GradeQuick: http://www.edline.com/docs/GQWebHelp_98546723_Home.htm
GradeQuick is an online grade book that I have been using throughout the school year with my school district. GradeQuick allows choosing the way you calculate your grades, point system or percentage. From GradeQuick, you can print out your grades; you can choose which semesters and which assignments. Also, you are able to set guidelines for the quarter and you could print out which students met the criteria. For example, my team used this for the pizza party we offer students at the end of the quarter for having either a 90 percent average or having all assignments completed. Also, you can create seating charts with pictures that the school district has imported (Great feature for substitutes!).
Being new to the district this year, it did not take me long to learn how to use GradeQuick. If you have basic computer skills with a little guidance you can use the program. At our school, GradeQuick is linked to Edline. With the connection, we can upload our grades to the schools web page and they can be viewed by the student and parents. Students and parents are able to see what assignments are owed, handed in late and keep track of their average for the quarter. the connection with Edline allows online quizzes to be taken and the grades are automatically imported to your grade book. This tool is worth using. Students have the responsibility of looking at their grades and they are able to keep track of missing assignments that need to be handed in. GradeQuick allows for easy comparison of assignments, student achievement and your classes.
I use a similar program at my school called PowerSchool. After using it the last couple of years I can't even imagine what it was like to use a grade book and pencil. The time alone that you save not having to calculate grades is worth every penny. As you mentioned, being able to quickly print out a seating chart complete with pictures is great for when a substitute is coming in. It also makes changing seat locations easy so that students get the chance to work with different people throughout the year. Every time I change seating arrangements I just print an extra copy and throw replace the old one in the sub folder.
ReplyDeleteThe ability of parents to be able to check grades is also great (sometimes) and it's amazing how physically seeing a "0" score for an assignment really boosts a students motivation to get it turned in!
We use SchoolTools at our school, which sounds very similar to both GradeQuick and Powerschool. I completely agree that keeping grades online, and a having a running calculation of an average makes grading so easy that I can't imagine how teachers used to do it all with a pencil and a calculator. It also makes it very easy to weight different categories for grading, such as Essays/Projects worth 40%, Participation 20%, etc. SchoolTools also has the Parent Portal feature, which seems like a great idea to me, but we found out that very few parents at our school actually used it this year.
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