51 Ways to Use FreshGrade

4. COLLABORATE WITH STUDENTS & PARENTS

The most powerful use of FreshGrade is the inclusion

of teachers, parents, and students. As a collective, these

stakeholders are given the opportunity to share, reflect,

and enhance learning.

5. PROVIDE FEEDBACK

After capturing learning, teachers can use FreshGrade

to provide personalized feedback or use custom “quick

notes” on mobile to save time typing out feedback that

they provide time and time again.

6. TRACK STUDENT PROGRESS

FreshGrade provides teachers with a quick glimpse into

student and class progress. The class dashboard enables

the teacher to see quickly where students are at in their

learning and alert parents so they can support at home.

7. SUPPORT PERSONAL GOALS & DIFFERENTIATED

ACTIVITIES

When teachers have created a learning goal that is

specific to each student, they can use FreshGrade to

support it. By creating a Gradebook activity and including

a variety resources (documents, links, audio/video files,

etc.), teachers can support their lesson and connect with

students in a way that best supports their learning style.

8. TAILOR LESSON TO ABILITY

Where students have exceeded expectations, teachers

can create advanced activities to support and challenge

that student’s learning, while those who struggled can

receive lessons specifically supporting them.

3. ENGAGE PARENTS

When a parent account is connected, FreshGrade

portfolios provide parents with a continuous

glimpse into the classroom. When a portfolio is

updated, or a learning highlight has been shared,

parents are notified instantly via push notification.

1. CAPTURE & ASSESS

In some cases, teachers simply capture and assess

student learning without including parents and students.

This is a great way to get started and get comfortable

with FreshGrade. Parent-Teacher meetings are great

opportunities to introduce student portfolios.

2. EMPOWER STUDENTS

With a FreshGrade portfolio, students are able to take

ownership of their work, choosing which artifacts to

post and reflecting on their learning. In this scenario,

the teacher may not have begun including the parent.

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12. CREATE A LEARNING SLIDESHOW

Creating a Learning Slideshow is a quick and easy way

to show students’ learning and growth throughout the

school year. Teachers are creating personal videos with

FreshGrade for each of their students and sharing it with

their families.

13. SEND CLASS ANNOUNCEMENTS

Stakeholder communication is paramount. Teachers

are using FreshGrade to send class announcements to

parents and students and can see who has read them

and who is out of the loop.

14. FOCUS YOUR TEACHING

Learning outcomes can be added to teacher’s accounts,

enabling teachers to create activities that map to learning

outcomes and assign them to both groups

and individuals.

15. IMPROVE PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES

Teachers are pulling up FreshGrade student portfolios

during Parent-Teacher Conferences to talk to the

growth and progress a student has made. When parents

have already seen the portfolio items, it can feel like a

continued conversation.

16. DEMONSTRATE CONCEPT MASTERY

Activities can include concept overviews. Teachers

are creating activities with attachments or links to

resources that support their teaching. Having the

student share examples of their work that demonstrate

their understanding of a concept and provide self-

reflection builds up evidence of learning.

17. CONNECT CLASSROOMS

Principals are using FreshGrade to connect with their

students, their families, and what is happening in the

classroom, allowing them to provide more support to

all stakeholders.

10. ASSESS YOUR WAY

With custom assessment tools teachers are creating their

own scales to provide quick feedback in a way that suits

each teacher’s assessment needs. Each tool can have

up to ten customizable mark levels made up of an icon,

a text statement, a color, and a point value.

11. DELIVER LEARNING HIGHLIGHTS

Teachers are using FreshGrade to send real-time

learning snapshots to parents, allowing families to be

a fly-on-the-wall in their child’s learning journey. This

is particularly impactful for parents who travel a lot for

work, are overseas, or for multi-home family structures.

9. ASSESS WITH EASE

Where teachers were spending hours grading

and reporting their students, FreshGrade can

dramatically reduce the workload. From a desktop

computer or a mobile device, teachers can select

their desired assessment tool, (mastery, anecdotal

note, yes/no, score, custom, etc.), seamlessly

assess each activity for each student, and share

when they are ready.

24. COACH SPORTS SKILLS

Sports coaches are using FreshGrade to capture,

assess, and improve their students’ practice. This is in

use in everything from baseball to skiing and is a quick

and effective way of communicating and celebrating

incremental improvements.

25. CAPTURE SOCIAL SKILLS

Teachers using FreshGrade can capture images of how

their students are playing. This allows parents to see

their children socializing with others, get insights into

who their friends are, and see them having fun in the

classroom.

26. SHARE INSPIRATION

Students are using FreshGrade to share things they find

interesting in their portfolios— from quotes from their

favorite writers to paintings from their favorite artists.

27. IMPROVE WRITING SKILLS

When students share their learning journey on

FreshGrade, they are practicing their writing skills.

Teachers have told us that for some of their students,

the most writing they do is using FreshGrade for

Students to comment on their portfolio.

28. INCREASE STUDENT MOTIVATION

Teachers tell us that they have noticed pride and greater

ownership for their learning when they use FreshGrade.

Students are proud of their portfolios and able to share

their learning journey with their family.

19. CREATE A PERSONAL PORTFOLIO

Every year, teachers put their names into FreshGrade, so

they can build their own portfolio to reflect their personal

growth and progress.

20. RECORD & SHARE REMARKABLE MOMENTS

In one case a teacher had an autistic child in their

classroom who made eye contact for the first time

with someone who was not a family member. When

the teacher captured that moment using FreshGrade,

the parents dropped what they were doing to come

to the school and share in the important moment

with their child.

21. RECORD GROUP PROJECTS

Where in the past it has been difficult to share a project

that multiple children have worked on with their families,

FreshGrade makes it easy. Teachers can tag multiple

students in a photo, video, or document and that work

will appear in each of the student portfolios.

22. RECORD PRESENTATIONS

Teachers are recording students giving performances

and presentations and uploading it to their portfolios.

When the student plays back the video, they can see

what they have to work on.

23. CHANGE THE CONVERSATION

Parents using FreshGrade have told us that they are

changing the dinner table conversation beyond the

typical question and response — “What happened at

school today?” “Nothing.” With FreshGrade, parents can

start a conversation about something they have seen in

their child’s portfolio.

18. REPLACE REPORT CARDS

Creating a digital report using FreshGrade instead of

a creating physical one is a great way to reduce the

amount of paper used in the classroom every day.

34. TRACK READING PROCESS

In some cases, teachers are using FreshGrade to record

samples of students reading on a monthly basis (or

desired intervals) and posting it to a portfolio. When it

comes to reporting, the teacher has tangible evidence of

progress and can share it with students and their families.

35. SHARE THE EXPERIENCE

Parents often see the result of craft projects, but

seeing the experience behind the creation is equally

as important. Some teachers are using FreshGrade

to show “In the Making” pictures and video captures,

helping parents feel more connected to the classroom

and students learning plans.

36. SHOW & TELL

Many teachers use FreshGrade to capture videos

of a show and tell. Tagging students in videos will

automatically save to individuals portfolios and teachers

can choose to send these to parents straight away as a

learning highlight.

29. INCREASE ASSESSMENT COMMUNICATION

It’s not just the students who are learning. Teachers are

using FreshGrade to develop their assessment skills.

Rather than reporting just three specific times a year,

they have hundreds of reporting days where they can

grow with their students.

30. BRING HISTORY TO LIFE

By creating portfolios for historical figures and recording

important events in their lifetimes, teachers and students

are using FreshGrade to make historical figures accessible

and relatable.

31. USE FRESHGRADE WITHOUT A CLASSROOM

Parents can use FreshGrade directly with their children

by taking on the role of the ‘teacher’ within the

application, allowing them to work closely with

their child to collaborate and communicate around

learning inside and outside of the classroom.

33. RECORD AUDIO TUTORIALS

Teachers are using FreshGrade

to record audio files, enabling

students to practice

pronunciation, develop

fluency, or memorize a

concept at home. Audio

files can be added as notes

for individual learners, or

created as an activity to

share with the whole class.

32. PROMPT STUDENT REFLECTION

Students are using FreshGrade to revisit some of

their older work in their portfolio and reflect on how

they see their projects differently than when they first

completed them.

42. COMMUNICATE LEARNING INTENTIONS

Teachers are creating “I can” statements with

corresponding competencies, then combining

evidence into that activity.

43. ENGAGE DISENGAGED PARENT POPULATIONS

In areas where parents rarely attend Parent-Teacher

conferences, teachers have found using FreshGrade

increases engagement and sparks a dialogue around

learning.

44. ORGANIZE PORTFOLIOS

Teachers are organizing their student portfolios by

creating custom labels for activities, grouping units,

projects, terms, or specific student work together. As

needed, teachers can filter and view this information

in their Gradebook using filters.

37. BUILD LABS

Virtual labs can be created as an activity in FreshGrade

and published to be visible across portfolios. Teachers

can include requirements for self-documentation and

students can document their work using FreshGrade

for Students. Teachers will be notified when work is

uploaded and can go in to view and make formal or

informal assessments.

38. SHARE PROGRESS UPDATES

For large projects and assignments that have deadlines

later in the term, teachers can create activities that require

the students to upload a progress update. This can be in

the form of a video, picture, audio, note, or link.

40. SHARE SCHOOL EXCHANGES

Parents can’t always be there to

participate in exchange programs,

particularly those that take place

overseas. Teachers and students can

share moments from their exchange

trips to connect with parents and

make them involved in the learning

journey.

41. PROVIDE ANECDOTAL FEEDBACK

Often students are too focused on

the mark. Teachers are finding that

when they provide only anecdotal

comments using FreshGrade, their

feedback can be more meaningful.

39. RECORD FIELD TRIPS

Field-trips are rich learning experiences that support

the teaching plan. Teachers can record learning in

FreshGrade and use this record as an opportunity

to continue the learning long after the trip is over.

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50. COLLABORATE WITH COLLEAGUES

Some teachers are collaborating by utilizing the same

FreshGrade class and adding their colleagues, providing

a single view of the student.

51. GIVE MORE FEEDBACK

Teachers are using FreshGrade to provide more feedback

than ever before. One teacher was able to give more

feedback to her 500 students in one trimester than

they were able to on all physical Gradebook and

report cards in one year.

45. CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION

When students attend talks on important topics,

such as Internet Safety at school, teachers are

using FreshGrade to send material home to parents,

extending the discussion outside of the classroom.

46. SUPPORT STUDENT TEACHERS

Setting up a student teacher’s personal portfolio on

FreshGrade is an effective method of providing

practicum feedback.

47. REDUCE PAPER IN THE CLASSROOM

Encourage your students to think about the environment

and reduce the amount of paper they use by submitting

digital assessments. Get creative with audio files, videos,

and documents.

48. STUDENTS MENTOR TEACHERS

In some schools, students are training teachers to use

FreshGrade. Swapping the role of teacher and student

can increase confidence, motivation, and spark some

interesting conversations.

49. CREATE LONG-LASTING MEMORIES

FreshGrade portfolios create a record of the learning

journey that can grow year after year. Over time, the

student gathers a history of their development that

they can share with their families and revisit in years

to come.