment window where you can enter information about the assignment and standards associated with it.
Here are highlights of what you'll want to fill out.
Title - what you want to call your assignment, how it will appear in the gradebook
Date - enter any date within the trimester you are currently in
Standards - Click "add standards" to associate standards with this assignment.
Share - you can share this assignment with your other grade level colleagues to reduce the amount of assignment creation everyone has to do.
Save & Enter Scores takes you to the gradebook where you can enter scores.
This is the window that appears to enter scores after you Click Save & Enter Scores. Clicking Mass Enter Standards Scores allow you to populate an entire column and then return and adjust a few scores as necessary. You can ignore the status column for now. Click Save when you are done to return to your gradebook.
This is what the gradebook will look like.
If you or your grade would like some help navigating TeacherEase for the first time I am definitely available to help you get started.
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