grading
When reading through this section, keep in mind that the Plug and Play curriculum uses mastery-based assessments.
Grades in the LMS are preliminary. They are meant to provide the student with feedback for correcting and resubmitting their work. After a week of corrections, these grades are transferred to Gradebook where parents are alerted of failing grades. Students can still bring these grades up to a 100 after they're transferred, but by giving them a week to make corrections, you've given them a grace period before parents get involved and given the students time to get their grades up to 100's so they're easy to input into Gradebook.
LMS Grade
Gradebook Grade
0
I set Canvas to autofill zeros when a submission has not been turned in and the due date has passed. Ideally, the student completes the work before the grade is transferred to Gradebook.
n/a
I will not input a grade in the gradebook until the due date is a week past, and the grade has been in Canvas for several days. If the assignment is still not complete at that time, it will be a zero.
1-9
To distinguish between the autofill zero and a graded zero, I input any single digit. The Canvas app has a slider that makes grading fast, but difficult to input very specific grades. Therefore, I train students to understand that anything in the single digits is the same as a zero. Ideally, they will correct and resubmit the assignment before the grade is transferred to the gradebook.
0
40-50
Again, the slider in the app makes it easier to grade within a range as opposed to inputing a 50 precisely, and hopefully the student will correct and resubmit the assignment before the grade is transferred to the gradebook. .
50
90-100
90-99 indicates there's a small issue I would like them to fix or a comment I'd like them to read. They do not need to resubmit.
100
Example
In the example below, you can see the grades for Goal 6 in both Canvas and Gradebook. You can see that the progress report was created on March 10th, over a week after Studio Day 4 was due. Assuming I graded that assignment on March 3rd, all the grades that have been transferred to Gradebook were graded over a week ago. I haven't transferred the Goal 6: Complete grade yet, because it's only two days past the due date.
You can see that the student struggled with one of the two elements being assessed in the Studio Day assignments because he received a 50 on the first two. He figured out how to complete them correctly on the 3rd studio day. He will be encouraged to go back to days 1 and 2 to correct his work and resubmit. When those assignments have been graded in Canvas, he will email me a screenshot of those improved grades, and I will update them in Gradebook.
If the student had made those corrections before the grades were inputed into Gradebook, only the corrected grade would be inputed and no additional action would need to be taken by the student.
Student View of Canvas Grades
Gradebook Progress Report
grading tips
Look back at previous submissions when grading resubmissions.
Grade every assignment every day. Not every student will be on the same assignment, so you need to check all the assignments for submissions and resubmissions. I know this sounds time consuming, but each submission typically takes about 15 seconds to grade, so it's a lot faster and easier than it sounds.
Do not put a grade in the official gradebook until the due date is a week past and the assignment has been graded very shortly after. Students need to have time to correct and resubmit work. It will save you a lot of time editing grades in gradebook if you wait until most students have 100's.
Warn students a couple days before grades are transferred from Canvas to the official gradebook or establish specific days of the week that grades are put in.
Train students to email you a screenshot of improved grades after you've transferred Canvas grades into the official gradebook. Once a day, you can go through these emails and put them into the gradebook. This isn't frequently necessary.
Remind students to check their grades in canvas regularly, so they can correct and resubmit their work in a timely manner.
Grading in the canvas app
Grading on the tablet app is far faster and easier than on a computer. I cannot stress enough how much better it is to grade Canvas assignments on a tablet. Here's a few reasons why:
You can grade while walking around the room.
The app has a slider to input the grade instead of having to type each grade into a little box.
It easily lets you view only ungraded submissions.
You can draw on the submissions. An image is worth a thousand words. Circling or underlining something is a lot easier and more specific than typing a comment.
I know you may not want to spend your own money on a tablet, but seriously, it's worth it if you're using Canvas. It doesn't need to be an ipad or anything fancy. You should be able to get something basic that would work for around $100-$150, even less if you can find one used.
Demonstration of mastery-based grading and how to grade only what the assignment is teaching/practicing
*COMING SOON*
I need active students in my LMS to do this, so after school starts, I'll add this video.