IMPORTANT NOTES: 

You do not need to log-on to the Novell Network to run the eClass Grades or Comments program. However, after grades and comments are entered on your computer, you must log-on to turn them in. You should complete BOTH grades and comments before using the Turn in MP3 Grades & Comments icon in the Upper School Folder of the faculty drive.

Comments are required for any students with grades of C- or below.

Make sure that all student names and student numbers match the names and numbers listed on your class rosters, as generated by the Registrar. Incorrect names or numbers have been among the most common errors in submitting grading information.

For those who feel comfortable with doing grades and comments, I've included an Overview section to summarize the procedure for this round of grades.

No matter what you do, make sure that you use the Wilson99.usr file for comments if you are going to take advantage of the automated submission process! If you don't use Wilson99.usr, talk with Bruce Adams about how to properly turn in your comments.
 

Overview

The procedure for both grades and comments is essentially unchanged from prior periods. For grades, you need to start e-Class, input marking period 3 grades for all students in each section, and then export the MP3 term marks. For comments, you will need to start the Comments program, open the Wilson99.usr file, and write a comment for each student with a grade of C- or less. When doing comments, make sure that the Reason for Comment is changed to MP3 only for those students on whom you are writing comments. After you've completed input of both Grades and Comments, you can use the Turn In MP3 Grades & Comments icon in the Upper School Folder of the Faculty Drive. It must be stressed that this method of turning in the comments only works if you did your comments using the Wilson99.usr file.
 

Starting the E-class Grades program

1. Double-click on the GRADES icon on your desktop (or go to Start | Programs | eClass | Grades)
 

Inputting grades for a section

These procedures should be followed with each of the sections for which you will be inputting grades.

1. Once the program starts, click on the Open Class icon (or go to File | Open Class).

2. Select a file for one of your sections and click ok. A list of students in the section should now appear in the Students window. (There will also be an Assignments window. You should ignore or minimize both the Students and the Assignments windows. Make no changes in either window unless you need to add a student to the Students window. If you do need to add a student, confer with Maria Haering and make sure that you use the correct student name and student number.)

3. Click on the A+ Scores icon on the top toolbar. A new window, with another list of all the students in the section, will appear, along with columns for grades. Use this is the window to enter grades. 

* * * Please note that you may not be able to see all of the students initially. You may need to scroll or adjust the size of the Scores window to see all of the students in the section. * * *

4. Enter a letter grade (A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, or F) in the Marking Period 3 column. Use the enter key or the arrows to go from cell to cell. (Even though you will be entering letter grades, a percentage will show up in the marking period and grade columns. In order to maintain consistency and integrity in the system, you should enter letter grades, anyway. However, you may want to maintain records of any numerical scoring that you use throughout the semester if it will make it easier to generate your semester and final grades.)

Saving Grades for a section

You do not need to save until you have completed all grades for a section and are ready to turn in the grades. However, this set of procedures must be done for each individual section after you have input the grades and before you turn in the grades on the network. If you make changes to grades after completing this process, you will need to repeat it. Please relax, read carefully, and take your time with this set of steps. Haste can make waste. Please contact your friendly neighborhood Technology Coordinator before you even think of getting frustrated!

1. After entering a grade for each student in a section, select: File | Export Term Marks
2. This will put you in the Export Term Marks dialog box, where you should: 

b. uncheck other selections, such as Year, etc.., and 

c. click OK (You do not need to change or select any settings in the Comments etc. belong with: area.)

1. The Change Destination button should say C:\PROGRA~1\ECLASS\YOURNA^~1\..., as shown above, whereYOURNA^~1 represents the first few letters of your last name (e.g.: If your name is longer than eight characters, like VANINWAGEN, it will be displayed as VANINW^~1). 

If your nameis correctly displayed in this way, skip to step 4. (I suspect that most faculty will be in this situation as a result of the marking period 1 process.)

Click: Change Destination
2. At this point, the Folders window in most of the laptops will already show the first three of the four folders to be identified as your destination (see image at right),

c:\ | progra^~1 | eclass
If so, skip to step f to add the fourth folder, which is based on your name. If these three folders noted do not appear, use the Drive Selection button (see image below right) to change the drive to C: (if necessary).
3. In folders, double click on C:\ (if necessary)
4. In folders, double click on progra^~1 (you may need to use the scroll bar to find it)
5. In folders, double click on eclass (use the scroll bar if necessary)
6. In folders, double click on yourna^~1 *(e.g.: If your name is VANINWAGEN, it will be displayed as VANINW~1)
7. Click OK

5 After saving, you need to close the roster file by selecting: File | Close Class.

Exiting the E-class Grades program

1. Click the x icon in the upper right corner of the eClass window (or go to the menu and select File | Exit). [If you do not regularly use the x icon, it is a quick and easy way to close any window in Win95 or Win98.]

Starting the Comments Program

1. Double-click on the U.S. Comments icon (Some computers still say Comments 98-99).

2. You will see a prompt which says: "WILSON98.USR" could not be found and is required to complete this operation. To acknowledge this dialog, click: OK. 

3. An Open File dialog box will appear. Find and highlight wilson99.usr. Then click Open to open the file.

4. Enter the password for the Comments database. (See me or another faculty member if you forgot it.)
 

Identifying Your Students

1. When the program starts, you must call up all the student records for your courses by:

1. selecting the FIND command [find button on the top left of your screen]
2. typing your name in the TEACHER NAME field (You only need to type in the first few letters of your name to call up your records; for example, you can type alf for Alford, Stewart.) 
1. Select the SORT command and choose the Sort button in the Sort Records dialog box. Do not make any changes to the order of the fields to be sorted.

 

(Because you are only doing comments for selected students, you should change the Reason for Comment manually and for only those students for whom you are doing comments.)

1. Move to the student for whom you are writing a comment and click on the REASON FOR COMMENT field.
2. Choose MP3 from the drop down list.

 

1. To enter your comments, type the text of your comment in the COMMENTS field. (CAUTION: Do not type beyond the given space for comments. The database program will let you type beyond the given space, but it will not print your comments if you exceed the given space in the COMMENTS field.)
2. Repeat step 1 for all students with a C- or less. Notice that you can flip through the file using the rolodex icon on the top left of the screen.