Grading systems worth trying!

Recently we were assigned to explore an online grading system and I have to say my experience was good! My school changed over to an online grading system this past school year and there were several problems. Teachers had trouble setting up marking periods, the system had to be set up in a uniform manner. This means that all grades from kindergarten through grade 8 have to have the same grading system. Tests in kindergarten weigh as heavily as tests in grade 8. This of course is very problematic. Throughout the year however, the teachers have managed to overcome the issues and did very well with the change over to electronic grading. I have had minimal experience with this system mainly because when I went to a seminar on how the system works, our school along with several others were unable to hear the presentation due to technical difficulties. I do plan on learning the system as I plan to teaching at the school.

I used engrade.com in order to experience electronic grading. I found this website to be a great back up tool for teachers who are worried about keeping records. I enjoyed that this program allowed me to set up a classroom and decide how the grades would be displayed. The other great feature is that it allows you to choose to either have weighted grades or not. I think having certain things such as projects weigh a lot is important in order to help students who may not be the best test takers.

This system is a great tool for any teacher looking to have a back up system for keeping track of both grades and attendance. I liked also how easy it was to keep track of what assignments are excused or missed. Another great feature is that you can also keep attendance. I also like that this grade book can be easily exported to Microsoft Excel.

The students also have an advantage if they have access to the site the teacher uses. If a teacher really works with this site it is easy for students to always have access to assignments and descriptions which is similar to our own class Moodle site. I think the students are at an advantage at seeing the calendar and what assignments are expected. Overall this program is an excellent source and I couldn't find much if anything I didn't like! Below is what the print screen of the set up looks like for my grade book.