P a g e 1 | 13

OnCourse Quick Start Guide for Teachers Your Tip Sheet for Dashboard, Student Information, Attendance, Class Rosters, Grade Book, and Discipline

DASHBOARD (Start Page) (house icon)

1. LAYOUT / RENAMING OF DASHBOARD PAGE

Click the house icon (upper left of your screen) to return to your dashboard (start page) at any point in OnCourse

Click Options > Rename to change the name of your dashboard tab from OnCourse Default to your name (example:

Smith Home)

You have the option to Add Content to your dashboard (example: weather, e-School News, etc.). Click Add Content,

then select a folder for options to appear.

You can also change the layout of your dashboard. Select Options > Layout, then choose the layout you want.

2. ONCOURSE UNIVERSITY (grad hat icon)

Click the OnCourse University link to access OnCourse how-to videos, user guides, and information.

3. SUPPORT (question icon)

Click the Support link to email OnCourse

Can contact OnCourse directly 7 days a week

P a g e 2 | 13

STUDENT INFO Select Student Info > People to view a student’s information.

Type a student’s last name in the search box and click Run Search.

A list of students matching your search criterion will appear on the right side of your screen. Click once on the name of the

student you want to view.

The student view has several tabs, both on the top of the student screen and near the bottom of the screen. An overview of

the tabs is provided below:

TABS AT THE TOP

o General: general student info

o Enrollment: enrollment history (school attended and dates)

o Grades: grades for all classes for the selected school year

o Guardians & Contacts: the Allow Contact column is important; if a RED X appears in this column, do NOT contact that

parent/guardian and contact an administrator or counselor for more information.

o Attendance: attendance summary for this student

o Schedule: student schedule (format has changed from the IC format – much more friendly)

o Discipline: see Discipline section of this document

o RTI: more information on this tab will be provided to those schools utilizing this

o Student Portfolio Documents: location for 504 Plans, I&RS Plans, Exceptionally Able documents, Basic Skills documents, etc.

Click the folders on the left side of the screen to access any plans.

*** We have requested OnCourse to ‘flag’ students with plans (similar to IC). For the start of the 2015 school year,

counseling services will distribute a list of students with 504 and I&RS plans.

*** Students with IEPs are NOT flagged; instead, their names are BOLDED on individual teacher rosters. IEPs will not be

accessible in OnCourse until the 2016 school year.

TABS AT THE BOTTOM (you must be on the General tab to see these)

o Contact Information

o Address

o Transportation/Bus Information

o Demographics

o Horizon: cafeteria account information; the Site Pin is their lunch code

P a g e 3 | 13

TABS AT THE BOTTOM (continued)

o Enrollment and Program Info

o Special Education Services: lists student’s classification

o Section 504 and I&RS: will be mostly blank

o Miscellaneous: student locker number and locker combo, if applicable; also shows student’s OnCourse Connect (student portal)

username and password. You can provide this info to students, but you cannot change it. Please note: students will not be able

to change their OnCourse Connect username, but they will be able to change their password once they log in to OC Connect.

Information is updated in ‘real time’, so if a student changes his OC Connect login password, the Miscellaneous tab will update

automatically, though you may have to refresh your screen to see the updated info.

TO DISPLAY MORE THAN ONE STUDENT AT A TIME

You may want to have more than one student’s information open at one time. To do this, you can open a new tab for each student.

Here’s how:

1. In the Student Info > People search box, type a student’s name

2. In the list that appears in the right pane, DO NOT click on the student name to open (if you already have a student tab open,

clicking on another student’s name will replace that student tab with the one you just clicked on).

3. RIGHT-CLICK (Ctrl-click on a Mac) on the student name

4. Select Open Record In New Tab

5. This will allow you to have multiple student tabs open at the same time to compare information as needed.

P a g e 4 | 13

ATTENDANCE Select Grade Book > Attendance.

1. Make sure that the correct day is highlighted on the calendar.

2. Select the correct class from the dropdown menu at the top of the page. If you are at a school that uses day rotations, also

select the correct day.

3. If you have a seating chart set up for a class, you can take attendance in seating chart mode by clicking View Seating Chart. You

can also choose to display student pictures by selecting the checkbox next to Show Student Photos.

4. Each student is marked Present by default. Click on the word Present to change it to Absent or Tardy.

5. You may enter a comment by clicking in the student’s Comment column. Do not erase a comment that is already there;

instead, append your comments to the end.

6. Remember to SAVE. You may change a student’s attendance as many times as you need – but remember to save each time.

Select Daily Absent Report (upper right of screen) to see the attendance for the students you teach.

P a g e 5 | 13

PRINTING CLASS ROSTERS Select the Pie Chart icon at the top left of your screen to access the Reports module.

If you don’t want to scroll through all the report choices, use the Search Reports box to type a keyword; for example, if you

type roster in the search box, only reports with ‘roster’ in the name will be displayed. Clear the search box to display all

available reports.

To print your roster in a format similar to that found in the Blank Spreadsheet report in Infinite Campus, choose either Class

Roster Sheet or Class Roster Sheet (Term Sets/Rotations/Periods) – both reports are found in the Grade Book Reports

section.

P a g e 6 | 13

GRADE BOOK (SETTING UP CATEGORIES, ASSIGNMENTS, EMAILING STUDENTS AND PARENT, SEATING CHARTS, AND OTHER INFORMATION)

To open your grade book, select Grade Book > My Grade Book.

1. Use the Class and Term dropdown menus to select the correct Grade Book page to open.

You can change the color of each class in Grade Book by making a selection in the Color section of the toolbar

The EXTRA CREDIT category appears automatically in your grade book and it cannot be deleted. Any points entered

into this category adjusts the marking period grade directly point for point (example: entering a 2-point extra credit

assignment will raise a marking period grade from 95 to 97). Be careful!!!

2. Before you set up categories or create assignments, you MUST decide if you will grade using total points (marking period grade

equals total points earned divided by total points possible) OR using weighted categories (for example: Homework is worth

10% of the marking period grade, Tests are worth 40% of the marking period grade, Projects are worth 50% of the marking

period grade).

If you will grade using total points, click the circle next to Points Based. If you will grade using weighted categories, click the

circle next to Weight Based.

3. You MUST have at least one category, even if your grading method is Points Based, before you can add assignments. Click the

Add Category button on the left toolbar.

4. Fill out the form that appears:

Category Name

Category Weight – THIS FIELD APPEARS ONLY IF

YOU HAVE SELECTED WEIGHT BASED GRADING.

Enter the numerical percentage for this category’s

contribution to the marking period grade. For

example, enter ‘40’ if this category contributes

40% to the marking period grade.

VERY IMPORTANT: If you leave this blank, the

category will take on any unassigned percentage

points across all categories. If ALL category weights

are left blank, then they all categories will be

weighted equally.

Add this category to other classes – click the

checkbox next to any class name, and this category

will appear in the selected class as well.

Click SAVE.

If you are using weight based grading and all your

category weights add up to more than 100%, you will get an alert message. However, if the sum of your category

weights is less than 100%, you will not see the warning message, so please double-check the weights of all your

categories.

5. The new category will appear, but without any assignments underneath it. Now you can begin adding assignments.

P a g e 7 | 13

6. Click the Add Assignment button on the left toolbar. Fill out the form that appears:

Assignment Name

Category: use the dropdown menu to choose the category to

which the assignment belongs

Assignment Weight: usually left blank, though you can assign a

weight to an individual assignment within a given category

High Score: total points for the assignment; defaults to 100. Once

you create an assignment, you are NOT able to change the value

in the High Score field. Instead, you would have to create a new

assignment with the correct total points, transfer any scores you

entered in the incorrect assignment, then delete the incorrect

assignment & its scores.

Use Check Mark to Score: select this box to make the assignment

a pass/fail assignment (given only 3 options: 100 = checkmark

(pass), 0 = X (fail), and blank)

Publish Grade to Portal: place a checkmark here to make this

assignment visible on the OnCourse Connect parent/student

portal. HOWEVER, unpublished grades will still calculate into the

overall marking period grade.

Non-Calculated Assignment: check this box when this

assignment’s scores are NOT meant to be calculated into the

student’s marking period grade.

Add this assignment to other classes: to copy this assignment to other classes/sections, check the box next to the

class name and use the dropdown menu to select the category in the other class.

Click SAVE when this form is complete.

7. ENTERING COMMENTS

Select the Comments checkbox at the top

of the page if you want to enter ANY

comments (report card comments or

individual assignment comments).

To enter a report card comment, click on

General Comment beneath the student’s

name.

To enter a comment for an assignment,

right-click in the score box to mark an

assignment Late, Incomplete, or Other

(score box will turn color). To remove the

color, right-click and select Clear.

Hover your mouse under the score and a

speech bubble will appear; click on it and

the Add New Comment will be displayed.

PLACE YOUR COMMENTS IN THE WHITE

BOX which can be seen on OnCourse

Connect by parents and students. ***Do

not use the RED internal comments box.***

P a g e 8 | 13

8. COPYING CATEGORIES AND ASSIGNMENTS

After you have created categories and assignments

for one marking period in one class, you may want

to copy the categories from that marking period to

all the other marking periods for that class. Or you

may want to copy categories AND assignments to

another section of the course. To do this, click the

Copy Gradebook button on the left toolbar.

The screen that appears will always display which

class you’re copying from; use the dropdown menu

to choose which class you want to copy into.

Select whether you want to copy categories,

assignments, or both.

THIS IS HOW YOU WILL COPY CATEGORIES FROM

THE FIRST MARKING PERIOD TO THE SECOND,

THIRD, AND FOURTH MARKING PERIODS within the

same class.

Remember to SAVE.

9. OVERRIDING MARKING PERIOD (QUARTER) GRADES

If you need to override a student’s

numerical grade (CHS) or marking

period letter grade with an

Incomplete, Pass, Fail, Withdrawal,

etc., click the pencil icon in the row of

the student’s name and select the

appropriate Final Grade Exception

reason.

10. FILTERS (useful for PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES)

On the top menu bar in your grade book are the Filters options. Use the dropdown menus to display only an individual

student; this view will be helpful at parent-teacher conferences rather than having to print out a grade sheet for each

student.

P a g e 9 | 13

11. EMAILING STUDENTS AND/OR GUARDIANS

Click the Send E-mail button on the left toolbar of your grade book.

Click Compose Mail, then select the class.

Use the dropdown menu for Recipients to specific individuals to email, or click the checkbox in the column heading to

select all students and guardians to email.

You can use the Include option to send any type of grading report (example: Quarter 1 grades) or assignment score

report to students and/or guardians.

These emails will appear in the Sent History section in OnCourse ONLY. However, any response you receive will

automatically appear in your Gmail inbox.

P a g e 10 | 13

12. SEATING CHART

When in Grade Book, select a class from the top Class dropdown menu.

Click the Seating Chart button found on the left toolbar.

The seating chart screen appears with the students in that class listed on the

right (pink for girls, blue for boys) as well as a Teacher desk that you can use.

Click and drag a name from the right list into the seating chart grid on the left.

There is no ‘autofill’ option.

Students who have been placed on the chart will be ‘grayed out’ on the student

list.

Once a student is placed on the chart, you can click-and-drag the student within the seating chart to reposition.

If you want student pictures to show, select Options > Show Photos.

You have the option

to RENAME the

seating chart (handy

if you have different

charts for different

classroom activities,

or if you change

seating arrangement

each marking period

and want to refer

back to a prior chart).

Make sure to SAVE.

P a g e 11 | 13

ONCOURSE CONNECT (STUDENT/GUARDIAN PORTAL) – WHAT DO STUDENTS & GUARDIANS SEE?

1. From your top menu bar, select Grade Book > OnCourse Connect.

2. If you do not see your school displayed in the left pane, click the [+] sign next to Schools. Tip: The [+] sign

means that ‘there is more to be seen’, so click the [+] to reveal more choices/information.

3. Now click the [+] sign next to the school name to reveal the alphabet, then click the [+] sign next to a

letter to reveal all the students with surnames beginning with that letter.

4. Click once on a student’s name to see the student OnCourse Connect portal view.

When homework is pulled from your Lesson Planner homework section to this page, it does not automatically put the

class name in front of the homework for each class Planner – so put the name of your class at the beginning of your

Lesson Planner homework section to be safe (example: Algebra II: pg. 145 # 1-15)

Make sure you have LINKED YOUR CLASS in your lesson plan – otherwise, all your students on all your rosters will see

the homework, not just the students to which the homework was assigned.

Students and guardians will be able to login and click on your name in the Teacher Websites section to access your

OnCourse website; a link to your OnCourse website will also be posted on the HVRSD district website.

P a g e 12 | 13

DISCIPLINE Select Student Info > People to find a student’s information.

Type a student’s last name in the search box and click Run Search.

A list of students matching your search criterion will appear on the right side of your screen. Click once on the name of the

student you want to view.

Once you have the student info displayed, click the student’s Discipline tab.

Click Add Incident to begin a discipline referral.

Use the dropdown choices to complete the write-up:

1. Select choices for Discipline Code, Location, Incident Date, Incident Time (choose the closest time), Referred By, and

Incident Context.

2. Select the most appropriate infraction for Discipline Code. Some of the codes have asterisks (****) listed with them.

School administration will automatically be notified of these incidents.

For discipline codes WITHOUT asterisks, make sure to select the Notify Administration checkbox at the bottom of the

screen if you want administration to be notified.

3. At some point, discipline incidents may be available for parents to see. Be professional and careful about what you

choose to write. KEEP IT FACTUAL. Make sure you write your comments in the RED Incident Description (Internal)

box.

4. NEVER write anything in the WHITE Incident Description (Public) box.

5. Select Save & Add Victims or Save & Close when you have finished entering information.

YOU MUST LOG ALL DISCIPLINE INCIDENTS, even if you are the one administering the disposition (for example, teacher detention for

tardies) so there is a running record for everyone to see.

P a g e 13 | 13

Once the discipline incident write-up is complete:

1. Click the [+] sign next to the incident to see the incident details; click the pencil to edit (or to delete) the incident

2. If there are more than one person to be written up, use the Copy to New button, where you can copy the highlighted

incident and use it as a starting point for another student

3. Select Add Disposition at the bottom of the screen to provide details if you are administering a disposition (example:

teacher detention). Make sure to SAVE when filling in the disposition screen.

If the discipline incident write-up requires action from the administration, you will find details (consequences given, action

taken) at the bottom of the screen in the Disposition Code section.