i love the schools today.... sittin here on a saturday and call up all kid's classes, grades

[seabeyond]

homeworks assignments and missing assignments. they sure do lay it out for the parent to follow what is happening with the kids. i didn't use it for the longest time, because i am computer shy. i don't like messing with new stuff on the computer. i started using it at the end of last year and getting comfortable with the program.

the kids have been in school for three weeks. i pulled up oldest son's schedule, and went thru all the classes, all the missing assignments (absences because of sports) for him to address.

he called in his younger brother to "defend" himself, as i call up his schedule. he is afraid, lol, not knowing what he is in trouble for.

all A's and one B. so i got to praise him on this saturday afternoon.

anyway

it really is nifty having this access to the schools and not dependent on the kid informing us what is up with his grades and performance.

if you have it, use it. if you want. if not, don't.

[monmouth]

1. Sure do wish I had had that access back in the day...LOL....n/t

[seabeyond]

4. kids can't get away with the same today. would have been better for me if parents had

access to this stuff in my day, but man, i got away with so much more, which i can appreciate.

[AnArmyVeteran]

55. What's to stop a kid from hacking into his records and changing everything?

All we've done is go from fake notes to the teacher to hacking. A kid will always find a way.

Okay, seriously it does sound like a good way to keep up with your childs progress and to become more involved in his educational process. That's a good thing for both the parents and their children.

[seabeyond]

57. only lets you see the grades, not into the program you can change the grades

if kid broke into school network, knew passwords, would be possible. anything is possible. but if the kid is that clever, he deserves the higher grade, or the IT guy deserves to be fired.

plus the way it is set up, teacher has only access to her/his course. would need password for all teachers, for all the class

so no

not gonna happen

[Brickbat]

2. I do the same thing...it's helpful IF the teacher keeps it updated...

...last year, my kid's teacher didn't keep it updated, so I would get some bad surprises at the end of the terms.

I have to say, I'm SO GLAD that MY parents didn't have access to something like this! :rofl:

[seabeyond]

5. that is why i didnt use for the longest time. not updated and i would get frustrated.

the schools kids are in now appear the adm insist on it with teachers. son took a test in morning. he hadnt studied so hubby came home for lunch and checked to see if test was in yet, so we could chew kids ass off. lol. we knew the score before he got in the car in the afternoon. he did well, so he didnt get in trouble, but i thought it funny

i agree if we had that in my day.

[dsc]

60. that is an incredible turn around time that is frankly not to be expected at all times

In my case, my plan period is first period meaning I have no time at all that is without kids to update our system until 3:00.

[seabeyond]

62. dsc... sure it is. i was teasing hubby all while he was checking. and we were so surprised

not expected. but that is what made the story funny.

[Drale]

3. It is great

even in college, it makes my life a whole lot easyer.

[seabeyond]

6. didnt know they had it in college. nt

[tblue37]

38. In college we have a program called "Blackboard." We teachers

put assignments and course materials (syllabus, reading materials, sample essays, etc.) online so students can access them. We can put up announcements on our Blackboard page, and we can send out group emails to all students in the class to remind them of upcoming activities and assignments or to make new assignments. teachers can put up quizzes to be taken online. We can post grades so students can track their own progress, but securely, of course, so no one else can see their grades.

Of course, this is for our students. Parents do not have any access to a college students records or grades unless the student gives written permission (because of the Buckley Amendment).

[seabeyond]

39. a 7th grade teacher of my son mentioned blackboard

shivers... lol. something else i guess i will have to check out. sigh.

lol

thanks

[comtec]

7. GOD im so glad this wasn't around when I was a kid

I was enough of a geek anyway, but it's the principle of the matter XD

It was nice when I was in college tho to be able to read, and send in assignments ( for my CS 105 it was a requirement lol)

However if it had been around for my sister (older) she probably would not have been able to get away with as much crap, and maybe things would have turned out different (end of it all she's doing well, 2 kids, beat breast cancer, and has a great husband, a BS degree and work as a ranger anytime she wants it.)

[seabeyond]

8. i can even go in and see what they are buying out of cafeteria.

i dont know how to do it. looked for it just now. but hubby knows how, lol

pretty soon, there will be a camera to watch the kids

i am glad, that sister beat cancer

[comtec]

10. Thank you, me too

It was a seriously hard year I got the news 2 weeks before my best friend (may as well be my brother) told me about his!!!

So my sister beat breast cancer, my brother blood cancer!!!

SO yeah... im very happy about that.
It was once of the very few times I actually prayed. (i like to reserve it for when it actually matters)


back to the topic... kids have 0 privacy today. Imho that is not healthy.
everyone needs some private time.
Oddly, I found a lot of that at school, as long as I wasn't causing trouble no one cared and let me be.
Kids, even if they behave, don't have that anymore.
We treat them like troublemakers and felons before they have even done anything....

what are we teaching them i wonder? (this is re: cameras and monitoring what they're buying!not classes)

[seabeyond]

12. 2, 3 yrs ago i told son that there will be things

things i know he has done, and i wont be saying anything.

he was in 7th grade, when boys go thru what they do, trying to figure out what path they are going to take. he said... kids do all kinds of things wrong. cuss out parent, sneak out a window. (then a whine) but with you i CAN'TTTTT get away with anyTHING, lol.

that is when i discussed that when i was growing up, i thought i got away with things, but now older, really i didnt. parents just didnt feel the need to say something. if the kid is walking life pretty well, hell... go for it, not all is my business.

now though, he just tells me. cause i keep it in perspective and he trusts in that.

but we have talked about what you bring up. and the reasons why.

[moc]

9. We can set up ours to send out automatic reports if your child gets a

grade below whatever threshold you want to set or if they have an unexcused absence. I just discovered that feature this year, and I think it's very nifty.

[seabeyond]

13. oh boy.... lol, i am gonna have to have hubby check that out. then he can teach me, lol.

thanks.

i am a hard ass. i was even getting on his but for classes he had A's in. if it was a low A or missing assignments.

[bluestateguy]

11. What if you have a teacher who is an old curmudgeon who doesn't much like computers?

and all that "technology" stuff?

[seabeyond]

15. i don't know if they can get away with it. when it first started was beyond useless

cause so much was not being entered and i would just get frustrated. or too late by the time stuff was entered. i quit using and stayed up thru conversation with kids, and walking into classes.

last two years.... i am seeing everything up to date, so i am thinking principals are pretty tough on this.

[bluestateguy]

17. I remember having teachers who tried to fight off every new technology for as long as they could

kicking and screaming. And the thing is, I remember them as being pretty good teachers too.

[seabeyond]

18. sure. i would have bitched all the way thru it.... hate new technology. nt

[Catshrink]

31. We're required to update once a week

but most of us do it more frequently than that.

It's a great tool for us to keep track and calculate grades. My students check themselves and will ask about missing assignments - often the assignment is in their binders they just forgot to turn it in. A couple of times I'd entered missing but returned it to them graded - I missed entering their grade. So I fix the grade, apologize for my mistake, the student is happy and relieved.

The parents who use the program seem to like being able to keep track but usually those aren't the students who fall behind. The students of parents who don't check or don't have comptuers to check are often the ones who slack off. But it goes the other way also.

Bottom line: I like it, it helps me with my paperwork, it helps involved parents know what's going on so there are no surprises.

Note: There are many different programs with different capabilities. Some can send email, some can't. Ours could but the district didn't buy the add one that would allow it.

[seabeyond]

35. interesting. thanks for info.

i think i saw at the beginning a resistence to the program. but now it looks like teachers like it. keeps them caught up, immediate calculation of where student is....

and if they have to do it, no procrastinating, which i would tend to.

[Cairycat]

19. I think they just have to go along with it and deal

at least they do in my kids' district. It makes calculating the grades easier, I would think.

It's great to be able to follow my kids' progress, but the district got it up and running just six weeks before our oldest graduated. She was the one who gave us the most worry and fuss.

I asked my friend, a HS physics teacher, if many parents used the system to hover and intervene in their kid's schooling. He said some did, but it was the same parents who were "helicoptering" anyway.

[seabeyond]

20. who "helicopters" in HS. lol. 7th grade on, i let the kid go

he has a learning issue... like autism, but not sure what it is, never tested. so for years i would address all teachers beginning of school year, and check back. by 7th, i was done. and his to do.

but i cannot imagine still in HS.

i DO make him take care of missing assignments, ect... but that is between him and the teacher.

[noamnety]

64. If it's a job requirement

they can opt to do their job, or opt not to do their job and accept the consequences.

[rainbow4321]

14. I woulda been so screwed

Given that we had a split level house, there were lots of places to hide instead of heading to the bus stop in front of our house...hide long enough til mom got ready and went to work. Cuz no one ever looked outside to see if I was at the bus stop, you see.

I had memorized the wording she used for the parental excuse note for my real sick days..wanted to keep the working consistant for my forgeries: "Please excuse xxxxxx for being out yesterday, as she was not feeling well".

[seabeyond]

16. so funny. our school would call 15, 20 minutes after school. lol. consistent.

i would make sure i answered phone and would excuse myself. can you believe they would be so stupid. did the note thing too. i cut a lot.

bad me

anti social

[rainbow4321]

23. A co worker told me that her friend tracked her kid thru his cell phone

Keep in mind, I don't know a lot about cell phone bells/whistles but:
From what I hear, there is something people can add to their cell phones so you can pull a map up and see *exactly* where they are. The friend pulled up that map and found her kid not even near the school even though she had called the kid and he swore he was AT school.

So much for the days of "you want to see my report card? Uuuhhh...left it at school, can't find it, I think they mailed it/don't know why you didn't get it". I could stall quite well...not so well at trying to make that typing class "F" look like a "B", though. Damn that smudgy ink.

[seabeyond]

24. yes yes and yes.... lol. so funny

yup

times have changed.

[Kber]

21. I showed my dad my son's schedule /grades etc towards the end of last year

when he was out visiting and he just shook his head and muttered something about how tough it must be to be a kid these days.

But immediate access to information is their world and they'd better learn how to navigate it.

Our system sends my son alerts when he's missing an assignment 24 hours before it notifies me (our choice to set it up that way) so he can address any issues before mom even needs to get involved. That's my favorite part.

[seabeyond]

22. another poster said something about alerts. does it come in your email?

i like that your son has the chance to fix it first. i hear ya about your father. mine does the same.

and yes, i think this is good for them to figure out early. same with info and pictures ect... that they share on internet that MIGHT effect their future.

[Kber]

25. Sends alerts to what ever e-mail(s) you request.

It's a nice feature. My hubby and I both work full time, so I don't have the capacity to "helicopter", so any assistance is welcome!

[seabeyond]

26. so many are

two parent working family. it is impossible. i agree, this is the best for that situation. my brother is a single parent and they had the program, but never netered the grades. it was very hard adn frustrating for him

that is good to know. thanks. i will look to see if we have it, too.

[bvar22]

27. I'm glad I'm old.

I find that frightening.

How do today's children develop their own internal guidance system if they're being watched all the time?

Pride, Confidence, and Self Actualization come from doing the right thing when nobody is watching.

[likesmountains 52]

28. Amen...

[seabeyond]

33. i hear you on that. it is a concern, and something we recognize in this family.

a lot of different things, we implement a policy to allow the kids their independence and for internal guide.

you are absolutely right on

not on grades though, lol.

though, for us, more a reminder and check in and it is kids to do. they are good at figuring this stuff out themselves and staying on top of it.

[GreenArrow]

42. No kidding...

we live in an increasingly controlled society. Total Information Awareness.

[bvar22]

53. In 2006, My Wife & I moved to The Woods.

We were so far out there, that we couldn't find the place for the first six months.

We ordered something from Amazon that was shipped by UPS.
I was ready to go into town and pick it up when they called,
but 3 days later, the Big Brown Truck pulled up into our front yard.

I was surprised (shocked), because nobody ever comes out here.
The network of dirt roads, private roads, and two rut jeep trails leading to our cabin is non-navigable by most vehicles.

I asked the driver if he had any trouble finding our cabin.
He pointed to the GPS on his dash and said,
"Naw. You can find anything these days with this."

After he left, I told my wife, "We need to move further out."
She replied, "There is NO 'further out' anymore."

[proud2BlibKansan]

29. That's really neat

[soleiri]

30. I really like it

I wish the district had it in place 2 years ago when my oldest was a 9th grader.
The district has the 8th graders pick their schedule for freshmen year without parental input.
It seems that he had decided that he would take as an elective a course called, Animal Science.
Because, you see, he loves animals (we're vegetarian) and he also loves Science.
It ended up being a class about farming and animal husbandry, etc.
So when he got to the lessons on meat and the various parts of cows, pigs, etc.,
he decided to protest by not turning in any assignments that had to do with eating or killing animals.
He went from an A in the class to an F. Luckily, he ended up with a B in the class.

[seabeyond]

32. lol, ya, that stuff.

my son was in a christian private school. always easy A's. spring of 2004 the school started getting rough with anger, (fundamentalist attitude) with the movie passion and then election. i kept asking kids if they wanted out, and oldest said no. thought he ought to show them what true christian behavior was. lesson... for them. he wanted to be a voice of reason.

so, i allowed the next year (couldn't get them into public school i wanted). he was so angry at the anti christian behavior, he stopped opening the bible in bible class and refused to do it. about nov he had an F in the class. a kid that has never had a C. bible so easy. and a rule follower adn easy kid. put his heals in and challenged all

pulled both boys adn put them in public, lol.

[WinkyDink]

34. Remember this post and the extra work for teachers it describes, for the "how to evaluate"

threads.

[seabeyond]

36. i don't know if it is extra work, since they have to record grades anyway, but

i am on teachers side. i think they do a kick ass job. i think what we are doing to them today is not only horrible, but flat out wrong. incorrect. not the problem. ignoring the real issues.

[MadHound]

41. It is actually extra work,

Most teachers are required to not only use their particular digital gradebook, but keep a paper backup as well.

[seabeyond]

45. then, madhound, i appreciate the extra work teachers now have to do.

i also understand we continually are demanding more and more of our teachers. stuff they cannot possibly accomlish and then pointing a finger of failure. but at least with this extra work it points finger back to parent and their responsibility with child/student.

[Dappleganger]

37. We have the same system.

ONly three are in school this time. While the older ones are ok with viewing once a week, I have to look at the youngest son's every afternoon to keep a short account of what was turned in and his other grades. Had to read the riot act to ds two days ago. I really like this but some teachers don't fill in enough to know what happened.

[seabeyond]

40. and people say we need to treat children equally

in all their uniqueness. some kids get check often, others not so much, lol

:thumbsup:

[Dappleganger]

65. Ha!!

The others know that the tables could be turned on them with just one "0" on their homework, ya know. ;)

[noamnety]

43. We just switched to it where I teach.

It's extra accountability all around - for students and for teachers.

I admit I winced at the thought that parents could spy on my grading habits if I'm a day or two late getting a grade in. But the trade-off is worth it. Every study I've ever seen shows that the quicker students get feedback on assignments, the more motivated they are and the better they learn.

It's not too often that one of these trends comes along that improves motivation, most seem focused on testing testing testing.

I am happy that this attacks learning from a different direction. for me it's ending up being less work, because I can enter the grade once and students have access to it - and I end up with a copy of the comments I made on their work. In the past I had to enter scores in the gradebook and then again put the scores directly on their work itself or type out a message to send to them with comments. I wasted a lot of time sending messages back and forth with their grade on an assignment, sending messages to each kid letting them know what assignments they're missing or using classtime to call them up to tell them, and a week later they'd be back asking me again what they're missing now.

As for a paper copy, that's not a problem for me. I can just hit print to get the paper copy of a class's grades if I want it.

[seabeyond]

46. not getting scores back fast enough has been an issue periodically

with classes that are harder for the kids, where there is a struggle, like math. most classes it doesnt matter. but math, kids need to stay on top of it.

[Catshrink]

52. That's a tough one for teachers

I have 177 kids so immediate and meaningful feedback is really hard - I'm human! My way around that, I think, is to check understanding using two kinds of homework and evaluate using two kinds of quizzes. We have longer assignments to practice methods and concepts that I mark for completion and shorter assignments that I actually grade in gorey detail and comment on. I post answer keys for assignments so kids can see solutions to problems. (One of my challenges is to get kids to see that the answer isn't king, the solution - how you got there - is the important part.)

I do frequent short quizzes to check "real" understanding and less frequent longer ones that are more involved. I count assessments - tests and quizzes - in one category so in the long run it doesn't matter what I call them. Some kids panic at the word test but have no fear of the word quiz so I prefer quizzes to reduce test anxiety. The shorter assignments and quizzes give me immediate feedback on how well the kids are getting it and tell me if I need to repeat or modify. And yeah, we have tests, too, but less frequently.

Yeah, this is a long response. I hope it makes sense. This is a difficult year because our classes have exploded in size and we're all trying to get a handle on how to manage the classes, teaching, individual student needs, and the paperwork that comes with it.

[seabeyond]

54. and then... you have

the teachers side of the issue, lol

is always the way. absolutely. i hear ya.

[Catshrink]

48. I agree.

It helps the kids and parents who care keep on top of things. I like that it "does the math" for me so I don't need to continually calculate a grade. One of the best parts is that it automatically does progress reports and report cards for the admins so we don't have to bubble grade sheets anymore. It also allows the athletic director to check eligibility so we don't have to. The sped case managers have access so they can keep on top of their kids.

Is it quirky? A little. Does it do everything I want it to? No. Is it a huge improvement over the old paper and pencil grade book? Heck yeah.

[seabeyond]

50. those were the things that i saw it saved time on. nt

[yella_dawg]

44. Great flash and dazzle.

Wish there was substance in education. But the "improvements" of the last couple of decades have been a windfall for those who profit from extracting public monies, so it is improvement of a sort, I guess.

[seabeyond]

47. my kids are so beyond in what they learn today, compared to what we learned in my day

they learn more and earlier than the past.

[yella_dawg]

49. I'm a mathematician.

Trust me in this. No, they don't.

[seabeyond]

51. no, i dont "trust you on this". lol. mathmatician or not. kids have to take four years of math

in highschool in this state. they started algebra (an intro) in 6th grade. my son is in an algebra class in 7th grade. this is well beyond us.

not ever being interested in math, two years was more than enough for me, back in my day to graduate. and hated both years and barely slid thru.

my oldest is in algebra 2 his sophmore year. already took algebra adn geometry

on edit... my kids insist on taking the pre AP and AP courses. more advanced. what i am seeing

[Codeine]

58. I know very few kids who take the same maths we did in school.

I took Algebra I and II, Geometry, Trig, and Calc -- I don't think nearly as many kids are do that now. I've also done enough rewriting of college-level papers to know they can't write to save their lives.

[seabeyond]

59. very few took that in my day. you are into math. lots of us arent. i took

four and half years of english in highschool.... only needed three to graduate. i liked english. i dont want calc and trig. i dont need them, lol

but my son will have at least one, trig or calc. and in texas they have a new rule. 4X4. four years of

english
math
science
history

we did NOT do that in our day

[mwooldri]

56. We had a great system for this when I went to school in the late 80's

... and into the early 90's.

The school gave each student a homework diary. It was to be kept up with, and parents were to check the diary each week and ensure that homework was done on time and respond to the teachers' notes. If I lost my homework diary, or if my parents didn't sign it each week, it meant in-school detention for me (short lunch break... we had 90 minutes for lunch @ school) - and a monetary cost to replace the diary. Repeat offenses resulted in after-school detention.

No computers, no Internet... and my parents were just as informed as I am today in today's computer age abouy my son's performance in school.

Yes, the computer system is nifty - and I like the idea of it (my son's still in primary education, so emailing the teacher is how we communicate) ... and when my children enter secondary education I will avail myself of any tools I can use to help them succeed.

Good to hear the tools you have are working well for you!

Mark.

[rucky]

61. If every parent took a little time

we wouldn't have an education "crisis". It won't cost us anything, no elaborate programs, no mass firings. If there's one thing that'll turn education around - it's education being valued in more families.

[seabeyond]

63. and you rucky.... are right on

yup