As of the beginning of the second semester, teachers have the option to directly use MyGDS to send students’ grades back.
Previously, grades on individual assignments were not accessible via MyGDS, and students received grades on paper, by email or through an alternate website such as Google Classroom. Semester report cards and progress reports were and continue to be sent out to students on MyGDS.
Now, teachers can post grades and comments directly on MyGDS throughout the semester, allowing students to view their assignments and the feedback they receive on them in one place. The update does not calculate their cumulative grade in a class, nor is it visible in the parent view of MyGDS.
History teacher James Elish was a major proponent of the change. Elish started at GDS during the 2022-23 school year, and he said that he was initially “confused by not being able to give students comments or give them their grade back on MyGDS even though that’s where we post our assignments.”
However, when the MyGDS system was refreshed for the 2023-24 school year, the option to return grades through a portal on the website was “accidentally turned on,” Elish said. He used the function for the first few weeks of school until it was turned off again, due to being activated unintentionally. Elish said his disappointment at losing the ability to return grades on MyGDS convinced him to suggest permanently activating it.
After pitching his idea to Assistant Principal for Academics Khalid Bashir in October, Elish, alongside history teacher Kim Nguyen, introduced the change to the department chairs. After winter break, once the function was officially available for use, Elish and Nguyen presented it to all teachers.
When asked about how MyGDS may change in the future, Elish said, “I’m not talking about an open grade book in the sense of showing the cumulative grade. That’s not what’s on the table right now.”
Junior Evelyn Chen, one of Elish’s students, said she appreciates the convenience of being able to access her grades online. However, she said that she prefers having a physical copy of her work returned to her. She said that comments are more helpful when they are on a physical copy of her work. “I can see his edits by hand, and I feel like the edits are more in-depth,” Chen said.
Numerous teachers have been electing to use the MyGDS function, such as Spanish teacher Parker Benedict. With the change in MyGDS, teachers are also able to mark assignments as missing if they have not received a student’s work. Benedict said that, before the update, she often had to repeatedly alert students of their missing homework via email, so she appreciates that she is now able to mark assignments as missing directly on MyGDS.
Although some teachers who have begun using MyGDS to share grades with students have found it to be helpful, others have not made the transition, such as English Department Chair Katherine Dunbar.
“I work better pencil to paper, and so it would be a big leap for me,” Dunbar said. “To have a student hold their paper and see my pencil marks on it feels like we are outside of the digital world.”
However, Dunbar said she is not against the idea of using the function in the future. “I was really interested in Kim and James’ presentation to us,” she said. “If kids would find that they have more control and have a better sense of their academic world, that feels really worth it,” Dunbar said of the update.
Although the update is not an open grade book, and Elish clarified that it is not a step toward live cumulative grading, it does make it easier for students to see their grades. Some students share the sentiment that it should begin a move towards live grading.
Sophomore Corina Bellerman thinks the update should start a transition toward a fully open grade book. “I like having teachers be transparent with our grades and having all of our grades in one place instead of scattered around,” she said.
“I think that it’s much more helpful for students to know their grade than for students to be stuck not knowing,” said freshman Maddy Allen, who supports live grading.
“You’re always aware if you have a bad grade in a class so that you can work harder,”
Said Junior Julia Davis, who also supports live grading. “Open grades would be helpful to those who want to look at them, and then people who don’t or get stressed out about them just don’t have to,” she said.
When asked why he is against an open cumulative grade book even while he argues for MyGDS as a platform for grades to be returned, Nguyen said, “Students would check it often because of the culture here,” which he believes would create a more stressful environment.
English teacher Chris Thompson, who experienced the transition to an open grade book at his previous school, found that it reduced his students’ stress about their grades. “They seemed less stressed, and the students who were willing to speak about it said that they were less stressed,” he said. “It does not take away the stress of waiting to get a grade on an assignment, but it does take away the uncertainty of knowing what the trajectory of your grade actually is.”