Organizations can choose to support report card comments in Edsby in the following ways:
- Teachers type new ad-hoc comments in the report card sheets.
- The organization provides a set of pre-approved report comments and teachers choose from the pre-approved set. Teachers do not have the option of adding new ad-hoc comments.
- The organization enables teachers to add ad-hoc comments and to create their own private bank or library of report card comments, or
- The organization provides a set of report card comments that teachers can use if they wish. In addition, teachers can add ad-hoc and create their own private set of comments.
My Comments
If the school or district has enabled unique teacher report card comments in their Edsby system, teachers may use My Comments to create and manage a set of comments that can be applied to a report card comment field. My Comments is an Edsby teacher’s private report card comment bank or library.
Comments can include automatic substitutions for names and pronouns. Noun gender substitution is also supported.
Teachers access My Comments by selecting My Comments from the drop down menu under their Edsby name menu. If the organization has not enabled teacher level report card comments, the option will not be included in the drop down menu.
My Comments Examples
The teacher has the following comments in My Comments.
| Comment | Tags | Phrase Type | Grade | Subject | Course Code |
| This is evident in <<his/her/their>> writing portfolio. | Writing | Evidence | 10 | English | ENG2D |
| This is evident in <<his/her/their>> literary essay. | Writing | Evidence | 10 | English | ENG2D |
| <<He/She/They>> identifies strengths and areas to improve performance. | Reading | Strengths | 10 | English | ENG2D |
| Through <<his/her/their>> independent work skills, <<he/she/their>> is able to plan communications which suit <<his/her/their>> audience and purpose. | Reading | Strengths | 10 | English | END2D |
| <<He/She>> recognizes and respects different viewpoints. | Reading | Strengths | 10 | English | ENG2D |
| <<Name>> uses a variety of in-class resources and strategies to increase <<his/her/their>> vocabulary. | Vocabulary | Learned | 10 | English | ENG2D |
| <<Name>> uses decoding strategies to understand unfamiliar words. | Vocabulary | Learned | 10 | English | ENG2D |
| <<He/She/They>> is encouraged to plan out an essay by using a variety of strategies. | Writing | Next Steps | 10 | English | ENG2D |
Once in a report card sheet, the teacher can click a comment box and use the filters on the left side of the comment form to search through their comments. Comments can be filtered by Library, Tags, Phrase Type, Grade, or Subject.
Additionally, teachers can search for comments by typing a word or phrase in the search box. Clicking reset all filters will clear the search box and any filters selected. The comment field has a character limit and only comments that are less than the available characters will be displayed. For example, only comments that are 128 characters or less will appear in the search.
Click on the X to exit the comment search.
Adding comments to My Comments
Comments can be added by clicking Add New Comment or by importing a set of comments from a CSV file. A CSV is a comma separated values file, which allows data to be saved in a table structured format. CSVs look like a garden-variety spreadsheet but with a .CSV extension. Most spreadsheet programs include the option to save a file in the CSV format.
To create a new comment:
- Click Add New.
- Enter the comment in the text field. The comment can include automatic replacements.
When using the above comment on a report card sheet the <<name >> is replaced with the student’s first name, and <<his/her/their>> is matched to the gender listed in the student’s Panorama. The gender is set in the organization’s student information system.
A student whose gender field has not been provided or has been set to X, will use the third value in the substitution string.
Substitutions for other words can also be included, for example, <<actor/actress/performer>> or <<boy/girl/student>>. Text to the left of the first / will be used for male students, between the first and second / for female students and the last / for other or undeclared gender students.
About the Comment form
The Comment field is the only required field on the form, and for most teachers, the other fields are not necessary. The additional fields are used to rank the available comments and display comments in a more helpful way.
When the Subject field matches the Subject on the Class Setup form, the comment will appear higher in the list, but comments are never excluded from the search.
Typing “fractions” in the English class’ report card sheet, will display all comments containing the string “fractions” even if the comments are tagged as Mathematics.
The Tags field can add additional classifications to comments. For example, levels, terms, or a comment number. Multiple tags can be added by tapping the return to tab key. To view the comments that match the tag, select the tag from the filters.
Phrase Types can further classify comments, making progress reports even easier for teachers. For example, if teachers want to find a comment for a level 4 student about Next Steps, they can tag the comment with level 4 and use the phrase type next steps when creating their comments.
Importing comments from other sources
Teachers can copy and paste from a document or spreadsheet, but a teacher can also import the comments from a CSV file. Most spreadsheets can open CSV files and save in the CSV format.
The comments need to be in pre-defined columns, and the most reliable way to ensure the columns have the correct names is to export the comments. Click on the gear icon and choose Export from the drop-down list.
The teacher has a set comments in a document. Within the document software, search and replace has been used to insert <<name>> where appropriate. The text was copied from the document into the spreadsheet then saved as a CSV file.
Some spreadsheets make a bit of a fuss about saving in the CSV format, hold fast and insist that CSV is the format of choice. The file can be called anything as long as the file extension is CSV.
To import a CSV file, choose My Comments from the drop down menu under a person’s name. If the organization has not enabled teacher level report card comments, the option will not be included in the drop down menu.
Click the gear icon and choose Import.
Click Browse and select the CSV. The comments are added to My Comments.
Teachers can update their existing comments by exporting the comments. The comments can be opened in a spreadsheet program and search and replace can be used to update the substitutions. The teacher then deletes the existing comments and imports
the updated comments.
If the Student Information System only supplies two values for the Gender field, the gender can be set in the Panorama’s Student Admin page.
Saving Report Card Comments to My Comments
When teachers are filling in report card comments, they can easily add them to their My Comments Library in Edsby for future use in report cards.
When a teacher writes a comment in the report card sheet and adds it to the personal comment bank, the three pronouns will be added automatically. In this illustration, Beth Archer has added a comment for a male student. Clicking Add will create a comment that can be used for all students.
Teachers can add additional tags to the comment, if desired. When the comment form is complete, click Save.
The comment can be found in the teacher’s My Comments.
Additionally, the comment is easily accessible within another report card. Navigate to a report card, click in the comment box, and use the comment filters to locate the newly added comment. The Add feature makes adding new comments and using them in future report cards quick and easy.
Deleting Comments
At any point, teachers can delete any comments in their My Comments. To delete individual comments, click the trash can icon to the right of the Comment.
Confirm the deletion.
Teachers can choose to delete all of their Comments by clicking Delete All Comments at the top right of My Comments. This action cannot be undone.
