Resources "In the Cloud"

I am in the process of setting up an account on School Circuit. It is a free online gradebook that students and parents can access. I am hoping that it will be a great resource for parents to see how their child is doing on weekly spelling and math tests, as well as to see if they are caught up on their reading and math points. I know that some students don’t bring their tests home after they get them back. I am hoping that it will also be a great place to share study guides and test dates for other tests. I was disappointed that there wasn’t more information about what the program does before having to sign up and enter in students. What would be fantastic if there was a resource that would send out an email to parents when a new grade is added. That way they would be reminded to check it. There would only be a few each week so they wouldn’t be bombarded with emails. Once set up, I will go over it with my students so that they can see where their grades for different things are recorded. I believe that this will make them more accountable for their own work. They can see that the scores matter and don’t just go away if they throw out their tests. Most don’t understand the concept of averages, but they do know that the closer to 100% you are, the better you are doing. Our middle and high school use Powerschool for a gradebook that students and parents can access. As a parent, I find it very helpful in seeing what my kids need to be working on. In our elementary school, we only use it for attendance and lunch counts. Except for a few items, our system doesn’t really do “grades.” Which is why, I assume, that we don’t have access to the gradebook feature of Powerschool. I do use grades (percentages) for several things: weekly spelling tests, weekly math tests, and content area tests. It would be extremely helpful if I found a program that parents can keep up on how their children are doing with respect to the AR and AM points. They are to get a minimum of 2 points per week on each starting in 2nd grade. Reports that show the points don’t always make it home. I am hoping to find a solution with some of the resources from this week. Study Island is a great resource that kids can use at school or at home. They work through objectives and earn blue ribbons when they have shown that they know the material. They get to see their blue ribbons and I give them a prize when they finish a certain amount. I have checked out some of the other sites that others’ have posted on their blogs and/or on Twitter. I have an account for Dropbox, but see that so far as more of a resource for myself and my colleagues. My third graders do not have their own computers, laptops, or ipads so it is difficult to use these programs with them. I have looked at Evernote, also. That looks like a great resource as well, just not one I would be using with my third graders. I need to look into it more to see all that it does. It looks very promising though