Long before school management systems, students did not have the convenience of logging in to check their grades. They’d have to wait anxiously for progress reports or report cards to be mailed home, or they’d find out what their grades were when parents did at parent-teacher conferences. Those days are long gone, though. Sycamore’s school management system allows students to check their grades instantaneously, access due and upcoming assignments, view important classroom information, and much more. With Sycamore, students have the accessibility to navigate through a variety of different tools and features, and they can always stay up-to-date on any on assignments and grades that are so pivotal to success in the classroom.
Info Center
The Info Center is what its title suggests, as it houses a multitude of features students can check and access upon logging into Sycamore. Students are often times so focused on logging in and checking their grades, that they don’t always notice the Info Center. In addition to being able to search for school library books, students can also look at the cafeteria menu to see what is for lunch for the upcoming day, week and month, which is sure to be a popular resource. Online Forms and Event Registrations, which are created on the Admin side of Sycamore, are other valuable tools to utilize in accessing those forms and signing up for events that have been created.
Classroom Availability
The Sycamore classroom, especially to students, can be an extremely valuable tool to take advantage of. To enter a classroom, students can go to My School | My Classes and click on the blue hyperlink classes to enter each classroom. Once in the classroom, they can access news articles, documents, photo albums, links, etc., to help boost academic engagement. It’s this type of hands-on learning, with students taking control of their own education, that can help them increase their academic responsibility both in and out of the classroom.
On that same note, when students enter a classroom, at the bottom-right, there will be a Current Assignments tab. This section will list the current assignments that have been assigned. This is just another avenue that ensures students are aware of the assignments they need to complete, and when they need to be complete by.
Class Discussions are another vital resource students can use to help make sure they are staying engaged with the classroom material. Once the teacher creates a new board under Comm Center | Discussions, students will be able to enter this area and share their thoughts on the topic of choice. This also gives those students who are reluctant and uncomfortable speaking in front of the class another outlet to express their ideas and what they’ve learned about a particular discussion topic.
Uploading Assignments/Projects
Another intriguing aspect of Sycamore, which also ties in with the theme of students taking charge of their education, is the ability for students to upload their own assignments, projects, presentations, etc. If the teacher marks an assignment to have dropbox compatibility, students will be able to log in and go to My School | My Dropbox. Once here, their classes will appear, and they’ll be able to upload their assignments/projects to their respective classrooms. This is not only beneficial to the students, but it also helps the teacher compile all assignments/projects in one centralized location.
