Tag: teacher tools

Your teacher will have given you the school start page, or a Class URL. We recommend you bookmark the URL for future use.

1. Find your class on the school start page

   Click and go to your class. If your teacher gave you a Class URL.  Copy and paste, or type, the class URL in the browser search box, and then click return to go to your class.
   

2. Log in with your class URL

   If your teacher also provided you with login information, go ahead and log in. If not, click “register.”

3. Student registration

   Only your student name is required. All other fields are optional, including the password. We recommend you use your full name so that your teacher can recognize you. Click the “register” button and you will be registered. Your name will appear on your teacher’s student list.

4. Class and Assignments

   After you have logged in, you will see a list of all your assignments for the class. Later in the school year, there might be a lot of assignments in this list. The most recent will be at the top of the list on the first page, and later assignments will be on the following pages. If you belong to more than one class, you will need to log in using each class URL to complete the different assignments. The two buttons above the list can also help you find the assignments that need to be done. If you click “Non-completed assignments,” this list will show only the assignments that have not been completed. If you click “All assignments,” the list will show all the lessons assigned to you, with the most recent assignments at the top.

5. Work on your assignments

   Click on an assignment and you will see the list of activities for you to do. Go on to complete the activities as instructed. The results will be saved and reported to your teacher.

There are two types of reports: student reports and vocabulary reports.

1. Student reports

   “Student reports” show the assignment results for each student, sorted by date and grouped by class. You can filter reports for either “study” or “test” assignments. Depending on the type of activity, you can also choose to show the scores, points, or the time spent.

2. Viewing information in student reports

   There are two levels of detailed information available from student reports. If you click on any cell of the report chart, the report on each activity in the assignment will appear in a pop-up window. If you click on an activity in that window, a second pop-up window showing students’ correct or incorrect answers for each word will appear.

3. Vocabulary reports

   “Vocabulary reports” contain student records for every word in their assignments. If desired, results can be grouped by WVI level—the specific level of academic vocabulary as ranked by the Wordsmyth Vocabulary Inventory.

4. Viewing information in vocabulary reports

   If you click on a cell in the vocabulary report chart, you can view the detailed record of each word that was answered correctly or incorrectly in specific activities.

5. Filtering reports

   Filters can be applied to the reports.  The records can be filtered by school, class, students, and date.
   

6. Other places to access reports with filtered data

   The same filtering mechanism is also available for student lists, lesson lists, and assignment lists.
   • From the lesson list, you can directly access each lesson’s report.
   • From the class list, you can directly access the lesson reports for the selected class.
   • From the student list, you can directly access the lesson reports for the selected student or students.

An assignment is a lesson that you assign to your students. Your students will receive the assignments on the class URL once they have logged in.

1. Making a new assignment

   To make an assignment, click “New.” Then enter a name for the assignment. Add a description if you’d like. Students cannot see the description. The “note” area is where you can send a message to your students about the assignment. Next, choose a lesson, select a class, and then the students. You can select all students or individual students. The new assignment will be sent to the selected students. Set a due date (at your option) and click “Save.” The assignment will now be available to your students.
   
   

2. Students’ view of assignments

   While logged in to your class URL, your students will see all the assignments given to their particular class. The assignments are sorted with the most recent on top. The filters above the list can also help your students find the assignments they need to work on. The list of “Non-completed assignments” will show the assignments that this user has not yet completed. The “All assignments” list will show all the lessons assigned to this user, with the most recent at the top. The activities are listed in the same order as that of the tasks on the Lessons page.

3. Other ways to assign

   You can also assign any lesson directly from the lessons list on the Lessons page. Click on the lesson you want to assign and open the lesson information window. Click “Assign” and follow the steps as discussed above.

A lesson contains one or more tasks, which you will assign to your students to work on. Subsequently, you will receive reports of the students’ performance on these tasks. Plan your lessons systematically, as you may wish to reuse them for your future classes.

1. Setting up a new lesson

   To create a lesson, click “New” and enter a name for your lesson. Add a description if you’d like. You can add tasks (particular learning or testing activities) for this lesson now, or you can add them later. If you decide to add them later, go ahead and click “Create lesson.” If you’ve checked the “Activate lesson maker” checkbox, click “Create lesson” and the system will automatically load the activities page with the Lesson Maker floater visible on top of it.

2. Adding tasks to the new lesson

   
   A “task” is a wordlist combined with an activity, such as flashcards, a quiz, or a game. To add tasks to your lesson, first choose a wordlist.  Click the list you want from the sidebar to add it to the floater. The sidebar shows recent lists you have made as well as pre-made Wordsmyth lists. If you don’t see the list you want in the sidebar, you can go to the “My wordlists” page under the “My Wordsmyth” main menu, where you will find all the wordlists you have saved. (If you haven’t created a wordlist yet, you can go to the Wordlist Maker to create one.)
   
   Next, click an activity of your choice for the lesson. This will open a separate browser tab and the selected activity will appear on the Lesson Maker floater. Here you will choose settings for the activity, which will be recorded and saved along with the activity. Make sure to click the “Go” button as there are more settings inside the activity that you will want to choose from. Finally, click “Add to lesson” to add the selected activity with its chosen settings to your lesson. Close this tab and go back to the activities page.  If you’d like, you can add more tasks to your lesson.
   
   
   

3. Tips concerning the lesson maker floater

   • Click the “X” to close the floater temporarily on the current page. Refreshing the page will bring the floater back.
   • Clicking the “Stop” button will end the lesson-making process.
   • Clicking on the lesson name in the floater will take you back to the lessons page.
   • For assessment activities—multiple choice, matching, and fill-in-the-blank—there are additional options on the floater for you to choose from.
   1. You can choose to randomize the order of the questions each time the assessment task is activated.
   2. You can set the activity for “Study” or for “Test.” “Study” mode allows students to change the settings if they like and to add Help functions, such as making the answers available. “Test” mode will lock in the settings that you have chosen and disable all Help functions so that the students can take the quiz as a real test.
   3. Please note, the option for test mode becomes active inside the activity after clicking the “Go” button. The option is displayed but disabled on the initial screen. 
   
   

4. Editing a lesson

   If you don’t add tasks when you first set up a lesson, you can always add them later. You can also add more tasks to an existing lesson anytime. On the Lessons page, click on a lesson. Its information page will pop up. Then click “add new task” and the system will take you through the same process as described above with the Lesson Maker floater.
   
   In the lesson information pop-up window, you can also adjust the order of the tasks, delete a task, or assign lessons to your students.
   

5. Filtering lessons

   When you have accumulated many lessons, you can sort and filter the list to help you locate the lessons you are looking for.
   

You’ve created your class, now you need to populate the class with students.

1. Open enrollment

   If you have set your classes for open enrollment, your students’ information will automatically appear on the Students page after they have registered and logged in with the class URL.

2. Adding students manually

   If you choose to manually add your students, click “New” on the Students page. Then in the student information window, choose the class for which you want to add a new student. Then type the name of the new student in the box provided. Other fields are only required in case you happen to have two students with identical names. If you leave the password box blank, a blank will be the password for the student.

3. Deleting students

   Click “Delete” and select the students you want to delete by checking in the checkboxes beside their names. Then click “Delete Selected.”
   

4. Editing student information

   Click on a student in your class list to open the student’s information window. Here you can edit the student’s login information or move the student to another class.

5. Using the filter

   You can choose to show all the students of a particular class, or you can search for the names of specific students. Type in the name of the student. Click “find” and the particular student or students will be displayed.
   
   

Setting up your class and any possible subgroups is the first step to using Teacher Tools.

1. Adding a new class

   On the “Classes” page, click “New.” Then name the class and add a description if you’d like. The enrollment option “Open” means that students can register themselves after you have created the class. “Closed” means that students cannot register themselves and you will add students to your class manually. After choosing your enrollment option, click “Create class” and your first class will be ready for registration. 

2. Managing the class

   Each saved class has a specific class URL.  This URL is the entry point for your students. Right now your new class is empty.  Click on the class name to open its class information window as shown below. Now you will see your class URL.
   
   Here you can edit your class information, including the wording of the class URL, and add students manually if you’ve opted for “closed” enrollment. When you’ve finished setting up your class, you can assign lessons to your students and view reports.

3. Adding a subgroup of students as a new class

   After creating the first class that contains all of your students, you can create additional classes for selected groups of students, such as students in an ESL program, so that they may receive special support. This allows you to tailor your students’ assignments to the needs of particular groups.

4. Deleting a class

   Click on “Delete.” Then select the class you want to delete by checking in the checkbox next to its name. Then click “Delete Selected.”
   

5. Using the filter

   Most teachers will not find it necessary to use the class filter. However, if you teach at more than one school or have created classes using the Wordsmyth URL rather than a school URL, you can see all your classes by selecting “All” under “Set Filter.”