iGradePlus

Happy Weekend!

Now that school has started back up, it's back to one of my (and probably most of yours) most unfavorite things....Grading!

I've never been a big fan of grading, and then entering all those grades into my gradebook-ugh!

Especially when it came time to add everything up during report card season! Lots of times I would run the numbers a few times before I was sure I had it right. (I also borrowed my sister's TI-81 graphing calculator-so I could see all those numbers, and double check if I made a mistake!)

It was NOT a fan!

Last year I had a revelation-why not move from a paper/pencil grade book to an online one?

This way, I could access it wherever I was, and I never needed to worry about making sure I had it with me-and even better....it would probably add everything FOR me!

So after a Google search of free online grade books, I was introduced to iGradePlus! (it's the 5th one down)

Let me preface the rest of this by saying they don't know that I am doing this, and have not asked me to do this...I just truly enjoy the convenience!

When you click  on the link, they is the page that pops up:


They do have paid subscriptions, but I have found that the free version just works fine for me. (These are also not pictures of their 2.0 version (which is a beta test)-they look a little different but have many of the same features-and it looks like better features-I'm still playing around with it!)

After you've done your login (you can see I might have mine saved for easy remembering!), this is your home screen.

 You can see easily the most recent assignments that you've assigned (I just finished inputing my kids-so no assignments just yet! :P )

The settings tab is where you can set up your term options-I recently had to convert from quarters to trimesters and it couldn't have been easier!

The classes tab is the subjects that you teach/grade.

I have a lot because our new report card is domain specific to the CC. :)

The students tab has a list of students that you can add to different classes-great for those middle school teachers! It's also good for me because I don't have some kids in my spelling, so I just don't add them. Our 4th grade also switches for Science, so I'll eventually have the entire 4th Grade in there!

When you click on the assignments tab, it brings you to the first class you inputted. You can easily change the class with a pull down menu.

Click the little green plus sign to add an assignment.

You can give it a title, a description and decide which category it fits into (your categories can have different weights...and it calculates it for you!) You put in the max possible points, and then you can enter the scores that the kids got!

This works great for me because I work on a points system-basically every question is worth 1 point. I love this, because while it might look like a kids did really well with the points system, it calculates the grade (based on the 100 scale) for you and you can see that maybe they didn't do as well as you thought. You can even adjust the scale if you need to.

Another great feature is under the student tab. You pull up individual student's page and it looks like this:

It has all their grades for the subjects they are enrolled in-as well as an overall grade! You can see a graph of their grades, and even print reports! (For all those pesky meetings!)

These are just a few of the awesome features on the free version!

The only con that I've noticed is that a lot of the time, it takes awhile to load student information. I have to wait a little for the page to load with the student I click on...it's not instantaneous. But I usually have other tabs open that I click over to while I'm waiting ;)

So, if you're looking for an online grade book, I can highly recommend this one. After one full year's use, and starting another (and even setting that up was easy), this has made my grading so much easier.

Friday's Outfit:

Dress: Target
Shoes: Amazon

Have a wonderful weekend!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Thursday Throwdown: Picture Books

Happy Thursday Everyone!

I'm linking up today with Erin from I'm Lovin Lit for her Thursday Throwdown.

Now, some of you might be shocked.


I mean, my kids are 4th graders.


9 and 10 year-olds.


They should be reading chapter books.


But no...



I....





....have my kids reading picture books!!

GASP! How dare I encourage my students to read picture books instead of stretching my students to read chapter books!


I know.


It's shameful.


But there is a reason!

We use picture books to practice our comprehension strategies before we use them on grade level texts!

I think it is the best way to get the kids to really focus on the strategy that they are learning, rather than trying to figure out the words and what they mean.

And they love it!

They think they are getting away with something ;)

So.


If your kids are struggling with a comprehension strategy or are just not getting something, pull out those picture books!

They'll feel smarter-and like they are getting away with something (I mean, who reads pictures books in 4th grade!) and they'll be learning too!

For more picture book ideas, check out here, here,  here, here, (oh, especially here - we're doing a modified version today!) and here. Clearly, I have picture book issues! (and most of those have freebie organizers attached!)

How do you interest your kids in learning...go link up!

Wednesday's Outfit:

Sweater: Maurices
Shirt: JCP
Tank:Target
Shorts: LOFT Outlet
Shoes: Zappos

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Workshop Wednesday: Modeling Reading

Woot!! I've finally gone back to school so I can join up with Jivey's Workshop Wednesday on setting up Workshops!

Today I'm going to talk about reading...the only one we've managed to get to so far!

We just started our reading series yesterday, so there was a lot more talking about expectations than I would normally do.

I introduced them to the task cards and where they could find the information on which one to use.

FYI, if you want the template I used for the task cards, you can get it here.

They are also going to have a check-off sheet, to make sure they get all of the centers done everyday.

We talked a little about what Miss M expects when working. We're not taking reading groups this week, so I'm available to help and redirect as needed. :)

We did jump right in to working though!

Our series typically starts each lesson with a whole group lesson.

We talk about our strategy for the theme, and create an anchor chart.

Then, I model the strategy using a read aloud.

We do turn and talks during the read aloud-we practiced that too! (And we talked about how talking about the fun sleepover, or the movie you want to see wouldn't be the best use of your turn and talk time...)

After the discussion, I model how to do the Graphic Organizer (GO) and have the kids help me with the strategy.

This awesome resource came from Joanne's Reading with Post-its! Go check it out!!

They were allowed to choose a picture book to practice the strategy on

And got to work!

We'll continue to practice this strategy tomorrow, using a different set of books and a different organizer...I want them to get as much practice as possible!


More modeling and 'assisted' thinking will continue until I see they understand it!

Tuesday's Outfit:

Shirt & Shorts: LOFT outlet
Sweater: Maurices
Tank: Target
Shoes: Amazon

How do you set up reading?

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

A Peek At My Week

Sadly, the fun of a long weekend is almost over :( Time to switch back into teaching mode!

We'll be spending a lot of time this week learning about our Literacy centers and what to do when Miss M is taking groups.

They're going to learn all about how to use task cards, and switch from center to center.

I'm not taking reading groups this week, so I'll have time to supervise and help!

Speaking of reading groups, my teamies and I are meeting this week (tomorrow) to split the kids. I have my folder all set up and ready to go to help with the split!

Note: This was last year's class towards the end of the year. 90% of my kids are above the fold right now

We're also going to slowly start Math.

First we have to finish up our journal entry on Math about Me.

Then hopefully the rest of our math materials will have arrived so we can start! (Right now I only have the teacher's editions!)

Go Math! is no math right now!

We are also going to start Mentor Sentences!

This is my first year with them, so we will see how I do! Now, if I could only find my copy of First Day Jitters...

I hope your week go well!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Currently

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn