Check it Out! CheckMark Extension for Efficient Grading.

EdTechTeam has ended development and support for Checkmark, and it has been removed from the Chrome Web Store. The extension remains functional for existing users on an ‘as is’ basis for a limited time.

Like many English teachers, I’ve spent hours grading essays. CheckMark

It started on paper, with writing in any available space. Days and sometimes weeks later came the aftermath: “Hey Ms. Pero, what’s this say?” or the sound of paper crinkling as it’s shoved into a backpack without a second glance.

I needed to speed up, so I made a list of shortcuts to make the grading faster. Letters stood for different things so that my students could interpret my shorthand.  Grading got faster, and papers were returned more quickly. A win, win.

But now students needed a key to sift through the jumble of letters. And it returned. “Hey, Ms. Pero, what does this mean?” or the sound of a laptop closing on the document without a second glance.

The thought of being back to square one was frustrating, and I went in search of a way to give fast, solid, easily accessible, usable feedback. I found a few plugins and add-ons that allowed me to save my comments in full text and attach them to digital papers, but there were a lot of steps and drop-down boxes. Then a colleague of mine Tweeted about the CheckMark extension by EdTechTeam,  and I decided to check it out.  

It was love at first sight. Once the plug-in is loaded, a keyboard pops up on screen with a set of pre-loaded comments. Click the letter “F” and the words “Check for fragment” comes up in a comment on the document. This was my system without the need for a key! Upon closer inspection, I saw a little pencil in the menu. Low and behold, the keyboard is customizable. I immediately personalized all of the comments. The end result: I see the shortcuts but the full comments appear for the students. I can even still add my individual comments when I need to. And to top it all off,  the CheckMark extension synced to all of my devices logged into Chrome so I only had to customize it once!

With the CheckMark extension, I’m evaluating papers much faster than I ever have before. My students are now getting usable feedback they don’t have to interpret. I am getting back revisions that help me evaluate student progress and gives my students much more input to become that much more successful.    

Melissa-Ann Pero is a high school English teacher and yearbook advisor currently working on her Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction. She has been a presenter at various district, area, and state conferences in Pennsylvania. She is a Google Level 1 Educator, an Apple Certified Teacher, a Keystone Technology Innovator, and a bit of an EdTech junkie.  She’s always looking grow her PLC so please follow her on Twitter @bshsmspero.

CheckMark by  EdTechTeam

Quick and easy feedback on student writing in Google Docs.

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