Molly Maid

Feeling a little stressed because I am really behind and now I am not as far along in my learning process with Dreamweaver as I would have liked to be. I wish a magic wand would take over my web site and masterfully put it together. It is much more complicated than I expected. Luckily, my expert, Jon has walked me through a few important steps with remote view and local view. I have learned the importance of organizing my folders. Funny thing is, I am super organized at work and at home (most days), but when it comes to my computer ...Watch out! I wish I could hire Molly Maids for my computer. Oh well, tomorrow we are supposed to get into partners and share our portfolios. This will be interesting.

Teaching the Process

I began putting together a power point presentation for the staff at my school about the grading program. I want to be able to address their concerns as well as show them a sample of what the program will look like. Now, to be effective I will probably need to keep it simple. My staff does not really embrace technology. I don't think many use their email and I know some don't even turn on their computers. This will be interesting. What I can foresee happening is that they won't want to, "figure it out". You see, I have realized that through this process, I have learned Dreamweaver and Grade Pro by doing it! The other key factor I have noticed in my learning process is that I had a community of experts to seek information and guidance. With the lack of time and funds in our educational system, teachers will continue to be reluctant to learn technology because they aren't given the time and there isn't money to pay them to take the time or pay instructors to help guide them through the process.

Parent-Teacher Conferences

I am almost finished with Parent-Teacher conferences. This has been one of the better years because of the grade reports that I had in my hand for each student. While I was reviewing student work with the parent, I was able to hand them a print out of their student's grades. The report included all of the assignments for all of the subjects and a percentage, then a rubric grade. What was great about showing the grades on the print out was the use of footnotes that I had for student work. So for example if they didn't complete the assignment, I was able to give a partial grade and then footnote the grade with a comment. I love the fact that I can edit the footnotes and make them pertinent to each subject. I am was also able to talk with parents about the upcoming web site and grade access via the internet. Some seem excited about this possibility, but I am curious as to how many will actual use the site. I wonder if I can put on the site a way to track the number of visitors. Something more to think about.

Grade Calculation

Today is the last day of the quarter. Grades are to be calculated and I am ecstatic because I do not have to calculate anything! For the first time, I can manipulate each subject's grades by weighting different categories. For example in Math, I can weight the tests to be 40%, the projects to be 30%, and the quizzes to be 30%. This is so great! I'm also sharing the wonderful benefits with a few teachers because I know that they would also like to save time with inputting numbers and calculating so many grades. The reading teacher teaches all of the fourth and fifth grade students which is about 120 students. Since she inputs weekly quiz grades, she is definitely looking for something that will lessen her paperwork at the end of each grading period. Also, the Marine Science teacher teaches all of the students which is about 275. I am sure she would be glad to see anything that would help her average her grades. I am wondering if this grading program is appropriate for all grade levels or is it more geared to the upper elementary teachers?

I see the light

Some of the heavy clouds have lifted and I think I am ready to move forward with this project. In fact, I had a great idea today because a parent made a power point presentation of our Ellis Island Experience. My idea is to have a page for Social Studies with the power point on it, so other parents can view it at home. It is a nice slide show that represents the stations the children went through during our Ellis Island Simulation. Also, I have been encouraged my many repeat parents that I am doing a good job and to not let the negative parents get in my way. It is nice that people do stand up when it is time to take a position. I have a lot of work ahead with my site, but now I have regained the excitement which will help me through this project.