Help setting up for my class situation

I think this app is going to be life changing for me if I can figure out how to make it do what I'm hoping it will do. I can tell that it has real potential. I suspect what I want to do is easier than I'm making it, but I'm a bit confused.

Here's my situation: I'm an elementary music teacher. I give each kid 5 points for each class period for participation. If they show up and do their best, they get the five points. I make deductions for things like not having their recorder, excessive talking, disrespectful behavior, etc. I want to be able to use the seating chart and add icons to the students for that various infractions for that class. Even better would be if it would automatically deduct one point in the spreadsheet part for each infraction for that day. Will I be able to make it do that? Oh, and kids who are absent don,t get the five points, but it doesn't count against them either. Clear as mud?

I tried to create an account for this forum, but I haven't received the confirmation email. I checked my spam folder and quarantined messages.

Hi Beth,
The initial setup involves two steps, and once they are configured, the day to day will be a breeze.

I'll mention here the steps, and I'll explain them in detail in the next post.

You'll be able to do this with the current 2.5 version, no need for the update I mentioned in my earlier PM.

- The first step involves creating a grade type with your 5 points condition and in which you assign a value for each icon. You may want all icons to equal 1.0 points , but you can set any value to each icon. This is done from the main screen Grade types option.

- The next step is to configure the default options for a column , so that you can create these daily columns easily from the seating plan (or the gradebook) with a single tap.

I'll explain how to calculate the final score in the final post

The grade type. We'll call this 'Single day'

From the main screen, tap on Grade types, Add and select Numeric grade
The maximum value, set to 0 , the minimum to 5.
The icons value set to 1.0 for the ones you'd like to use. The red cross is set to 5.0 for absent kids.

Forget about the red cross. Just seen your condition on absent kids

Thank you. This was very helpful.

I thought I had this figured out, but I guess I don't. (or maybe I've been staring at it too long today). I'm a little confused by the pictures you have above because the Max grade is 0 and the Min grade is 5. That seems to be reversed to me. Right? I want kids to have a maximum of 5 points. Also, for the icon value configuration, I want negative numbers for deductions, correct? So, let's say a student comes to class and has forgotten his/her materials. I have an icon set for that to be -1. I can tap the seating chart and choose the icon that symbolizes -1 for not having materials. The student gets no other deductions for the class, so they will get 4/5 points for the day. The gradebook shows the icon for the correct deduction. The students who have no icons, have earned their full 5 points. I go into the grade book view and enter a green check (which I have set to be 5.0) and copy that to all empty cells. Now I've got a green check in every cell except the child who has the flag icon for the missing materials. At the end of the week (or whatever time period), can I do a calculation column that will translate all those icons to a percentage so that I can see that out of 20 possible points for the week, Student A had a 100%. Student B had 75% for the week because he/she had five deductions. Student C had one deduction for the week, but was also absent for one class which does not count against them, so I need the grade book to skip over the empty cell and figure the percentage for 14/15.

I really like the idea of using icons because I can quickly look at a student and see that they have a blue flag which means they received deductions for missing materials. Or they have a green flag which means they got a deduction for excessive talking (or whatever).

Am I making this complicated or what?

Hi Beth,
Yes, you're absolutely right, the example I pasted is set with a reverse grade because I tried to avoid having to insert the initial green check with a 5 in it, but I realized it would be more difficult to work with that later on and it wouldn't solve your requirement with absent students.

So, in short, your configuration is the right one. Maximum value should be 5, and minimum 0

Regarding the calculation, we've added the calculation you need n our version 3.0, which will be available in a day or two (should be today but apparently there is some delay at Apple).

Here a screenshot with iDoceo 3.0 and your configuration (in the example the red smiley equals -1 and the green check +5)

I thought I replied to this, but I don't see it. Thank you so much for your help. I can't wait for the update. This is really a great app. I've given it a 5 star rating in the app store.

This is exactly what I need, but I'm having trouble figuring out how to set it up now that I've updated to 3.0. I tried to set it up, but when I run the calculation column, it just stays at zero for every student. I must be missing something.

No problem, I'll give it a look as soon as possible.

Would you mind sending me a template of your grade book without its data ?
This will allow me to immediately view your configuration, and I'll be able to point you in the right direction.

To create a template:
From the grade book view, tap on Export, Share , and here 'All tabs' .Send it to support@idoceo.net

Thanks