Monthly Mentions... MARCH

Each month, FastDirect provides a newsletter to help our schools stay on top of all things related to FastDirect. Click any of the headers below to find out more information than what was included in the most recent Monthly Mentions.

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download March

  • Coming Up This Month...

    • Opening up teacher input for 3rd Quarter Report Cards will require:
      • Confirming the 3rd quarter dates in 'Grades' then 'Report Card Input Controls'
      • Changing input for 3rd quarter Report Cards from 'Not Yet' to 'Allow Input' in 'Report Card Input Controls'
      • Having teachers go through the 3rd quarter report card input process
      • Closing the input process by changing 'allow input' to 'input complete'
    • To prepare for next school year, HelpDesk can assist you in turning on Re-Registration, which will allow you to:
      • Keep track of which students will be returning next year
      • Have a running total of how many students per grade level are registered for the next school year
      • Charge and deposit registration fees and payments in Finance
      • Determine if you would like your parents to re-register their child on-line
    • Registration for new students can be done at any time by adding the family and then adding the student into the 'Applicants' group.
    • HelpDesk can also help set up the Tuition account for next year.

  • Did You Know...for Administrators

    • WildCards can be added to keep track of unlimited data, such as:
      • Student immunizations
      • State testing scores
      • Protecting God's Children
      • Much, much more!
    • WildCard fields can be created for:
      • Students
      • Parents
      • Staff
    • Here are the steps to create a WildCard field:
      • Click on the 'Defaults' icon
      • Scroll down and click on the line that says 'Add/Change WildCards'
      • In the drop down, select who you are creating the WildCard for: Staff, Parents or Students
      • Type in the name of the WildCard field, such as 'Immunizations'
      • Click 'Create New WildCard'

  • Did You Know...for Teachers

    • Here are the Display Controls in a teacher's GradeBook:
      • Show Math - displays the calculations used for each grade and overall grade
      • View Only - condenses the grade book for printing
      • Show Only - only displays a specific category
      • Get Notes - displays the field for notes for each grade/event
      • Reverse Date Order - reverses the order of events by date
      • Show Student Names Column for Every # of Events - this will repeat the column of students' names further down the list of events
      • Show Event Names Row for Every # of Students - this will repeat the name of the event further down the list of students' names
      • Input single event / Numeric Keypad Entry - allows the teacher to edit one event at a time while using the 'Enter' button as a 'Tab' function
    • The Display Controls can be found in the GradeBook, underneath the last student's name in the roster
    • The Display Controls can be turned on or off by placing a check mark to the right of the control and then clicking 'Update'

  • Did You Know...for Parents

    • There are five different formats to view a GradeBook:
      • Full GradeBook Printout
      • One line per event
      • One line per course
      • One line per event - percentage grade only
      • One line per event - letter/symbol grade only
    • A Full GradeBook Printout displays:
      • Every course, every event, every grade, every category, every date, every note
      • The weighting scheme used for each course
      • The calculations used to determine the overall grade
      • An overall percentage grade as well as a symbol/letter grade
    • One Line Per Event displays:
      • Every course, every event, every grade, every category, every date, every note
      • The weighting scheme used for each course
      • An overall percentage grade as well as a symbol/letter grade
    • One Line Per Course displays:
      • Every course
      • An overall percentage grade as well as a symbol/letter grade
    • One Line Per Event - percentage grade only displays:
      • Every course, every event, every percentage grade, every category, every date, every note
      • The weighting scheme used for each course
      • An overall percentage grade
    • One Line Per Event - letter/symbol grade only displays:
      • Every course, every event, every letter/symbol grade, every category, every date, every note
      • The weighting scheme used for each course
      • An overall letter/symbol grade
    • To choose which format you would like your parents to view, you will:
      • Go to 'Grades' then 'Parent View Controls'
      • Under the columns for 'GradeBook', you will choose in the drop down the format you want
      • Make sure to click 'Submit' when you are finished

  • What's New...

    • Administrators now have the ability to re-assign courses from one teacher to another! Here's how:
      • Go to 'Grades' then 'Show Who Teaches What'
      • Select the name of the teacher who originally taught the course, click 'Edit'
      • Make note of the course ID#
      • Underneath the list of courses for the teacher will be an option to re-assign a course
      • In the first drop down, select the name and ID# of the course to be re-assigned
      • Select the name of the teacher who will be the new instructor of this course
      • Click 'Re-assign'
      • For the original teacher, an empty course with the same ID# will appear at the bottom of the list of courses
      • For the new instructor, a new course and ID# will appear in their GradeBook along with all the GradeBook and ReportCard grades
    • Re-assigning courses will take a course, along with all of the students and grades, and transfer it from one GradeBook to another.
    • Re-assigning a course is perfect for:
      • Any courses that will switch teachers at semester or quarter breaks
      • Any teachers who will be leaving the school, such as retiring or maternity leave

  • Trimester Schedules

    • If your schools is on trimesters, March may be too soon to be preparing for mid-trimester reports.
    • To prepare for next school year, HelpDesk can assist you in turning on Re-Registration, which will allow you to:
      • Keep track of which students will be returning next year
      • Have a running total of how many students per grade level are registered for the next school year
      • Charge and deposit registration fees and payments in Finance
      • Determine if you would like your parents to re-register their child on-line
    • Registration for new students can be done at any time by adding the family and then adding the student into the 'Applicants' group
    • HelpDesk can also help set up the Tuition account for next year

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