In jmc Teacher's gradebook, the scores section offers customizable categories that allow for grouping assignments together. These categories can be named based on assignment type, unit, standard, or any other relevant grouping criteria that align with the teacher's needs. Additionally, weights and calculation options can be assigned to the categories to configure the gradebook according to the teacher's grading philosophy. By defining categories, teachers can effectively organize their gradebooks and streamline the grading process within jmc Teacher.
In jmc Teacher, head to Scores > Categories and Assignments to begin customizing your categories!
Step One: Select a course from the "Courses" drop-down list to begin entering categories.
Step Two: Click the "Add Category" link to enter new category information or click the name of a category to edit an existing category.
Step Three: Enter a name in the "Category Name" field to organize assignments.
Helpful Tip: Use category names such as "Assessments", "Tests", "Quizzes", "Homework", "Group Work", unit names or standards to organize your gradebook by assignment type.
Step Four: Select a color from the "Category Color" color picker to display the category in a specific color on the "Assignment Scores" page.
Step Five (optional): Enter a number in the "Weight" field to define the weight of a category in relation to other categories when calculating a student's course grade.
Helpful Tip: Set category weights that add up to 100 to convert category ratios to a percentage.
Fun Fact: If you decide to adjust your category weights during the grading term, don't worry, jmc Teacher will recalculate student grade percentages automatically.
Step Six: Select a choice from the "Assignment Weights" drop-down list to choose how the individual assignments within the category will be weighted.
Equal: all assignments regardless of point value will carry the same weight toward the category average
By Points: point totals for the assignments would contribute to the weight for that assignment. For example, a 100 point assignment would be weighted 10 times as much as a 10 point assignment.
User-Defined: specify the weight for each individual assignment
Step Seven: Select a radio button from the "Special Calculate Options" box to utilize the appropriate calculation option.
None: no special calculation will occur
# of low scores to drop: drop the lowest "X" number of scores for the category
Calculate average using most recent (N) scores: use the most recent assignments to calculate the category average
Decaying Average(%): assign a percentage of weight to the most recent score and distribute the remaining weight to the other scores
Step Eight (optional): Place a checkmark in the "Extra Credit Category" checkbox to calculate any assignments in the category as extra credit toward the student's grade percentage.
Step Nine (optional): Place a checkmark in the "Stand-alone Category" checkbox to indicate this category contains no assignments, but instead acts like its own assignment.
Step Ten (optional): Enter a number in the "Sort Order" field to display the category in a specified order (1 being at the top of the list).
Step Eleven: Click the "Save" button to save this category or the “Cancel” button to exit.