Assigning To Differentiate?

Use Schoology Grading Groups!

 

@LisaBerghoff

I operate under the general assumption that we all have good intentions and that no one is intentionally trying to confuse students or the people who support them. Often, when I see educators using our systems in a way that seems odd, I believe it is because they simply don't know another way to do it. These encounters, combined with questions that come up frequently,  are often the inspiration for what I write here.  Today's post is both. This quick and easy tip can help alleviate some confusion. It is also a question that has come up several times in the last week.

Imagine that you have a stacked class, you are teaching multiple sections of a course at different levels all in the same room and at the same time. Even if your class is not stacked, you likely have some groups of students with varying needs and maybe you wish you could separate them into different classes. Or, perhaps you have linked several of your classes in Schoology and now realize that you need to give some different assignments to certain groups.

All of these scenarios can be handled in Schoology by creating grading groups.

What Are Grading Groups In Schoology?

Grading groups are custom collections of students within a course section that teachers can use to organize students, assign specific materials, and filter grade book views. This allows teachers to assign customized or modified assignments, tests, specialized materials, or discussions to specific subsets of students. 

The beauty of Schoology grading groups is that the STUDENTS DO NOT SEE OTHERS' ASSIGNMENTS SHOW UP ON THEIR MATERIALS PAGE!

Yes, I am yelling. I know that as a workaround many of you will enter an assignment and then just click "exempt" so it doesn't count against the other students' grades. I'm here to tell you that this workaround is not great. 

Here's an example: Jordan is taking a standard level class that is stacked with an honors class. The teacher enters the honors assignments and just exempts Jordan from all of those. When Jordan, his parents, counselor, and case manager look at his grades, they can see all of the honors assignments that are not meant for Jordan. This stinks and we can do something about it. Just create a grading group for the standard students and one for the honors students. 

How Do I Make Grading Groups In Schoology?

1. Click on your Schoology course and navigate to the materials page.

2. Click on Members.

3. Look at the right side of your screen and click where it says: Organize Members Into Grading Groups.

4. Give your group a name (students will not see this) and click all of the students who you want in that group.

5. Click Create Grading Group.

How Do I Assign To My Grading Groups?

1. Click on your Schoology course and navigate to the materials page.

2. Click Add Assignment.

3. At the bottom, where it says Options, click on the icon for individually assign.

4. Type the name of your grading group in the box. 

The assignment will only appear on the materials page for the students in that grading group.

Want some help getting started with grading groups?

Let me know. I'm happy to help!