how to use assignments in teams

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• Published Sep 9, 2021

Organize classwork with four new Assignments features from Teams

• Content Type
• Microsoft Teams

Whether you’re preparing for a new school year or are already in the thick of one, there is no better time than now to recommit to classroom organization with the help of Microsoft Teams. Assignments in Teams has just what the educator ordered—simplified ways to streamline, distribute, manage, and access assignments for classes this year and beyond. 

Here are some of the latest and greatest features Assignments has to offer:

1. Filter assignments by class

Sometimes keeping track of assignments can almost feel like a greater task than reviewing them. Educators can now rest easy and stay organized by filtering student assignments by the classes they teach for a convenient and visual list view.

2. Return an assignment for student revision

Assignments are sometimes a work in progress, requiring ongoing updates, reviews, and edits. After reviewing an assignment, educators can now  return the assignment for revision . The returned assignment will appear in the student’s “active work” list, where they can then turn the work in after making edits. To return an assignment, educators just need to select Return for revision .

3. Assign group work

Collaborative learning just got easier with the new group assignment feature. Educators can give projects to a team of students and have them collaborate on, and submit, one piece of work for their whole group. Once the assignment has been submitted, educators can choose to submit comments and grades to individual students, or the entire group.

4. Manage assignments on a mobile device

Learning can happen from anywhere, and many educators and students rely on a mobile device to check and work on assignments. For their convenience, an upgraded version of Assignments with simplified navigation is now available on Android and iOS mobile devices and tablet devices.

When you’re ready to take advantage of these new features, don’t forget to also sprinkle in some fun and use the latest emojis in Microsoft Teams! With more than 800 emojis that are customizable (including by skin tone now), your students can freely express themselves, feel represented, and bring their full personalities to the classroom. Download Teams today to get started for free.

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Create an assignment in Microsoft Teams

Create  assignments for your students in Microsoft Teams for Education . Manage assignment timelines, add instructions, create resources to turn in, and more.

Note:  Assignments is only available in class teams . You can assign assignments to classes of up to 1000 students. Classes larger than 300 can't use a Class Notebook or Makecode.

In this article

Create a new assignment, title and category, instructions and attachments.

Points, rubrics, and grading

Assigning to students or groups

Due dates and scheduling, assign, save, or discard, classwork modules.

Navigating the Grades tab

Navigate to the desired class team, then select Assignments .

Select Create >   New   Assignment .

At a minimum, you must give the assignment a title. This is required. You can optionally add a tag, which will make this assignment easier to search for in the future. 

Assignments only supports the following image file types: .png, .jpeg, and .gif. 

On mobile, Images will resize to the screen. 

On desktop, you can use sizing handles on images to resize them.  

You can also attach existing files, links, or assignment integrations and create and name a new file right from here for students to turn in.

Note:  You can add up to five files for students to edit. The total number of resources you can add to an assignment is 10, whether editable or non-editable. Read-only reference files can be up to 500 MB in size. Files for students to edit can be up to 50 MB in size.

Select Attach  to attach resources to the assignment. Choose a file from your OneDrive, upload a file from your device, or choose one of the other options set by your admin, such as MakeCode.

Note:  If you're assigning a Class Notebook page, check what version of OneNote your students are using to ensure that their assignment pages will lock after the assignment due date passes.

Select +New  to create a blank Word (.docx), Excel (.xlsx), PowerPoint (.pptx), or Whiteboard document, or a new video recording to hand out to your students.

Select  Apps  to attach content from an app to the assignment. Admins can  manage Teams apps in the Microsoft Teams admin center .

Select Learning Accelerators  to add Reading Progress , Search Progress and other Learning Accelerators to the Assignment.

By default, Students can't edit  attached documents, meaning the document is read-only. This is a great option for reference materials.

Note:  If you have older documents with the file extension .doc, .xls, or .ppt, students won't be able to edit them. You can either attach them as read-only reference material or create a new file in Teams, copy in the old content, and save it. All new files you create in Teams or other Microsoft 365 apps will have the correct extension.

The Assign to field is where you choose the class for this assignment. By default, the class team you are in will be selected. 

Multiclass Publish

Multiclass publish allows educators to create an assignment for multiple classes with the same due date. 

Do this by navigating to the Assign to field and check the boxes for classes the assignment will be published to. 

Points and rubrics

You can select which grading scheme,  grading categories , and points the assignment is worth. 

If you have configured the class to use Grading Categories, you need to select a Grading Category for assignment with points.

Select the amount of points this assignment is worth, if any. You can use points on any number-based scale including whole numbers of 100 and set your own denominator. Examples:  88/100 or decimals 3.7/4.0.

Select  Add rubric  to  create a rubric .

Select  Manage grading categories  to create or edit the grading categories for the class.

Setting up Grading Schemes

Letter grading and grading categories must be set as a Grading Scheme in the Grade settings section to display these options.

2. Navigate down to Grade settings .

3. Choose Add Schemes or  Manage schemes .

Note:  If no other grading schemes other than "Points" have been set, this link will read  Add Schemes . Once you have gone through the steps to add a new scheme, the link will change to  Manage schemes. 

5. Set the grading levels. Letter grades will be the normal A, B, C, D, F, scheme. Ensure that there are enough levels to cover the entire 0-100 percent range.

6. Select the Save button when complete. 

Finish by choosing the  Done  button. 

Choose multiple classes, individual students, or groups of students  in one class to assign to.

By default, only students who are in your class now will receive this assignment. Change this by selecting an option from the dropdown menu.

Note:  If you choose a close date, any student who joins will receive this assignment until the close date.

Select a time and date for the assignment to be due. To schedule an assignment, next to  Assignment will post immediately with late turn-ins allowed  select Edit assignment timeline . Here, you can customize when your assignment will be posted to students and when it will close for turn-ins. By default, no close date will be selected, which allows students to turn in assignments late.

Note: If you choose multiple classes to publish the assignment to, you can select Set due date per class to set individual schedule , due and close date for each class

You can choose whether to add this assignment to your calendar on Outlook, students' calendars, and other educators or staff in your class team. Set this preference for all assignments in Assignments Settings .

Next to Add assignment to calendars , select the dropdown and pick one of the following options:

Students only  adds the assignment to just student calendars.

Students and me adds the assignment to both student calendars and your calendar.

Students and team owners to adds the assignment to both student and other educators or staff in the class team calendars.

Choose the channel where you'd like notifications for this assignment to post. This allows you to keep student work and discussion organized by unit, topic, or subject. By default, assignments will be posted in the General channel or your selection in Assignments Settings.

To choose a channel to post in, next to Post assignment notifications to:  select the down arrow for a list of available channels. 

Pick the channel you’d like this assignment notification to post in, your selection will be applied immediately.

To post assignment notifications to a channel, make sure bot posting is enabled. You can check that here  or ask your IT Admin for help.

Assignments will post to channels that are visible to all students. Private channels will not appear during this step.

If you have selected multiple classes, select Set per Class to set which channel to use or just use the General channel. Assignments to individual students do not post to channels.

When you're ready, you can finish the process of creating your new assignment by assigning it to students.

Note:  If your school uses Turnitin, you can sync assignment turn-ins to Turnitin .

Assign  will immediately publish the assignment and your students will be notified of the new assignment on the day you specified and the notification linking to this assignment will post in the channel you selected. They'll also have an entry on their Teams and Outlooks calendars if you've selected that option.

Save  will save a draft of the assignment. Students will not receive any notification, and nothing will be added to any calendar. 

Discard  will delete the draft of the assignment. Students will not receive any notification, and nothing will be added to any calendar. 

Create a New Module

1. Navigate to the desired Class Team, then select Classwork.

2. Select Add module. 

3. Enter a title for the new module.

4. Optionally, enter a description.

5. Select Save to save the module as a draft.

Note: Draft modules are only visible to Team owners (teachers) until published. All new modules are created in draft states. 

Learn more about managing classwork modules in Microsoft Teams.

Navigate the Grades tab

To open the Grades tab, navigate to your desired class team and select Grades .

You'll see that students appear in a column, with their assignments in a row next to their name. Assignments are listed in order by due date with the nearest date at the beginning. 

Learn more about the Grades tab. 

Create a group assignment

Edit an assignment

Save an assignment as a draft

Grade, return, and reassign assignments

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Multiple Assignements for same group of students in one Teams

Hi, How can I duplicate Assignement with all the features? like group members? My class is divided into 7 groups and they always turn in an assignement as a group, but when I make a new assignement, I have to create the groups of students again. Is it possible somehow use channels for this purpose? If yes, how?

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• Independent Advisor

Hello Jaroslav, I'm Ibhadighi and I'd happily help you with your question. In this forum, we are Microsoft consumers just like yourself. In Microsoft Teams for Education, you can streamline your workflow with assignments for groups of students by utilizing channels. Each channel can represent a group, and you can post the same assignment across different channels. Here's how you can approach it: 1. Create Channels for Each Group: If you haven't already, set up separate channels for each of your 7 groups. To do this: - Go to the team where your class is located. - Click on the ellipsis `(...) ` next to the team name and select "Add channel." - Name the channel according to the group and set the appropriate privacy settings (typically "Private" for groups). - Add the group members to their respective channels. 2. Duplicate Assignments: Unfortunately, Teams does not have a feature to directly duplicate an entire assignment with all its settings (like attached group members) for reuse. Each assignment needs to be recreated manually. However, you can simplify the process by: - Creating the assignment in one channel, setting all the parameters, attaching any documents, and setting the rubric if needed. - Before assigning, copy the text and requirements. - Go to each group's channel, create a new assignment, and paste the information you copied. - Attach any necessary files (you may need to re-upload them unless they are stored in a shared space like the Team's files). 3. Use Assignments Across Channels: You can post the same assignment to multiple channels (groups). While creating or editing an assignment: - Look for the option to assign to specific students/channels and select the channels you want to assign to. 4. Reuse a Previous Assignment: While Teams doesn't allow for duplicating an assignment with groups, you can reuse a previous assignment and reassign it: - Go to the "Assignments" tab, click on "Create," and then "From existing." - Choose the assignment you want to reuse and adjust any necessary details. 5. Note: Each student will still need to be individually assigned to the assignment if you want them to turn in work individually. If the group is turning in a single assignment for the entire group, only one member needs to submit, but you should clarify this in the instructions. I hope this helps. Best Regards, Ibhadighi

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Thank you very much Ibhadighi for you great answer.

I struggle with some problems here: 3. Use Assignments Across Channels: You can post the same assignment to multiple channels (groups). While creating or editing an assignment: - Look for the option to assign to specific students/channels and select the channels you want to assign to.

I can not find such an option to assign to specific channels ( only students, or group of students).

I do not know how to create assignment in specific channel. I do not see this kind of option :(

can you please help me to find out how to create assignment for channel?

I'm sorry, from the screenshots provided and your description, it seems that Microsoft Teams currently does not support the ability to assign tasks directly to channels, but rather to individual students or groups of students. However, there is a way to work around this limitation by using the "Tags" feature in Microsoft Teams. Here's how you can use it: 1. **Create Tags for Each Group**: - Go to your Team and click on the '...' (more options) next to the team name. - Select "Manage tags" from the dropdown menu. - Create a new tag for each group and assign the relevant students to each tag. 2. **Assign Tasks Using Tags**: - When creating an assignment, under the "Assign to" section, you can select the tag that corresponds to the group you want to assign the task to. Unfortunately, this method still involves selecting groups of students rather than assigning directly to a channel. Tags effectively serve as a quick way to group and select students when setting up an assignment. If you are looking to post materials, information, or assignments that are specific to a group and want them contained within their specific channel, you can: 1. Navigate to the channel for the group. 2. Use the "Files" tab to upload any relevant documents or materials. 3. Use the "Posts" tab to communicate with the group, provide instructions, or discuss the assignment. 4. You can then manually track the submission of assignments by instructing students to submit their work in the designated channel's "Files" section or by creating a specific assignment in the "Assignments" section and selecting the students from that group. The features and capabilities of Microsoft Teams are frequently updated, so newer options for managing assignments may be available. You can also provide a feedback here https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/send-feedback-to-microsoft-with-the-feedback-hub-app-f59187f8-8739-22d6-ba93-f66612949332 Thank you, Ibhadighi

Thank you very much for your understandable message, it has helped a lot.

Unfortunatelly I can not assign Tasks Using Tags either :(

Maybe I should contact admin.

Thank you once again for your time :)

Best Regards

Thank you for letting me know Jaroslav. I hope it all works out. Best regards, Ibhadighi

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How to use MS Teams [2024 step by step guide]

As many teams are now working remotely due to COVID-19, they’ve been forced to use virtual communication tools like Microsoft Teams to collaborate effectively!

But how do you go about using Microsoft Teams?

After all, while Microsoft Teams is an effective tool, it can be confusing!

To help you get a quick start, this article is a step-by-step guide on how to use Microsoft Teams for your video conferencing and communication needs. We’ll highlight the tool’s key features and pricing to help you determine if it’s the best fit for your team.

We’ll also cover three tips to help you further benefit from Microsoft Teams’ capabilities!

This article contains:

(Click on the links below to jump to a specific section)

What Is Microsoft Teams?

How To Use Microsoft Teams (Step-by-Step Guide)

• How to get started with Microsoft Teams
• How to create teams and channels
• How to set up video conferencing
• How to schedule meetings

Three additional features of Microsoft Teams

Microsoft teams pricing, three bonus tips for using microsoft teams.

Let’s get started.

What is Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft Teams is an online communication and team collaboration tool that’s part of the Microsoft Office 365 Suite. While it’s mostly used for video conferencing by remote teams, that’s not the only thing it can do.

Teams can help you:

• Create dedicated channels for specific tasks or teams.
• Record audio and video meetings.
• Easily share your screen with team members for detailed explanations.
• Quickly search through archives using its command box.

How to use Microsoft Teams (step-by-step guide)

Using a remote communication tool like Microsoft Teams is essential to ensure that your team stays connected even if they’re thousands of miles away.

But if you’re not familiar with the tool, this can be challenging.

If that’s the case for you, don’t worry!

Just follow this simple step-by-step guide to use Teams the right way.

We’ll cover the steps you need to follow on desktop and mobile platforms over:

A. How to get started with Microsoft Teams

Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you get started with Microsoft Teams:

1. Create an account

A) For desktop

Step 1: Go to the Microsoft Teams webpage and click on the profile icon at the top-right corner of the screen.

Step 2: In the “Sign in” page that appears, click on the “Create one!” link to set up a new account.

Step 3: On the “Create account” window, enter your email address (preferably a work email address) and click on the “Next” button.

Step 4: Follow the on-screen instructions to create a password and enter your details on the pages that follow.

B) For mobile

To create a Microsoft account on your mobile, download the app and follow the same instructions mentioned above.

2. Download Microsoft Teams app

Step 1: To download the Microsoft Teams desktop app, return to the Microsoft Teams web page and click on “Download Teams” at the top of your screen.

Step 2: Click on the “Download for desktop” button to page jump to the download link for either Mac OS or Windows, depending upon your system.

This link will show up as “Download Teams.”

Click on this to proceed with your download.

Step 3: Open the downloaded file and follow the instructions provided to install Microsoft Teams.

Step 1: Download the Microsoft Teams app from the iOS App Store or Google Play Store for Android.

Step 2: Once installed, open the app and log in to your Microsoft account to start using Microsoft Teams.

B. How to create teams and channels

In Microsoft Teams, a Team is a group of people who collaborate together, usually consisting of the entire organization.

Meanwhile, Channels are segregated conversations, where each one can be dedicated to a department, project or even a task.

Here are the steps to create teams and channels in Microsoft Teams:

1. Create a team

Step 1: Open the Microsoft Teams app and click on the “Join or create a team” option at the bottom of the Teams sidebar on the left.

Step 2: On the new screen that appears, click on the “Create team” button.

Step 3: On the following screen, you can choose:

• Build a team from scratch
• Create from an existing Office 365 group or team

If your team was using Office 365 before signing up for Teams, you may have existing groups that can be added using the “Create from…” option.

Otherwise, go with “Build a team from scratch.”

Step 4: Next, define who’s part of the Team.

Make your choice based on how you want to organize your platform:

• Private: If the team should only have a few specific members, select Private.
• Public: Best for teams with changing members.
• Org-Wide: If you want to host your entire organization as one “team” on the platform and use channels to divide departments, Org-wide is the ideal option.

Step 5: Once you’ve chosen the type of team you want to create, you need to give it a name. Choose an appropriate team name, like “Marketing” or “Social Media”, and then click the “Create” button at the bottom right.

Step 6: Your new team will now appear on the left sidebar of your Teams app (“Marketing” in the image below).

To add members to the team, click on the three dots next to the team name and select “Add member.”

Step 7: Type in the names of the members you want to add.

In case these are “guests” such as external users from outside your organization, you can give them guest access through their email address instead.

Step 1: Open the Microsoft Teams app.

Step 2: Tap on the “Teams” icon at the bottom of the screen, then an icon of “two people and a plus sign” in the top right. You should reach the Manage teams page.

Step 3: To create your new team, give it a name, add a description and set the privacy settings.

Once you’ve created the team, tap the “More options” icon with three dots and select “Add members.” Type in the names of your team members to add them.

Note: To add groups of people/multiple individuals simultaneously, you need to use the desktop or web app.

2. Create a channel

Now that you’ve got a team set up, it’s time to add channels.

By default, Microsoft Teams creates a general channel for all team members.

To create additional channels, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Click on the three dots next to the Team you want to create a new channel in, and click on the “Add channel” option.

Step 2: In the pop-up window that appears, you can:

• Select a channel name.
• Add a channel description.
• Change privacy settings to allow access to every team member or only a select few members.

Once you’re done with these settings, click on the “Add” button to create the channel.

Step 1: In the mobile app, click on the Teams icon at the bottom.

Step 2: Tap the three dots (“More options” icon) for the team you want to add to the channel. Then, click on “Manage options.”

Step 3: Click on “Add +” to begin creating a new channel. Add a name for the channel and a description if you wish to.

Step 4: To create a standard channel, simply tap “Done.” To create a private channel, tap on “Privacy,” select “Private,” then go back and tap “Done.”

Step 5: If you chose to create a private channel, the “add members” screen will automatically open up. You can add members at this stage itself, or skip this step and add members later.

C. How to set up video conferencing in Microsoft Teams

Video conferencing is extremely simple with Microsoft Teams.

Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Open the Microsoft Teams app, and go to the team/channel you want to hold a video conference with.

Click on the small camera icon under the compose box.

Step 2: If you want, you can add a subject to the video call. Then click the “Meet now” button to start.

Step 3: In the video call screen that appears, you can use the toolbar to turn your camera and microphone on/off, as well as share your screen with everyone who joins the call.

Step 1: Open the Microsoft Teams mobile app and go to the chat you want to start a video call with.

Step 2: In the selected chat, tap “Video call” to start video calling. Participants can answer from either of their desktop or mobiles.

Now that you know how to set up video calls, you can easily hold online meetings and discussions with your team members!

D. How to schedule meetings

For important meetings that need everyone’s presence, it’s best to schedule them in advance. This way, people can clear their schedules for the meeting and sync it with their calendars.

Here’s how you can schedule meetings in Microsoft Teams:

Step 1: Select “Schedule a Meeting” (calendar icon) below the compose box.

Step 2: Go to “Calendar” on the left pane and click on “New meeting,” which is located at the top right.

Step 3: Once you’ve selected a time range in the calendar, a form will open to help you out.

Step 4: Add a title for the meeting, invite participants and add other details. The Scheduling Assistant can help you check everyone’s availability.

Step 5: Hit “Save” to complete the process. An invite will automatically be sent to each participant’s Outlook inbox!

Step 1: Tap the Calendar at the bottom of the app and go to “Schedule a meeting” near the top-right.

Step 2: Tap on “Add participants” to invite everyone you need.

Step 3: Set the start time and end time for the meeting. Write a description as well.

Step 4: Tap “Done” to finish scheduling your Teams meeting!

Here are three features that make Teams an excellent communication tool for remote as well as in-office teams:

1.Live events

Teams’ live events are broadcasts created for large audiences.

Unlike video conferences and calls, live events are a form of communication, where audience interaction remains limited to only viewing the content you’re putting out (like those free concerts musicians are hosting on social media).

With Microsoft Teams, you can:

• Host live events for upto 10,000 attendees
• Record live events for audiences to stream after the broadcast
• Allow limited access to the broadcast or make them public.

2. Instant messaging

Since Microsoft Teams is a collaboration tool, it has an instant messaging feature to keep the team connected.

It lets you:

• Have a quick group chat or hop on a video call.
• Move email replies from your Outlook inbox into a quick chat.
• Have informal conversations with gifs and stickers.

3. App integrations

Microsoft Teams integrates with tons of workplace apps to help streamline your communication across various platforms.

It integrates with apps like:

• MeisterTask: A task manager built for collaboration between agile teams
• Azure boards: A project tracker featuring kanban boards, scrum boards and dashboards
• Nimble Contacts: A CRM that helps access customer insights from within Teams

Microsoft Teams is part of the Office 365 suite, which offers multiple plans as per your needs.

Here’s a closer look at the plans that include Teams:

• Microsoft Teams (Free): Offers basic features such as instant messaging, audio and video chat.
• Microsoft 365 Business Basic: $5.00 user/month – Offers “Microsoft Teams (Free)” features + video conferencing for up to 250 people.
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard: $12.50 user/month – Offers “Business Basic” features + desktop versions of MS Excel, Word, Access, etc.
• Office 365 E3: $20.00 user/month — Offers “Business Standard” features + unlimited file storage per user on OneDrive.

Microsoft Teams can be a powerful tool to boost your team’s productivity. Here are a few tips to make the most of it.

A. Frequently use slash commands

Microsoft Teams supports slash commands to streamline the end-users experience.

Slash commands speed up essential tasks like sending messages or viewing someone/s activity.

Type these into the command bar to try them out:

• /goto – Jump to a Teams channel or team
• /mention – Track your mentions quickly
• /available – Set your availability status

B. Work on your files in the document library

Microsoft Teams allows you to work on shared Word, Excel or PowerPoint files without leaving its interface.

Here are a few things you can do with Teams’ file-sharing feature:

• Upload files to a shared file storage
• Edit files on Team apps
• Collaborate in real time
• Share files with members outside your organization

C. Make the most out of Microsoft Teams’ mobile app

The Microsoft Teams’ mobile app helps you stay updated when you’re on the go.

Its powerful capabilities can support most of desktop app’s features, such as:

• Audio and video conferencing
• Sharing or viewing files
• Joining different teams and channels
• Scheduling meetings on the go

Remote work isn’t always a piece of cake, especially when you’re not used to it.

However, with the right tools, it’s much more comfortable!

Now that you know how to set up and use Microsoft Teams, your organization can collaborate easily with its powerful features.

And if Microsoft Teams doesn’t seem to be the right fit for your needs, you can always check out alternatives like Skype for Business, Zoom and Slack!

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Explore how Microsoft's partnership with Khan Academy is enhancing the future of education with AI innovation and tools for teachers >

• Learning accelerators
• Published Aug 15, 2023

Streamline lesson planning with new Teams features

• Content Type
• Microsoft Forms
• Microsoft Teams

As the school year kicks off, we know it’s important for you to have the right tools for creating a learning environment where everyone can thrive. With that in mind, we’ve rounded up the new Microsoft Teams for Education features and capabilities that can help educators and students achieve even more this school year.

Explore how the latest updates to Teams can help you streamline lesson planning, enhance your students’ reading fluency, and make space for feelings in your classroom—literally!

Use Classwork in Teams to create and organize class content

Classwork in Teams for Education is now available! Classwork is specifically designed for educators to simplify the task of managing their curriculum. A one-stop-shop, Classwork helps you bring together your class materials—including Assignments, Links, Class Notebook pages, files, and Teams channels—into one central location.

With Classwork, curate a view of content and resources that will help your students navigate materials and see everything in one place.

With Classwork, you can create modules of study aligned with your curriculum structure in a way that makes it easy for you and students to navigate and find class materials. You can add class content to your modules and organize them by topic or week. Easily arrange your modules by simply dragging and dropping into the order that you choose. Modules are created in a draft state, meaning you’re in control of when to share content with students.

You can also pin modules to the top of the Classwork app so students can easily find the topic and all the related resources. Students are empowered to find what they need, exactly when they need it—without having to hunt through multiple tools and sift through folders of resources.

Organizing your class materials has never been so simple! Check out the Classwork training module on Microsoft Learn and streamline your lesson planning with Classwork in Teams for Education .

Simplify reading fluency checks with Comprehension Questions and Reading with Expression

Reading Progress , a free Learning Accelerator available in Teams, is designed to help you track your students’ reading skills. Reading Progress quickly gives you actionable insights into your students’ reading fluency and focuses them on specific areas for improvement. Here are two new updates to Reading Progress that can help simplify your reading fluency checks—just in time for the new school year.

The first new update, Comprehension Questions, gives you the ability to add reading comprehension questions to Reading Progress. Now, after your students complete a reading assignment, they’ll be able to see the corresponding comprehension questions right in Reading Progress. Comprehension Questions uses the technology of Microsoft Forms, including the auto-grading capabilities of Microsoft Forms Quizzes, so you can save time grading multiple-choice questions.

Add reading comprehension questions in Reading Progress to assess your students’ reading fluency and understanding.

We know that reading comprehension questions are a big part of evaluating your students’ reading skills and tracking their progress. Learn more about Comprehension Questions in Reading Progress to assess your students’ reading fluency and make personalized interventions for improvement.

Another new update in Reading Progress, Reading with Expression, will automatically gauge the expression—also known as prosody—of your students. Expression identifies several aspects of prosody, including monotone reading, long pauses, and not pausing for a period or comma. It can also determine whether students use the correct voice inflection for question marks or exclamation points, and even whether they’re stressing the correct syllables of multi-syllable words. You can track your students’ progress over time in the Insights tab, along with reading speed and accuracy.

Use the Expression feature in Reading Progress to measure and track your students’ reading fluency.

Since fluency checks are traditionally a one-on-one activity, using Expression can help you perform checks more frequently, with less disruption to your class. Learn more about Reading with Expression to help save time, navigate the logistics of fluency checks, and enhance your students’ independent reading practice.

Foster wellbeing in the classroom with the Reflect Emotion Board

Microsoft Reflect , a wellbeing app in Teams, helps support your students’ connection, expression, and learning by providing a space to share feelings. Reflect can help students broaden their emotional vocabulary, recognize and navigate their emotions better, and deepen empathy for their peers. It does this in part by providing regular opportunities for students to share and be heard.

Now you can literally make space for emotions in your classroom with the Microsoft Reflect Emotion Board, a physical board kit for classrooms based on the Reflect app. It can be used in classes with young students, classes without many devices, or any other class where having a physical board will help drive more emotional expression.

To set it up, simply download the Emotion Board kit from the Reflect app, print it, and build an interactive check-in space on a board or wall. Then, assign a card for each of your students based on the mapping in the app. Once the Emotion Board is set up, have your students share how they feel by placing their card in the category they relate to. When students are finished placing their cards, capture their responses by using the Reflect app to scan the Emotion Board. Explore trends in the app to track wellbeing over time and gain insights into your students’ moods.

Valuing everyone’s feelings is now easier for all learning levels, with an inclusive, intuitive, and tangible approach. Learn more about Microsoft Reflect and get step-by-step instructions for the Reflect Emotion board .

These are just a few of the exciting updates to Microsoft Teams to help you achieve even more in the new school year. Learn about all of the newest Teams updates in What’s new in Teams for Education | June 2023 and What’s New in Teams for Education | August 2023 .

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Configure assignments for Teams

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The content stored in SharePoint includes metadata and details about Assignments and Submissions that's stored for Assignments. The export user data is supported for both Student and Teacher users. However, delete data is only supported for Students due to co-mingling and data retention compliance. Teachers can delete their data in app by deleting assignments or classes. For more information, review the Assignments Admin documentation .

There are three scripts to use depending upon the scenario:

Shared common step for Export and Delete user data scenario:

Use the Get-UserClasses.ps1 script to create a list of classes that user is part of. If the user has left the class, then a text file containing those class Ids can be provided to include data from those classes. Otherwise data won't be exported or deleted from those classes. Running this script creates a csv file that contains a list of classes, the role of the user in class, and whether or not export or delete for the user was processed (which is set to false by default).

Exporting User data:

Use the Export-EDUAssignments.ps1 script to export data for the user. The csv file generated in the above step is input to this script. Running this script will get assignments and submissions of each assignment and generates two files. The assignment file (assignment.json) contains assignments and submissions and report file(GetAssignmentsReport.csv) - status of running the script. After running the script, it updates the GetSubmissionsProcessed column in the csv input file to true for that specific class so that if there's a failure the script can be rerun.

Deleting User data:

Use the Delete-EDUAssignments.ps1 script to delete data for the user. The script reads the class details of user from input csv file generated in the previous shared step. It then deletes the submissions, and generates a report file(DeleteAssignmentsReport.csv) for status of running the script. When the deletion of submission is done it updates the DeleteSubmissionsProcessed column to true for that specific class, so that if there's a failure the script can be rerun. The script also removes students from the class unless optionally specified to not do so by the Tenant Admin, failing that the student will get all the assignments applicable to them be redistributed to them.

Additional resources

The 3 battlegrounds that will decide the NBA Finals

After a week-long hiatus following a short conference finals round, the NBA Finals will finally tip off Thursday night. In one corner, we have a 64-win Boston Celtics team that's been knocking on the door for a half-decade and has been historically dominant all year following two crucial offseason trades. In the other corner, we have a surging Dallas Mavericks squad that remade itself at the trade deadline and has been flattening everything in its path ever since, led by one of the greatest young players we've ever seen.

Here are the key three tactical battlegrounds that will help determine who wins the series.

Boston's matchup toggling and Dallas' response

The defining characteristic of the Celtics' defense is interchangeability. Outside of center Kristaps Porzingis (who's expected to return from a calf strain for Game 1) and his backup/replacement Al Horford, every Boston starter can guard between three and five positions, depending on the matchup. That allows the team to juggle assignments and cross-match as it sees fit , with Porzingis spending far more time roaming off low-usage wings than guarding opposing centers.

The upshot of that defensive tactic and the Celtics' positional flexibility is that they can comfortably switch opponents' primary pick-and-roll actions while keeping Porzingis out of those actions and as close to the basket as possible, as often as possible. And that's going to be a huge part of their strategy to slow down Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, and the Mavericks' high-powered offense.

Boston will likely use Jaylen Brown as its primary Doncic defender, since he has the best combination of height, heft, and agility for the job. Where things get really interesting is with the other four Celtics defenders on the floor. The bet here is that Porzingis starts out on Derrick Jones Jr., while Jayson Tatum matches up against whichever of Daniel Gafford or Dereck Lively II is in the game at the five. That would make every Doncic-center pick-and-roll an automatic switch, with Dallas gaining minimal advantage on the front end or the back.

Jrue Holiday and Derrick White represent the closest thing to antidotes for Irving, but Boston also has to think about how it wants to handle Doncic-Irving screening actions. If the C's want to switch those as well, then Holiday makes more sense as Irving's primary because his superior size and strength give him a better shot at handling the Doncic matchup. That would leave White on P.J. Washington, making it easier to keep him out of the Doncic switch (putting two on the ball is a lot less dangerous when Washington is screening and popping rather than Irving) while also making better use of White's elite low-man help capabilities.

Whether or not the Celtics actually match up that way out of the gate, their defensive alignment will be fluid. They'll throw different looks at Doncic and Irving, and everyone will get a crack at guarding those two, be it on switches, transition cross-matches, or reshuffled primary assignments. Holiday's been jostling with centers all season; he'll probably see some time on Lively or Gafford.

It's hard to make a defense that has so many options feel uncomfortable, but if any team can do so, it's these Mavericks. Doncic will find the tiniest vulnerabilities in Boston's armor and poke and prod until they bleed. The name of the game for the Celtics is to avoid putting two on the ball and to stay out of rotation, but he will at least force them to reconsider. Dallas will find also ways to draw Porzingis into the action and away from the rim, like using Jones (or whichever wing Porzingis guards) as an empty-side ball-screener or an off-ball screener for Irving. Gafford and Lively won't be able to leverage their size mismatches in the post, but they might be able to do so on the offensive glass. We've seen Washington tap into some bully ball this postseason when defenses put smalls on him.

The Mavs' calling card throughout this playoff run has been adaptability . In the West semis, they overcame a swarming, strong-side-overloading Thunder defense thanks to some clutch 3-point shooting from role players like Jones and Washington. In the West finals, they saw a steady diet of drop coverage from a Timberwolves team that was more interested in staying home on shooters and limiting off-the-catch threes; their two stars cracked it open. Boston's defense presents an entirely different challenge. Its personnel is similar to OKC's, only bigger. Its philosophy is similar to Minnesota's, but with less matchup rigidity.

Whatever the outcome, it's going to be fascinating to watch Dallas try to adapt one more time to clear this towering final hurdle.

The push and pull at the rim

These are two potent offenses, but neither does a ton of damage from point-blank range. They finished 26th and 29th in rim frequency during the regular season and rank 13th and 14th among 16 playoff teams, according to Cleaning the Glass , with the only two teams below them being first-round outs.

At least part of that is by design. Both teams shoot a ton of threes, and both have the shooting talent - not just from beyond the arc, but from mid-range and floater range (at least in Dallas' case) - to be selective about the rim shots they take. Coupled with their ability to space the floor in their own ways (horizontally for the Celtics, vertically for the Mavs), those carefully curated interior shots become especially profitable. To wit: The Celtics are shooting a league-best 74.5% at the rim in the playoffs, while the Mavs are tied for third at 68% even after struggling mightily to finish in the second round against the Thunder.

But the lack of volume can leave both offenses susceptible to jump-shooting variance, and the teams' respective defenses won't make it any easier to get to the rim or finish there.

The Mavs morphed into one of the best interior defenses in the league after adding Gafford and Washington at the trade deadline, and that's been a huge component of their run to the Finals. With two excellent individual rim-protectors in Gafford and Lively, a ton of supplemental size on the wing, and a scheme designed to load up on drivers, they've held opponents to just 59.4% shooting inside the restricted area, third-lowest among playoff teams.

The Celtics have conceded a comparatively porous 70.6% from that range, but that's offset by the fact that they've allowed fewer rim attempts than any other team - a testament to their ability to flatten out opposing offenses and keep the ball in front with their seamless above-the-break switching. That number should also improve considerably with the 7-foot-3 Porzingis once again patrolling the back line.

At first blush, it feels like the Celtics should have an easier time sustaining their rim deterrence in this series, though that obviously depends on how effective Porzingis can be in his return. If he's operating at something close to his baseline, Boston will take away a lot of the rim-rolls and lob dunks Gafford and Lively subsist on. Porzingis can also pull those two away from the basket on the other end, and the Celtics don't have anyone like Jones in their regular rotation who the Mavs can comfortably stash their centers on. Holiday is the closest thing to a hiding spot that Boston offers, and he's hit 40% of his threes in the playoffs after cashing 43% during the regular season.

The Mavs' playoff opponents to this point have struggled to attack advantages on the second side when Dallas has loaded to the ball, due to not only a lack of shooting but a lack of secondary creation and attacking verve. Boston should have no such issues. Even though the only two lob threats in the series reside on the other team, the Celtics can win the rim battle if they make it a priority. Will they make it a priority?

The iso scoring contest

These teams can move the ball well against defenses in rotation, but they both rely on mismatches - and the mere threat of them - in order to get those defenses moving. Both teams rank in the top four in isolation frequency in the playoffs after ranking second and fourth during the regular season. And considering that both defenses force opponents into a lot of isolation possessions because of their proclivity for switching, how effectively each team handles those scenarios will play a big part in how this series shakes out.

On the surface, Dallas has the advantage on this battleground. Doncic and Irving are the two best isolation scorers in the series. (That's no knock on Boston; they're simply two of the five best iso scorers in the sport.) Though the teams produced almost identical per-possession averages on the play type this postseason (0.98 points for Dallas and 0.97 for Boston, per NBA Advanced Stats ), the Mavs did it against much better defensive competition, especially in the last two rounds.

On the other hand, the Celtics can create more favorable individual matchups, which could functionally erase their self-creation deficit. Sure, Doncic will bump and chisel his way to buckets against whoever Boston throws at him, and Irving will use his ball-handling sorcery to shake free of whichever All-Defensive point-of-attack stopper he faces. But that's probably still more effortful than what Tatum or Brown will have to do - even with their smaller arsenals of one-on-one moves - to score on Irving or Doncic at the other end.

Dallas' two stars have gotten plenty of deserved credit for their commitment to the defensive end throughout this playoff run, but they're still plainly the worst defenders in either starting lineup. Boston might not even need to generate switches in order to exploit those two, provided Holiday and White attack with the same gusto they demonstrated against Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers in the East finals. Dallas has also shown a greater willingness than Boston to switch its centers out onto the perimeter, Lively in particular. In those situations, the Celtics absolutely have to attack the basket.

Both benches feature exploitable defenders, but in terms of starters-on-starters, the Mavs serve up more mismatch-hunting options. The question is whether their lead creators are unstoppable enough (and Boston's lead creators willing enough to settle) to render that reality moot.

Joe Wolfond covers the NBA for theScore.

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