Using templates, you can save different gradebook column layouts to help you with specific tasks. You can include any number of columns from both column categories in your templates, allowing you to build custom templates that align with your gradebook tasks.
Template Columns
Columns are the building blocks of templates. The two types of columns you can use to create a template are defined as follows:
- Demographic and System Columns: These columns contain student information such as absence and tardy totals, address fields, ID numbers, and homerooms. Columns added from this category are displayed in the grid on the left side of the gradebook. The columns in this category are synced from AdminPlus using the TeacherPlus Setup & Sync Manager.
- Gradebook Columns: These columns contain grading information such as exams, marking periods, narratives, and averages. Columns added from this category are displayed to the right of the Demographic and System Columns. The columns in this category contain data added directly to TeacherPlus Gradebook.
Making the Most of Templates
You can get started working with templates in two ways: changing a default template to create a custom one of your own or creating a brand new template from scratch. Whichever approach you take, you can select columns from both the Demographic & System Columns category and the Gradebook Columns category to build a template that matches your goals.
A quick way to start is to use the default templates that come pre-loaded with TeacherPlus or to use them as a starting point to create a custom template. Default templates have square brackets around their names (for example, [Name & Average]), and they can be found in the template dropdown list.
Although you can't permanently change default templates, you can use them as blueprints to create custom templates. For example, you can select a default template and then add or remove (hide) columns as needed. When you either add or remove a column, the current layout changes to [Custom] in the template drop-down list. At this point, you should save the template as a new one so that you don't lose your changes and so that you can later refer to this new layout by selecting it from the template drop-down list.
When the default templates don't meet your needs, you can also create an entirely new template using any combination of Demographic & System Columns and Gradebook Columns. You can flexibly create a template for any situation you might find useful, so the possibilities are numerous. Whichever approach you choose to create your template, once you've created it, you can edit it in the Template Options menu. From this menu, you can also permanently delete a template if no longer needed. Note that deletion affects all gradebooks using that template.
When you create a template, you can select any number of columns; however, adding too many columns may make the information difficult to read. To improve readability, you can display Student Name, APID, UNID, or Average and Grade to the right of the score columns. You can also hide score columns entirely if they're not relevant to the task at hand. You should create templates that help you with specific tasks, as they are flexible enough to provide an efficient workspace layout for almost any situation.
Template Examples
Default templates include Name & Average, Name Only, RC View, Category Subtotals, and Comments & Narratives. These templates can be modified to suit your needs. However, if you find that you need an entirely new type of template, you can create one of your own.
- To reference student IEPs before writing narratives for the marking period, you could do the following:
- Select the Student Name and IEP columns from the Demographic and System Columns category.
- Select the Narratives column from the Gradebook Columns category.
- Show the Average and Grade for the current marking period on the right, after the score columns.
