Math Teacher Makes All Her Assessments Scannable

One certainty of teacher life is that the papers that need to be graded will never – ever – stop. We’re on a mission to help teachers save time grading and get the data they need FAST to make learning more effective in the classroom.

GradeCam helps teachers by creating scannable assessments on regular paper that can be graded with any device – webcam, document camera, tablet, phone, etc.

How to Convert Assessments to be Scannable

Now, we realize teachers already have assessments they use year after year, so we strive to teach those teachers how to convert their current assessments to include GradeCam scan forms. That way, they can now scan and get instant results, AND transfer the scores to their electronic gradebook with one click of a button.

GradeCam held a Back to School Challenge on Facebook to help teachers save time grading in the new school year. We offered free trainings (and prizes!) for teachers who wanted to learn how to use GradeCam to get more data and go home empty-handed. We’ll continue to do more challenges if you want to join the group here.

Here’s an example of a training taught by Kate Piland, Educational Consultant and GradeCam Specialist with Engaging Technologies a KCAV company: How to convert the assignments you are already using in the classroom into a scannable assignment.

Teacher Testimonial: Algebra Teacher Converts All Her Assessments to Scannable Ones

Stephanie Stonebraker, a Pre-AP Algebra 2 teacher from Timber Creek High School in Fort Worth, Texas, participated in the challenge. Now in the second half of the school year, we followed up to see how converting her assessments is going.

Since the challenge, have you converted other assessments for use in your classroom?

I pretty much use GradeCam exclusively for all my assessments (quizzes and tests), so I have converted everything now.

Can you give us one example of an assessment you converted?

Here is a quiz from last year. The answers were supposed to be written as ordered triplets, (x, y, z) format. I used a number grid to ask for different values specifically.

Also, since I wanted to grade on the method they used to solve, I made the last two questions yes or no and told them not to bubble them. I bubbled in whether they used the correct format before I scanned their key.

How much time do you estimate it takes you to convert an assignment like this to a scannable assignment?

It does take a little time to convert previous assessments and sometimes a little creativity, too, but it is so worth it. I see it as an investment for next year AND I know I am spending less time converting one than I would spend actually grading them.

How much time does it take you to grade a class set with GradeCam vs the old format by hand?

I never take papers home anymore. With GradeCam I am able to get a class set of papers graded during a passing period or in the last few minutes that students are finishing up tests.  Once or twice I have stayed after school for less than 15 minutes to grade all six classes (200 students), but I have to wait for the school traffic to clear anyway so that doesn’t really count either.

Anything else about using GradeCam in your classroom you’d like to share?

The other thing I love about GradeCam is that you can analyze the scores by question. This is helpful when I go over quizzes or tests. I will pull up the data on the spot and talk with students about which problems their specific class is struggling with. This also helps me see what I said to that specific class that did well or not so I can improve for next year.

Start Converting Your Assessments Now!

Sign up for a free GradeCam account in the box below and start creating those scannable assessments!