Creating and assigning students to class groups Follow
Hāpara class groups allow you to easily differentiate and personalize instruction by targeting resources, messages and browsing environments for specific subsets of students. You can create groups to support a variety of instructional purposes such as grouping by ability level, project/interest and seating arrangement.
- Creating class groups in Hāpara
- Adding or removing students in Groups
- Editing groups
- Why create groups?
- What are Workspace groups and how are they helpful?
- Using class groups in Hāpara Workspace
Creating class groups in Hāpara
Class Groups can be seen and used by all teachers assigned to a class. Once one teacher sets up groups, these groups will also be available to any co-teachers of that class.
Class groups sharing settings
When you set up groups in Hāpara Highlights and Teacher Dashboard, you have two options: groups can be shared across tabs, or specific to each tab.
By default, groups are set to Shared across tabs. To change this, click the Groups drop-down in the top right toolbar of Highlights or Teacher Dashboard and select Edit Groups.
Where it says Groups are shared across tabs, select Change and choose the setup you prefer.
| We do not recommend switching back and forth between the two settings. You may lose some of the groups you have set up. |
Share groups across tabs
| This option is recommended for high school/secondary teachers who are teaching one subject to each class. |
When you select this option, you create one set of groups that can be used throughout Highlights and Teacher Dashboard. These groups will also be available in Workspace, although you have some more options there (see below).
Groups specific to each tab
| This option is recommended for elementary/primary teachers who teach multiple subjects to the same class and use multiple subject folders. With this option, for example, you can set up and use different groupings of students for math and reading. |
When you select this option, you will be able to set up different groups in Highlights and Teacher Dashboard. In Teacher Dashboard, you will be able to set up different groups for each subject folder, Gmail and any other tabs you use.
Creating a new group
If your groups are shared across tabs, you can set up a new group from any Teacher Dashboard or Highlights menu. First, click the Groups drop-down in the top right toolbar, Then click New Group.
If your groups are specific to each tab, make sure you are on the correct tab for that group before clicking the Groups drop-down. (For example, if you are setting up reading groups, make sure you are in Teacher Dashboard and have selected the reading subject folder before setting up your groups.)
To create a new group, click New Group. You can edit the name of the group by clicking in the text box. You can also change the color of the group by clicking on the colored circle and selecting a different color.
For shared class groups or each specific group tab, you can create as many class groups as needed. There are also 44 group colors available.
Adding or removing students in class groups
When you first create a class group, you can add students to it by clicking + Add. A list of all of the students in that class will appear, and you can select the students you would like to add to that group.
To add or remove a student in a group at a later time, click the Groups drop-down menu. Then click Edit Groups. Next, click the pencil icon next to the group you would like to edit.
To remove a student from a group, just click the X next to the student’s name. To add a student to the group, click + Add and follow the instructions above.
A side panel will open listing all of your class groups. Groups the student is assigned to will have a checkmark next to them. To add or remove the student from groups, just select or deselect the groups.
The colored bars at the top of each student tile indicate which groups the student is assigned to.
Editing groups
To change the name or color of a group, click the Groups drop-down menu. Then click Edit Groups. Next, click the pencil icon next to the group you would like to edit.
You can edit the name of the group by clicking in the text box. You can also change the color of the group by clicking on the colored circle and selecting a different color.
Why create groups
- Organization: Filter your Teacher Dashboard view by group to organize student tiles and focus on one group at a time.
- Differentiation: Create groups in Highlights to differentiate online instruction more easily. For example, you can share links or guide browsing for groups and include websites that meet grouped students’ different instructional needs.
- Learning accommodations: For students with IEPs, more easily incorporate accommodations by creating groups based on students’ needs. For example, you can create a group for students who need extra time on assessments and then design a Guide Browsing session that gives them that extra time.
- Group work: Create groups based on students’ interests and then assign online content to these groups with Share Links or Guide Browsing.
What are Workspace groups and how are they helpful?
Workspace groups allow teachers to support collaborative, differentiated learning as students engage with the content of a Workspace. Here are a few features of Workspace groups that make them helpful:
- Cards can be assigned to groups: Once you create a group in a Workspace, you can then assign differentiated and personalized cards to it based on the learning needs and/or interests of students in that particular group.
- Groups can be formed in flexible ways: Workspace groups are set up so that you can create groups as small or as large as you wish — from just one student to a few students to the whole class. You can set up your groups when you create the Workspace, or at any point after you’ve published it for students. You can base groups on the same types of criteria you use in the real classroom. Plus, you can create up to 200 groups in Workspace, allowing even the largest classes to have collaborative Workspaces.
- Groups can promote peer-to-peer communication and collaboration: Workspace groups encourage student communication and collaboration by allowing students not only to see the other members of their groups but also to email them directly from the Groups area of their Workspace page.
- Workspaces can be shared across classes more efficiently: You can use the same original Workspace with multiple classes. Then you can vary the content when you need to by assigning different cards to different class groups.
- Your Workspace can be filtered by group: You can click to filter your Workspace by the group whose cards you want to see. This makes it easier for you to see what different groups are working on and make sure you’re giving your groups the digital material you want to.
Using class groups in Hāpara Workspace
When your class groups are shared across tabs, you can also use them in Hāpara Workspace. To use class groups in a Workspace, click the Students & Groups tab.
Then click New Group. Give the group a name and color. Now click Next.
In the side panel, select the class to open a list of class groups and individual students. Find the class group that you would like to use in your Workspace. Then drag and drop the class group name into the group box you just made.
This will copy the students from your class group into your Workspace group. If you make changes to your class groups in Highlights or Dashboard after setting up your Workspace group, those changes will not be reflected in Workspace.
Remember, students can see the names of the groups they are in in Workspace, so you may not want to use the same group names you use elsewhere in Hāpara.
For more on setting up groups in Workspace, read this article.