Engrade Set-Up
· Go to www.engrade.com
· Click on “Sign up, it’s free!”
· Click on “Sign up for a teacher account”
· Enter the information as listed.
· Verify the account by typing in the word as requested.
· Then, start creating classes – enter the name of the class
o “5th period English H”
o “2nd period Geometry”
· Click the drop down box to select the nine weeks we are in, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th
· Then, in the blank box enter the names of the students
o Jennifer Cribbs ABCD
· Leave the grading scale where it is, as this reflects the grading scale of the school.
· If you grade by points, answer “no” to the assignment categories question. If you use weighted assignments, answer “yes” and give the names of each assignment group and the percentage assigned to each.
· Select the gradebook options as you would like for them to be displayed, then you are done!
Once the classes are set, there is a row of options at the top of each gradebook.
· Settings – this is where you will go to add a student or to delete one, just add them at the bottom, the computer will know where to place them alphabetically when you hit save. BE CAREFUL HERE – if you alter any of the names of the other students, or their codes, the program will think that you have put in a new person and will erase all grades for that student.
· Students – this is where you will go to see if a student has signed up, when they last checked their grade, or to send them a message.
· Calendar – this is where you can post your lesson plans and upload documents, like PPT.
· Attendance – this is where you can track tardies or attendance if you would like.
· Comments – this is where you can track parent contacts, or student interventions.
Ways I used this in class:
· Post lesson plans and assignments on the calendar.
· Use this as parent progress reports. Instead of filling out forms for parents, direct them to this site. Many parents would track their students’ daily work on this site.
· I often gave a grade for checking their averages. You record the grade and you also have a record of when the student knew their average and what it was.
Engrade Menu Guide
This is meant as a quick guide to the applications available on engrade. Use as many or as few as you feel comfortable with.
Once the classes are set up, you will have a menu of options across the top of the page.
My Classes
- roll mouse over this option to have quick access to all classes or to add new classes to your active class list.
My Messages
- click to see messages from parents and students
- click on “send messages” to send a message to a single student from the list or to an entire class period (I especially liked this to send reminders of projects/tests, when test dates are changed, or for any general class announcement)
My Account
- this is where you can edit your information, like email address, etc.
Help
- You can find answers to a plethora of questions about how to use the program. You also have the option to send a question to a help expert. However, if the question has already been answered in one of the FAQs, you will not get a response. Browse the questions already posted, ask me, and then send the question you have.
Settings
- This is where you can make changes to the general set-up of the class. You can add students and delete dropped students from this section. If adding a student, just add them to the bottom of th list, the program will automatically alphabetize them in the gradebook. If deleting a student, just highlight the student’s name and alpha and hit “delete”. Caution…if you change the name or alpha of a student, the program will read that as a new student and the current data you have on that student will be lost (this is where grades being backed up will be a life saver).
Student
- This is where you can see when the last time the student logged onto the website. You can also send individual students messages from this page as well. Remember, all messages between you and the student are archived in the system automatically.
Gradebook
- From this area, you can print individual grade reports by clicking on the students’ name or print the entire class’ progress reports by clicking on the button at the bottom of the spreadsheet that says “Print Student Reports”.
Calendar
- You can post your daily agenda and class work here. You can also upload files, like PowerPoint or worksheets here. Click on “new item”, then enter the information matching the day you are recording. If you want to attach a file click on “attach file” then click on “upload new file” from the drop down box. Last, click the “browse” button to find the file in your hard drive or from your jump drive. I used this feature to save time with students that missed work, they could just check engrade for the day’s assignments.
Attendance
- Unless you need another way to track attendance, we will leave this feature alone.
Comments
- This is where you can make comments about students, like behavior concerns, or record parent contacts. CAUTION: Student can see what you write here, so be sure that it is appropriate.
New Nine Weeks
- When the new nine weeks comes around, simply click on the button at the top of the grade book page that says “New Grading Period” and save the file at the bottom. It will automatically go to the next grading period, so if you are currently in grading period “2”, it will automatically select grade period “3”.
Cautions:
- Be sure to back up your grades. I have never lost any data, however, it is always a good idea to back everything up. Either print out the grade book once per week, or export to excel and save that file on your hard drive or a jump drive.
- Slow downs – during times when the program has an increase in usage, there will be slow downs. Peak times of usage are during the day, so it does better in the evenings. Also, at the end of the nine weeks, there seems to be a slow down in response time of the server. I would be sure that the bulk of your grades are entered as soon as possible to avoid this slow down.
Keep in mind that this is a free program, used by over 250,000 teachers in every state in the nation. It will have its hiccups, but it has saved me time and aggravation over the last several years.
In the letter on the next page, I have left two places blank for you to fill in. One is your signature at the bottom, I just put a row of x’s in place of the signature, so be sure to change that. Also, where it discusses the access code, you will need to change the portion that is x’s to your username for the program. So, for example, a student that has an alpha code of ABCD for me would have an access code that read “engrade-jcribbs-ABCD”.
Dear Parents and Students,
There will be a change, this quarter, in the grade program used for this course. You will now be able to access your grades online at www.engrade.com. This is a free and secure website which empowers you to track your progress in this class. Periodically, I will be asking you to check your grades on the site.
Parents, you may sign up for a separate account to track the progress of your child and to send/receive messages directly with me, the teacher. There are computers in the media center that the students will have access to before/after school and during lunch. Since you are able to check grades at any time, this should alleviate the need for Friday progress reports. If you currently get a progress report on Fridays, from now on, from me, you will see “Please See Engrade” on the report in place of the grade. I am sure you will find that this system is very user-friendly and will allow me to have more instructional time with your child.
To access grades on engrade.com, simply go to the webpage www.engrade.com. Then click on “Parents and Students”. From there, click on “Sign up for a free account”. Then, follow the prompts. When it asks for the access code, it will be engrade-xxxxxxxx-(alpha code in caps). You will have a different access code for each of your teachers if they use this grade program. Please feel free to email me with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx