Generating Reports
Loading a Comment Bank
To start generating reports, you will need a comment bank. When you click the "Generate" button on the navigation bar, your most recently used comment bank will be loaded. If you do not yet have a comment bank, you will first need to create one. You can learn how to create your first one here.
If you would like to use a different comment bank, click the "Comment Banks" link in the main navigation bar and select the one you would like to use.
Entering Student Information
The Comment Generator has several sections. The first one is a bar with a light grey background, that will allow you to enter student details. If you are not using a class list, you can manually enter a student's name into the appropriate field, as well as select the student's gender. Doing these things will ensure that your reports will use the student's name and appropriate pronouns.
If you have created a class, you can select the class by clicking the "Select Class" button. Once you have picked which class you would like to use you will notice that the student's name field is replaced by a drop-down list. You can navigate between the students in your class by selecting them from that drop-down list, or using the back and forward buttons. If you assigned genders to the students in your class list, they will automatically be selected for you once your select their names.
If you have not yet created a class, you can learn how to create your first one here.
Generating Reports
Your reports will be created by including a selection of comments that are supplied by your comment bank. Let's say we have selected a comment bank to give feedback for a multiplication unit.
Dating Your Reports
If you would like your reports to begin with a date, click on the toggle switch and enter the date you want to be displayed at the top of your report. You can change the format of the date by clicking on the settings button at the top of the generator, near where you entered the student name.
Name and Pronoun Fields
The Comment Generator will automatically update names and pronouns whenever you see Student's Name or a pronoun such as their in a comment. These will be updated in real time as you update the Student's Name and Gender at the top of the generator.
Adding Narrative Comments
Narrative comments are presented to you in a table. Depending on how you set up your comment, you can add one or more of the available items per comment. A blue dot or checkmark will appear if an item will be included in your report. You can click on an included item to remove it from your report.
Some narrative comments only allow you to select one item, such as this one:
Some narrative comments allow you to select one or more items, such as this one:
If you specified a level, that level name will be displayed instead of the comment. You can click the "View Text" button to see the comment. If you would like The Comment Generator to show you the comment by default, you can change this by clicking the "Settings" button near the top.
Adding List Comments
List comments will give you a list of items and you can choose the assign them to one or more levels. You can see the levels by hovering over the dotted text at the top of the table. Clicking the button below these levels assigns the item to that level. If you don't want to assign an item, don't click any of the buttons. You can remove an assignment by clicking on the currently selected level, and you can remove all assignments by clicking the "Clear" button at the top of the table.
A list comment input will look like this:
Generating Your Report
Once you have entered the student's name, selected their gender, and picked which comments to include, click the "Generate Report" button. Your report will appear below the inputs. It will also be automatically copied to your computer's clipboard, ready to be pasted into your student information system, grade book, or learning management system. The Comment Generator formats reports so that they are compatible with most of these systems.
Editing Your Reports
If you need to make some tweaks or changes to the report, you can click the "Edit" button found above the report to change it. If you added the wrong comments, you can correct them and then click the "Regenerate Report" button.
Try It
If you want to see how to generate reports using the comment bank shown above, you can do so here.
Report History
Once you start generating reports, the history of your reports will be available at the bottom of the page.
Note: This will not happen on the demo of The Comment Generator, or if you have history disabled. Learn more about report history.
Recalling a Report
If you click a student's name in the history section, that report will be recalled. The report will be returned to the generator, and the input section of the generator will be changed to match that report. This can be useful if you forgot to paste a report, or if another student's report will be similar.
Downloading Reports
Once you are done generating the reports for your class, you can download a copy of the reports as either a text file, spreadsheet, or PDF. Simply click the "Download" button found above the history and select which format you prefer.
Tips and Tricks
- If you write reports for students at similar ability levels together, the comments will remain selected saving you time in generating your second report
- You don't need to reset The Comment Generator between students - instead you can reset individual parts of it with the "Clear" buttons
- You can change if paragraphs or point-form comments are indented in the settings menu
- Download your reports once you're done as a backup
- Downloading your reports as a spreadsheet makes them easiest to copy into another system at a later time