Schoology Pro Tips for Teachers

Asynchronous Learning Library

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Pro Tip: Schedule your Work You can edit the time your folders and materials become available and unavailable to students. Simply change the availability of the folder to published, unpublished, publish on start date, or published during date range.

Organizing Your Communication

Pro Tip: Differentiate with Grading Groups Grading groups allow you to create smaller groups of students within a course. You can assign materials to these small groups or filter your grade book by just the students within a particular group.

<a href="https://support.schoology.com/hc/en-us/articles/201001403-How-to-Use-Grading-Groups">Create Grading Groups</a>

Schoology: Creating Grading Groups

Pro Tip: Give Feedback to Schoology Did you know you can offer feedback to Schoology to help them improve the use of the tool? Simply fill out the <a href="https://support.schoology.com/hc/en-us/community/topics/200056073-Feature-Ideas">Schoology feature idea request form</a>.

Pro Tip: Use the Calendar Use the calendar to view events and due dates by month, week or day. You can create events and assignments right from the calendar! Events can be created to let students know when to meet you for virtual meetings or office hours. You can also drag and drop calendar items to quickly adjust due dates of events and assignments. Consider using color coding to make your calendar more visual and useful.

<a href="https://support.schoology.com/hc/en-us/articles/201001693-How-do-I-use-the-Calendar-">Schoology Help: Use the Calendar</a> <a href="https://www.schoology.com/blog/did-you-know-three-calendar-tips-from-bradley-kemp">Schoology Calendar Tips</a>

Pro Tip: Number System Devise a numbering system for your assignments. This allows parents and students alike to easily find the contents of a course.

Pro Tip: Embed Video Content Embed content whenever possible (rather than linking to other websites) to keep students inside of Schoology! Keeping students in the platform give you more accurate seat-time data, which allows you to assess student engagement with the course content. One of the easiest items to embed are videos! By embedding videos into Schoology, you also limit student distractions from other locations.

<a href="https://support.schoology.com/hc/en-us/articles/201001873-How-do-I-use-an-Embed-Code-from-Youtube-">Embedding YouTube Videos in Schoology</a>

Pro Tip: Screencastify Feedback Use Screencastify to leave video feedback for students. Just get the shareable Google Drive link to your Screencastify video and drop it in the student's assignment comment section.

Pro Tip: Pick an organizational strategy for topics Use folder structures to help organize materials for students and teachers. There are several different ways to organize. You might organize by week, unit, topic, or file type. You an also organize more deeply by creating folders within folders to build out subtopics. Check out<a href="https://www.schoology.com/blog/7-simple-ways-set-up-your-courses-with-an-lms"> this article</a> to see 5 different ideas for organization strategies:

- Time Machine - By the Book - Minimalist - Archiver - Warm Up - Group Up - Self-Paced

Pro Tip: Link Directly to Assignments Consider using your materials section to remind students about upcoming assignments and tasks by directly linking to the assignment's URL. Simply head to the assignment, copy the URL, and then paste it into your update. This will not work if you have completion rules turned on, as students cannot access assignments for which they have not yet gotten to in the established sequence.

Pro Tip: Check for plagiarism with originality reports With Jeffco's new Google Enterprise accounts, you and your students can now perform plagiarism checks using the Google Assignments App in Schoology. Teachers can enable originality reports for an unlimited number of assignments. When this is turned on, students can self-check each assignment for plagiarism 3 times prior to submitting. This allows students to turn in their best work and avoid intentional and unintentional plagiarism.

How to use originality reports

Pro Tip: Use Shared Discussions You can create conversation across your classes by creating a shared discussion. This is useful if you have split rosters due to remote learning or simply wish to get classes collaborating. Consider combining a variety of different types of classes and levels of student to create a rich discussion forum.

<a href="https://www.schoology.com/blog/4-quick-tips-for-busy-educators">Cross-Disciplinary Discussions</a>

Pro Tip: Gradebook Shortcuts Check out this video from RVHS DTL, Jen Jonson, who breaks down many different shortcuts and uses of the Schoology Gradebook!

Schoology Gradebook Use and Shortcuts

Pro Tip: Record your mini lessons &amp; flip learning Record mini direct instruction lessons (5-15 min) using Screencastify. Post them with a Discussion or assignment to gather student thinking and wondering after watching the video. <a href="https://teamjeffco.jeffcopublicschools.org/technology/applications/ed_tech_tool_overviews_/screencastify_overview">Jeffco Ed Tech Screencastify Website</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2ieATZ5fwk&amp;list=PLWiK3d92Xr1R9bfO6icsgsdnl2CsLKlDT">Jeffco Ed Tech Screencastify Video Tutorials</a>

Screencastify Overview

Comparison: The 3 ways to use Google in Schoology That's right, there are 3 different ways to use Google in Schoology and it can get a little confusing. Check out the comparison document on all three different types to help you better understand their similarities and differences.

<a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pBaBZOVtNKnwi5fBUdMTo67d8ZXm_gNNyWzFS3eDD7U/edit?usp=sharing">Google in Schoology Comparison Chart</a>

Pro Tip: Create a Google Assignment in Schoology Do you want to do more than just embed your Google Content into Schoology? The Google Drive Assignments App enables instructors to assign Google Docs, Spreadsheets, Slideshows, and Drawings from directly within the Schoology platform.&nbsp;When a student opens the assigned file,&nbsp;an individual student copy is automatically generated&nbsp;so that the student can work on it and submit, and the instructor can then provide feedback and grade the assignment, all without leaving Schoology.

<a href="https://support.schoology.com/hc/en-us/articles/115008543287-Using-the-Google-Drive-Assignments-App">Using the Google Drive Assignment App</a>

Pro Tip: Link your Sections Linking sections of a course is a great way to make working in Schoology more efficient. When sections are linked they share the same materials and grade set up. This means you only need to edit in one place and one time for sections that are linked. It is best to link your sections at the beginning of a semester or year before you begin entering grades into the gradebook.

<a href="https://support.schoology.com/hc/en-us/articles/206738477-How-to-Use-Linked-Sections-Enterprise-">Linking Schoology Sections</a>

Schoology | Linking Sections of Courses

Pro Tip: Create a class resources folder Every class needs a place to store resources, links, class rules, syllabus, etc. Create a special folder for resources and class materials and keep it near the top for easy access. Be sure to name these files clearly so that students know exactly what is there.

<a href="bookcreator://page/13l0dRb1QsaHYC4n0iS5CA">Organizing your Courses</a> <a href="bookcreator://page/67OLEJa1REGsnCJSw2rD9g">Organizing your Communication </a> <a href="bookcreator://page/n0tMDOuYTxWX-WHGsu17JQ">Hacking your Content and Materials </a> <a href="bookcreator://page/gXy_5PuFTMGcI1y44WSebQ">Using Google in Schoology </a> <a href="bookcreator://page/NhysME2FRUuHsRFMXY7p5A">Organizing your Grading</a> <a href="bookcreator://page/Vu4Y738_TLiRyn68XeRwaQ">Other Information</a>

Student Completion Rules

<a href="https://support.schoology.com/hc/en-us/articles/201001703-How-do-I-use-Student-Completion-Rules-">Help Center: Setting Self-Completion rules</a>

Pro Tip: Send Updates to Multiple Classes from the Home page On your Schoology home page, click the 'recent activity' tab. Then click Post Update (you can also choose event or assignment). Compose your update. Then enter the name of the courses or groups that need to receive the update in the 'Post to' field. If you cannot remember the names of your courses or groups, click the magnifying glass and select the appropriate locations.

<a href="https://www.schoology.com/blog/did-you-know-three-update-posting-tips-from-bradley-kemp">Schoology Updates</a>

Pro Tip: Grade your Schoology Discussions Graded discussions create more ownership over student participation and responses.

Returning Assignments

<a href="https://support.schoology.com/hc/en-us/articles/201001773-How-do-I-use-graded-discussions-">Graded Discussions</a>

Pro Tip: Start everything in Schoology Make Schoology the central hub for everything you do, even activities that aren’t digital!&nbsp;Having one place where students can always count on for directions and information makes navigating academic life a lot easier.

Pro Tip: Use Ctrl +f Use the keyboard shortcut, Control + F (Command + F on a mac), to search for keywords or assignment numbers (as mentioned above) on the page. Teach students this trick, too!

Welcome to Schoology Pro Tips and Tricks! We are compiling lots of phenomenal tips to help you hack your Schoology courses and groups and make them more functional! If you have an awesome tip to share, email keri.douglas@jeffco.k12.co.us to get it added to the book!

Pro Tip: Embed Video Content

How to Embed a Video in a Page

Pro Tip: Flag Announcements to top of Page When you create an announcement within a course, you can flag the post so that it stays at the top of a course. This keeps it from getting buried by other posts created by the students or teacher.

Pro Tip: Embed Google Content into Schoology Just like embedding videos into Schoology, embedding Google content into Schoology keeps the students in the platform, giving you more accurate seat-time reports. They do not have to leave Schoology to simply view a Google Doc, Slide Deck or Sheet etc. To embed viewable Google content directly into Schoology, you can use the Google Drive Resource App.

<a href="https://support.schoology.com/hc/en-us/articles/201001883-How-do-I-use-the-Google-Drive-Resource-App-">Using the Google Drive Resource App</a>

Hacking your Content &amp; Materials

Pro Tip: Workload Planning This tool aggregates assignments and materials across your students' courses for any given day. However, assignments and tasks will only appear if the teacher has given them a due date. By using the workload planning feature, you can help create a more balanced school experience for students.

<a href="https://support.schoology.com/hc/en-us/articles/201002083-Workload-Planning-Enterprise-Only-">Schoology Help: Workload Planning</a>

Pro Tip: Change the Landing Page Set your course's landing page to updates, rather than materials so that students can see any pressing announcements from the teacher or other students.

<a href="https://support.schoology.com/hc/en-us/articles/201001753-How-do-I-set-a-default-landing-page-for-a-course-">Schoology Help: Set a Default Landing Page</a>

Pro Tip: Create a Class Template Once you have selected your favorite organization method for Schoology (and tested it!) Build a MASTER class template to help you quickly set up your class structure in the future.

1) Create a new class 2) Chose the extended grading period so your master class does not archive 3) Build out your template &amp; structures 4) Place everything in a single parent folder 4) When you are ready to transfer this material to a new class, click on the cogwheel next to the parent folder and click copy to class. Choose the proper class. 5) Enter your new class and unpack any materials out of the parent folder.

Pro Tip: Connect Schoology &amp; Google Before you can begin using Google in Schoology, you must first connect the 2 tools together.

Connect Google

Pro Tip: Completion Rules Set student completion rules to coach students through assignments and tasks. This allows you to set rules for what students must complete before moving to the next task or assignment.

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