DO
Set an Automatic 0
Setting an automatic 0 will insert a 0 in every cell when the due date has passed. This not only saves you time from having to manually enter a 0, but also ensures the final grade is being calculated correctly. Leaving the cell blank or not entering a number means Canvas is not calculating correctly.
To enable the automatic 0, you will need to go to grades > click the wheel icon in the right-hand corner > check “Automatically apply grade for missing submissions” > 0% > update. This will trigger the automatic 0 each time a student does not submit their work by the due date.
Post grades
Ensure grades for all columns in your gradebook are posted. A quick way to determine if a column is posted is to look for the Visibility icon (represented by an eye with a slash through it) at the top of the column. If there is no Visibility icon, then the grades in that column are posted. If you do see a Visibility icon, follow the steps under “Don’t leave hidden columns” to post grades.
DON’T
Stress over the color of the cell
The color of the cell depends on the status of the assignment. If an assignment was submitted late, it may turn that cell red so you know it was late. However, you can change this by changing the status of the assignment. If you want the cell to be white, you can change the status to “none” to reset the color.
Leave any cells blank
When you leave a cell blank, the points possible is not being calculated toward the final grade. This means that it inflates the total score. If you go in at the end of the semester and add 0’s during finals week, it will drop the overall total score in the grade center.
Leave hidden columns
This “don’t” goes hand-in-hand with the “do: post grades” advice above. Hidden columns can be great if you are not finished grading an assignment. The “Hide/Post Grades” feature hides the column from students until you post grades for the column. If you keep a column hidden, it shows students there is an assignment, but instead of seeing a grade, they see a message indicating their instructor is working on grades for the assignment.
- Look for any Visibility icons at the top of your gradebook columns.
- Hover the mouse over the assignment column header and select the Options icon.
- Select the Post grades option from the drop-down menu.
