Homework Assignments

Homework should be posted in Powerschool on a nightly basis.  As a rule, homework should probably be available for about a week so that students who are absent can see the assignments they missed. 

If you have a teacher web page where you enter homework assignments, you should still include a link to your web site in in the Decription box under the Class Content tab in your Gradebook.  The instructions for doing this are below.

This blog will discuss entering homework assignments in the Powerteacher Gradebook Class Content.

Select the class you want to enter information for, click on the Class Content tab in Gradebook, and type your assignments in the Description box. 

Self Contained Classes - You should probably list homework for all subjects under your Homeroom.  This will save parents from accessing each subject to see all of their child's homework. 
For all other classes, like Middle School, homework assignments should be listed under the subjects.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Description box is like a blackboard.  Anything entered there will remain there until you remove it.  This includes information entered in PREVIOUS YEARS.  You should perform a Quick Lookup on one student from each of your classes to see if any old and confusing information appears in the Section Description.

The image below shows a screen accessed on Oct. 18, 2011.  However, the information in the description was for April 2011.

If you see old information, simply go to your Gradebook and enter something relevant in the Description box under the Class Content tab.

Entering information into the Description Box.

You can type anything you want in the Description Box, however please be aware of the following.  Line spacing will be ignored.  Take a look at the two screen images below. 

The first image shows what was entered in the Description Box by a teacher.

This next image shows what the parents saw.  Note how none of the line spacing was recognized.

By inserting HTML commands shown in red on the image below, you can get the line spacing corrected. 
The next image shows how to add these to your Descriptiion in Gradebook.

The next image shows the way the Section Description will now appear after inserting the HTML commands.

ADDING LINKS TO INTERNET SITES.  Internet links are also entered in the Description box.  The next image shows how to add a link.  Click on the Gray button containing the word "+Link" next to the Description Box.  A new window will open up allowing you to enter the internet address and the text for the link that parents will see. 

The text in blue in the next image shows how the link will appear to the parents.

You can enter another link by clicking on th "+Link" button again.



PS Teachers - Plus signs and X's on Report Cards

Click on any image in this blog to enlarge it.

Note: Once you put out these marks, parents will be able to view them on their Powerschool screens.

The procedure for putting + signs and X's on report cards has changed.  You must go into Gradebook to do this now.  Once you are in Gradebook, click on the Tools tab, and select "Preferences".  The box below will appear, and you should click on the Standards tab.  Insure that the box next to Display Standards and other Measures in Final Score Mode is checked.

Next, if you are in grades 1 - 4, select your homeroom from the list of classes, and hit the Scoresheet tab.  If you are in grades 5 - 8, you should select the actual class you are entering standards for (for example 5th grade Math, etc).   Once you are on the Scoresheet, click on the Final Grades tab (big red arrow points to it), and all of the standards should appear in a way similar to the way your assignments appear in Gradebook.  Not seeing the Final Grades Button?  Check your screen resolution.  It should be 1024 x 768 or higher.  The first standard is Citizenship, which you can skip, since we don't use it.  The rest of the standards should appear in the order that they appear on the report cards.  If accessing the standards from your homeroom, they will start with the Personal and Social Growth Standards that appear on the left side of the report cards.  After these, the specific subject standards will appear.  If accessing the standards from a specific subject class, only the standards for that class will appear.  If you want to enter either a + or an X in a standard, right click on the cell that corresponds to the student and standard, move the mouse pointer down to Grades, slide the mouse pointer over to either the + or the X, and left click.

                      

The X will appear in the cell you selected.

If you need to see the full description of the standard, slide the mouse pointer over the standard box (green or blue) at the top of each column, and the full description will appear in a yellow box.

Calculating Yearly Grades

Since it's almost the end of the third quarter, parents are now starting to take a closer look at their children's final average, and I am starting to get inquiries about how these are calculated.

REMEMBER, the default calculation for Final Averages is set to Total Points.  This means that Powerschool will ignore any weighting that you may have used in your Quarterly Grade calculations, and will simply add all scores together, and divide by the total number of scores.

The screen below shows the initial setup in Powerschool.

If your intention is to average all 4 quarter grades together, then you need to change the grade setup.  The screen shot below shows how to set this up.  Make sure you have selected Y1 as the reporting term, and click on term weights.  The initial percentages for each term are set by dividing 100 by the number of terms, in this case 4, so all percentages are 25%.  Note : If you have terms set up for Mid Term Exams and Final Exams, those terms will also be listed.

Since the percentages are preset to 25%.  You should not have to change these.  However, If your school has separate terms set up for MidTerm Exams and Final Exams, then you will also see M1 and F1 along with Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4.  You will probably have to adjust the percentages in this case to match your grading policy.  The usual setup in this case is Q1- 20%, Q2 - 20%, M1 - 10%, Q3 - 20%, q4 - 20% and F1- 10%

Comments, Comments, Comments

Did you ever wonder where your comments go and where they can be seen by parents.  Hopefully this post will answer all of your questions.

As always, if you click on a screen image, it will be enlarged for you.  Click on the back arrow to return to normal viewing.

Let's start with the basics.  There are three places to insert comments in Powerschool. 

Teacher comments through Backpack.  From the Start Page after you log into Powerteacher, click on the backpack icon for the class you want.  Next, click on the student, and from the drop down box that appears, click on Teacher Comments.  Click on the word Edit and you will be taken to the Modify Comments page.  See Below. Here, you can enter comments, or select pre-written or canned comments.  Please note that these comments will NOT appear on progress reports or report cards.

Now, you're probably wondering where these will appear.  You can view them where you entered them.  Parents can see these comments when they click on the Teacher Comments button in their Powerschool portal.  See Below.

Teacher Assignment Comments Through Gradebook - Teacher comments can also be entered in Gradebook on either individual assignments or on Final Term Grades.  In both cases, you would right click on the grade, and click on Score Inspector.  First, we'll talk about comments on individual assignments.  See Below.

Notice that a little blue "C" appears next to the assignment grade.  You can view the comment by right clicking on the grade.  Again, please note that these comments will NOT appear on report cards or progress reports.  Parents will be able to view thes through their portal.  If a teacher has included a comment on an assignment, the assignment score will be colored blue, indicating that it can be clicked on.  See Below.

Final Term Grade Comments Through Gradebook - These are probably the most important comments you will create, since they will appear on the Progress Reports, Report Cards, and in the Teacher Comment section on the Parent portal.  To create these, right click on the final grade column for the student, and then click on the Score Inspector.  Comments can be typed in, or selectect from pre-written (canned) comments by clicking on the comments tab.

As I said earlier, these comments will appear in three places.  Progress Reports, Report Cards, and on the Parent screen.  Since they appear on both the Progress Report and Report Cards, if you enter comments for the Progress Report, you must modify or delete them before grades are permanently stored at the end of the quarter.  Failure to do so will will result in those same comments being printed on the Report Cards.  The picture below shows what the parents will see when they are in Powerschool.

PS Teachers - Overriding Grades and Entering Report Card Comments

Overriding Final Grades and Adding Report Card Comments

(Double click on any image to make it larger, then click the back arrow to return to the post)

You may have a need to manually change a grade that was calculated by Powerschool.  You may also want to add comments that will appear in the comments section on the student report cards.  For both processes, you will have to access the Score Inspector from Gradebook.  The following images show in detail how to perform these functions.

After determining which student you want, right click on that student's final grade.  (See image below)  You should then click on Show Score Inspector.

In the image below, you will see that the Score Inspector box for the Q1 Final Grade has appeared.  In it, you can manually override a grade, enter report card comments, or do both.  Once you are finished, simply click on the close button.

To manually override a grade, click on the box next to the words Manual Override, so that a check mark appears.  By doing this, the Percent and Grade fields which were greyed out now appear in black, and can be changed.  Make sure that you change both the percentage and grade. 

If you want to enter report card comments, you can click in the comment box and start typing.  Please remember that only comments written here will appear on report cards.  You can also access "canned" comments by clicking on the Comment tab right above the Manual Override check box.  Only comments entered under Final Grade will appear on the report card.  Comments entered under an individual assignment can be viewed by parents through their Powerschool access.  For grades K - 4, all comments should be entered under Homeroom.  For grades 5 - 8, comments should be entered in each individual class, including Special classes.

After you click close, you will notice that a small red dot with and exclaimation point will appear in the Final Grade box for the student, if you manually overrode the grade.  If you entered comments for the student, a small blue dot with a "c" in it will also appear.

One question that I am always asked when I tell teachers about the override process is, "Will the parents see something that tells them that the grade was changed?"  The answer is NO.

PS Teachers - Entering Kindergarten Grades

Click on any image in this blog to enlarge it.

Note: Once you put out these grades, parents will be able to view them on their Powerschool screens.
Also, you should follow the same quarters as the rest of the school, so when you enter grades and comments for the first time in January, you should be entering them in the second quarter.

The procedure for entering report card grades for Kindergarten has changed. You must go into Gradebook to do this now. Once you are in Gradebook, click on the Tools tab, and select "Preferences". The box below will appear, and you should click on the Standards tab. Insure that the box next to Display Standards and other Measures in Final Score Mode is checked.

Next, select your homeroom from the list of classes, and hit the Scoresheet tab. Once you are on the Scoresheet, click on the Final Grades tab (big red arrow points to it), and all of the standards should appear in a way similar to the way assignments appear in Gradebook. Not seeing the Final Grades button?  Check your screen resolution.  It should be 1024 x 768 or higher.  The first standard is Citizenship, which you can skip, since we don't use it. The rest of the standards should appear in the order that they appear on the report cards.  To enter a grade, right click on the cell that corresponds to the student and standard, move the mouse pointer down to Grades, slide the mouse pointer over the grade you wish to assign, and left click.  Check below the next image for a time saving tip.

TIME SAVING TIP (Fill Scores)

If all or most of your students will be receiving the same grade for a standard, you can use the fill score function in Powerschool.  To do this, right click on the standard (blue or green box) at the top of each column.  After you do this, a selection box will open up.  Left Click on the selection "Fill Scores", and the Fill Scores box opens up.  Click on the down arrow next to "Grades" and the drop down box containing all possible letter grades opens up.  Left click on the Grade you want to assign to everyone in the class for the selected standard.  (In this case I selected "S")
 

You will see below that all students received an "S" for the selected standard.  If you need to go back and change any student's grade to anything other that the score you filled the column with, right click on the cell, and select a different grade.

If you are not sure which standard you are working on, you can see the full description of the standard by sliding the mouse pointer over the standard box (green or blue) at the top of each column, and the full description will appear in a yellow box.

PS Teachers - Creating Class Descriptions for Parents using Class Content

NOTE : YOU CAN DOUBLE CLICK ON ANY OF THE IMAGES IN THIS POST TO SEE A LARGER VIEW OF THEM.

The section description that the parent sees in Powerschool comes from the description that the teacher enters under Class Content in Gradebook.  To create a section decription, click on the Class Content tab at the top of your Gradebook.  Remember to insert the line break command (the less than symbol, br, and the greater than symbol) every place you want to start a new line.  This area is typically used for general class messages, but can be used for posting students' homework.  If you do choose to list homework assignments here, we recommend leaving previous nights' homework out here for about a week so that those that were absent have a way of looking at homework they missed.  The bottom part of the description contains the code generated when you add an internet link.  There is no need for you to type this.  I discuss inserting links in the next section of this blog.

If you have a homework site or blog that you want to direct people to, the slide below shows you how to include an internet link in your message.  Once you click on the grey button (+ Link) underneath the word Description it will open a box like the one below, and you can add the internet address, and an english description of the site you are sending them to. 

This is what the parents will see when they go to look at their child's grades for your class.  Notice that the English Description that you typed for your internet link, not the actual internet address is displayed in blue.  This can be clicked by the parent to get to the site you are directing them to.

The Teacher Comments and Assignment Description will be addressed in a later blog.