What if I have not been using PowerGrade?
27.October.2007 11:30 Filed in: PowerSchool
If you have not been using PowerGrade throughout the
trimester, you will still need to enter one
assignment in PowerGrade in order to give a grade. If
no assignments have been entered in PowerGrade,
nothing will appear on the report card--no academic
grade! By entering one assignment, whatever grade is
given on that assignment is the grade that will be
the "average" and the final grade, which is what
PowerSchool will print on the Report Card.
To enter an assignment, you need to have created a "Category" for each class. For elementary special area teachers, this means all of your classes. For elementary school core academic teachers, this includes the following classes: Reading, Writing, English as a Second Language Reading and Language Arts, L1 (Spanish, Russian, or Polish) Reading and Language Arts, Science, and Social Science. For middle school exploratory teachers, all of your classes need a category. For middle school teams, it varies by school based on how scheduling took place in your school.
To create a "Category," at the top of the screen go to the word "Windows" in the menu and go down to "Categories" (the fourth option down). We recommend naming this Category, which will last all year meaning you only need to do this task once, "Total Points". Then, click "Accept". Now, you can click the red dot in the upper left corner of the window to close this window. (This information is in the first section of the purple manual.)
Then, you need to create an "Assignment" to give grades. Click on the "Assignment/Composition Book" in the upper left corner of PowerGrade. If you are only entering one assignment for the entire trimester, we recommend calling it, "Final Assignment Tri 1". Type this in for assignment name. Then, in the points possible, type "100". Click the "Accept" button. Then, click the "Close" button in the lower right corner of the window.
Now, the assignment pops up in the main "spreadsheet-style" window. Click in the assignment's column in the row of the first student and enter his/her score using a NUMBER. (Do not enter letters!!!) So, with 100 total points, available, you can enter 95 for an "A" and 85 for a "B". There are pluses and minuses in the grade scale. If you would like to use those, please do so.
Use these numbers for entry for a single, "whole trimester" assignment:
A+ ~ 99
A ~ 95
A- ~ 91
B+ ~ 89
B ~ 85
B- ~ 81
C+ ~ 79
C ~ 75
C- ~ 71
D+ ~ 69
D ~ 65
D- ~ 61
F ~ 55
This process must be repeated for each class.
This system allows you the flexibility to decide that you want to use PowerGrade regularly come Second Trimester. You are set and ready to enter assignments after Thanksgiving, and you will not need to hand-calculate your grades! (Of course, when differentiating and giving students different assignments adding up to different totals over the course of the trimester, the computer can save a boatload of cumbersome and tedious work that is a distraction from focusing on instruction.)
To enter an assignment, you need to have created a "Category" for each class. For elementary special area teachers, this means all of your classes. For elementary school core academic teachers, this includes the following classes: Reading, Writing, English as a Second Language Reading and Language Arts, L1 (Spanish, Russian, or Polish) Reading and Language Arts, Science, and Social Science. For middle school exploratory teachers, all of your classes need a category. For middle school teams, it varies by school based on how scheduling took place in your school.
To create a "Category," at the top of the screen go to the word "Windows" in the menu and go down to "Categories" (the fourth option down). We recommend naming this Category, which will last all year meaning you only need to do this task once, "Total Points". Then, click "Accept". Now, you can click the red dot in the upper left corner of the window to close this window. (This information is in the first section of the purple manual.)
Then, you need to create an "Assignment" to give grades. Click on the "Assignment/Composition Book" in the upper left corner of PowerGrade. If you are only entering one assignment for the entire trimester, we recommend calling it, "Final Assignment Tri 1". Type this in for assignment name. Then, in the points possible, type "100". Click the "Accept" button. Then, click the "Close" button in the lower right corner of the window.
Now, the assignment pops up in the main "spreadsheet-style" window. Click in the assignment's column in the row of the first student and enter his/her score using a NUMBER. (Do not enter letters!!!) So, with 100 total points, available, you can enter 95 for an "A" and 85 for a "B". There are pluses and minuses in the grade scale. If you would like to use those, please do so.
Use these numbers for entry for a single, "whole trimester" assignment:
A+ ~ 99
A ~ 95
A- ~ 91
B+ ~ 89
B ~ 85
B- ~ 81
C+ ~ 79
C ~ 75
C- ~ 71
D+ ~ 69
D ~ 65
D- ~ 61
F ~ 55
This process must be repeated for each class.
This system allows you the flexibility to decide that you want to use PowerGrade regularly come Second Trimester. You are set and ready to enter assignments after Thanksgiving, and you will not need to hand-calculate your grades! (Of course, when differentiating and giving students different assignments adding up to different totals over the course of the trimester, the computer can save a boatload of cumbersome and tedious work that is a distraction from focusing on instruction.)
