Last updated on 7/20/15 by Erin Cunningham

Skyward Teacher’s Manual Riverside Brookfield High School

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Table of Contents

Basic Overview ...................................................................................................... 3

Skyport ........................................................................................................................................... 3

Changing Passwords ........................................................................................................................ 3

Main Screen .................................................................................................................................... 3

Attendance ........................................................................................................... 4

Taking Attendance .......................................................................................................................... 4

Viewing Attendance ........................................................................................................................ 4

Grade Book ........................................................................................................... 5

Overview ........................................................................................................................................ 5

Adding Assignments ........................................................................................................................ 6

Deleting Assignments ...................................................................................................................... 7

Entering Grades .............................................................................................................................. 7

Managing Categories ....................................................................................................................... 8

Printing Reports .............................................................................................................................. 8

Display Options ............................................................................................................................... 9

Teacher’s Log .................................................................................................................................. 9

Posting Grades .................................................................................................... 10

Grade eligibility and posting .......................................................................................................... 10

50% F’s and Incompletes ............................................................................................................... 10

Requesting Grade Changes ............................................................................................................ 11

Other Items ......................................................................................................... 12

Message Center ............................................................................................................................ 12

Student Records ............................................................................................................................ 12

Activities ....................................................................................................................................... 12

Seating Charts ............................................................................................................................... 12

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Basic Overview

Skyport When you log in, a new window will appear (make sure your pop-up blocker is turned off for Skyward-

Chrome will prompt you if your pop-up blocker is on) and you will see the Skyport interface. From this

home screen you can reach all of your "Teacher Access" functions like gradebooks and attendance.

You can also access "Student Management" options and adjust your account settings from this screen.

Changing Passwords 1. After logging into Skyward, click on “Account” in the upper right.

2. Click on “Change Password.”

3. Follow the on-screen directions.

Main Screen Teacher Access

o My Gradebook – Access a list of all of your classes, print reports, request grade changes, etc.

o My Students – Access a list of all of your students.

o My Classes – Access a list of all of your classes.

o Post Daily Attendance – One way to choose classes to enter attendance.

o My Homeroom – Access your homeroom roster.

o My Activities – Access your club/sport rosters.

NOTE: This option is available upon request. Contact Sherry Kocek for more information.

Near top right of the screen

o Print Queue – Look at a list of current or recent reports to print.

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Attendance

Taking Attendance You can take attendance from “Post Daily Attendance” on the main screen OR within one of

your class grade books by clicking “Attendance” “Take Daily Attendance.”

You may take attendance by name or seating chart (see seating charts). In either view, you will click on the button representing the attendance option you desire.

Students are marked “present” by default.

Some students may be pre-marked by the office and cannot be changed.

Click the “post attendance button” to finalize your attendance.

IMPORTANT:

You MUST post attendance. You cannot simply leave students marked “present.” Instructional

Coaches and administrators have access to see who has and has not posted attendance for the day.

All attendance for a given day must be posted by 4:00 p.m. on any given school day.

Viewing Attendance In your grade book, you can choose “Attendance” “Take Attendance by Name”

o You can choose “Show Today’s Attendance for All Periods” or “Show Previous Weeks Attendance”

o In the attendance window, you can choose “View Class Summary” to see term grades, attendance records from previous weeks, and a calculation of absences and tardies for each student in a class.

You can choose an individual student by clicking on their name and then choosing the

“Attendance” option on the right.

You can use “Reports” to print attendance records.

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Grade Book Overview

When you first select a grade book for a class, you will see all semesters and all terms visible.

To limit what is shown to the current term, do the following:

Go to “Teacher Access” and select “My Gradebook”

Choose the class for which you would like adjust the viewing options

Go to “Display Options” “Grade Period Display” along the top.

Check or uncheck the terms you wish to be visible (presumably this will be “Term 1” and “Progress Report 1” at the start of the year).

On the grade book screen, you have the following options:

Other Access – See other screens like discipline, course recommendations, etc.

Classes – Quickly change from one class’s grade book to another.

Assignments – Add an assignment or view a list of assignments.

Attendance – Take daily attendance or create a seating chart.

Categories – View, select, and assign weight to available categories.

Posting – Post grades and/or comments (see “Posting Grades” in this manual). Reports – Print different grade reports for your paper grade book.

Charts – View several graphs and charts of student progress.

Display Options – Change how your grade book appears on screen.

Quick Scoring – Enter scores almost as if your grade book were a spread sheet. Excel Export – Send your grade book into a Microsoft Excel spread sheet.

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Adding Assignments Choose “Assignments” “Add Assignments”.

o Select a category for the assignment.

o Type a short, simple description of the assignment.

o Assign Date = The date you gave the assignment to the students.

o Proposed Due Date = The original due date of the assignment.

o Actual Due Date = The date you actually collected the assignment.

o Max Score = How much the assignment is worth within the category.

o Weight Multiplier = Changes the worth of the assignment.

o Display Options = Set how the grade will be shown in the Gradebook (score, unweighted score, check, percent, or grade mark).

o Check boxes = Classes to which the assignment is posted.

Clicking “Attach” will attach a document to the assignment for student viewing.

Clicking “Options” will allow you to “Create Online Assignment”, including tests and quizzes that can be automatically graded and uploaded to your Gradebook.

Save the assignment when you are done.

IMPORTANT!

Skyward updates in REAL TIME. As soon as you enter an assignment, it is visible to parents and

students. Students can also see the assignment and its due date in their Skyward calendars.

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Deleting Assignments From the main grade book screen, click the name of the assignment.

Click “Delete” and confirm your choice.

You can “Restore Deleted Assignments” in the “Display Options” tab if you make a mistake.

Entering Grades You can enter grades three basic ways:

o Click “Quick Scoring” on the main grade book screen.

• Helpful when grading multiple assignments at once.

o Click “Save and Score” when you create an assignment.

o Double-click on a grade box from the main grade book screen.

Enter a score in the box provided.

o Extra credit is allowed.

o Fractional points are allowed.

o Negative points are allowed.

“No count” will excuse a student from the assignment.

“Missing” will tag the assignment as missing in reports.

“Comment” will add comments that ARE VISIBLE to parents and students.

A “P” in the code box will translate as “Pending” and not count.

An “E” in the code box will translate as “Excused” and not count.

An “R” in the code box will translate as “Revised” but not alter the credit.

An “L” in the code box will flag the assignment as “Late” but not alter the credit.

Click “Save” when you are done.

Other options exist on the right-hand side for mass assigning scores.

IMPORTANT!

When you create and save an assignment, it is immediately visible to students and parents.

Assignments that are left ungraded will be marked with an * in the Gradebook for you and students.

However, even if you do not check the “Missing” box for students, assignments left as * will appear

in their Missing Assignment log.

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Managing Categories Use the “Categories” button at the top of the

screen.

Use “Change Score Method” to decide between these two options:

o Calculate grade using total points.

o Calculate grade using weighted categories.

Use the “Add/Edit” button to add available categories to your list.

IMPORTANT:

If you need a category and it is not listed, please contact Erin Cunningham

(cunninghame@rbhs208.net) and s he will add the category for you.

Printing Reports Printing reports allows you to print hard copy records for your physical grade book or to give to

parents. There are too many report options to cover completely here, but I will give you a basic sense of what you can do.

When you move the mouse over the “Reports” button, you can see a list of the basic reports available. Choose the one you’d like.

You’ll see a list of several different varieties of that report.

o Click “Print” to send the selected report to your print queue.

o Click “View Parameters” to get a sense of what the report will be like.

After you click “Print” you’ll see your print queue, and your report will say “queued” in green. Wait a moment or two, and click “Refresh” until it says “completed” in blue.

You may then click the name of the report to open a PDF version of it and print it.

Use the “Delete” button the remove a report from your queue if you no longer need it.

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Display Options The following options are available to you when you view your Gradebook:

Student Display – Change how student names appear on the screen.

Assignment Display – Change how assignments appear on the screen.

Grade Period Display – Change which terms appear on the screen.

Modify Gradesheet Sequence – Change the order of names in the grade book.

Color Legend – See which colors equal which categories.

Teacher’s Log – Add (relatively) private comments to students. SEE BELOW.

Drop Lowest Score – Exactly what it says.

Advanced Drop Lowest Score – As above, but with more options.

Restore Deleted Assignments – A back up in case you erase something.

Student Groups – Create groups within a class.

View Back Up – Exactly what it says.

Assignment Comment Bank – Take a look at what comments you’ve been using.

Teacher’s Log The Teacher’s Log allows you to keep running documentation regarding a student. Parents and students

do not automatically see this information, but they CAN LEGALLY REQUEST TO SEE IT.

To add a log entry:

Select a student.

Click “Add New Log Entry.” Enter the text of the entry.

You may post the entry to parent or student access if you wish.

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Posting Grades Grade eligibility and posting Grades and athletic eligibility now post automatically. Refer to the staff bulletin and Skyward’s home

page to note posting times.

It is your responsibility to have your grades as updated and accurate as possible at announced posting

times.

50% F’s and Incompletes Giving a Student a 50% for an F in T1 or T3:

1. Go to the appropriate class. 2. Under T1 or T3 (whichever is appropriate) select Options Enter T1 (or T3) grade adjustment. 3. Enter a number of points by which you wish to adjust the student’s grade. 4. Click “Save.”

Giving a Student an Incomplete (“ I”):

1. Go to the appropriate class. 2. Under T1 (or whichever term), select Options Enter T1 grade adjustment. 3. Flag the student’s grad as “Incomplete.”

IMPORTANT:

You must ALSO repeat this process for the semester (S1 or S2) affected. For example, if the student

is “incomplete” for T1, they must ALSO be marked incomplete for S1. Similarly, you must REMOVE

the incomplete flag in both places when the incomplete is resolved (see below).

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Requesting Grade Changes If quarter grades have posted and you need to make a change, you have to go through some extra steps

because the grade book locks itself after each quarter ends.

As a semester comes to a close, you may need to clear up incompletes, change erroneous grades, or make other fixes to earlier quarters. Here is the procedure on Skyward as if you were fixing a grade in T1 (first quarter) after it has locked:

1. From “Teacher Access”, click “My Gradebook”

2. Click "Posting Status" choose the term where you need to make the change

3. Highlight the course where you need to make a change.

4. Click "Request Grade Change."

5. Please enter a description identifying why you are making a change.

6. You may now make needed changes. The grade book will "lock" again in 2 hours.

To change a score below 50% to a 50%:

1. After requesting a change (see above), click on the "Options" menu under the T1 score.

2. Select "Enter T1 Grade Adjustments."

3. You can now enter a number of percentage points by which to adjust a student's grade.

4. Click "Save."

To amend an incomplete:

1. After making necessary grade changes, select the "Options" menu under the T1 score.

2. Select "Enter T1 Grade Adjustments."

3. Remove the "I" for incomplete flag.

4. Click "Save."

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Other Items Message Center You can use the Message Center to send Skyward messages and e-mails to parents and students.

Go to your grade book for a class.

Click “Other Access” “Message Center.”

Click “Apply Filter.”

Click “Add Message” either for this class or multiple classes.

Follow on screen directions.

Note that you can select, via the bottom of the screen, to both post the message to the Message Center AND to e-mail it to parents and/or students.

If so selected, parents and/or students can reply to your messages and you can reply to them.

Student Records Simply put, you can always click on a student’s name to bring up his/her demographic records.

Activities This section of the grade book exists to help coaches and sponsors. It will allow you to view records and

grades and send messages to members of your activities.

To gain access to an activity, you will have to work with Sherry Kocek and give her a roster for the

activity. She can then log and add the activity to our database.

Seating Charts In your grade book, go to “Attendance” “Assign Seats for Seating Chart.”

Choose the number of rows and columns of seats you want.

You must arrange in rows, but you CAN leave seats empty.

“Select” a student and then click “Fill Seat” or another student to swap their seats.

Click “Save” to keep your changes.