Welcome to Smapey Essay
Smapey Essay is an AI-powered essay grading tool for teachers. It evaluates student essays using a standard 5-point rubric across 5 dimensions — in seconds. This guide walks you through every feature from start to finish.
Create assignments
Set topic, question & model answer
AI grades instantly
Score + rubric + suggestions
Track results
Filter, view, and analyze
No setup required
1. Create an Assignment
An assignment defines the essay topic, question, and the model answer the AI uses to grade against.
Go to the "Assignments" tab
Open the Essay Feedback page from your sidebar. You'll land on the Assignments tab by default.
Click "New Assignment"
Hit the + New Assignment button in the top right. A modal form will open.
Fill in the assignment details
Complete the 3 required fields:
- Assignment Title — A short name like "Unit 3 Essay" or "Midterm Writing"
- Essay Question / Topic — The exact question or prompt students will write about
- Model / Perfect Answer — Write an ideal answer — the AI compares every student essay against this
Click "Create Assignment"
The assignment appears in your list with a submission count of 0. Share the topic with your students and start collecting essays.
Assignment Title
Essay Question
Model / Perfect Answer
Tip: Write a strong model answer
2. Evaluate an Essay
Once an assignment exists, you can submit any student's essay for instant AI grading.
Open an assignment
Click the Evaluate button on any assignment card in the list.
Enter the student's name (optional)
Type the student's name or leave it blank — they'll appear as Anonymous in results.
Paste or type the student's essay
Either type the essay directly into the text area, or use the Upload Image or Open Camera buttons to scan a handwritten essay (see Section 3).
Click "Evaluate Essay"
The AI processes the essay in seconds and returns:
- Overall score (1–5)
- Summary assessment
- Per-criterion rubric scores (5 categories)
- Strengths list
- Improvement suggestions
Student
Maria Santos
Overall Score
4/5 · Good
3. Scan with Camera or Upload Image
For handwritten essays, you can use your device camera or upload a photo instead of typing.
Open Camera
- Click Open Camera in the evaluate modal
- Allow browser camera access when prompted
- Point your camera at the handwritten essay
- Click Capture Photo
- The text is extracted automatically
Upload Image
- Click Upload Image in the evaluate modal
- Select a photo from your device (JPG, PNG, WEBP)
- The AI reads all text from the image via OCR
- Extracted text appears in the essay field
- Review and click Evaluate Essay
Best results for camera scanning
- • Use good lighting — avoid shadows over the paper
- • Keep the paper flat and the camera parallel to it
- • Make sure all text fits within the camera frame
- • Darker ink on white paper gives the best OCR accuracy
4. View Student Results
All evaluated essays are stored in the Student Results tab for easy review and management.
Switch to the "Student Results" tab
Click Student Results at the top of the Essay Feedback page.
Filter by assignment
Use the Filter by Assignment dropdown to narrow results to one specific assignment. Hit Clear to show all.
View a submission
Click the View icon to open the full result — score, rubric breakdown, strengths, and suggestions.
Delete a submission
Click the Delete icon to permanently remove a result. A confirmation will appear before deletion.
Maria Santos
Social Media Essay
Juan dela Cruz
Social Media Essay
Anonymous
Climate Change Essay
5. Analytics Dashboard
The main Dashboard gives you a bird's-eye view of your essay feedback activity.
Total Assignments
Number of active assignments you've created
Total Submissions
All essays evaluated across all assignments
Average Score
Class average score out of 5 with star rating
The dashboard also shows a score distribution bar — how many students scored 1 through 5:
Tips & Best Practices
Get the most out of Smapey Essay with these recommendations.
Write a detailed model answer
A longer, well-structured model answer gives the AI more context to compare against — resulting in more precise rubric scores.
Use consistent student names
Always enter the same name format (e.g. 'Juan dela Cruz') so you can easily filter and track a student's progress across assignments.
Scan in good lighting
When using the camera for handwritten essays, natural light or bright overhead lighting reduces OCR errors significantly.
Review AI feedback with students
Share the rubric scores and suggestions directly with students. The specific per-criterion feedback is designed to be readable by students.
Create one assignment per topic
Keep assignments focused — one question per assignment. This keeps results organized and makes filtering in Student Results easy.
Use the score distribution to spot trends
If many students score 1–2 on a specific criterion, it signals a gap in teaching — not just a student issue.
Ready to start grading smarter?
Free plan includes 30 essay evaluations per month. No credit card required.
Create free account