Managing Your Grade Book This lesson will show you how to set up your grade book columns and have Canvas calculate your final grades for you.

Transcription

1 Managing Your Grade Book This lesson will show you how to set up your grade book columns and have Canvas calculate your final grades for you. Activating the Grade Book Click on Settings at the bottom of the left navigation menu Click on Navigation At the top of the screen You ll see a list of items for the navigation menu The ones in the top list are turned on so students can see them. The ones in the bottom list are off. You can see them in grey but your students can t. Drag Grades from the bottom list to the top. Hit Save Setting Up the Grade Book Head to Assignments This is really your behind-the-scenes-grade-center-manager, but that won t fit on a navigation link. All work you do to manage your grade book is done from the Assignments page. Look at your syllabus You have probably divided up your grades into percentages for each type if assignment, i.e. Exams 20%, Final Paper 30%, etc.

2 Click on the gear at the top right of the page and check the box that says Weight final grades Then click Save. Create a Group for each category on your syllabus Click +Group to make each group. As you create them, give each group a percentage of the final grade that matches your syllabus. Add assignments to each group For each assignment you add to a group, Canvas will automatically create a column in your grade center. Click the + within each group to add an assignment to that group. You ll see a dropdown menu that will ask you for type of assignment If you just want a column to show up in your grade book and you don t plan to build the assignment in Canvas or have your students use Canvas to submit it, it doesn t matter which you choose. If you plan to build out your assignments in Canvas, select: 1. Assignment: to give students a place to upload papers or other files 2. Quizzes: for a quiz that s built using Canvas 3. Discussions: for a discussion board Fill in the relevant information on the form When you re done creating your assignment, click Save. Repeat this step until you ve created all assignments. Publish your assignments when you re ready If your assignments are completely done and it s ok for your students to see them in the grade book (i.e. they re not pop quizzes), publish

3 them by clicking on the grey cloud. Check your Grade book Click on Grades on the left hand navigation to see what your grade book looks like now that it s built out. If you don t see all of your columns, it s probably because they re not published. As you enter grades into the grade book, Canvas will automatically calculate the percentages and do the math for you. Important note: If a student did not submit an assignment and should receive no credit for it, you must enter a zero in the grade book. If you leave a grade blank for a student, Canvas will neither count it for or against him/her. This can be helpful if you are offering your students choices on which assignments they must complete. Organizing Your Grade Book Drag and drop to move assignments to new groups To move an assignment from one group to another, click on the eight dots to the left of the assignment and drag it to the group you d like it to be in. Use the gear to remove or edit assignments To remove an assignment, click on the gear to the right of the title and then click delete. Or choose edit to change the name. Decide whether students will see the assignments Assignments must be published before students see them. To do this, click on the grey cloud to the right of any item and the cloud will turn green, meaning the item is published and students can see it. Adding Content to Your Assignments (Optional)

4 Click on the title of any assignment and it will open up. You ll see a text box. Go ahead and type in it. There s a formatting toolbar that works a lot like MS Word. Add images if you want The image will show up wherever you put your cursor. Look to the right side of your screen and click Images. Then click Find images on flickr creative commons and search for an image for your course (all choices in this search will comply with copyright laws). Or click Upload a new image from your computer and click Upload. Make sure you keep copyright in mind. Add files if you want Adding files works similarly to adding images. The link to the file will show up where you put your cursor. This is a great way to add your assignment instructions. Look to the right side of your screen and click Files. Then click Upload a new file from your computer. And click Upload Link to other parts of Canvas if you want Adding links works like adding files or images. The link to the other part of Canvas will show up where you put your cursor. When you copy your course next semester, the links will still work within your new course. Look to the right side of your screen and click Links. You ll see a list of dropdown menus for items like quizzes and assignments. Everything you have already built in Canvas and published will be on one of these lists. Click the item you want to link to and the link will show up where you had your cursor. Note: Links don t work in edit mode. You can check your link after you save the item.

5 Add points if you haven t already Fill out the points form. Note: You can make assignments complete/incomplete, which means you will grade them by giving them a check or an X. Choose how students will submit If you want your students to upload their assignments to Canvas, choose online. Then choose how they will submit. Choose file uploads if you want them to upload their files to Canvas. You can also choose to have them submit On Paper, meaning they bring assignments to class or them to you. You won t be able to mark up papers in the Speedgrader if you choose these options, however. See the Grading Your Students doc for more information on the Speedgrader and how awesome it is. Add a due date if you want Select the date you want the item to be due at the bottom of the page. When you re done click Save You ll find it on the bottom right of your screen When you re completely done, click Publish You ll see it near the top of your screen after you have saved the page.