Getting Started with Gradebook

This guide is designed to walk you through the BigSIS gradebook from start to finish. This guide will only walk you through how to use BigSIS' internal gradebook in the Teacher tab of the portal. If your school uses Canvas' Learning Management System for entering grades and would like more information about our Canvas integration, please contact support@bigsis.com. 
PRO TIP! If you would like a video walkthrough of the below instruction click here.

This article will cover the following topics:

Part 1: How to Set Up Your Gradebook
Part 2: Gradebook Assignments
Part 3: Entering Grades
Part 4: Assessment Snapshots

NOTE: Your school has the ability to toggle certain tabs in the portal on and off as well as rename them. If you can't find what you need, speak with an administrator at your school.

Part 1: How to Set Up Your Gradebook

Part 2: Gradebook Assignments

From the Teacher portal:

1. Click the View Gradebook link
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2. Under the Assignments Tab, Click the New button
3. Title your assignment (e.g. Homework #1)
4. Select a Grading Type:
   1. Scale: Will use the grading scale you selected when you initially set up your gradebook to enter in grades
   2. Points: This means you're grading an assignment out of a certain number of points. When you select Points, use the "Weight (in points)" field to tell the system how many points the assignment is worth.
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   3. Percentage: The percent the student earned out of the total points. If you entered 80% and the assignment is weighted at 200pts, then the student earned 160pts on the assignment.
   4. Out Of: This option lets you set the number of points a student can earn and then grade based on how many points the student earned "out of" that number. This is especially useful when your assignment has a question (e.g. a quiz or homework assignment has 5 questions so students can get x "out of" 5 correct).
      1. NOTE: "out of" points aren't the same as "weight" of the assignment. For example, an assignment with 5 questions might still be worth 100 points in weight, but you will be grading them based on how many questions (1-5) they answered correctly.
5. Assign a Weight (in points) for the assignment
   1. NOTE: If you're using categories, this is the weight of the assignment compared to all other assignments in that category. If you are not using categories, this is the weight of the assignment compared to all other assignments.
6. (optional) Assigned a Due Date and time for the assignment
7. (optional) If you check the Is Extra Credit checkbox, no student will be penalized for not doing the assignment though they will receive the points if they do complete the assignment.
8. Select a Gradebook Category (only required for those using gradebook categories)
   1. NOTE: Click the Manage Categories button create a new category
9. If you selected "Grading Period" when you were setting up your gradebook, you'll be asked to select a grading period.
10. Enter a description for the assignment
11. Enter instructions for the assignment
12. Click the Save and Add Documents to allow students to see documents that correspond with the assignment
13. When you're finished click one of the Save buttons on the top

Part 3: Entering Grades

After you have completed setting up your gradebook, it is time to start entering grades. These quick set of instructions will help you get started and help give you a breakdown of what options you have.

How to Launch a Gradebook Session
How to Enter Grades
Action Buttons and What You See

How to Launch a Gradebook Session:

There are two methods for launching your gradebook session. You may use either method below depending on your preference or where you are in the portal.

From the My Courses screen in the portal:

1. Click on the View Gradebook button
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2. Click on Enter Grades > Launch Session

From the Edit Course screen after editing a course in the portal...

1. Click on the Gradebook > Enter Grades > Launch Session
   

How to Enter Grades

From the Grades screen...

After you use one of the above methods to launch your session, you will be taken to the Grades screen where you can start to enter grades. Click on the grade field and enter a grade for that student. If you want to click to the next student use your Tab button or just click on the field you want to continue with.

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Action Buttons and What You See:

• Scale Key - If you mouse over this it will give you an explanation of what those symbols mean if you use them while grading assignments. For example, (A.) if your scale lists letter grades it will let you know what an "A" will equal when selected. In example (B.) below, you will see an "A" will equal a 96.
  A.                       B. 
• Notation Key - If you mouse over this it will give you an explanation of what those symbols mean if you use them while grading assignments. Typically these will show you special notations that teachers can use for assignments and the associated credit earned with that notation. For example, (A.) if your Notation Key lists options like (A.) EX: Excused (Full Credit) it will let you know that when "EX" is used it will equal "Full Credit." In example (B.) below, you will see "EX" equals "Full Credit" and therefore the student will receive 100%.
  A.                       B. 
• Overall % - this will show you the overall % and grade a student has based on the currently entered grades. This will be tabulated based on the weight of each assignment and the category the assignment is part of. This will update after you enter in a grade and move to another field.
  
• Assignments - A list of the assignments and the grading type they are using will be listed along the top of the gradebook. If the list of assignments is large enough you will see the students name duplicate after a certain number assignments. This will assist you as you scroll through the full list of assignments.
  
• Action Buttons (from left to right):
  
  • New Assignment - use this option to quickly add new assignments gradebook
  • Gradebook Settings - use this option to change any of the gradebook settings you previously set up. This includes adding/editing/removing assignments, and the option to remove/add snapshot periods, gradebook categories, and gradebook category weighting.
  • Explain Calculations - this is a very detailed breakdown of how each student's final grade is calculated based on how each assignment is setup.
  • Quick Snapshot - this option will automatically create an Assessment Snapshot  based on all of the assignments a student currently has grades for
  • New Snapshot - use this option to create a new Assessment Snapshot (this is the same as creating a new snapshot from the Assessment Snapshots tab). See (article link here) for more details on creating snapshots.
  • Help - this will take you to the four help videos we have for getting your gradebook set up.
  • Filters - this option will allow you to narrow the focus of your gradebook so you look at assignments of your choosing.
    • By Assessment Period - use to narrow down your assignments to just one specific assessment period
    • By Category - use to narrow down assignments based on an assignment category
    • By Assignment - use to narrow down by a single assignment
    • By Student - use to narrow down by a single student
    • By Left Status - use to select the type of students you want to show. By default the system will only show you active students as of today's date. To include all students or just those students that have left you can use the filter options to (Default)Hide Attrition Students, Show All Students, or Hide Active Students.

Part 4: Assessment Snapshots

Assessment Snapshots allow you to create a detailed breakdown of grades from your gradebook. You can create Assessment Snapshots for a whole term, grading period, or by date range. These steps will help you create an Assessment Snapshot as well as provide a few best practices.

Adding a New Assessment Snapshot
Adding a New Quick Snapshot
Editing an Assessment Snapshot

Adding a New Assessment Snapshot

When adding Assessment Snapshots you may add them from your Gradebook screen or you may also add them when in the Enter Grades tab. These steps will help with both options. 

1. From your Gradebook screen...
   Click Assessment Snapshots > New (it may take a few seconds for your new snapshot to load).
   
2. From the Grades screen...
   Click New Snapshot
   
   
3. Both of the above options will take you to the Create New Snapshot screen where you will have several options for your snapshot. Here is a breakdown of the options you have.
   
   • Title - provides a shared internal title for yourself and a title for your parents/students in the portal
   • Release To Parents/Students - indicates if this snapshot will be released to parents/guardians
   • Select Grades By - allows you to decide what assignments you would like to include in your snapshot
     • Whole Term - will include ALL assignments from the selected term
     • Grading Period - will include assignments from a selected Assessment Period
     • Date Range - will include assignments from a given date range
   • Apply Selections & Refresh Student List - this button will apply your Select Grades By choice to the students list (this will update the overall grade and percentage for the student based on selection)
   • Override Percentage and Override Grade - these two options allow you to set an override grade for any of the included students for the Select Grades By option you are using and will only show based on the grading type used for the gradebook.
     IMPORTANT: this will NOT apply to the student until you click Save Snapshot. The Apply Selections & Refresh Student List button will NOT apply the override percentage or grade to the student!
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4. Once you have finalized your snapshot click Save Snapshot and you are done!

Adding a New Quick Snapshot

From the Grades screen...

1. Click Quick Snapshot.
   IMPORTANT! Quick Snapshot will automatically create a snapshot based on the Whole Term option. If you would like to create a snapshot based on any other options click New Snapshot instead.  
   

Editing an Assessment Snapshot

From the Assessment Snapshots tab...

1. Select and edit the appropriate assessment snapshot.
   PRO TIP! You can double-click on any snaphshot for quicker access.
   
2. This will take you to the Edit Gradebook screen where you will be able to edit a few aspects of your snapshot. You may edit the following:
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   1. Title
   2. Release To Parents/Students
   3. Click View Details to see the snapshot for an individual student.
   4. Edit a student record to add an Override Grade.
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