View and enter class details in the Gradebook

In the Gradebook, you can view details such as room, day schedule, and term for each of your current classes.

You can also:

• Enter a comment about the class to appear in the Family and Student portals.
• Link a section to other linked sections. Linking sections lets you create categories and assignments for one section, and automatically add them to other sections linked to it.
• Set up your assignment categories (such as Tests, Homework, Projects) for the traditional Gradebook and the standards-based Gradebook.
• Determine how to drop the lowest scores for a class.

To view class details:

1. Log on to the Staff view.
2. Click the Gradebook tab, and then select the checkbox next to the class.
3. Click the Details side-tab. The details for that class appear.

   Note: On the Options menu, click Change History to view a list of changes made to the section.

4. Use the following table for information about the fields:

5. Field	Description
   Course Nickname	The default class section number from your school’s schedule appears. You can replace this course and section number with a nickname so this class is easily identifiable throughout your gradebook. Example: If you teach two sections of Calculus, and one section is more crowded than the other, you might name the smaller section CalSM and the larger section CalLG. Or, if sections always meet during the same block or period, you might name them after that. Note: If you do not type a nickname, Aspen identifies the class with the default class section number from your school's schedule.
   Description	The read-only description for this section appears.
   Classroom	The read-only classroom for this section appears.
   Schedule	The read-only schedule for this section appears.
   Schedule term	The read-only schedule term for this section appears.
   Team	If this section is assigned to a team, it appears here.
   House	If this section is assigned to a house, it appears here.
   Average Mode (Your district's or school's settings determine whether you can edit this preference.)	To apply a different averaging mode than the default you defined in your user preferences, use the Average mode drop-down to select the mode for this course section. Note: If you co-teach this section, you cannot select Gradebook default from the Average mode drop-down. The average mode you select appears for the other teachers who share the class.
   Averages grade scale (Your district's or school's settings determine whether you can edit this preference.)	The grade scale specified in your Gradebook preferences appears here. Click to select a different grade scale to calculate term averages. If you use a grade scale different than the district grade scale, when you update post columns, the system translates the grades to the district grade scale.
   Grade scale	This field appears if enabled in your district's grade preferences. Click the View grade values link to view the grades on the gradescale that is associated with this course.
   Portal Notes Show Notes on Portals	If you want a comment about this class to appear in the Family and Student portals, select the Family Portal Notes Show Notes on Portal? checkbox. Then, enter your comment in the text box below. Example: Some teachers enter their grading policy for the class here. The comment appears in the Teacher Notes section on the details page for the class in the Family and Student portals. Note: If you do not select this checkbox, or select it but do not enter any text in the text box, the Teacher Notes section will not appear in the Student and Family portals.
   Classes linked for assignments and categories	Click Classes linked for assignments and categories to view classes linked to this section or to link this section to another section. To add a linked section, click Select.... In the pick list, select the sections you want to link, and then click OK. The sections appear on the page. Note: To unlink a course, click Select... and deselect the checkbox next to the course. Click OK.
   Enter a name for your linked sections	This field only appears after you add a linked class section. Enter a name for this linked section.
   Categories	To create your assignment categories, see "Create Assignment Categories for a Traditional Gradebook" or "Create Assignment Categories for a Standards-Based Gradebook".
   Drop mode	Click Drop Mode if you want to drop the lowest scores for this class:  Select Do not drop scores if you do not want the system to drop any scores for this class. Select Drop lowest overall score if you want Aspen to drop the lowest score(s) for a term. The following options appear: For each term, the number of scores appears in the Available column. Type the number of scores you want to drop for that term in the # to drop column. Select Drop lowest score by category to determine how many scores to drop each term by assignment category. Example: You might drop the two lowest homework scores for each term. To do so, type the number in the # to drop column for each category, for each term: Note: On the Scores page, the system indicates dropped scores with because they fit the criteria you specify here.
   Grade calculation weights	To customize the default grade calculation weights for post columns that are averages, type your custom weights into the table: Note: Your Aspen system administrator must select the appropriate preference for the "Grade calculation weights" section to appear. Within the table, each post column that is an average appears as a row. The component grades that make up each average appear as columns, and are separated into Default and Actual sub-columns. The Default sub-columns are read-only and display the default weight set by your administrator for each grade. If you want to adjust the weight of a particular grade, type the custom weight in that grade’s Actual sub-column. Until you customize the weight of a grade, its Actual sub-column contains the default weight. Note: The Actual weights for each row do not have to add up to 100. The weight of a component grade only needs to be correct relative to the weights of the other component grades. For example, for the Semester 1 Average, you might want to weigh the Term 1 Grade as 40%, Term 2 Grade as 40%, and Midterm Exam as 20%. You could also weigh those same grades as follows: Term 1 Grade = 2, Term 2 Grade = 2, Midterm Exam = 1. Note: If the final date to post grades for a grade column has passed, you are able to view that column's grade calculation weights in this section, but not edit them.
   Apply weights to other selected classes	If you want to apply the same set of custom grade calculation weights to other classes, select the Apply weights to other selected classes checkbox. A list of your classes appears: Select the checkboxes next to the classes you want to apply the grade calculation weights to. Note: You can view a list of your classes that have calculation weight override records on the Calculation Overrides page. You can also delete override records on this page, causing those classes to revert to the default grade calculation. See “View and Delete Calculation Override Records” for details.

6. Click Save.

Note: If the final date to post grades for a grade column has passed, you are able to view that column's grade calculation weights in this section, but not edit them.

Note: An administrator can merge your class sections if they occur during the same class period. If your course sections are merged, a message appears with a link directing you to the "primary" class section.