Onward with Google Scripts

As I continue to work toward a useable gradebook in Google Sheets, I am tweaking the scripts along with it. One of the things I want this gradebook to do is to create progress reports or report cards based on 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th 9 weeks, with no coding from me. To facilitate that, I have created global variables for the entire cumulative gradebook sheet. Here is an example of the code for those global variables.

The numbers correspond to column numbers in the spreadsheet. For the global variables, there are about 125 lines of code. This includes the templates for the progress reports, i.e. 1st, 2nd, etc.

My favorite part of this script is the Custom Menu. I have created a function for each of the nine weeks progress reports. Then in the menu, I have submenus which allow you to run each of the functions (separate scripts). Here's what the menu looks like:

The customizability of this function means that as a coder (VERY novice), you can create functions in Google Docs which will allow "non-techie" users to feel comfortable using them. This gets me excited! As long as I am comfortable creating (or stealing) code for some function, I can do pretty much anything I want in Google Docs.

why am i so fortunate?

Call it blessed, lucky, fortunate; it doesn't matter what name you give it, its me. Over the last year I have been blessed with so much technology, I don't know what to do with it all. Since January of 2008 I have received two laptops (1 PC and 1 Mac), a SmartBoard, a Cosmic Ray Detector, and basically anything else I ask for to outfit my classroom for student learning. I don't know what I have done to deserve this. I'm not anything special in the classroom. I don't "brown nose" to get what I want (do I?).

I know teachers who ask for this kind of equipment and never see half of what they ask for. I, on the other hand, don't even have to ask for stuff and I keep getting it! What's the deal? Just this week, my research mentor asked me if there was anything I would like to have for my classroom, physics related. She said they had some money left over from a grant and would like to buy some equipment for me. I thought to myself, "self, you'd better jump on this opportunity because this isn't going to happen very often". So I said Sure! I can find somethings I need. She encouraged me to ask for more than what I really wanted just in case the grant person decided it was too much to spend. I looked at some dynamics carts, motion detectors, and photogates (along with a few other things). I came up with about $1600 worth of stuff thinking "at least I can get the dynamics carts and track". Wrong! They approved it all! Of course my first thought was "I should have asked for more!" Then I realized what an arse that made me and I got into a thankful frame of mind.

I have no idea why these good things happen to me; but I sure am happy about it. So, thanks for the physics equipment, thanks for the MacBook, thanks for the SmartBoard, thanks for mounting my SmartBoard on the wall. Why thank you? Because ultimately its your tax dollars that are paying for these things and I really appreciate them!

as always, thanks for reading

jb