1. Configuration and System Management: An overview was provided on how the gradebook component of eSchool would function "on the back-end." The following items need to be configured at the district or building (school) level on the system prior to implementation.
    
   • Categories: These must be set up at the building level. They can be copied from one building to another. Typically, these include items such as homework, tests, etc. Teachers cannot create categories - they can only select from the list set up at the building level.
      
   • Grading Scales: All grading scales and their "level tables" are set up at the building level. This includes scales such as A-F, 1-4, Pass/Fail, and unique scales used for special needs students.
      
   • Terms: The grading periods must be established at the administrative level as well as the policy for calculating combination of grades for a marking period. For example, if the semester grade will be a 50-50 weight of the quarter 1 and 2 grades, this must be configured. Teachers can be given access to adjust the weighting.
      
   • Alpha Marks: These are set up at the administrative level to allow teachers to enter codes such as EXC for excused in their gradebook. How these codes are treated must also be configured at this level. Examples were excused is not counted toward grade, but missing is counted as a zero.
      
   • Teacher Access Options: From the administrative side of the system, teachers can be allowed/denied access to various options including calculation (round or truncate scores) and grade scale selections, ability to override students' calculated grades. 
      
2. Teacher Perspective: A demonstration of the gradebook from the teacher's perspective was provided by the company representative.
    
   • Define Categories: To begin use of the gradebook, the teacher selects the categories of assignments to include in the gradebook. (The categories are defined at the building level, so the teacher cannot add categories.) The teacher can choose to use points-based grading or category weighting. For each category selected, the teacher determines the weight, number of lowest scores to drop, and how missing scores are handled (count as zero or exclude from calculation).
      
   • Grading Scale: For each class, the teacher can choose a grading scale from the scales set up on the administrative side of the system. The teacher can also assign a different grading scale to individual students, such as a modified grading scale for special needs students.
      
   • Entering Assignments: The teacher enters the date assigned (optional), date due, category, extra credit (optional), maximum points, weight within the category. When the Parent Access Center is used, the teacher can also choose to publish the assignment and/or scores and attach related files.
      
   • Entering Scores: The traditional grid display does retain the header at the top and student information on the left as the teacher scrolls down/right. A Default Grade button provides auto-fill functionality and teachers can enter established codes such as EXC for excused.
      
   • Notes: Teachers can use the notes icon to keep general notes about a student (ie: behavior, conferences, etc.). Each note is dated and can be published to the Parent Access Center. Teachers can also add notes to individual assignment scores for a student. It was not clear if these notes will appear on any of the reports or in the parent view.
      
   • Reports: The Student Detail report provides an individual student report of all assignments and their scores by category. The Missing Assignments report also provides individual reports. The Score Threshold report shows which students scored above/below a teacher-defined level on a selected assignment or in their overall class grade - useful for identifying students in need of intervention. All reports are retained in a report list by date for easy retrieval and verification of reporting frequency.
      
   • Term Grades: Teachers can choose to load term grades automatically from the gradebook and can also override individual grades. Grades that combine multiple terms (ie: semester may be a 50-50 combination of quarter 1 and 2 grades) are calculated based on school level settings. It appeared that teachers could not set the gradebook to continue grading across multiple terms - current grade calculations are based on current term only. The committee expressed several concerns about this - many teachers set their gradebook to continue throughout the semester, and the current grade would not be an accurate reflection of the semester grade. (Reports may show a student is doing well in Q2, but when the quarters are combined for the final semester grade, it may actually be lower if the student struggled in Q1.)
      
3. Standards: This gradebook does not currently support the use of standards. The committee discussed the possibility of setting up categories by standard or major concepts instead of by assignment type, but this could be a very cumbersome list since each subject area at each grade level may have a unique list. The company representative indicated some upcoming enhancements may provide standards-related functions - he will investigate and report back on this.
   • Elementary teachers expressed concerns about grading by standard because the list of standards they must address across all content areas is very lengthy. Concern was also expressed regarding the elementary report card not reflecting standards-based grading.

1. Go to www.google.com/alerts
2. Enter the search term - your name, the name of your school, the district. Enclose phrases or names in quotation marks so you get accurate results. (ie: "Noelle Kreider")
3. Choose the type of information you want to watch for or choose Comprehensive to get it all.
4. Choose how often you want to receive notices.
• I recommend once a day so all results are compiled in one daily message.
• Choose "as-it-happens" if you want messages as soon as Google sees your search term posted online.
5. Enter your email address.
6. Click Create Alert.
7. Repeat steps 1-6 for each word, phrase, or name you want to keep an eye on.

1. 60% of students said they have NOT used the school library catalog. All participating teachers need to provide direct instruction in the use of the catalog to located books on a research topic.
    
2. 52% said they do not have a public library card. All lead teachers acknowledged that they have not taken advantage of the library's offer to present to their class. Noelle will arrange these visits. The presenter will show students how to access the reference databases and point out the live online homework help available after school.
    
3. Only 19% of students have used Grolier. All teachers need to present a lesson integrating the use of this reference database funded by the district. Noelle will provide a suggested lesson for 4th and 5th.
    
4. 29% of students said they use computers every day at school for things other than AR! Hurray! Another 23% said they use them "usually every week." We still need to make progress with the remaining 49% who reported they use it once a month or less. This is nearly half of our target audience that is not using technology as often as we are aiming for. (Some of this is due to the fact that Round 7 schools still don't have equipment!)
    
5. 79% of students said they have a computer in their home and 71% said they have Internet access at home. Let's continue to take advantage of this by using eChalk to provide links to online resources, showing them how to use the resources on the school site including the library catalog, Grolier, and NetSmartz.
    

1. 4th Grade: Electromagnet Experiment
   • The team made minor changes to improve the rubric. (Check back next week for a copy.)
   • An important disclaimer was added to the rubric: if the students' experiment provided data that did NOT show a positive relationship between the number of wraps and the amount of power, they may not draw this conclusion in their summary. They should still receive credit if they draw an incorrect conclusion, that it is backed up with data from their experiment. (This is what scientists do!)
      
2. 5th Grade: Physical and Chemical Changes
   • There was lengthy discussion about how much elaboration is required to receive a 3 on the rubric. A student's command of the English language should NOT impact their science content score, only their writing score.
   • The provided rubric does not sufficiently guide a teacher in evaluating how well a student grasps the science content - it is focused on science writing skills. Mary Bruno will revise the rubric to be similar to the 4th grade one that does do this. (Check back next week for a copy.)
   • A couple of anchor papers were identified. Patti Fitzsimmons will provide these. (Check back next week for a copy.)
      
3. Lead Teachers were charged with the task of facilitating this same callibration activity at their site. Here's the procedure:
   
   • In a grade level meeting, have teachers read students' assessments and group them into high, medium, and low piles. Share, discuss, reclassify as needed so you have 3 piles combining all classes' work into these levels.
   • Score the high pile using the revised rubric. Discuss common characteristics. What did most of these students do that helped them score well? What could they have done to score a 4? (Remember, a 4 is above grade level.)
   • Score the medium and low piles using the rubric. Identify common characteristics and what students in each group need to do to move to the next level on the rubric. (ie: Most students scoring a 2 could have scored better if they had...)
   • Discuss how your school will use the findings to revise instruction.

Ask any middle or high school student about their favorite websites and YouTube is likely to be among them. But ask a teacher and you may hear TeacherTube! This site is designed for teachers to share their videos with each other worldwide. See how other teachers teach a concept, access educational videos to use in your classroom, even participate in video contents!

My personal favorite is the Did You Know 2.0 video below which provides shocking statistics about the workforce, technology, and more. It's an updated version of the original Shift Happens. Both are great for gaining perspective about the future our students face!