When you’re grading, it can be helpful to send a quick message to a specific group of students. For example, you may want to send a reminder to all students who have not yet submitted an assignment, or maybe you want to send a message to students who received a certain grade or lower to […]
Tag: gradebook
Occasionally, you might find yourself repeating the same feedback again and again when reviewing multiple students’ submissions for an assignment. Canvas has a Comment Library in SpeedGrader to help with this problem. You can add frequently used comments to the SpeedGrader Library and then insert them into the grading comments box for multiple students or […]
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Use SpeedGrader Comment Library
If you have comments that you find yourself using repeatedly while grading, you can save those comments in SpeedGrader’s Comment Library instead of retyping the same comment over and over. The SpeedGrader Comment Library enables you to add frequently used comments to an assignment easily. The comment library does have some limitations. When you add […]
Tools: Canvas Quizzes Many instructors new to teaching online count on the assessments traditionally used in a face-to-face course. That could mean uploading or sending tests as a Word document or PDF to students. Students would then need to download that document, complete the assessment, and then reupload it with their answers, which the instructor […]
Tools: Assignments The Submission Type setting has a significant impact on how students interact with and submit a Canvas assignment. The No Submission and On Paper options create a column in the gradebook but do not allow students to submit a file to the Canvas assignment. This is a great way to grade assignments that […]
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Drop Low and High Grades
One of the many customizations you can make to Canvas is to set an assignment group to drop either the lowest score or highest score for each student. You can set rules to assignment groups (Assignments, Quizzes, etc.) in Canvas regarding how many low or high grades to drop or which assignments should never be […]
Every instructor addresses late student submissions differently. You can use Canvas’ Gradebook to set your preferred late policy that applies to every student and every assignment in your course. You can also set Gradebook to assign a zero grade to assignments that are not submitted. Directions
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Grade with a Rubric
Rubrics provide a set of criteria used to evaluate student performance. In Canvas, rubrics help give students clear expectations and guidance for assignments. Canvas Enhanced Rubrics (2026) also include multiple viewing options: Traditional, Horizontal, and Vertical, which allow instructors to choose the grading layout that best fits their workflow. When integrated with SpeedGrader, rubrics enable […]
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Use SpeedGrader to Grade Quizzes
SpeedGrader can be used for any graded item in your course, including quizzes! You can use SpeedGrader to easily see each student’s submission and adjust points or add feedback. It is especially useful in grading essay questions and adding extra credit points. The tutorial below provides a walkthrough of using this feature to grade quizzes […]
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Export and Import the Gradebook
The Gradebook within Canvas can be exported as a spreadsheet. You can modify that spreadsheet in a program like Microsoft Excel and then import it back into Canvas to make changes to the gradebook. You can save the export for your own records or as a backup in case of emergencies. You can also use […]