The beginning of a new school year or semester can mean a whole new set of classes and students, or some basic updates to existing classes. This might seem overwhelming, but CommonLit has several tools to seamlessly transition to a new semester. Read below for the two steps to start a new semester in CommonLit.

Option 1: All my students and classes have changed

Step 1: Archive or Hide Old Classes

Archive Manually-Created or Google Classroom Classes

To archive a class, go to your Manage Classes page. Click on the Options dropdown for the class you wish to archive and select Archive Class. Your class and all of its assignments will then be removed from "Active Classes" and saved on the My Archived Classes page.

If you change your mind, you can always undo this archive. You can also restore or undo an archived class by clicking on the "Undo Archive" button on the My Archived Classes page. 

Archiving a class as a Secondary Teacher

Only primary teachers can perform actions that can archive or delete a class. Secondary teachers cannot archive or delete a class.

Hide Clever Classes

If you have imported classes from Clever but no longer want to use them, you can hide these classes. You can hide Clever classes by going to Manage Classes. Click Options > Hide Class. This will hide the class from both you and your students' views.

Step 2: Create New Classes

We do not recommend reusing old classes for a new set of students semester to semester or year to year, as this can lead to data issues. (It'd be pretty confusing for a spring 2021 student to see an old assignment due back in the fall of 2020!) Below are instructions on how to manually create or import new classes.

Manually Create New Classes

To create a new manual class, click on My Classes > Manage Classes tab in the navigation bar. There, you will see a "Create a New Class" option. 

You will then be asked to fill out the information about your new class, including a personalized class name, grade level, and subject area.

Import New Google Classroom Classes

At the beginning of each semester, make sure you create new classes on Google Classroom. Then, you can import your new Google Classroom classes and student rosters into CommonLit. To do so, go click on the My Classes > Manage Classes tab in the navigation bar. There, you will see a "Create a New Class" option. Click on the "Import Classes from Google Classroom Option."

Add New Clever Classes

If you already have classes and students on your CommonLit account, CommonLit will import your new Clever sections as new classes on CommonLit once they are shared with us in Clever. Our premier partners get updated daily. All other educators will see updates twice a week, as we sync overnight on Tuesdays and Saturdays. If you are missing students from Clever controlled classes, please reach out to help@commonlit.org.

Unhide Hidden Clever Classes

Currently, CommonLit imports all Clever classes regardless of which semester they belong to. If you hid your term 2 Clever classes at the start of the school year, now is the time to unhide them! 

Option 2: My classes and students are mostly the same, but I have a few roster changes

Step 1: Remove students who are no longer in the class

Manually-Created

Primary teachers can delete old students from their classes. To remove a student that is no longer in the class, go to your Manage Classes > Options > Manage Students for the class the student you wish to delete is enrolled in.

Scroll down the list to find the name of the student you wish to delete, then click the remove user icon on the far right of that student's row.

Please Note: This action will not delete students' accounts. You will still be able to view their data from their former class by clicking "View Data" in the Removed Students table.

Editing a Class as a Secondary Teacher

If you are unable to edit your classes, this might be because you are the secondary teacher. Only primary teachers can perform actions that can lead to data deletion. Secondary teachers cannot remove a student from a class or change a student's class. 

Clever Classes

Teachers cannot edit, archive, or delete any classes imported from Clever. This is because classes set up with Clever on CommonLit are managed by your school or district. If your class is controlled by Clever, students cannot be deleted from it manually. All removals of students are done by automated Clever syncing.

Step 2: Add new students to the class

Manually Created Classes

If you are adding new students for the semester, go to your "Manage Classes" page and click on Options > Add Students. You will be provided with the class code. You can then instruct students to join in one of two ways:

• For students without a CommonLit account: Give them the designated class code and direct your students to go to www.commonlit.org/enroll. There, they will enter the class code and fill out their profile information to sign up.
• For students with an existing CommonLit account: They should log in and go to their My Account & Classes page. Then, students should select "Add another class code" and enter your class code. 

Google Classroom Classes

To add students to your Google Classroom class on CommonLit, go to your Manage Classes page and press the green sync button for the class. Syncing will automatically create their CommonLit student account (if they do not yet have one) and add them to your class. They can then use the "Login with Google" option upon sign in.

Syncing will only add NEW students to your CommonLit class. This will NOT remove students who are no longer in your Google Classroom. 

Clever Classes

CommonLit will match your roster data shared with us on Clever exactly. CommonLit syncs Clever data weekly on Tuesdays and Saturdays. However, if a new student joins your class on Clever, but does not appear on your CommonLit class within 48 hours, please reach out to help@commonlit.org requesting that we manually sync your account.