TAM: Beginner and Demo of JAVA TAM Janine Pushak NEOMIN 2008 eSMOC User Conference

TAM Start Screen Classes Pane Class List Pane

Classes Pane The course number, section, title, semester, term, day, and period are listed along each row. Semester (S) 0 (zero) represents an all year, all term, or every day course. 1 Semester represents a 1st semester course and a 2 represents a 2nd semester course. Term (T) Term 1 is 1st 9 weeks and Term 2 is 2nd 9 weeks. STDP Course above would be taught Semester 2, 2nd Term, Everyday, Period 2. AC Column Checkbox used for marking Attendance Complete for period attendance.

Classes Pane (Continued) Today’s Classes Lists classes for TODAY in the Classes Pane. To view classes taught during other times of the year (i.e.: second semester 18 week classes), remove the checkmark from the Today’s Classes checkbox. Curr Students Option displays the students currently enrolled in the selected class. All Students To view a class list that includes withdrawn students, click the All Students button. Withdrawn students are listed in red.

Classes Option to display classes/courses and students attached to teacher. Home Rooms Option to display the Home Rooms and students to which the teacher is attached. Administrative personnel setup the connection between teachers and Home Rooms through Homeroom Maintenance. Teams Option to view a list of teams and the students attached to the teacher’s faculty name. Administrative personnel make the Teams connection in the Team/Group Maintenance. Classes Pane (Continued)

Class List Pane Student Order The order that students appear within the Class List pane can be adjusted by clicking any of the column heading buttons. Withdrawn Students 1.On the TAM Start screen, click on the Classes radio button and All Students radio button located on the top left side of Classes Pane. 2.Select the course which contains the withdrawn student(s). 3.Find the first student name in the Class List Pane that has withdrawn from the class. 4.In the Se…(sequence) column change the number from a 0 (zero) to a 1 or a higher number. 5.Click the Save Sequence button at the bottom right of the screen.

Info and Alert Buttons The Info button, under the Contact column, displays pertinent parent/emergency information attached to students, based upon what is entered and updated by administrative staff on the Parent and/or emergency Contact screens. The Basic Demographics button provides Detailed parent and emergency information.

Class Change Notification A Class Changes Notification box may appear when a teacher first logs into TAM, indicating that student(s) have been added/withdrawn to classes for the teacher logging into TAM. The “Read?” column within the Class Changes Notification screen allows a check to be placed in the box for each individual student, which lets the program know that the message for this student has been read and acknowledged.

System Lock The Lock menu option is available in numerous screens in TAM. Selecting the Lock menu will suspend the teacher’s eSIS session.

Start Screen Buttons The Hot Print button on the lower right of the Start screen offers 9 reports based on the selected student. The Navigate button on the lower right of the Start screen facilitates teachers with security and resources beyond the standard teacher role, to access other functions in eSIS. The Photo button displays a photograph of the selected student. The Exit button allows exiting from screen to screen in TAM, as well as exiting from the eSIS TAM program entirely.

Basic Demographics By selecting a student and clicking the Basic Demographics button will display the Student Demographics screen. By pressing the F7 key and then the F8 key on the top of the keyboard, the scroll bar on the right side of the screen becomes available to move through students in the selected course.

Observations Tab Teacher observations about performance or behavior are viewed and/or entered on this screen. Print Observation Report

Viewing Student Academic Progress Information Academic information for students’ other classes is viewable if the teachers for the other classes have configured their Teacher Assistant (TA) Preferences to permit other teachers to view grades.

Viewing Student Absence Information Top Section of the Student Absences Screen Shows totals for absences (authorized, excused, unexcused) and lates. Examples of authorized absences would be Arts Excel and college visits. Bottom Section of the Student Absences Screen Shows a detailed view of all absences and lates for the year.

Taking Daily Attendance / Lunch Count in TAM a. 2. b. 3. Be sure to select the correct Semester and Term for which you are taking daily attendance. If all students are NOT present for the current Home Room and/or Lunch Count also needs to be taken, click the List button.

Click the A (Absent) checkbox under the AM column only for all students absent. Note: The PM A column should become checked automatically. Note: The office will mark the reason for the absence. Note: Do not check the L (Late) column for either AM or PM column as the office will enter if needed

Entering Lunch Count  Enter number of total for each lunch menu item  Click Save button  Click Exit button

Setting up the TAM Electronic Gradebook Prior to utilizing the TAM electronic gradebook it is necessary to setup the “My Options” and “My Preps” preferences. If all graded classes will be weighted the same, only 1 prep is required. Also, by adding all classes to the same prep allows assessments to be copied from one class to another. Multiple preps would need to be created if classes are weighted differently. If multiple preps are created, assessments can only be copied to the classes that are part of that prep.

Utilizing the Electronic Gradebook If a class is NOT included within a prep or no prep is setup, the following error would display once the Spreadsheet button is selected: “You must have a prep for the class to use this screen.”

Class Click the down arrow button to select a different class to which the teacher is attached. Reporting Term Click the down arrow button to select the appropriate marking period to add/view assessments. Assessments are not added to Interim Reporting Terms. Category Not used unless multiple categories are setup within a Prep. Assessment Types Choices that display in this drop down menu are determined by what Assessments Types were selected when the selected class’s Prep was setup. All: Displays all assessments for the selected class for the selected Reporting Term. If a particular Assessment Type is chosen, all assessments for that Assessment Type will be displayed. Electronic Gradebook

A. B. C. A. Number of Columns B. Exempt C. Color Legend Late Mark – assessment marked as being late—cell turns blue Fail Mark – any assessment entered as a failing mark (based on Failure Threshold set in TA Setup Options)—cell turns pink Exempt – student exempt from assessment—cell turns green Extra Credit – an assessment setup as extra credit—the entire assessment column within the spreadsheet turns aqua Over Maximum – points entered for an assessment over the maximum number of points—cell turns orange

Adding an Assessment (Assignment) ALWAYS ENSURE THE CORRECT REPORTING TERM IS SELECTED Assessments are not added to Interim Reporting Terms The Assign and Due dates are critical to printing reports such as missing assignments and academic progress reports. Assign and Due dates entered must be actual school days.

 Create and Save the Assessment  Add this Assessment to Other Classes…  Copy Selected Info To All

To View/Change the Setup of an Assessment  Select the appropriate Class, Reporting Term, Category, and Assessment Type  Select the assessment to view/change  Click the View/Change Assessment button  Make the necessary changes within the Add new assignments screen and click the Save button. If only viewing the assessment it is not necessary to click the Save button. If changes are made to an assessment and the assessment had previously been copied to other classes any changes made to the assessment setup will effect the assessment in all other classes. Example: Max Score changed.

Entering Grades for an Assessment A. B. A.Single – takes you directly to Teacher Enter Grades/Comments screen. B.Spreadsheet – takes you to the TA Gradebook screen (electronic gradebook). Grades can be directly entered into the TA Gradebook screen. Save. Enter Mark/Comments screen Allows for quick entry of mark/comments to be copied, Late and Exempt checkboxes available Tip: Double clicking in a student’s cell for an assessment takes you directly to the Enter Mark/Comments screen.

Enter Marks/Comments Screen

Tavg – This is the student grade for the chosen Reporting Term. Total – This is the Total Number of Point’s column. Total points due for each student may differ if they are exempted from some assessments. The Total column number of points can differ based on the Assessment Type selected. Earned – Number of points earned by each student for the selected Assessment Type. Avg% - Typically this percentage is the same as the Tavg. However, if a teacher chooses to see just how students performed within a particular Assessment Type, the Avg% column would reflect the Avg% for the selected Assessment Type. To Print Gradebook Screen Totals

Deleting an Assessment

TAM Reports Numerous Class Reports are available for teachers to view, print, and save for future reference by clicking on the Reports button from the TAM start screen.

JAVA TAMHome Tab JAVA TAM Start Screen Top level Tabs Second level Tabs Some Key Benefits of JAVA TAM  Superior search capabilities  Enhanced HELP features  Ability to create ad-hoc reports The preferred compatible browsers PC = Firefox 2.x Mac = Safari 2.0 Third level Tabs

Displays a User Messages window. This button will only appear when there is a user message. Select this button to view online help that is specific to the screen you are on. Full Online Help also available. Displays the About window and shows the Program Id, Map Id, and container information as well as the version of the form. Locks JAVA TAM session. User name and password must be entered to unlock screen. Logs you out of Teacher Assistant. System Function Buttons At the top of each screen in JAVA TAM are the following buttons:

Home  Classes  Student List Attendance Date – Click on ellipse button to select attendance date. Classes – Select classes to display on left side of screen (Today’s / All). Students – Current students / “All Students” includes withdrawn students. Life Threatening Alert General Alert Life Threatening/General Alert Emergency Contacts

Home  Classes  Student List Click Student Name  Quick Links  Student Demographics (view only)

Students Tab Basic Search – Enter Pupil Number, First Name or Last Name. Advanced Search – Click ‘(advanced search)’ link.

Students Tab  Advanced Search Link Student Classes

Docking and Undocking Screens Click icon to expand / undock the view of the current screen. Undocked View of Demographics tab To Close Undocked View

In both TAM and JAVA TAM it is necessary to setup the “My Options” and “My Preps” preferences prior to utilizing the electronic gradebook. Setting up the TAM Electronic Gradebook Others  Preferences  My Options

In both TAM and JAVA TAM if all graded classes will be weighted the same, only 1 prep is required. Also, by adding all classes to the same prep allows assessments to be copied from one class to another. Multiple preps would need to be created if classes are weighted differently. If multiple preps are created, assessments can only be copied to the classes that are part of that prep. Others  Preferences  My Preps

Gradebook Tab Selected fields above, function as TAM. Legend and Exempt button – same as TAM Unexempt button – new to JAVA TAM Screen totals function same as TAM To Print Gradebook (PDF, XLS, CSV)

 Assessment are referred to as Assignments in JAVA TAM  Able to select Class and Reporting Term to create assignment  No Create Date when creating an assignment  Parent Tips / Post to Parent Assistant checkbox and date – available if school configured to use PA Creating an Assignment  Create and Save the Assignment  Copy to Other Classes…  Copy Selected Info To All To Copy Assignment to Other Classes

To View/Change the Setup of an Assignment To Delete an Assignment Gradebook  Spreadsheet If changes are made to an assignment and the assignment had previously been copied to other classes any changes made to the assignment setup will effect the assignment in all other classes. Example: Max Score changed. Delete option – only deletes assignment in the selected class/reporting term. Delete option does not delete assignment previously copied to other classes.

Entering Grades for an Assessment Gradebook  Enter mark/Comments Grades can also be entered directly entered into the Spreadsheet screen and saved. Enter Mark/Comments screen – allows for quick entry of mark/comments to be copied or deleted. Late and Exempt checkboxes available.

Viewing Assignments Assignment List tab displays all types of assignments. View Assignment: Takes you the Assignment Details screen where the assignment can be edited. Delete: Deletes the selected assignment and marks/grades entered will also be deleted. Gradebook  Assignment List

Posting Grades/Marks The teacher is prompted with the following message to verify that the correct reporting period is selected and that new grades entered will override the previously posted marks. Gradebook  Post Mark

The Post Grades Wizard will ask user how grades/marks should be posted:  By Numeric  By Alpha Gradebook  Reporting Terms Marks Displays posted grades/marks. Posting Grades/Marks (Continued) Other  Mark Entry - Option for teachers not using the Gradebook to enter grades/marks.

Reports Tab  JAVA TAM has same reports available as TAM  Reports can be generated in PDF, XLS, CSV