ThinkWave Educator Reviews

Some quirks but over all time saver

Pros:

Being able to show my students exactly what they need to do to pull them up to their desired grade is fantastic. Knowing instantly what a student's work has done for them and showing the student is a great motivator. Showing parents who complain about their student's grades is great too, there's no ambiguity, the numbers are there. The weighting and bonus grades allow some flexibility to reward students who make that extra effort.

Cons:

The custom grade scale is an absolute nightmare. My board (and indeed education ministry) uses Levels, not letter grades. 1-, 1, 1+ etc. Because Thinkwave takes the average of the gap between the minimum grade needed to achieve a level and the minimum of the next one, to get a fair number takes a lot of math work, which hurts this English teacher's brain. Example. 3+ should be worth about 77.5. In order to get that, I have to make the minimum grade for it 76 and the max 80. When a student fails I don't want to necessarily just give a 0, sometimes 10 or 20% on the major assignment can make a huge difference. If I want to make a grade of 20, I need to create a grade called 20 with a minimum of twenty and then create a blank grade (___) with a grade of 20.000001. Doing this for 10, 20, 30, 40 and 45 is rather obnoxious and takes up a lot of room in the drop down menu. The same goes when you try and make a check grade. If a 0 is entered it actually gives the student a 25 because it's halfway between 0 and the next grade, a 50. Took me a while to figure out that you need to enter the grade as incomplete to get a 0. Missing discounts the grade from the averaging entirely but makes you aware it is missing, and excused does the same. Kinda strange. Be nice if there was some documentation to go with the custom grading so I didn't have to figure this all out via trial and error.

Thinkwave Gradebook Pros and Cons

Comments: My overall experience with thinkwave has been a very fun adventure

Pros:

What I Loved about thinkwave was being able to organize all your assignments, Being able to create more than just ONE class I taught and I am teaching 5 different subjects and I've had a blasted unlike other gradebooks I'm able to show my students exactly were they are at grade wise I am able to show them EXACTLY what had caused them to drop from a 98 to a 65 in just seconds so Think wave can be very helpful to not just students but families as well.

Cons:

All in all although thinkwave is great I questioned why it doesn't have its own discipline system because I mean personal experience I don't have time to stop a mini lesson to go through desk drawers and folders just to fill out a discipline referral Form. When if thinkwave were to have it I can A still teach and B it's not as difficult All i have to do is full it out on the grade book it self one last thing I really wish thinkwave allowed teachers to submit grades.

NO support

Comments: Without support, a product is useless.

Pros:

It is easy to use. We have the paid version and use it with many professors who can easily input grades.

Cons:

It is easy to use, but there is NO support if you have a question. I have had 3 questions (just yes or no questions) since we started using it. The support page takes you to an email link. After multiple emails to them, I have yet to receive a return email. If you call the phone number provided, it tells you to send them an email! We will be switching to another system because of the lack of support.

Great Product and Amazing Service.

Comments: Never before has it been easier for students to know their grades and how they are performing in the class more so then it is now. Thinkwave makes it exceptionally easy for students to see what assignments they are missing, how they are performing, and their overall grade in the class.

Pros:

Thinkwave also makes it very easy for us to lay out our 18-week course, which we separate into three six week course effortlessly.

Cons:

Students have instant access to how they are doing in class. They have very professional customer service as well. Any questions we had were answered promptly; which was most appreciated.

Innovative school management software

Comments: I set up the software for an employer who would be required to use it for a week of teaching. Set up was easy, there's online help if needed. Students names and photos are available, making it easier to become familiar with them. You can enter assignments and scoring options ahead of time.

Pros:

Product was easy to use. I liked the idea behind it--streamlining communication between students and faculty. I only needed to upload the syllabus and it was available to all of the students.

Cons:

When setting up daily assignments, the software alphabetized them rather than leaving them in the order I entered them.

Enhanced Our Ability To Communicate

Pros:

Thinkwave has been an outstanding addition to our summer program. Never before has communication with students and teacher been more seamless and effortless the with Thinkwave. Thinkwave improved enhanced our educational system in some ways. Such as: Thinkwave made it easy for parents and students to have access to how their kids were doing Students were able to monitor their assignment and grades There is a much smoother level of communication Student information is held for years

Cons:

If you are looking for software that will improve your teaching experience and make it more transparent for teachers, students and parents then this is a program worth using.

A truly immersive and user-friendly app

Comments: We found this program to be incredibly beneficial for not only our teachers and staff but also our students. Students can look into their grade book in real-time. Students can see what assignments they missed and take better control of their grades and education. This is a skill we believe will serve them very well in later grades.

Pros:

streamlined dozens of records and task into one central location keeping track of grades and attendance has never been easier

Cons:

Some students can hack their grades.....

Handle work from the comfort of our homes

Pros:

This software makes it extremely easy to monitor and pond to students in an instance. Grading and commenting is effortless and are essential because it is all online answering and residing to people makes it so we can handle work form the comfort of our homes.

Cons:

There not get any issue yet. I hope it will go well in the future

Catch The ThinkWave

Pros:

This software allows access to grades by teachers, admins, parents, and students alike. It makes keeping track of grades easy and hassle free, so inquiries about them can be answered swiftly.

Cons:

Depending on your grading system, if its non-traditional for example, it can cause some confusion.

Time Abundance Like Never Before

Comments: We have gained a considerable amount of time due to Thinkwave. Before using Thinkwave, we were strenuously and arduously recording all our records MANUALLY. You can imagine the time that was lost.

Pros:

A host of records such transcripts, grades, attendance and so much more can be completed as well as printed with a few clicks. This saves us money and more importantly TIME.

Cons:

We have found no flaws or anything to complain about. Truly an excellent product

Maintaining Information Has Never Been Easier

Pros:

This program is exceptionally convenient and very easy to use. It allows teachers to add assignments as well as enter grades easily. Furthermore, the technical staff (the customer support) is stellar.

Cons:

This is a system that is extremely easy to use and gives teachers more time to manage assignment and grades much more effectively. This is indeed the way of the future in regards to learning and educating.

A great tool for any busy teacher!

Comments: The lesson planning process becomes easier. I can easily check and share students progress.

Pros:

Lesson planning has never been that easy! Excellent for keeping track of students' performance. A nice tool to make teacher's job more enjoyable.

Cons:

It needs improvements in the grade systems ASAP. Unfortunately, technical support is too poor. No answers to emails at all.

I didnt prefer the product, it seemed very limited.

Pros:

Acoounts were very easy to set up and begin using. Data also seemed easy to input. It had a free option.

Cons:

It didnt have a very detailed format amd when printing a report alot of space was wasted by extra spacing.

Perfect Grading System

Comments: just want to say . it's Perfect Grading System

Pros:

*straightforward software to install *free of browser plug-ins

Cons:

*No cons. Great software , easy to use .

NO Customer Service

Comments: I think this could be a good program. I was very excited about using it and very excited about the price. I purchased it and got help one day and now no one will call me and no one will answer emails. This stinks. I just need a few questions answered but instead my report cards are late because they will not call me. I have left my name and number all week and NOTHING. I;ve sent in an email and NOTHING!!!

Reliable grading

Comments: Easy to use and deploy. Cloud-based, so I can use on my iPad and school desktop. Does assignment type weighting. Also lets me upload and collect homework. Messaging could be better with automatic emails on demand. But does send weekly update emails.