How do I manage my assignments?
You can manage all of your CommonLit assignments from the My Classes Dashboard. The goal of the simplified navigation and layout is to ensure you spend less time combing through your assignments or trying to figure out what you need to do next and more time teaching! Using the My Classes Dashboard, you can search and filter your assignments and assessments, quickly see which assignments need grading or which are ready for scores to be released, edit and preview assignments, and more.
Additionally, you can manage student access and submissions from the Assignment Dashboard for each assignment, as well as gather information about the specific assignment, students’ status, and submissions.
In this article, we cover how to:
- Access assignments from your home page
- Gather info about assignments at-a-glance
- Utilize the class filters and Assignment status tabs
- Sort, search, & filter assignments
- Edit, preview, share, & delete assignments
- Exempt, lock, force submit, & unsubmit assignments
Access assignments from your Home page
At the top of your Home page, you will see three quick action tiles: Ready for Grading, Ready for Release, and All Assignments. Each tile will include the total number of assignments in that category, so you can quickly see how many assignments need to be graded, and how many are ready for scores to be released. All you need to do is click on a tile, and it will take you to that section of your My Classes Dashboard!
Gather info about assignments at-a-glance
Gathering details from the My Classes Dashboard
You can quickly scan the My Classes Dashboard to gather key information about assignments. To start, you can get a high-level overview of the total number of assignments, how many assignments need grading, how many are ready for release, and how many are completed. Just check the number displayed in the top right corner of the corresponding Assignment Status tab.
For each assignment, you can see the name of the assignment, the grade level, and if the assignment is a 360 lesson, a Text Library assignment, or a Target Lesson. If the assignment is from a 360 unit, you will also see the unit number.
You can also see the assigned roster, the due date, the status of the assignment, such as if it is awaiting submissions or if it’s ready to release or grade, and the number of students who submitted out of the total number assigned. The Actions column will also provide a suggested action you can take based on the assignment’s status. For example, if you’re still waiting on students to submit, you may see the Share Assignment action suggested in the Actions column.
Finally, you can look for green dots to see if there are any actions you need to take. If you see a green dot next to a class or an assignment’s name, this indicates that there are new submissions to be graded or scores ready to be released.
Gathering details from the Assignment Dashboard
If you want to quickly view more detailed information for an assignment in a specific class, you can click the name of the assignment to go to the Assignment Dashboard. On the Assignment Dashboard, you can find the assignment name, the grade level, the type of assignment, and the 360 unit, if applicable. Additionally, in the top right corner you can find the class, the start and due dates and times, and the status of the assignment.
In addition to general assignment data, you can use the Student Assignment Status table to quickly view each student’s assignment status (Not Started, In Progress, Submitted, or Graded) as well as their submission date. If a student’s assignment has been submitted and graded, you will also see their overall score in the Score column.
Utilize the Class filters and Assignment Status tabs
The My Classes Dashboard uses Class filters and Assignment Status tabs to help you quickly find assignments.
Class filters
In addition to filters for each class, you will see an All Classes filter and a Small Group Assignments filter. The My Classes Dashboard will default to displaying assignments for all classes. To view assignments for a specific class, select the corresponding Class filter at the top, and this will automatically show you all assignments for that class.
Please note, you can select more than one filter at a time to view assignments for multiple classes. Selecting a new Class filter does not deselect the previous filter. To remove a Class filter, click it again.
Note: If you have more than eight active classes, you will see a drop down menu for selecting classes instead. To view assignments for a specific class or classes, select the drop down menu and check the box next to the name of one or more classes, which will automatically filter the assignments you see on your My Classes dashboard. If you want to adjust which classes are selected, click the drop down again and uncheck selected classes or check additional classes. Finally, to reset, check All Classes again.
💡 Tip: If your classes are imported from Clever or ClassLink, and they have long course names, you can nickname the classes with a shorter, more easily recognizable name. Please see the Clever FAQ or ClassLink FAQ for more information.
Furthermore, if you have classes imported for multiple marking periods, such as fall and spring semester classes, you can hide irrelevant classes to remove them from view so that you will have fewer class filters. Please see the Clever FAQ or the ClassLink FAQ for more information.
Assignment status tabs
The My Classes Dashboard uses Assignment Status tabs to group your assignments. Each tab will show you a different subset of assignments when clicked, allowing for quick access.
All Assignments Tab: Displays all assignments regardless of assignment status.
Ready for Grading Tab: Displays assignments with student submissions that have not been graded.
Ready for Release Tab: Displays assignments where all students have submitted the assignment, and the submissions have been graded, so scores are ready to be released to students. Assignments where the due date has passed and all existing submissions have been graded will also be included here.
Completed Tab: Displays assignments where all students have submitted, their submissions have been graded, and scores have been released, regardless of due date. Assignments where the due date has passed, but all submissions have been graded and scores have been released will also be included.
Unlike the Class filters, you cannot select multiple tabs at once. However, these tabs can be used in conjunction with the class filters. For example, if you want to see all assignments in your Period 1 class that need to be graded, you can select the corresponding class filter and the Ready for Grading tab to see just assignments for that class.
You will also see a tab on the far right for assessments. While assessments are included in the All Assignments tab, if you want to quickly see all assigned assessments or the assessment for a specific class, you can use this tab to do so.
Sort, search, & filter assignments
Sorting assignments
On the My Classes dashboard, each column except for the Actions column can be used to sort assignments. When you go to the dashboard, assignments will automatically be sorted by the due date, with newest due dates at the top and oldest due dates at the bottom.
However, you can click the name of any column (e.g. Class) to sort by that column. Click the name once for ascending, twice for descending, and click a third time to remove the sort.
Please note: It is only possible to sort by one column at a time. If you click to sort by a different column, the previous sorting will be removed.
Search for assignments by name
You can also search for an assignment by its name. To do so, click the search bar below the Assignment Status tabs and start entering part of the assignment’s name. As you do, you will see the list of assignments update. Additionally, your search gets applied across all of the Assignment Status tabs, so you will see the number of assignments in each tab drop based on the search term you enter.
To clear the search, just click X in the search bar.
Filter assignments by assignment category and grade
If you can’t remember the assignment name (we’ve all been there!), but you know the assignment category or grade, you can use the filter function on the My Classes dashboard.
To filter your assignments, click the funnel icon in the top right corner just below the Assignment Status tabs. Then, in the Filter Assignments view, you can select one or more assignment categories and/or one or more grades to see assignments that match the selected filters. Then, click Apply Filters.
If you want to add or remove a filter, click the funnel icon again to edit your selections. Alternatively, if you want to clear all filters, click Clear Filters to the left of the funnel.
Please note, unlike search, filters will only be applied on the tab you are on.
Edit, preview, share, & delete assignments
We understand you may need to make adjustments to specific assignments. Once an assignment has been created, you can still edit, preview, share, or delete the assignment.
Edit assignments
To edit an existing assignment, locate the assignment on your My Classes Dashboard. Then, click the three stacked dots on the far right of the row and choose Edit Assignment. This will open the Edit Assignment view, where you can adjust:
- The start date and time (as long as no students have started the assignment)
- The due date and time
- The Lesson Overview for 360 & Target Lessons or the annotation task for text assignments
- Whether or not answers are required to in-text instructional questions on 360 & Target Lessons or Guided Reading Mode on text assignments
Preview assignments
To preview an assignment, locate the assignment on your My Classes Dashboard. Then, click the three stacked dots on the far right of the row and choose Preview. This will show you a preview of the assignment exactly as your students would see it.
Share assignments
To share an assignment, if no students have submitted the assignment, you will see Share Assignment listed in the Actions column for the assignment. Click Share to open the Share Assignment view. If the class is not imported from Google Classroom, you will have the option to post an announcement to Google Classroom or copy the link. If the class is imported from Google Classroom, you will have the options to post just the assignment to Google Classroom, post the assignment and export scores, or just copy the link for the assignment.
Please note, if your assignment already has student submissions, but you need to share the assignment, you can do so by clicking the name of the assignment to navigate to the Assignment Dashboard and clicking the arrow icon below the name of the assignment.
If you only want to copy the link, you can always do so by clicking the three stacked dots to the far right of the assignment and choosing Copy Assignment Link, which will automatically copy the link for you.
Delete assignments
If you need to delete an assignment, locate the assignment on your My Classes Dashboard. Then, click the three stacked dots on the far right of the row and choose Delete. Deleting an assignment will delete all student data associated with the assignment. To confirm you want to delete the assignment, click Delete Assignment again.
Please note, only primary teachers can delete whole class assignments, and only the assigning teacher on small group assignments can delete the assignment.
Exempt, lock, force submit, & unsubmit assignments
You can control student access to assignments by exempting students from the assignment, locking the assignment, or force submitting a student’s assignment. This can be done from the Assignment Dashboard for an individual assignment. To go to the Assignment Dashboard, locate the assignment on your My Classes Dashboard and click the assignment name
Exempt students from an assignment
If you have created an assignment, but not all students need to complete the assignment, you can exempt them. On the Assignment Dashboard, click Exempt for the student you want to exempt. You can always add them back later by returning to the Assignment Dashboard and clicking Un-Exempt.
Lock student assignments
If you would like to prevent students from accessing an assignment for a period of time, such as in between class periods, you can lock the assignment. To lock all student assignments, click Lock All on the Assignment Dashboard. You can then return later and click Unlock All to restore student access to the assignment.
Alternatively, if you only want to lock one or a small handful of student assignments, you can click the Lock option for an individual student. You will then have the option to Unlock the student’s assignment when you want to restore their access.
💡 Tip: If you want to create an individual or small group assignment, but you may want to include additional students later, or you would like the data to be included in your assignment data for the class, you can create a whole class assignment. Then, choose "Lock All," and only unlock the assignment for the students you want to complete it at that time. If you want another student to complete it later, you can always go to the Assignment Dashboard and unlock their assignment!
Force submit student assignments
If an assignment’s due date has passed, and you want to submit a student’s assignment for them to generate a score based on whatever progress they have made, you can force submit the assignment. From the Assignment Dashboard, click Force Submit for that student. If, later, you want to return the assignment to the student to allow them to finish, you can then click Unsubmit.
Unsubmit student assignments
Even after a student has completed and submitted the entire assignment, you can unsubmit the assignment if you would like them to redo the assignment. This is helpful if students rush through an assignment without answering all of the questions, or if they do poorly and you want to give them another try.
Please keep in mind that students will still have access to their previous work when an assignment is unsubmitted. There is not currently a way to reset an individual student’s assignment such that their previous responses are not shown to them.
To unsubmit a student’s assignment, go to the Assignment Dashboard and click Unsubmit under the Actions column for that student.
