Gradebook

Managing a class is difficult even for the most experienced of teachers, but the task can be significantly simplified with the help of technology and more specifically, with applications that can keep all the information neatly organized.

Alongside such tools, you can also consider Gradebook, which is a FileMaker database complete with a structure to enable you to manage school terms, courses, students and their grades or absences, and more.

The utility is not overly difficult to work with, but it does require you to have a compatible version of FileMaker, from version 12 and upwards, as it is the only software that can open its file format, namely FMP12.

Once you open Gradebook, you will be prompted to input the username and password for accessing its contents. The default credentials are ‘Teacher’ and ‘12345’, but you are advised to change them after the first use, to ensure no unwanted individuals can gain access to it.

The main screen of the program allows you to access any of the sections you want, namely ‘Terms’, ‘Task Categories’, ‘Courses’ or ‘Change Password’. In the ‘Terms’ area, you can define the start and end dates of each term in a school year.

In the ‘Task Categories’ section, you can define the types of assessment that will be used for grading students, such as tests, homework, projects or labs, each with its own individual percentage in the final grade.

The ‘Courses’ area allows you to define new school subjects or edit existing ones. For each course, you can create a ‘Seating Plan’ or take ‘Attendance’, indicating when a student is absent and for what reason, from a dedicated drop-down menu.

Gradebook is a practical and efficient piece of software that can assist teachers and professors in making their in front of the classroom easier, by taking care of a wide array of tasks which would otherwise consume a lot of time, if done manually.