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Progress Tracking
A per-student checklist for tracking progress through Geometry Playground. Copy, print, or adapt to your LMS.
For grading and assessment, see Rubrics and Assessment Strategies. This page is about tracking, which is a different thing: it's the running record of who has finished what, so you know where to pick up next lesson.
Geometry Playground is self-paced within each lesson. Some students finish a chapter in 6 lessons; others take 12. If you don't track who's where, you'll lose the ability to:
- Start each lesson at a sensible place for each student.
- Notice when a student has fallen behind and needs intervention.
- Report honestly to parents about where their child is in the unit.
- Plan the next lesson's demonstration for where most students currently are.
A lightweight tracker solves all of these. You don't need a spreadsheet with 79 columns. A simple chapter-by-chapter tick list is enough.
One row per student. One column per chapter. Tick when the student has completed the chapter (all required sections, not every extension).
| Student | Ch I | Ch II | Ch III | Ch IV | Ch V | Ch VI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex A. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ⋯ | |
| Beth B. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Cam C. | ✓ | ✓ | ⋯ |
Legend:
- ✓ = chapter complete
- ⋯ = currently working on it
- (blank) = not yet started
Update at the end of each lesson. Takes two minutes.
If you want to know which section a student is on within a chapter, you need a per-section checklist. This is more work to maintain but more useful for day-to-day teaching.
The master list of sections across all six chapters is below. Copy it into your LMS, a spreadsheet, or a printed sheet per student.
- 1. The Walking Pen (tutorial)
- 2. Square
- 3. Rectangle
- 4. Right Triangle
- 5. Equilateral Triangle
- 6. Regular Pentagon
- 7. Regular Hexagon
- 8. Regular Octagon
- 9. Star
- 10. Free Draw
- 1. Variables (tutorial)
- 2. Parameterised Square
- 3. Parameterised Rectangle
- 4. Parameterised Triangle
- 5. Parameterised Pentagon
- 6. Parameterised Hexagon
- 7. Parameterised Octagon
- 8. Properties of a Square
- 9. Properties of a Rectangle
- 10. Properties of a Parallelogram
- 11. Properties of a Rhombus
- 12. Properties of a Trapezoid
- 13. Properties of a Kite
- 14. Parallel Lines
- 15. Alternate Angles
- 16. Letter Z
- 17. Interior Angles of a Triangle
- 18. Interior Angles of a Quadrilateral
- 19. Interior Angle Sum
- 20. Exterior Angle Sum
- 21. Regular Polygon Angles
- 1. Loops (tutorial)
- 2. Loop Variations
- 3. Many Polygons
- 4. Polygon Family
- 5. Star Polygons
- 6. {7/3} Star
- 7. {8/3} Star
- 8. Star Gallery
- 9. Free Draw with Loops
- 1. If It's True (tutorial)
- 2. Classify an Angle
- 3. Else If (tutorial)
- 4. Triangle Classifier
- 5. And and Or
- 6. Quadrilateral Checker
- 7. Right Angle Test
- 8. Colour by Rule
- 9. Polygon Properties
- 1. Creating Functions (tutorial)
- 2. Octagons
- 3. Parameters (tutorial)
- 4. Different Sizes
- 5. Different Shapes
- 6. Flag of Denmark
- 7. Flag of Sweden
- 8. Flag of Norway
- 9. Flag of St Andrew
- 10. Flag of St Patrick
- 11. Flag of St George
- 12. Union Jack
- 13. Filled Star
- 14. Flag of Australia
- 15. Flag of the Netherlands
- 16. Flag of France
- 17. Positions
- 18. Flag of Switzerland
- 19. Flag of Tonga
- 20. Flag of Puerto Rico
- 21. Flag of the United States
- 1. A Square (tutorial)
- 2. A Triangle
- 3. A Cross
- 4. A Church
- 5. Row of Churches
- 6. A Pretty House
- 7. A Fence Post
- 8. A Whole Fence
- 9. Broom Broom
- 10. Neighbourhood Scene
Total: 80 sections across six chapters.
At the start of a lesson: scan your tracker to see where each student was at the end of the previous lesson. Note who was at the same section so you can pair them up or run a small-group mini-lesson.
During a lesson: walk around. When a student finishes a section, tick it off on their row. This is a 2-second operation if you have a clipboard or tablet with the tracker open.
At the end of a lesson: take a photo of your tracker (or save the spreadsheet) so you have a record. Pick 3 students who are significantly behind and plan a 5-minute intervention for them next lesson.
At the end of a chapter: look at the overall pattern. Are most students at section 10, or is there a wide spread? A wide spread is normal and not a problem. A clustering at an early section is a warning that you may need to reteach something.
Completion alone is a narrow measure. A student can complete every section and learn nothing. Another student can complete half the sections and learn a lot.
If you have time and want a richer tracker, add a second column alongside each section for engagement, using a simple code:
- E (engaged): the student attempted the exercise thoughtfully, may have made mistakes, evidence of learning.
- C (completed): the student finished the exercise but with minimal engagement.
- S (stuck): the student tried but couldn't finish and needs help.
- A (absent): the student was away.
A student with many E ticks is doing well even if their overall count is lower. A student with many C ticks is rushing and might need a conversation about quality.
Most school LMS platforms (Canvas, Google Classroom, Seesaw, Microsoft Teams for Education) support either a per-student checklist or a gradebook with columns. Either works.
Canvas / Google Classroom: create one assignment per chapter with a checklist of sections. Mark sections complete as students finish them. The platform will calculate percentages automatically.
Seesaw: create a skills grid with 6 skills (one per chapter). Add evidence as students finish each chapter.
Microsoft Teams for Education: use Assignments with rubrics. Map the Rubrics page to the Teams rubric interface.
Paper: a printed checklist per student, stored in a ring binder, is totally fine. Don't feel obliged to digitise if you don't need to.
Students benefit from seeing their own tracker. Knowing where they are in the curriculum gives them agency. Consider:
- Per-student printed checklist that lives in their workbook. They tick off sections themselves as they finish them.
- Whole-class progress poster on the wall showing how many students are on each chapter. Anonymous but motivating (no names, just counts).
- End-of-chapter celebration when a student finishes a chapter. A small ritual ("congratulations, you've finished Chapter III!") reinforces progress.
What to avoid:
- Public ranking of students by how far they've got. Some students race ahead, others take their time; both are valid.
- Grading on speed. The tracker is for tracking, not for marking. Pace is not a grade criterion in Rubrics.
- Rubrics for grading criteria
- Assessment Strategies for the philosophy
- Classroom Management for day-to-day operations
- Scope and Sequence for expected pacing
Geometry Playground · a Swift Playgrounds curriculum for high school geometry · dbbudd.github.io · built by Daniel Budd