Re: Power School

On 3/14/09, SalesPitchUseKids wrote:
> I do not understand why schools are buying Power School,
> Curriculum Mapper and other programs. It almost seems like
> they want to overload their teachers so the managers can
> have an excuse, or to keep teachers under their power.
> Really, I don't get it. I keep wondering about this when I
> do grades, write curriculum, etc. The programs they make
> teachers use are so cumbersome.
>
> I think most teachers are used to Microsoft Word and Excel.
> Excel is great for calculations, analysis of grades,
> adjusting grades as necessary (to balance student motivation
> for example). The vast majority of teachers do this. Even
> principals want this done. Have principals taught long
> enough to know the most efficient methods?
> I just keep thinking - what is up with all of this? Is it
> that everyone wants to be a manager and no one has been in
> the trenches. (Maybe that is it. I am thinking now of some
> of the teaching interviews where I was told that "nowdays"
> [back in the 90's] they want managers more than academic
> specialists.)
>
> Ok, I like Power School because it is easier to communicate
> with parents. Of course parents should be supportive and
> not join in overwhelming the teachers. What I don't like
> about Power School is how its Power Grade grading program is
> so different. Why can't I take my Excel grades and just
> paste them into Power Grade? Power Grade looks like a
> program that would take a tremendous amount of programming
> by the company to allow grades to be pasted. It also looks
> like it would be difficult at this point for the programmers
> to build more Excel like features into Power Grade. How did
> Power School get this far? Did teachers have any input into
> this? What teachers? What kind of teachers - wanna-be mangers?
>
> I always enter the same grades into Power Grade as I do in
> Excel. I use Excel as a back up and check. I run the two
> systems side by side on the monitor. Most every time there
> is a discrepancy. Sometimes it is in the Power Grade entry
> and sometimes it is in the Excel calculations. I want to
> keep doing this, but I wish I could just copy and paste my
> Excel grades into Power Grade. Did the programmers realize
> this should be done?