I work at Carondelet but I like a spartan gradebook.
Recently, I was cleaning up my Powerteacher grade book and entering some makeup grades. Typically, I head directly to a class through the Powerschool menu but today was a maintenance check all of my classes. This means that I would sequentially navigate through classes using the top drop-down menu. I was quickly in berserker mode and quickly making progress. In my manner, I equate simplicity with clarity, clarity with effectiveness. I occasionally tweak things to align them simpler.
I started at period 1, added a few late score entries and started moving down through the list. When I moved on to 3rd period, I noticed that some details were wrong on the only assignment visible. I thought that was odd, wrong and not aligned with how I set up other assignments in other classes. I also thought that I have made other mistakes at times. I set out to make changes. I did not think that the numerous errors were a sign of anything except my previous inattention.
I summarily ignored the blaring siren and waving red flags were trying to get my attention. I proceeded to change Points Possible to 1 and hit save. A window popped up to warn me that the scores would need to be adjusted to fit the new parameter. In my stubbornness, I ignored another round of interior red flags and clicked the Go Ahead and Make this Mess Larger button.
I slowly started to consider that I made a lot more mistakes than usual when I set up this particular assignment. That’s not problem, I was in a fixing mood. Pondering some more, I then remembered I told the students that it was not going to be worth any points. So I erased all of the entered scores so I could bulk fill them with ‘collected’ checks. Some had zeros but I thought I could just look at Schoology submissions to get the names for a clean start. I was getting closer to that lean, sleek gradebook that I prefer. Wisely, I carefully saved the now blanked column at this moment, so I wouldn’t lose all the work I had just done. Only at this point did I realize that I was making a lot of significant changes to my grade book. I paused to confirm some facts. I scanned up, it my class name. I looked at the column heading, it was my assignment. My eyes finally looked left to the student names.
Who were those strangers?!
I had just nuked someone else’s class.
Now I know that forgiving Christina currently has the first section of Period 3 TMS, the one that follows my second period class on the Powerteacher/Powerschool menu. Happily in that course we are teaching the gift of a failure as the opportunity to improve. I failed. I need to improve. Now I have become aware of the ease of grade book trespassing as well as my own need to slow down and think a bit more or just to start thinking at all.
I do want to suggest to all of teachers with these new freshmen megaclasses that each of us have a method of backing up our online books.