We’ve created BJA-specific resources for you as you get started with Sycamore.
Sycamore App Available
Several of the PDF’s below reference Sycamore’s App. It doesn’t need much explanation, so it doesn’t get a special instruction document. You can download it from the Apple’s App Store or Google Play.
SchoolHomeOverview
Sycamore’s home page for each staff member is called “School Home.” This talks about what you need to look for on that first page.
PDF and video are both available
ClassHomeOverview
From School Home you can move to a home page for each of your classes. Elementary regular classroom teachers, you’ll have one of these for each class that has percentage grades. Middle and high school teachers, plus elementary related arts teachers, you’ll have one for each section (“class”) of each course that you teach.
PDF and video are both available
Attendance
A critical part of a teacher’s life: taking attendance.
PDF also discussed in ClassHome video
Gradebook
This is, as you’d expect, the most complex part of the system.
A short PDF is available, as is a video.
Also available are PDF’s that dig in to the grade book.
Set up your class using Sycamore’s grading and groupings. Enter an assignment into the gradebook.
Various views for entering grades into Sycamore.
Set up extra credit grades, negative scores, notations about grades, and records that do not affect the overall grade.
How teachers and parents view the grades of a student.
If you need to email your students or their parents, you can do that—including basic email design, adding attachments, and more.
Importing Grademaster Scores
Grademaster is the machine-gradable system that is available at BJA. You can easily push those scores directly into Sycamore—if you don’t want to enter them by hand.
Syncing with Google Classroom (BJA Learn)
If you’re using BJA Learn, you may be interested in having assignment scores push over into your Sycamore gradebook.
PDF and video are both available
Report cards
Grades 1-12 give letter grades for classes. K3-6 and elementary related arts classes give give attribute grades (formerly called skills). K3-6 classroom teachers give narrative evaluations (formerly called comments).
Secondary Discipline
Grades 6-12 use Sycamore’s discipline feature.