Who Knew Grading Could Be So Easy

After using Engrade.com for its grading system, attendance, calendar, and some of the other features I found it rather easy to use. The only thing I did not do was print access code flyers for the students to have access to grades, etc. The students and grades I used were for a real 6th grade summer school math class which is why I used only the first initial of the last name. I based the dates of the assignments on July summer school days and used every other day for a due date. I found that I liked all of the features of the program. It took me a little while to figure out how to post a grade since I thought I had already entered the assignments, but once I did I was on a roll. The program was easy to use and the introductory tutorial was a great help and very simple to follow along with. I like that when entering grades the teacher has the option to mark the student as either missing or being exempt from the assignment. Depending on the option that is chosen could allow the student's grade to be added later. I also liked that there were several options on how the grades can be applied (percentages, tens, etc.). Having a calendar is nice for the teacher, students, and parents to keep track of work and due dates. Overall it is convenient to have access to a gradebook, class attendance, a calendar, and viewing student access in one area. I did not like that after I entered assignments while setting up the class that I later needed to reenter the information in order for it to appear in the gradebook. I thought it would be applied from the first entry. If there was one thing I would like to improve it would be creating different codes for parents and students. I feel that the parents should be able to view more than what the students do. Engrade would be useful for classroom teachers because it is nice and easy to have everything in one place rather than having to record everything in multiple areas and that the parents and students can see exactly what is going on and when. Parents and students would like this software because if a student misses school they would be able to see what work was missed and/or due. They would also be able to see when other assignments, tests, or quizzes are due. Parents would like the software because nowadays parents are not able to go to open houses or other school functions because of work and other schedule conflicts. By having access to this software parents would be able to see what their child is doing, when it is due, and if the child was absent when they thought their child was in school. This is my first time using any kind of grading system and overall I find it to be very useful. It's different areas make it easier for teachers to keep track of what the students are doing as well as when the students access their accounts. It is also convenient when talking to parents to be able to show them everything and explain to them that they can also view their child's work.

Student-Centered Class

After listening to Dr. Peggy Grant, PhD, I was surprised at how strongly she feels against student-centered classrooms. She feels that teachers are not encouraged to be risk takers and that they are scared because they do not know what will happen. Student-centered classes are an accident waiting to happen and that teachers need to feel control. I felt this was strong and harsh. Student-centered classes can be incorporated into certain parts of a lesson plan, not the whole class. By making this the focus of a whole class a teacher would certainly need to be prepared for the unexpected. This particular class format may be beneficial for some learners who need a little less structure. Dr. Grant needs to spread her wings and give her students a little freedom and creativity, but with her guidance. Perhaps then she will realize that a student-centered class is not as scary and unpredictable as she thinks.

Different Crosswords

After completing both the A4 assignment and the HA4 assignment I don't know which way I like making crossword puzzles better. There are many programs available to make cwp's and some are free while others require registration or passwords. I have used Excel, Armored Penguins, and a type of Puzzle Maker. I found both of these assignments exciting at first, but by time I was finished I was so frustrated and spent so much time on them that I had little time to do other work. I liked the organization of Excel when I was finally able to save it as a jpeg, but changing to this format was tricky if not difficult. Armored Penguins was easy to insert the information, but again to save it to another format required me to copy and paste into a word document then copy and paste again into paint in order to save as a jpeg. Even though I found these assignments to be more difficult than anticipated, I would use one of the free web programs to make any future puzzles and just print and copy the final result as well as the answers.