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Tutorial: Page 1 BEGINNING YOUR PROGRAM Having installed TeacherWorks Professional, it is now time to take a test drive. Virtually all menu commands can be accomplished using a mouse, but for the purposes of this program tutorial, the stress will be on accomplishing tasks through the keyboard. The mouse speeds things up considerably, but since you may be in a situation where a mouse is not available, it is useful to know how to work through this program without it. While using this program, you need to know that if a letter or word is inside the <> brackets, that means you should press the corresponding key on the keyboard. If for example you are asked to press <ESC>, you should press the Escape key, a <2> indicates the 2 key. If a letter or words is inside Quotes ("), Type the letter or word, not the Quotes. Before you get started, you should know where you are going to put your gradebook data. This program is designed to work on a hard disk, so it works best if that is where you put your student data. You may put your data on any subdirectory of the hard drive, as well as on a floppy disk. You will probably need at least 700K free if you are storing you data on a floppy. Log onto the subdirectory where you installed the program. If you use the included INSTALL.EXE, a directory listing will show a subdirectory called "DATA". For this tutorial, that is the subdirectory that I will use. I have installed GBPro on drive E:. Therefore, my data path will be E:\GBPRO\DATA. NOTE: While using this program, the Foxpro Runtime will create a number of .TMP files. If you should turn off or reset the computer while the program is running, those .TMP files will not be properly erased. On occasion, you should erase any remaining .TMP files. It is time to begin. At the DOS Prompt, type: GBPRO <ENTER> The opening screen will tell you to "Select DATA Path". If the data path that is shown is not the correct one, type the yours in. Pressing <CTRL> and <Y> will erase the whole line. YOU SHOULD NOT PUT YOUR DATA ON THE SAME DIRECTORY AS THE PROGRAM FILES. This will not cause any major problems, but it is more difficult to keep track of your data files if they are mixed in with the program files. Type in the drive, followed by a colon. NOTE: If the data is going to a floppy drive, make sure that you have a formatted disk in your DATA drive. You would not normally put it into a subdirectory and you need not put in the backslash. Tutorial: Page 2 When typing the data path of a hard drive, type the drive letter, followed by a colon, then a backslash, finally the remainder of the path. DO NOT end with a backslash! After typing the path, press <ENTER>, The "OK" will change color. Press <ENTER> once more. The program will tell you that it is creating its data drive, and the program setup will begin. SET UP You will need to tell the Grade Book Program some information which is necessary for it to do its job properly. This procedure is called the "Setup" procedure and it is necessary each time you create a new set of grades on a different directory. The first screen asks for your name, school and department. Fill this in and click on the < Ok > button. Stop when you are asked if you want to use total points or a grade point average. Some things to think about. 1. If you use point totals, assignments in each category will be given a default value. You may assign more points to the more important grade categories. (eg. Class work = 10 points each, daily work = 15 points each, tests = 50 points each, projects = 100 points each, etc.). Maximum for any given category assignment is 999 points (3 digits per grade). When using point totals, you will give each category a default value per grade, but inside the program you may assign a different value to every single grade. 2. If you use grade point averages, letter grades or numbers may be used and each grade will be weighted by category according to the importance of the category. You do not weight the whole category, you weight each grade within the category in relation to the grades in the other categories. If you find this confusing, skip down to the section on setting up grading scales and read it carefully. It should answer any questions. A rule of thumb regarding which to use might be if you simply count up how many points your students get each grading period to determine their grades, choose the point total option. All others should choose the point averaging option. Choose now whether you want to use point totals or grade point averages. Setting Up Your Grade Categories Your grade categories are the various types of assignments and tests that you might use. You are allowed to choose what you wish to call them with the limitation that they may only have ten letters. Some examples of category names might be: Assignment, Asn/Lev 1, Asn/Lev 2, Assignmnts, Assign 1, Assign 2, Tests, Quizzes, Projects, Homework, Class Work, Daily Work, ETC. Tutorial: Page 3 Notice that Extra Credit is already a choice. This is because it is handled differently. Extra Credit is added to a student's total grade, but not to his required total. More on that later. Note: Because you can give any number of points you wish to any extra credit assignment, extra credit does not have a default value when grade totaling. You will not be allowed to change that value on the setup screen. A couple of notes regarding the names of categories: 1. This version of TeacherWorks has a separate grade for a Final Test. It is not necessary to use a category for this. FOR THIS DEMONSTRATION use the Category Names: Class Work Homework Activities Projects Test/Quiz 2. Try to give names to all five categories even if you do not plan to use them. 3. Extra Credit has its own category. You may however give extra points to any assignment. When you select your grading scales, you are selecting the numbers that the computer will use in its calculations. Anything above that will be counted as Extra Credit. 4. You may set up different category names for every class, but you must not change your default category values once set unless you want to go back and recalculate every student's grade for every class. FOR THIS DEMONSTRATION If you use grade point totaling, use the following category weights: Category 1 = 5 2 = 5 3 = 10 4 = 15 5 = 25 Final Test = 50 Tutorial: Page 4 Categories and Total Points If you have selected Total Points as the way that you wish to keep your grades, you will need to type in your category names and say how many points are possible for that particular type of assignment. The maximum number of points available for any grade in any category is 999 (3 digits). Read the instructions on the screen and then fill in your categories and point totals. You must remember the number values that you select for each category. IMPORTANT: The Points you assign here are for the individual assignments within the category, not the whole category. Categories and Grade Averaging FOR THIS DEMONSTRATION If you use grade point averaging, use the following category weights: Category 1 = 1 2 = 1 3 = 2 4 = 5 5 = 10 Final Test = 20 If you choose to average your grades, you will use the same grading scale for each assignment. More important grades will be "WEIGHTED" so that they are worth more. As an example, assignments might be worth a weight of 1, activities worth 2, projects worth 5, tests worth 7 and Extra Credit worth 1. These numbers reflect the weight of each grade, rather than the category as a whole. Read the instructions on the screen and then fill in your categories and category weights. It is very important that you understand that you are selecting a weight for an individual grade within a category, not the weight of the whole category. Setting Up Grading Scales Grading scales will also be determined by whether you are totaling or averaging your grades. When setting up a scale for the point totals, all grades that the student is required to complete will be added up and then compared to the maximum number of points he or she can receive. This comparison gives a percentage on a scale of 1 to 100 (Extra Credit can bring that number up to above 100) percent of the possible points scored. Averaging grades works a little different. Each time you add a grade, the program multiplies that grade by its category weight, then adds that total to the total points. It then adds the value of the weight to a running total of value points. Finally it divides the total points by the value points to give a GPA. This may sound confusing, but it works. Tutorial: Page 5 One note. You are given grades A+ through F-. I realize that most teachers do not give out F+, F, and F- grades. Some teachers do however, so I have added that option to this program. You can be creative in the way that you use it. If you do not wish the computer to see the F+, give it the same grade as your D-. The same goes for your F- or any other grade you do not want the computer to see. Just assign such a grade the same value as the previous active grade and the computer will never see it. Please make sure that the F and F- grades are lower than the F+ grade. Grading Scale for Total Points Total Points are the easiest way to set up a grading scale because only numbers are used. The scale below reflects what percentage of the total points possible the student gets. On the screen you see the letter grades beside highlighted spaces with "0.0" on the right side. Using a 100 percent hierarchy, type in your class scale. Decimal points may be used if you wish. For this tutorial fill in the following: A+ = 98 B+ = 88 C+ = 78 D+ = 68 F+ = 55 A = 92 B = 82 C = 72 D = 60 F = 50 A- = 90 B- = 80 C- = 70 D- = 55 F- = 50 In the above scale, anything that averages out to a 50 or below will be graded as an "F". When you are done, skip down to choosing a printer. Grading Scale for Grade Point Averaging Since both number and letter grades may be used when averaging, you will need to fill out two grading scales, one for the number that represents the value of each letter grade when it is entered, and one to represent the average which will be the low end of each grade. As an example, the easiest scale to use when averaging is a 15 point scale. In this scale, A+=15, A=14, A-=13, etc. That is the value the computer would give each letter grade if a letter grade is entered. In this case, the average scale for each grade would be A+=14.5, A=13.5, A-=12.5 down to F-=0.5. The first screen asks for the VALUE of each grade, while the second screen needs the AVERAGE of each grade. Read each of the screens for any help you might need. If you want to set your own scale up differently, on a 100 point scale for example, do so at a later time. For this demonstration however, type in the following: Tutorial: Page 6 15 Point Grading Scale Example Screen 1 A+ = 15 B+ = 12 C+ = 9 D+ = 6 F+ = 3 A = 14 B = 11 C = 8 D = 5 F = 2 A- = 13 B- = 10 C- = 7 D- = 4 F- = 1 Screen 2 A+ = 14.5 B+ = 11.5 C+ = 8.5 D+ = 5.5 F+ = 2.5 A = 13.5 B = 10.5 C = 7.5 D = 4.5 F = 1.5 A- = 12.5 B- = 9.5 C- = 6.5 D- = 3.5 F- = 0.5 IMPORTANT: When typing in NUMERIC grades while using the gradebook demonstration instead of LETTER grades, you MUST use the 15 POINT SCALE above if that is what you used during setup. If you want to use a 100 point scale, you can use that scale for grade totals on screen one and then set up screen two to meet your needs. 100 Point Grading Scale Example Screen 1 A+ = 100 B+ = 88 C+ = 78 D+ = 65 F+ = 55 A = 95 B = 85 C = 75 D = 60 F = 40 A- = 90 B- = 80 C- = 70 D- = 55 F- = 40 Screen 2 A+ = 98 B+ = 88 C+ = 78 D+ = 62 F+ = 50 A = 93 B = 83 C = 73 D = 56 F = 40 A- = 90 B- = 80 C- = 70 D- = 50 F- = 0 CHOOSING A PRINTER The next screen will show a dialog box for setting up the printer driver for this program. Currently, the word "<NONE>" is highlighted. Pressing the <TAB> key should move the highlight over to "< New >". Press the <ENTER> key and a new dialog box opens. No cursor will be evident, but you are located in the "Setup Name:" line. Type in the name of your printer and press the <ENTER> key. Use the <PageDown> key to find and highlight your printer. Use <Shift> and <TAB> to move the highlight to "<< OK >>", then press <ENTER>. Tutorial: Page 7 When the "Printer Driver Setups:" dialog box returns, "< Delete >" will be highlighted. Use <TAB> to move the highlight down to "<< Set >>" then press <ENTER> to make the selection. CREATING YOUR FIRST CLASS Your next screen will allow you to create your first class. At the blinking cursor, type in the name "demo".* When you press enter, the class title will be automatically turned into upper case. You will be asked to verify your choice, then you will be asked to give your class a description of 25 letters or less. This description will be used for some of the printouts, so always type in an appropriate description. For the purpose of this tutorial, type in "Demonstration Class." Pressing <ENTER> will ask you to verify your category choices. You may have different category names for each class, but you will use the same values for all classes in this subdirectory. Press "ESC" and you will be asked to verify your choices. *NOTE: When you type in your class (file) name, it is important that you not use any control characters or spaces. Use only characters of the alphabet and numeric keys (0 - 9). The program will try to prevent you from using incorrect characters, but some have been know to sneak in. THE OPENING SCREEN After your class file has been created, you will be brought to the opening screen. The menu bar across the top gives you the basic program options. Tapping the <Alt> key sends you to that menu. You can then move the cursor to your menu choice and press <ENTER> or press the first letter of your choice to drop the next menu. You may also hold the <Alt> key and press the first letter of each option and that will also drop the menu you have selected. Once the menu drops, you can press the highlighted letter or use the cursor to select your next option. Drop the "System" Menu by holding <Alt> and pressing <S> or tap the <Alt> key and pressing enter. The first menu at the top of the new menu is "Hot Key List". Tap <Enter> or <H> and you will see a list of Hot Keys that you can use while at the opening screen and while in the student menu. Notice that some are not the same in both menus. I would like to correct this at a future date, but for now, learn those hot keys that you will use frequently, and ignore the rest. Press any key to return to the main screen. Tutorial: Page 8 ADDING A NEW STUDENT The first thing that must be done, is you must add students to your class. Students are added by selecting update off the top menu. Hold <Alt> and tapping <U>. The light bar will be setting directly on "New Student". Notice that you could have started this function by using a hot key (^N). For now, tap <ENTER>. The top left of the new screen tells you that there are "0" students in the class, and an Input Line is highlighted where you should enter the first students name, typing the last name, a comma, a space and finally the first name. Please type in: WILCOX, FREDERIC <ENTER> The program looks for a comma and a blank space. If it is not there, the program will tell you to put one there. Below the Name input line are the Entry Date and ID# input lines. If you change the Entry Date, the Date that you type in will remain the default as long as you continue to enter student names. Leaving this function will return the date to the system date. If you do not like the ID#, press ^Y to clear the field and type in a new ID#. Otherwise, just press <ENTER> to select the given number. You may exit from this function by typing "QUIT" at the student entry line or by clicking on the <Close> button. The <Browse> button opens a browse listing of the students in the class. I constantly had a problem with remembering which student was typed in last. With the browse option, you can look at the students entered and even change the data if necessary. You must press enter or click the < Save > box or the student will not be entered. We need at least six students for this demonstration class. After finishing with Mr. Wilcox, type in the following students. Jackson, Andrea Roberts, Margorie Collins, Michael Contrearas, Juanita Hofmann, Donald After entering these students, type "QUIT" at the prompt to exit this function. Tutorial: Page 9 USING THE BROWSE FUNCTION The cursor is blinking inside the "Notes" box. In this box, you can type reminders to yourself. It is scrollable, so you can put in quite a few notes. For now however, let's now look at the students that we have entered into the class. Press the TAB key to move the cursor down to three buttons at the bottom of the screen. We want to browse the students, so press "B" and a browse window will open and "Browse" will be added to the menu at the top of the screen. The first thing we will do with this window is expand it. Hold the <Ctrl> key and press <Z>. The browse window expands to fill the screen. If you have a VGA monitor, hold the <Alt> key and press <W>. Select "VGA 50 Line Monitor", then press ^Z again. You now have a 48 line browse screen. Press ^Z again then return your screen to a 25 line monitor (<Alt><W>). You should now see a scroll bar at the bottom of the screen. Select "Resize Partitions". Notice in the bottom left hand corner of the scroll bar, the arrows are blinking. Use your right cursor arrow to move the current browse screen 25 spaces to the right and then press enter. If you have a mouse, this same move can be done by clicking and dragging the arrows at the bottom left. You have now opened a very manageable screen for working with category grades (discussed later). Press <Alt> <B> again and you now see that you can change from one partition to the other. The top option on this menu is "Change". Select it. Notice that on the right partition, the fields are listed vertically. In the left partition the names are still in listing order. Move to that partition by pressing ^H, then move the cursor up and down. As you move, you will notice that the screens are still linked. Close the browse window by pressing ^W (You can also use <ESC> but some work may not be saved if you do. ALPHABETIZING YOUR STUDENTS You may have noticed that your students were not in Alphabetical order. Lets do that right now. Select the "Update" menu. The third option down is Alphabetize. Pressing <A> opens a dialog box asking you to verify your choice. Some teachers do not want to have their classes alphabetized, because their role sheets aren't. That is why you must alphabetize manually. Select <Y> then open the browse window again to make sure that your students are in alphabetical order. Now that you have some students and they are alphabetically arranged, let's take a quick tour of the program. Tutorial: Page 10 THE SYSTEM MENU Pull down the "System" menu. You are given the following options: 1) Hot Key List: We used this option earlier. A simple listing of program hot keys. Notice that some of the hot keys are also listed next to their option on the menu. 2) Change System Date: If the date given on your opening screen is wrong for your purposes, use this to change it. 3) Grade Period: This program allows you up to 4 grading periods per semester. Some teachers will never need more than one, but if you work on a trimester or two quarter per semester schedule, this option allows you to have a new grading setup for each of your grading periods. Selecting this option opens a sub menu where you can move between the four grade periods. The first time you go to a new grade period, the class roster will be copied over and all active grade period grades will be transferred. Make sure you do not start a new grade period until you are completely finished with the old one. Reports will allow you to average the grading periods together and when working with an individual student, you will see each grading period grade. 4) New Semester: This function erases all but the last grade period used, changes all the grades back to "-" and then turns the class into the first grade period. It is important that you back up all your information before you do this because it wipes out everything except the student's name and ID#. 5) Run DOS Program: This function allows you to run a DOS command or program. At the prompt, type in the name of the program or command you want to run and press <ENTER>. If you press <ENTER> without typing anything, you will be sent to the DOS prompt. If you have EMS or XMS memory, the gradebook program will be swapped out to memory. If not, it will be swapped to disk. You should have more than 500K free to work with. If you ran a program, when you quit the program the gradebook will reload. If you ran DOS, you must type "EXIT" to return to the gradebook. 6) Math Calculator: The Math Calculator works similar to most commercial calculators. It should be easily figured out. Close the Calculator by pressing <ESC> or ^W. Tutorial: Page 11 7) Calendar/Diary: This function gives you a calendar which can be turned by month (<PgUp>/<PgDn>) or year (<Shift><PgUp>/<Shift>PgDn>). In addition, each day can have notes attached to it by shifting back and forth from the calendar to the diary by using <TAB> and <Shift><TAB>. Once the Calendar/Diary has been opened, you will notice that "Diary" has been added to the upper menu bar. Close the Diary by pressing <ESC> or ^W. 8) Display Clock: This puts a running clock in the upper right hand corner of the menu bar. Selecting it a second time turns it off. 9) EXIT: Ends this session of the Gradebook. At this time, you may want to try some of the functions on the "System Menu". THE FILE MENU 1) Choose Class: Allows you to move from your current class to another class that is on the same directory. When you select this option, a list of classes available is displayed. If you type in the name of a class that does not exist, you will be asked if you want to create the class that you have typed in. If you do, press <Y> and go through the process you completed when you created the class named DEMO. If not, press <N>. If you press <ENTER> without typing in anything, the cursor drops to the browse button. Selecting this will put a Browse Pick List. If you have more than 10 classes in the current directory, you will need to use this Browse Pick List to select those on the bottom. Once the pick list opens, move the cursor to the class that you want and press <ENTER>. Under normal circumstances, type in the name of the class that you want and press <ENTER> and that class will be retrieved. 2) Alter Path: Because you are allowed to store your data on any directory of your Hard Disk, this function provides the means for doing that. When you select this function, the cursor is placed on an input line with the current directory displayed. You may modify that line or erase it (by pressing ^Y). When your new directory is listed, press <ENTER> twice and you will be on the new directory. You are then prompted to select the class that you want for that directory. If you type in the name of a directory that does not exist, you will be informed of that and taken back to the old directory. Tutorial: Page 12 3) Duplicate Class: Duplicate Class is specifically for elementary teachers. Complete all the names for a single class, then use this option to make an exact copy of that class under a different name. The one thing that must be done if you choose this option is to change the ID# of the students in the new class. If you don't, the "Multiclass" utility will not work properly, since names are accessed in this function by the ID#. 4) Erase Class: On occasion, you will want to erase a class that is no longer used. Use this function to do that. It is important that you not erase gradebook files at the DOS prompt. If you do, this program will lose track of them and this will cause problems in class manipulation. If the files affiliated with a class are erased at the DOS prompt, you will not be able to remove it from your class directory. If you erase a class using this option, it will be automatically removed from your disk drive. 5) Save Custom Report/Save As: Used with the special reports that are created on the output menu. More about that later. 6) Backup Data to Floppy: This is one of the most requested options from Tworks users. If you select this option, it will back up the data on your current data directory to a floppy. A warning. Do not use 360K floppies for this option. This program may use more space than is available on a 360K floppy and if that is the case, it will simply terminate. When you select this option, you are prompted to select the destination as drive A: or B:. Type in your choice, press <ENTER>, then press <C> to copy. To save disk space, only the classes, Grade.DBF (the control file), Menu.DBF (your directory control file) and Progress.DBF (progress report control file). To restore a directory from the backup disk, use the DOS copy command. THE UPDATE MENU 1) New Student: Allows you to add students to your class. You have already used this function. 2) Move Student to Another Class: This allows you to move students between classes as fast as the school secretaries can write up the transfer papers. Before going into details, we need to create another class to transfer a student to. Tutorial: Page 13 Select "File" then "Choose Class". At the class input box, type in DELETED for the class name and press <ENTER>. When asked if you want to create the class, press <Y>. For a class description type in "Deleted Students". We are going to accept the current category names so press <ESC> and <Y>. You are now in the DELETED class, with no students. Move back to the DEMO class using "File" and "Choose Class". Select the "Move" option from the "Update" menu. When you enter the function, pressing <S> opens a picklist for you to choose the student to move. After selecting your student, the transfer button will be highlighted. Press <ENTER> or <T> to do the transfer. After verifying your choice, a Class Picklist is presented. Choose the class you want to make the transfer to, and you will be returned to the original transfer screen with the input box back on the first student in your class. Select close to leave this function. For this session, press <S> and move the cursor down to "Hoffman, Donald" and press <ENTER>. The transfer button is highlighted. Press <Enter> to begin the move and then to double check, press <Y> again. You are next given a pick list of classes. Select DELETED and press <ENTER>. When you are returned to the main screen, use Browse to see if Donald is gone. Then load in the DELETED class and see if he is there. Finally, return to the DEMO class to continue this tutorial. 3) Alphabetize This Class: This function sorts the students in the class into alphabetical order. You have already used this function. 4) Change program Setup: This menu selection offers six more options. Most of these were set up originally when you started the program. This allows you to change some of the criteria you set up originally. General Information allows you to change info about you and your school. Category Information allows you to change the descriptions and weights of each category. Each class can have separate category descriptions, however, the same category weights must be used for all classes on the same directory. Grading Scales/Percentages allows you to change the scales that you set up at the beginning of this tutorial. Class Descriptions works with the 25 character descriptions of each class that you created when you created each class. Tutorial: Page 14 Printer Driver must be used each time that you change from one printer to another. It must also be used if you print a custom report. You went through the procedure when you first created this group of classes. Value an Assignment is only applicable if you use point totaling. It allows you to give a separate value to every individual assignment. Selecting this option shows a screen with all assignments listed with a "0". The 0 indicates that all assignments for this class are now set to the default grade. At the bottom left is a list of the category names and the current default for that category. To change the value for an individual assignment, type in the category number, then the assignment number, then finally type in the new value for that assignment. When you are finished with the assignment valuations, select 0 for the category value. You must value an assignment before entering student grades into that assignment if you want the grade to be registered under the new value. If you forget to value the assignment, recalculate the class to get an accurate grade update. THE EDIT MENU The edit menu is where most of the changes to student records will be made. Pull this menu down and we will change some information. 1) One Student: Selecting this option opens a new screen and a new menu. Select this option now. When you select this option, an dialog box opens with the cursor is on an input line. Type in the letter "J" and press <ENTER>. This will bring up Andrea Jackson to the screen. Across the top is a menu with four items ( System Category Multiclass Window) which gives you access to all the commands that are available for working with the Student Edit Window. You may also use the Hot Keys described earlier as well as a number of Buttons at the bottom of the screen. At this point you may change virtually any information about the student that you might wish to. Tutorial: Page 15 You may cursor or mouse to the student's name, ID#, entry date and Grade Periods 1, 2, 3 and 4. All other information can be accessed by the buttons at the bottom and the menu at the top. When you enter this screen, you will be setting on the < Exit > button. While you are on the buttons, pressing the highlighted letter of a button will access that function. As an example, press <F> at this time. Notice the next student in you class is displayed. Press <B> and you move back to Andrea's record. Press <A>. At the prompt, type in the letter "C" and press <ENTER>. This should jump you up to Juanita Contrearas. You can move rapidly through student records using these keys. NOTE: Whenever you use the "Another" option, you can access students by typing their whole name or any part of their name. If you only have one student with a last name starting with "K", typing "K" will be enough to get you that student. If on the other hand, you have two student with the same last name, you will need to type in the last name and at least one letter of the first name to jump directly to that student. You may also jump to the first student and use "Next" button to go to the next student. Changing a students category grade while on the buttons is as easy as pressing the category number. For this demonstration, press <1> to get category 1, then type "1" and <ENTER> to select assignment 1. Notice that the default value for this category is displayed below the category name. If you are using grade point totaling, type in "4". If you are using grade point totaling, type in "B". After pressing <ENTER>, your screen will reflect the change in a number of areas including percent(total)/Average(avg), GP 1, Letter Grade, Total Points, etc. You can use the same procedure to change any grade for this student. The two remaining buttons are for "Recalc" and "Delete". With this version of the gradebook, "Delete" is done in this window. If you choose to delete a student, you will be asked to verify your choice. Recalc is available to recalculate a student's grade if an error has occurred (such as entering a non default grade before changing the class value of that grade. Pulling down the SYSTEM menu from the Student Menu gives you the same function as many of the buttons, as well as access to the calculator, the calendar and the hot list. You may also move from one grade period to another if the other has already been defined. The CATEGORY menu allows you to access each category as well as define assignments. Tutorial: Page 16 The MULTICLASS menu will be discussed when the Multiclass Option is discussed. The WINDOW menu will also be discussed when that option is discussed later. For now, exit the student screen by either using the "System" menu, the "EXIT" button or pressing ^X. 2) Class Assignment: This option allows you to edit one grade for all the students in the class. Select it now. A second menu appears asking which category you want. Select "1". You are then asked which grade you want. Select "1" again. You will notice that one of the students already has a grade registered. Give the other students grades right now by typing in the student numbers on the left and then entering a new grade at the input line. when finished, quit by typing <Q> and <ENTER> or just pressing <ENTER>. 3) Browse Category: This option put a complete category on the screen. Lets use it now. From the "Edit" menu, select "Browse Category" then select "Category 1". Notice that the browse window is already split. Tab to Cat1_5. Type in a new grade for each student, then press the cursor down to move to the next student. When finished writing in the new grades, press ^W to save the grades you have entered. The computer will close the browse window, recalculate all grades, and return to the opening screen. 4) Recalc All Students: Allows you to recalc all the students in this class. With current algorithm's, it does not take long. 5) Grading Period: Opens a browse window that allows you to change all the grade period grades as well as the Cumulative grade. This should only be done just before you print out your final grades, because your computer calculated grades are being overridden. The next time you enter a grade, the computer will change the grade back to its own grade. 6) Change ID #: Opens a browse window to allow the changing of the ID#. Pressing ^Y clears a browse field for inputting a new ID#, but be sure that there are no duplicate ID's. Tutorial: Page 17 7) Define Assignments: Allows you to give an assignment a great deal of information. Select this option right now. TAB over to the Due Date for Category 1, Assn_no 1. Type in today's date. Then TAB over to describe and type in "Page 35 - Questions 1 through 25. Tab over to "memo". Hold the <Ctrl> key and press <PgDn>. A "Memo Window" opens which you may use to write as much information as you need regarding this assignment. You may also zoom this window for more working space. For now, type in "This is a demonstration assignment." and then close the window by pressing ^W. Close off the assignments window now by pressing ^W and return to the "Edit" menu. 8) Print Assignments: Prints out the information that you have entered into the Define Assignments area. Each grade period has its own set of assignments. THE OUTPUT MENU The Output menu allows you to report information to the Screen, to a Printer or to an ASCII file. Complete instructions are in the Itemized Manual, but for now, the following information should help you get through the program basics. 1) To Monitor: Information will be printed to your computer screen. You can use the following functions. Scan Summary allows you to look at a summary of all students and all four grade periods. You are first asked if you want to recalculate your CUM grades, then a class grade point average based on a "4.0" standard grading scale is calculated, and finally the students are listed with the four grading periods, the CUM grade, the date each student entered your class, and the class GPA. You may scroll forward, backward or quit. You may use this function to recalculate your Cumulative grade. This recalculation is not done automatically, and since the Cumulative grade is printed in a number of areas of the program, you should use this function frequently. Scan All Grades allows you to scroll forward and backward through all the students and all their grades for the current grading period, three students at a time. Scan One Grade allows you to look at just one grade. You may look at it alphabetically, in descending grade order, or ascending grade order. If you use letter grades, you will normally want to sort in ascending order since that will put the "A"s at the top and the "F"s at the bottom. If you use numbers, you will normally sort in descending grade order since the higher numbers will be at the top. If you mix letter and number grades, numbers will be separated out from letters. The class average at the bottom of the last page is calculated using the numbers you assigned the program during your Setup. Tutorial: Page 18 Scan Category Totals allows you to look at a summary of just the category totals as well as the student total or average. When you have finished looking through your scan options, return to the opening screen by pressing <5> 2) To Printer sends the output of your reports to whichever printer you selected when you set this program up. The information is identical to the screen printouts, however there are more options. The Printer Option allows you to print out your information on standard 8 1 by 11 paper. The printouts look similar to the scans, however they are formatted for paper. Print out four will print out role sheets on standard role book paper which uses space and a half spacing. The print will also be bold. Printout 1, 5, 6 and 8 also follow this format, but it they put a heading at the top as well as the grades or grids. 3) To ASCII File allows you to send all of your print reports to an ASCII file which you can then use with your word processor for further enhancements. When you select a report from this option, you will be told to give your file a name. The file will then be located on your data directory. 4) Create/Modify/Output Custom Report are functions provided by the Fox Runtime that powers this program. More information is available in the Itemized Manual. THE MULTICLASS MENU While sitting with the Report Menu open, simply press the right cursor key and the Multiclass menu will open automatically. Do not select any of these options at this time. Since this option works with Multiple Classes and you only have one class, it won't do anything of note. This option is a very special part of this program. I don't think you will find it available in any other gradebook. It allows you to access the grades of any student of any class. It sets up an intra-class index. Type the name of a student from any class, and you have that student. Some users work with this option more than any other part of the program. I think its kind of neat. There are three pages devoted to this utility later in the Itemized Manual. 1) Reindex collects all the names of all the students on this directory and puts them into an index file and is used for student access. Tutorial: Page 19 2) Get Student takes you directly to any student on this directory with the ability to edit information on that student. 3) Print Alpha List gives an alphabetical listing of all students in all the classes on this directory. THE PROGRESS REPORT MENU Using this menu, you can send out customized progress reports to all your students or their parents. Lets work through it quickly. When you select the first option, "Get a Student" you will go directly into the setup part of this program. Fill in the information regarding you and your school. For the beginning and ending dates, fill the information in for as many grade periods as you plan to use, or at least for the first grade period. This can be changed later. Verify your information when done. You will next be asked to define your gradebook categories. The category names that you selected earlier are displayed. If you want these, type them in. You have more space, so if you want to elaborate, do so. When finished verify your information. Your category comments give you a chance to write down a phrase to typify the letter or numeric grade that the student would be getting in each category. You must type in the short message. If you like the suggested comments, type them in, otherwise, make up your own. The Introductory Statement will go at the top of your progress report. I have a suggested statement. If you like it, press <Y> and verify your choice. If you don't, type <N>, enter your choice of an introductory statement, then verify your input. Once this information is selected, you will begin the actual progress report program. Correct the date or hit enter to accept it. Type in the number of weeks that this progress report covers. Finally, press <ENTER> if this progress report will be sent to the printer or type "A" and <ENTER> if you want it to go to an ASCII file. If you select ASCII file, you will be asked to give the file a name. You may use the same name over and over again, but any existing file of that name will be overwritten. Your next screen is the student screen. You are given the option of going forward, backward, getting another student, doing the report, or exiting. Find the student that you want to do the progress report on and press <R:>. Type in a brief comment, verify your information to be correct, decide if you want to include a printout of the grades, then after checking to see if the printer is on and properly connected, press <P> to print. Tutorial: Page 20 This ends your tutorial. For detailed instructions on each part of the program, consult the ITEMIZED USER'S MANUAL which comes with your registration. If you have not registered your ownership, please do so as soon as possible. You will not only guarantee better and more powerful upgrades for this program, but you will be eligible to receive help from the author as well as full documentation for the program. If you have any suggestions as to how this program can be made more useful, please send them to: Ronald N. Grout R & G Software 599 E. Wright Hemet, CA 92543 (909) 925-4185 If you call, please call in the evenings, West Coast Time. I am a teacher and will not be home during the day. If I am not home, CALL AGAIN! Any return calls will be collect. Because of that, it is best that you call when you have time to talk.