1st Class GradeBook 1st Class GradeBook Douglas Smith
You know teachers sometime must feel like Rodney Dangerfield: they get no respect . Teaching is a tough job, any way you look at it, and the tools that teachers have available are not all that promising. Well, don't give up hope; the good folks at 1st Class Software, based in Ontario, Canada, are working for you. They have developed a great little program just for teachers called 1st Class GradeBook, which will track students, keep up with your grades and seating arrangements, and produce great reports as well.
If you've tried one you've tried them all!
Well, that's just not the case with 1st Class Software! First of all, the interface is so easy to use that even teachers still coming out of the dark ages and fearful of turning on a PC will just love using this product. The buttons are big and easy to identify, and the layout is very logical. So things flow very smoothly from initial setup to printing reports. There are no limits set on the number of students, activities or classes you can handle. Grading is flexible; you can use traditional letter grades, define your own grading system, or use the point grading system. This makes the program extremely versatile; since teachers and grading systems vary from coast to coast, the program is widely useful. With 1st Class GradeBook you can: add or delete activity categories at any time; add/delete/change weighting, total points, point value, class average, or categories at any time; append comments to a student, activity, or even specific grade record; drop the lowest score; and the list just goes on and on. This program was written for teachers by teachers; everything was very professionally planned from the ground up! 1st Class GradeBook even handles bell curves automatically, simply by entering the class mean. Missed activities are a snap: simply enter "E" (excused) or "A" (absent) and the program correctly updates the class and student averages.
If you like reports and graphs, 1st Class GradeBook is for you! There is a variety of reports with "canned comments", including report cards, and you can add your own comments (unlimited size). Reports show grades and comments side by side in "story book" fashion. Comments made over the term read like a narrative next to the marks. Parents can easily understand how their child has progressed, tracking the ups and downs along the way.
Summary
If you are a teacher and feel left out in this ever-changing "PC world", you needn't feel excluded any more. 1st Class GradeBook is easy to use and makes tracking and grading students natural and transparent. You can download a demo of the program at the 1st Class Software Web Site. The system requirements are: PC Windows, 8 MB RAM, plus about 5 MB free hard-disk space. The Web site demo is for 30 days, and the full package cost is $49.99 download version or $59.99 mail-in.
