WCSD K-8 Gradebook Setup and Attendance

To take attendance

Log into Power Teacher.

Click on the Chair for the class you are taking attendance for.

Students are present by default. You must choose to mark a student absent or tardy.

After marking all students select Submit.

The button by the Chair will turn Green after attendance has been taken.

If you do not click Submit, even if all students are present, then attendance has not been taken.

Categories

Go to Tools>Categories.

Create the categories that do not already exist by clicking on the plus sign. You cannot delete categories used last year. You can modify the names of existing categories but DO NOT if they have been used previously. If a category does not have any grades in it, then the category is automatically not in the calculations for the overall average.

EXAMPLE:

Classwork Assignments: Enter an Abbreviation and a color. Points Possible: 100Extra Points: 0 and Score Type: Points. Check Include in Final Grade

Homework: Enter an Abbreviation and a color. Points Possible: 100Extra Points: 0 and Score Type: Points. Check Include in Final Grade

Nine WeeksTest: Enter an Abbreviation and a color. Points Possible: 100Extra Points: 0 and Score Type: Points. Check Include in Final Grade

Quizzes: Enter an Abbreviation and a color. Points Possible: 100Extra Points: 0 and Score Type: Points. Check Include in Final Grade

Weekly Assignments: Enter an Abbreviation and a color. Points Possible: 100Extra Points: 0 and Score Type: Points. Check Include in Final Grade

Grade Setup

The following steps must be done for each class.

Go to Grade Setup>Calculations

Y1 needs to be set to Term Weights and by default it will show S1 and S2 at 50% each.

S1 needs to be set to Term Weights and by default it will show Q1 and Q2 at 50% each.

S2 needs to be set to Term Weights and by default it will show Q3 and Q4 at 50% each.

For Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 choose Category Weights.

Click on the plus sign at the bottom beside add category.

Check all applicable categories and select OK.

Set your weights according to the WCSD District Handbook K-8 established weights in the Weight column and select Save:

EXAMPLE:

Classwork: 25%

Homework: 10%

Nine Weeks Test: 15%

Quizzes: 20%

Weekly Assignments: 30%

This is where you can choose the category and number of low scores to drop. DO NOT change this to Total Points or Term Weights in order to drop scores.

Once you have set up Q1, you can copy the setup to Q2, Q3, and Q4 by selecting the gray Copy button.

Select Q1 only and click OK.

Check the Q2, Q3, and Q4 boxes, click Next, then Finish.

You can also copy this setup to other classes. Select copy on the Y1 level and choose the Entire class, Click OK.

Select the classes to copy the setup to and click Next, then Finish.

Assignments

Click on the Assignment tab.

Click on the Plus sign.

Name the assignment. Verify the Points Possible: 100andScore Type: Points. By default the abbreviation is the name. Change it to a short unique abbreviation.

If you are giving a bonus this is where you may add the extra points. The max grade will automatically update when you save.

Set the due date. By default it is the current date if it is a valid class date. Prior to school it defaults to the first day of classes. Be careful when entering grades. If you enter them after the true end of the nine weeks, they will not average in. For example, if the due date is 10/10/2009 and the nine weeks ended 10/9/2009 the grade will count in the second nine weeks not the first.

The Publish tab is where you can control the date that an assignment will appear in the Parent Portal. There is a checkbox to PublishScores which is checked by default. The options for Publish Assignment are Immediately (the default), On Specific Date (allows date to be entered), Days Before Due (allows number of days to be specified), On Due Date (allows date to be entered) or Never.

Reports and additional Information

To print an Individual Progress Report

Open your gradebook and choose the class for which you wish to print progress reports. Choose View>Reports from the menu bar at the top of the page. You may also just choose the Reports icon on the Icon tool bar located on the top right of your gradebook .

Choose Individual Student Report.

You can add a note for a class and a parent signature line on the layout page.

You may choose Selected Class or Active Classes.

Each student progress Report is a separate page and it opens in Adobe Reader. If you want a single student’s report just choose which page to print when printing.

To print a Student Multi-Section Report

Open your gradebook and choose the class for which you wish to print progress reports. Choose View>Reports from the menu bar at the top of the page. You may also just choose the Reports icon on the Icon tool bar located on the top right of your gradebook .

Choose Student Multi-Section Report.

You can add a note for a class and a parent signature line on the Layout tab.

You may choose Selected Class or Active Classes.

You may choose just My classes or Total student schedule.

Each student progress Report is a separate page and it opens in Adobe Reader. If you want a single student’s report just choose which page to print when printing.

To Print a Student Roster with Demographic Information

Go to Reports.

Select Student Roster.

Put a check beside the information you want to include in the roster.

Other Available Reports

Attendance Grid

Final Grade and Comment Verification

Missing Assignment Report

Scoresheet

Student Groups

The default groups are Active and Dropped.

If you have issues of dropped students showing on reports, highlight the Active group in Student Groups on the left and print the report for the Selected Groups and/or Students.

Notes

  • You may enter a grade of missing and a value of zero when the child turns the paper in. The missing mark will go away automatically when a nonzero grade is entered.
  • You may right click in the grade column to mass fill a grade, mark a paper as collected, late, missing or exempt.
  • Tools>Copy Assignments can be used to copy a created assignment to another class.
  • DO NOT select Total Points in Grade Setup at any time.
  • To drop a grade you can go to Grade Setup and choose the number of grades you wish to drop in each category.
  • Tools>Recalculate Final Scores will need to be run whenever changes are made to the Grade Setup and if a student is dropped off your roster and then re-enrolled. Under normal circumstances you SHOULD NOT change the Grade Setup after it is complete.
  • You may change the order of students listed in your gradebook. Go to Tools>Preferences then the Student tab. At the bottom you can choose to Sort Students By: Last Name, First Name, or Teacher Defined Order. You may also check the box to Add newly enrolled students to the bottom.
  • To create a Teacher Defined Order for a class go to the Student Info tab at the top then highlight the My Order column. Drag and drop the students in the order you want and save the order. In order to use this feature you must have Teacher Defined Order selected in the ToolsPreferences Student tab.