Give feedback on assignments

This article is for teachers.

You can give your students personalised feedback on any type of file in the Classroom marking tool. You can leave comments on student work and maintain a comment bank to store comments that you use most often.

Files that you can attach to assignments

Students can attach any file type to their assignments, including:

• Google Docs, Sheets or Slides
• Microsoft^®️ Word^®️, Excel^®️ or PowerPoint^®️
• Adobe^®️ PDF^®️
• Image files
• TXT files
• Video files (WEBM, MPEG4, 3GPP, MOV, AVI, MPEG-PS, WMV, FLV, OGG)

View student work

Open all | Close all

Open student work

1. Go to classroom.google.com and click Sign in.

   Sign in with your Google Account. For example, [e-mail] or [e-mail]. Learn more.

2. Click the class Classwork.
3. Click the assignment View question or View assignment.
4. On the left, click the student name a file that they've handed in.

See the mark and submission history of an assignment

You can see how the mark for an assignment has changed and how many times a student has submitted work for an assignment.

Important: This feature is only available on assignments that have been handed in and marked.

1. Go to classroom.google.com and click Sign in.

   Sign in with your Google Account. For example, [e-mail] or [e-mail]. Learn more.

2. At the top, click Classwork the assignment View assignment.
3. On the left, click the student's name.
4. Click See history.

Switch between student work

To see another student's work while marking, choose an option:

Desktop

• Click the down arrow and choose a student name.

• Click Back or Next .

Android

• Swipe horizontally.
• Tap the arrows around the student's name.

Add feedback

If you enter the same comment for many students, you can save the comment to use later. The comment bank is tied to your Google Account, meaning that you can access it from any computer. Students can see your feedback as comments after you've returned their work.

Add comments to student work

1. In Classroom, open the student work (details above).
2. Select the passage or file that you want to comment on.
3. Click Add a comment .
4. Enter your comment and click Comment.

Add and save comments to use later

You have two ways to add comments to the comment bank.

Add an existing comment to the comment bank

1. In Classroom, open the student work (details above).
2. In the top-right corner of the comment box, click More Add to comment bank.
3. Make any edits and click Add.

Enter a comment directly into the comment bank

1. In Classroom, open the student work (details above).
2. On the right, click Comment bank
3. Click Add to bank and choose an option:
   • Enter a single comment – Enter your comment.
   • Enter multiple comments – Press Enter after each comment that you write to put your comments in a list.
   • Enter a list of prepared comments – Paste your list. Your prepared list should have one comment per line.
4. Click Add.

Note: See below for instructions on editing a comment in the comment bank.

Find and use a comment in the comment bank

There are multiple ways that you can search for and use comments in the comment bank.

Use a hash to find comments

1. In Classroom, open the student work (details above).
2. Select the text and click Add comment .
3. In the comment box, choose an option:
   • Enter # to see the five most frequently used comments.
   • Enter # and then a keyword or phrase.
     You'll see suggestions as you enter text.
4. Click the comment Comment.

Search for and copy a comment

1. Click Comment bank Search .
2. Enter a keyword or phrase.
3. Point to the comment that you want to use and click More Copy to clipboard.
4. In the comment box, paste the comment.
5. Make any changes to the comment and click Comment.

Edit a comment in the comment bank

You can edit a comment in the marking tool or on the web.

Edit a comment in student work

1. In Classroom, open the student work (details above).
2. Click Comment bank.
3. Point to the comment that you want to edit and click More Edit.
4. Enter your changes and click Save.

Edit a comment on the web

1. Go to classroom.google.com/g/cm.
2. Point to the comment that you want to edit and click More Edit.
3. Enter your changes and click Save.

Copy a comment in the comment bank

1. In Classroom, open the student work (details above).
2. Click Comment bank .
3. Point to the comment and click More Copy to clipboard.

Delete a comment from the comment bank

Delete a comment in student work

1. In Classroom, open the student work (details above).
2. Click Comment bank .
3. Point to the comment click More Delete.
4. Click Delete to confirm.

Delete a comment on the web

1. Go to classroom.google.com/g/cm.
2. Point to the comment click More Delete.
3. Click Delete to confirm.

Add private comments

You can add private comments for a student. The student can see and respond to your comment when they open the returned assignment. If the student responds to your comment, you can read it and reply in the marking tool.

Important: Private comments can't be edited or deleted after you've posted them.

1. In Classroom, open the student work (details above).
2. Click Marking .
3. Under Private comments, click Add private comment enter your comment.
4. Click Post.

Manage comment notifications

1. Go to classroom.google.com.
2. Optional: To expand the navigation drawer, at the top left, click Menu .
3. Scroll down and click Settings .
4. Under 'Notifications' next to 'Comments', click the switch on . Comment types include:
   • Comments on your posts
   • Comments that mention you
   • Private comments on work

Tip: To minimise the menu to a collapsed version, at the top left, click Menu .

Reply to comments via email

You can also reply to public and private comments directly within email notifications. This enables teachers to quickly reply to their students without having to switch back and forth between their email and Classroom.

Embolden, italicise and underline text

1. Go to classroom.google.com.
2. Click the class.
3. On the 'Assignments' page, click Add private comment.
4. In the menu, click Bold , Italic or Underline to choose how to format your text.
5. Enter the text that you want to format.
6. To turn off the formatting, in the menu, click Bold , Italic or Underline .
7. Click Send .

Create a bulleted list

1. Go to classroom.google.com.
2. Click the class.
3. On the 'Assignments' page, click Add private comment.
4. In the menu, click Bulleted list .
5. Enter the text for your bulleted list.
   Important: When you post the comment, the bullets look the same as they do in the draft.
6. Optional: To turn off the bulleted list format, in the menu, click Bulleted list .
7. Click Send .