The student workspace is where students can access their classes, assignments, and teacher's
feedback. Students can: view assigned work; start, complete, and submit an assignment; and view
their teacher's feedback.
Part 1
Joining a class
Your teacher will invite you to their class in one of two ways: an email invitation, or a
class link they share with you.
Video: How to sign up for your class on Essay
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Join with an email invitation
You'll get an email from Essay inviting you to your teacher's class. Click
Join your class.
If you're new to Essay, enter your email address to create a new account and continue.
OR if you already have an Essay account, click
Already have an account? Sign in instead.
Enter your name, create a password, and join your class.
Continue through the steps to complete your sign up.
Worth knowing
The link in your email invitation only works for the email address it was sent to. Join
with that address and you go straight into the class. If you join with a different email
address, your teacher will need to approve you first.
Join with a class link
Your teacher might share a general link to their class instead. It looks something like this:
write.essay.app/join/CLASS_CODE
Open the link and follow the same steps as above. Because anyone with the link can use it,
your teacher may need to approve you before you can get into the class.
If your teacher needs to approve you, the class shows up on your Classes page as
Pending approval. You can see it, but you can't open it until your teacher
approves you.
Part 2
Your classes
Every class you join gets its own class page, where you'll find your assignments, upcoming
due dates, and your classmates.
Video: Class page overview
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Viewing your classes
The Student workspace sits in the left navigation panel. Click
Classes to see all of your classes, or click a class name to go
straight to its class page.
The class page
The class page is home base for everything in your class.
Your assignments. Each assignment has its own card showing its due dates
and whether you've submitted. See assignment cards.
Upcoming. A quick look at what's due next.
Classmates. See who else is in your class, and ask a classmate to
review your work.
Assignment cards
Your assignments are listed on the class page. Each card shows the due dates and your
submission status. Click a card to open the assignment page.
Milestones vs. single submission
Teachers can assign your work with a single submission, or split an assignment into multiple
milestones (e.g. outline, first draft, final draft) each with their own submission and due
date.
Submission statuses
Not submitted
You haven't handed anything in yet, and the due date hasn't passed.
Overdue
You haven't handed anything in yet, and the due date has passed.
Submitted
You've handed in your work.
The comment icon
The comment icon at the top right of each card lets you know when your teacher has returned
feedback. See viewing your feedback.
Your teacher is still reviewing your work. You can't open it yet.
You have new feedback from your teacher that you have not seen.
Your teacher has returned your work and you've already opened it.
Part 3
Your assignments
All the information you need to complete your assignment can be found on the assignment
page. You can view assignment instructions, access resources, start your assignment, and
view your submissions.
Video: The assignment page and connecting your work
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The assignment page
Your assignments are displayed on the class page, and you can click
on one to open up the assignment page.
Assignment overview. View due dates, instructions and resources.
Connected essay. The work you've connected to the assignment.
Submissions. Everything you've handed in for the assignment.
1. Assignment overview
View all your assignment details.
Length requirement. The number of words or pages your assignment needs
to be.
Due dates. Teachers can assign your work with a single submission, or
split an assignment into multiple milestones (e.g. outline, first draft, final draft) each
with their own submission and due date.
Citation style. If you create your essay from the assignment page, the
citation style is applied automatically. If you started the essay on your own, make sure you
set it to the same style.
Template. A starting point or structure your teacher wants you to work
from. See starting from a template.
Attachments, such as a reading list or a rubric. Click one to download
it.
Instructions. Full instructions to complete the assignment.
2. Connecting work to an assignment
In order to submit an essay, it needs to be connected to the assignment. You can do this from
the assignment page or from the workspace.
From the assignment page
If your teacher added a template, click Start from recommended template.
See starting from a template.
Otherwise, click Create or connect an essay, then choose
Create an essay to start a new one from scratch, or
Connect existing essay to pick one you've already started.
From the workspace
If you're already working on an essay, you can connect it without leaving the workspace. Click
Connect to assignment at the top right.
Choose the class and the assignment, then click Connect to assignment.
Worth knowing
Connecting an essay doesn't share it with your teacher. They can't see it until you
submit it.
Your connected essays
Connected essays show up in the Connected essay area of the assignment page.
Click the document to open it.
You can connect more than one document to an assignment. Click + Add
to connect another one.
Click See more to see all of your connected essays.
3. Submissions
Everything you've handed in for the assignment is listed in the Submissions
area, with the milestone it was for and when you submitted it.
When you submit, a copy of your essay is sent to your teacher. See
submitting your work.
You can't open a submission here until your teacher returns it with their feedback.
Once they do, click it to open it in the submission viewer.
The assignment tab in the workspace
Once an essay is connected, you don't need to leave the workspace to check the assignment.
Click the Assignment icon in the right toolbar to see the instructions. Switch
to the Submissions tab to see what you've handed in.
Starting an assignment from a template
Your teacher may attach a template to an assignment. A template gives you a starting point,
or a structure your teacher wants you to follow.
If the assignment has a template, you'll see it listed under Template in the
assignment overview. Click Start from recommended template.
This creates a new essay with the template already in it.
Part 4
Submitting your work
When you're ready to hand in your work, submit it from the workspace. You'll format it to the
right style before it goes to your teacher.
Video: How to submit and format your assignment
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Submit your assignment
You can submit any essay that's connected to an assignment. Click the green
Submit button at the top right of the editor.
If the assignment has milestones, choose the one you're submitting for. Then click
Continue to format.
Worth knowing
When you submit, your teacher can also see your essay's rewrites, notes and version history,
so they can see how your writing came together, not just the finished essay.
Format your essay
While you write, you don't need to worry about formatting. That comes when you submit. You
provide the details and Essay formats your essay automatically. You'll see a preview of the
formatted essay on the right, with the settings on the left. Make sure everything looks the
way you want it to before you submit.
Style. Choose a preset to format your whole essay at once. Pick the one
that matches the assignment's citation style. For example, if the assignment uses MLA, choose
the MLA preset. Or, choose “advanced formatting” to customize the style of your
essay.
Title page. Switch it on and fill in your details, such as your name,
your course, your teacher's name and the date. The title page is laid out to match your
style.
Page numbers. Choose how your page numbers look.
Abstract. Add one if your assignment asks for it.
Outline topics. Choose whether your outline topic headings appear in the
essay.
Margins. Change them if your teacher asks for something specific.
When it looks right, click Submit.
After you submit
A submission is a snapshot of your essay at the moment you submit it. You can keep working on
your essay and the submission your teacher sees won't change.
A copy is also saved in your essay's version history,
named after the milestone, e.g. “First Draft”.
You can open it in the submission viewer to see your teacher's feedback once they return
it.
Resubmitting an assignment
Spotted a mistake after you submitted, or want to rework a section? You can submit again.
Click the green Submit button at the top right of the workspace.
If the assignment has milestones, choose the milestone you're resubmitting for. It shows
as (submitted) because you've already handed something in for it.
Continue to format, check your essay looks right, and click Submit.
Check your milestone
If you're resubmitting a milestone, make sure you choose that milestone and not the next one.
When your teacher needs to approve it
If the due date hasn't passed and your teacher hasn't opened your last submission yet,
your new submission goes straight through.
If your teacher has already opened your last submission, or the due date has passed, your
teacher needs to accept the new one. You'll see it marked
Awaiting teacher approval in the Submissions area of the assignment page.
Part 5
Viewing your feedback
Once your teacher has reviewed your work and left feedback, they return it to you. Here's how
to find it, read it, and manage it as you make revisions.
Video: Viewing and accessing your submissions
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When your feedback is ready
Look for the comment icon. It tells you whether your teacher has returned your work yet.
Your teacher is still reviewing your work. You can't open it yet.
You have new feedback from your teacher that you have not seen.
Your teacher has returned your work and you've already opened it.
You'll find returned work in three places.
On the class page
When your teacher returns your work, a green dot appears on the comment icon of the
assignment card. Click it to go straight to your feedback.
On the assignment page
In the Submissions area, click any submission your
teacher has returned to open it. Submissions your teacher is still reviewing can't be opened
yet.
In the assignment tab of the workspace
Open the assignment tab and switch to
Submissions. Each submission shows whether it has been submitted or returned,
along with its comment icon.
The submission viewer
Opening a returned submission takes you to the submission viewer. This is where you read your
teacher's feedback.
Feedback editor. View your submission and your teacher's feedback.
Breadcrumbs for getting back to your class page or returning to your live
essay.
Assignment tab. Open the assignment tab in the right toolbar to switch
between your submissions.
1. Feedback editor
The submission viewer shows your essay exactly as it was when you submitted it, with your
teacher's comments on top.
Because a submission is a snapshot, it stays the same even while you keep working on your
essay. If your assignment has milestones, you can look back at the feedback on your first
draft while you write your final draft.
You can't delete your teacher's comments. As you revise your live essay, you can resolve each
comment once you've addressed it to keep your work tidy. See
managing your teacher's comments.
2. Breadcrumbs
You can use the breadcrumbs at the top of the submission viewer to move around the platform.
Click the class name to go back to your class page.
Click the essay name to go back to your live essay, where you can continue
to work on the assignment.
3. Assignment tab
Open the assignment tab in the right toolbar to see all of your submissions for the
assignment. Click one to switch to it. For example, while you're looking at your first draft
you can jump back to see the feedback on your outline.
Version history and submissions
Every time you submit, Essay saves a named version of your essay in its version history, e.g.
“First Draft”. So you can always see what you handed in, even before your teacher
returns it.
Open version history from the cloud icon next to your essay's title.
Click a named version to see your essay as it was when you submitted it.
What's the difference?
Version history is a read-only copy of what you submitted.
The submission viewer is where you can view your teacher's feedback. It's
only available once your teacher has returned your work.
Managing your teacher's comments
Video: How to hide teacher's comments after you've addressed them
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Your teacher's comments carry over to your live essay, so their feedback is right there while
you revise. You can't delete a teacher's comment, but once you've dealt with it you can clear
it out of the way. There are two options for doing this.
Resolve a comment
Once you've reviewed a comment and fixed what it points out, you can resolve it. This hides it
from the editor. You can only do this on your live essay, not in the submission viewer.
To see resolved comments again, open the Comments tab in the right toolbar,
click the filter icon, and choose Resolved.
Hide comments
If you'd rather keep all of your teacher's comments but see a clean page while you write, you
can hide them. Open the Comments tab in the right toolbar, click the
eye icon at the top, and set comment visibility to hidden.
Your comments remain in the Comments tab, they just don't show in the editor. Change the
setting back at any time to bring them back.
Part 6
Sharing your work for peer review
Before you submit, it can help to have a classmate read your work and leave you feedback. You
can share your essay from the workspace or from your class page.
