Conditional Formatting: Formative Assessment Game Changer

How many times in class does a student fill out an entire assignment with the wrong answers?  I can't imagine anything more frustrating! When designing worksheets on topics that are not fully mastered yet, it has always been important to me that students are checking their work and collaborating with others to make sure they are getting an assignment.  I used to rely solely on walking around and checking which students were struggling to understand based on who was asking questions and guided practice time to give me the data I need to assess who needed more instruction time. However, once I figured out how to use Google Sheets as a digital worksheet and learned Conditional Formatting tricks- my formative assessment data and accuracy changed quickly.

• If you get the right answer the box turns green 
• If you need to try again the box turns red

Students want to get the right answer and it held them accountable for completing the assignment the right way.  I had students, who usually hesitated to ask questions, asking me why the box wasn't turning green when they submitted their answers after two minutes of work time!

There I had it- the students asking questions were the ones who needed more instruction on that topic!  I took that group of five students to my back table and we worked more on the skill at hand.  

Watch this video to learn how to add Conditional Formatting to your Google Sheet assignments and give instant feedback to your students:

Here is the sample Fraction/Decimal/Percent Google Sheet used in the video.

Here is a sample of a Find the Adverb Google Sheet to show a way that Conditional Formatting and Google Sheets can be used in literacy.

Christine Perkins 
Purdy Elementary School
Fort Atkinson, WI


@MrsPerkinsGr4