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Save Time and Your Sanity by Packaging Your Online Assignments!

Don't miss out on one of the BEST things about blended learning and managing assignments online! Save yourself valuable instructional time and that oh so elusive teacher sanity by packaging your assignments so that students have EVERYTHING they need in one place.

When you create an assignment online using your preferred tool, be that Google Classroom, Canvas, Edmodo, Blackboard, Google Docs, Google Sites, Hyperdocs, whatever...give learners ALL of the information online and in ONE place.

Give them detailed directions, the rubric, the due date, detail collaborative expectations, where and how to turn it in, what to do if they finish early, EVERYTHING you can think of that they might need or ask! This will save you so much time answering questions. It is also very handy for absent work and demanding parents.

This is also documentation, a record of what is planned for your classroom. You can fine-tune it and revise as you see fit throughout the assignment.

TEN THINGS to include in your Digital Assignment Package:

Note: Every assignment will not require all ten of these, but this is a starting point that can help you think through the process.

1. Give Each Assignment a Dedicated Number

This is an excellent tip for Google Classroom users that I learned from Alice Keeler. However, I think this advice can be useful no matter what platform you use. Numbers make it easier to search, find, and reference assignments. (Did you know the keyboard shortcut control/command + F will help you find words or numbers on a page?) I prefer three digits with the hashtag = #001. This makes it easy to find and organize in Google Drive, Google Classroom, or whatever platform you prefer.

2. Include DETAILED Directions

Be as specific as possible! Leave nothing to chance or assume, "They'll figure it out!" Set your students up for success and let them know exactly what you expect out of this assignment. If there are several steps, be sure to label, "STEP 1, STEP 2, etc." For long-term assignments, consider creating assignment packages for each checkpoint so students know exactly what part is to be completed. What's great with a digital assignment is that you can add more details to this as new questions arise!

3. Include Student-Friendly Learning Goals

Be sure you connect the assignment back to student-friendly learning goals so students understand the "why." Helping students make the connection between their assignment and their learning is very critical.

4. Explain How the Assignment Will Be Assessed

There should never be any surprises for students. Be sure they understand exactly what you expect and how it will be assessed. If you have a rubric, all the better! Attach or link to the rubric to make the expectations crystal clear! If no rubric, be sure to explain in the directions how they will be assessed.

5. Explain How Much Class Time Will Be Allotted

Will students be given class time to complete the assignment? If so, how long? Are they expected to complete the assignment outside of class? Again, be a specific as possible so there are no surprises like, "I thought we were working on it in class today." (My students tried that one A LOT!)

6. Include the Due Date (and Time)

This used to be one of my least favorite questions! I had to answer this question over and over again. If the due date is in the assignment package, you should never have to answer that question again. Be sure to not only include the date but the time. Due at the beginning of class or at the end of class should be explicit in your assignment package. If you are using Google Classroom, it will automagically add the due date to the student's calendar. (BONUS: Guardian emails in Google Classroom will also allow parents to see due dates! Learn more about guardian emails here.)

7. Collaboration Guidelines

Collaboration doesn't magically happen just by saying you can work with a partner or a group. If students are collaborating with partners, groups, or outside of their class, be very specific about the guidelines and expectations. Who is responsible for turning in the work? Name a group leader and other roles as necessary. Also, explaining how they will be assessed individually will also be very important in collaborative activities.

8. Turn In Process

Depending on what digital tools and learning management system you use, this will vary. I try to be as explicit as possible, like don't forget to click the "Mark as Done," button in Google Classroom, or email the assignment to..., or move it into the folder on the device, etc. Don't leave anything up to question! Use screenshots and links to how-to documents when necessary. This is especially important with a new system or at the beginning of the year when students are learning your processes.

9. What to Work on Next (Enrichment, Next Assignment, etc.)

We all know that students work at different paces. Some complete assignments faster than others. You may already have an excellent way to manage and differentiate for this. I like to preemptively answer these inevitable questions online in the assignment package. There seems to always be a student that asks, "Can we play games when we finish?" I usually have some go-to enrichment activities ready or a flexible learning path that will lead to the next assignment. This is also a great time for students to work on Genius Hour projects.

10. Don't Forget to Include ALL Attachments and Links

Remember, the point of assignment packaging is getting everything in ONE place. Your teacher life will be so much easier if you provide all the attachments and/or links necessary for the assignment, like templates, rubrics, research websites, digital tools, etc.

This may seem like a lot of extra work, but just like everything, it will soon become a habit, and you can re-use your wording with minor adjustments in other assignments. But in the long run, I think you will see how much time this can save you! Time saved from answering the same questions over and over again and time saved explaining assignments to those who were absent.

???? Put a Bow on It! There's Your Assignment Package!

TIP: Save the text of your assignment packages in Google Keep or a Google Doc! This can serve as a template that you can copy and paste, and save you time in the future.

Google Classroom Assignment Package Example:

Below is a screenshot of an assignment that has been packaged in Google Classroom.

Google Classroom is just one way to package your assignments. You could easily include all of this information and attachments on other platforms like Canvas, Schoology, etc. You could also package your assignment in a Google Doc, Google Slide, or other online file and simply link to the "attachments." It doesn't have to be rocket science.
What would you add to this list? Please leave a comment below.
Ready to shake things up in your school or at your event? Email me at Kasey@ShakeUpLearning.com, or submit this PD request form to bring Shake Up Learning to your event.
Below are just a few of the keynote presentations and workshops that I deliver across the country:

Be Dynamic and Shake Up Learning (keynote)

Geeking Out Over Google Classroom

The Dynamic Learning Workshop

Digital Differentiation with G Suite

Shake Up Learning with G Suite

The Golden Treasures of Google! The Fabulous Tools You Don't Know About! (presentation)

Testimonials

Here is what others have said about Kasey Bell's presentations:

" Your passion in what you do is inspiring I left your class with a lot of great information that I will pass to my fellow teachers Thank You " - Joseph Tellez

" If you are attending a conference, follow these steps:
2. Find Kasey Bell. 3. Put all her sessions on your schedule!
You will learn so much and have a great time doing it! " - Stacy Menifee

" I second that Stacy! Kasey Bell is a great presenter and resource!! " - Andrea McCorquodale

About Kasey Bell

Kasey Bell is part sparkling smile, part witty personality and a whole heap of passion as big as a Texas-go big or go home, y'all! She is a disruptor of the boring. An engaging, innovative, from the heart sharer who inspires educators while transforming their teaching with original, timely and use-tomorrow ideas for student choice, differentiation, and technology integration. Whether it is learning from home through online courses, professional development, conference workshops or as a keynote speaker Kasey is a relentless innovator of ideas and a devoted transformer of classrooms and teaching. Through teacher empowering publications and award-winning educational resources at ShakeUpLearning.com, learner-driven workshops and presentations and co-hosting Google Teacher Tribe weekly podcast, Kasey proves why we should never settle for the boring when it comes to bringing out the very best in our students, and we should always strive to Shake Up Learning!

ShakeUpLearning.com provides teachers and educators with easy to understand, use tomorrow resources for Google and G Suite for Education, mobile learning and classroom technology integration through digital learning resources, technology tips and tricks, in-depth e-courses, books, resources, cheat sheets, blog publications. and podcasts.

© Shake Up Learning 2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog's author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Kasey Bell and Shake Up Learning with appropriate and specific direction to the original content on ShakeUpLearning.com. See: Copyright Policy.

The Google Certified Educator (Level 1) Capacity Matrix

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How to Package Your Digital Assignments | Shake Up Learning

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Don't miss out on one of the BEST things about blended learning and managing assignments online! Save yourself valuable instructional time and that oh so elusive teacher sanity by packaging your assignments so that students have EVERYTHING they need in one place.

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You don't have to immediately publish a post. You can compose an assignment, question or announcement and click the arrow next to the Post button to schedule it for publication at a specific date and time. You can always view and edit a scheduled post under Saved Posts at the top of the class stream. You receive a notification when the post goes live. Scheduling a post is nice when you don't want students to see something ahead of time. It's also nice to be able to compose multiple posts at once and spread them out over time.

Until Google Classroom adds the ability to format text in posts, we're stuck with using only text and emojis. Classroom doesn't even give us a way to bold text within a post. The good news is that we can use fancy text to emphasize words. If you go to coolsymbol.com/cool-fancy-text-generator.html ( tonyv.me/fancy for short), you can type a word, phrase, or sentence. The site generates a variety of options using universal characters. These options are fancier than a standard font. Each option has a Copy button and you can paste the fancy text anywhere you can enter regular text-and that includes posts in Google Classroom. Fancy text will surely stand out from the rest of the post. Use fancy text to emphasize titles, due dates, names, project requirements, book titles-whatever you want to stand out in your post.

The Unicode Standard is the global way of encoding the characters that all computers use. The Unicode Standard has over 136,000 characters, which includes ordinary letters, numbers, symbols, and emojis. It also includes versions of each letter character as different glyphs. You might call these letter variations 𝕗𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕪. 😁

A word of caution. Older operating systems might not display some fancy text and instead display boxes. I've found Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) and Kindle Fire in particular do not support all of the fancy text choices. I tested fancy text on iOS, macOS, Windows 10, and Chrome. All the fancy text displayed just fine in the latest versions of those operating systems. However, fancy text was usually not recognized in search, by screen readers, or by translators.

While an app is not required to use Google Classroom, the iOS and Android apps have an ability that the web version does not: markup tools. A teacher can use a finger or a stylus to add colorful annotations, handwriting, and highlighting to a student's assignment. These markup tools are helpful for providing feedback, especially when it comes to inserting suggestions, editing marks, and other annotations.

To access the markup tools, the teacher first opens an assignment to view Student Work. After select a document, a preview is shown. Tapping the pencil icon opens a copy of the students' document and a set of tools are available at the bottom of the screen. When done, a copy is saved as a PDF or image file with "Edited" added to the file's name. The student can view the annotated copy by opening the assignment in the Google Classroom app or on the web.

The student's original document is untouched because annotations are added to a copy of the document. I like this because it gives students an opportunity to revise the original document after receiving suggestions from the teacher.

Eric Curts has written a detailed post about the amazing features of the Google Classroom app.

Most of the feedback on student work likely takes place outside of Google Classroom and inside G Suite documents. When you add a comment to a Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, or Drawings document, you don't see any text formatting tools. Usually if someone wants to draw attention to words in a comment, they use ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. All caps is a way to add emphasis, but it also looks like the message is being shouted. You do not have to use all caps to add emphasis. Google provides a way to bold, underline, and strikethrough text in a comment in a G Suite document. Type an asterisk before and after the word or phrase you want to make bold. Type an underscore before and after the text you want to italicize. Type a hyphen before and after anything you'd like to strike through. The formatting will be applied after you click the blue Comment button.

Learn more about Google Classroom...

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Google Classroom Tips - Learning in Hand with Tony Vincent

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You don't have to immediately publish a post. You can compose an assignment, question or announcement and click the arrow next to the Post button to schedule it for publication at a specific date and time. You can always view and edit a scheduled post under Saved Posts at the top of the class stream.

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Google Classroom Training Lessons Google Classroom Help Center First Day of Google Classroom Alice Keeler's Google Classroom Resources - several Google Classroom tutorials and blog posts Shakeup...

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Apps That Work With Classroom | Google for Education

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Hundreds of apps integrate with Google Classroom. These apps can help support the classroom in many ways, from helping students learn to code to streamlining a teacher's gradebook.

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Find a Scanning Tool/App that you love for converting paper to PDF! 

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Find a Scanning Tool/App that you love for converting paper to PDF! 

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Create a labeling system for your classes so that your folder is nicely sorted. 

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Create a labeling system for your classes so that your folder is nicely sorted. 

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50 Awesome Apps that Integrate with Google Classroom

Check out this list of 50 Awesome Apps that Integrate with Google Classroom!

Did you know that Google Classroom plays well with others? Yep! Google is known for making their applications open to working with third-party applications, and Google Classroom is no exception. I have put together a list of 50 Apps that Integrate with Google Classroom, making it even easier to create lessons and announcements with your favorite apps and resources.

Use this list to explore apps you may already be using, or find new ones that will allow you to share easily to Google Classroom.

(*updated on 2/6/18)

Ready to find apps that make Google Classroom even better? Check out these 50 Applications that Integrate with Google Classroom.

How to Use These Applications with Google Classroom

Most of the applications below connect to Google Classroom through a "share button." This connection allows you to use some of your favorite websites and applications seamlessly with your Google Classroom assignments and announcements. Note: some of these applications are free, some are not.
To use the application with Google Classroom,

1. Create an account on the application or website.

2. Locate or create the activity or resources within the application or website.

3. Use the "Share to Classroom" option within the chosen application. (The first time you use the connection you will need to grant permissions to connect your account.)

4. This connection will allow you to do things like creating a quiz and assign it to one of your classes in Google Classroom.

50 Awesome Applications that Integrate with Google Classroom

Use this list to explore apps you may already be using, or find new ones that will allow you to share easily to Google Classroom.

Actively Learn works seamlessly with Google Classroom. Teachers can easily sync Classroom rosters to Actively Learn and sync Actively Learn assignments and grades back to Google Classroom.

Teachers can link to or create new Classroom classes based on their Aeries classes, and import scores into the Aeries grade book.

With this integration, Classroom classes can automatically be created based on classes in Aladdin. Assignments and grades can also be synced between Aladdin and Classroom.

Alma is the first Student Information System to integrate directly with Google Classroom. With this integration, teachers can synchronize assignments and grades, and tech teams can batch create and manage Google Classroom classes across their schools and districts.

Educational K-12 programs and resources from the American Museum of Natural History. Use the Share to Classroom button to share relevant articles, curriculum, and resources.

With BrainPOP, teachers can import their classes directly from Google Classroom into My BrainPOP. SSO-ready student accounts are automatically created when a teacher imports a class, allowing students to log into BrainPOP through the Google launcher menu.

A creation and presentation tool for students and educators to create interactive classroom content, allowing learners of all ages to visualize concepts and communicate creatively. Simply create your assignment, note, class reminder, activity, or project, and share it to the students in your Google Classroom.

CK-12 Foundation provides a library of free online textbooks, videos, exercises, flashcards, and real-world applications for over 5000 concepts from arithmetic to history.

With the Classcraft integration, teachers can pull rosters from Google Classroom and provision accounts in a single click. Teachers can give students points in the game for turning in assignments on time and convert their Classroom results into game points.

Our goal is to ignite curiosity and inspire people to learn. Each day, we create and curate engaging topics for millions of lifelong learners worldwide.

Discovery Education ignites student curiosity and inspires educators to reimagine learning with award-winning digital content and professional development.

DOGO Media is the leading online network empowering kids to engage with digital media in a fun, safe and social environment. Used by millions of students and teachers from around the world, our websites have quickly grown into a community of kids and educators engaging positively with current events, books, and movies.

Many teachers and even entire governments around the world already view Duolingo as the perfect blended learning companion for their language classrooms. Duolingo lessons give each student personalized feedback and practice, preparing them to get the most out of classroom instruction.

Teachers can import their class rosters from Google Classroom into Edcite, and then send Edcite assignments to their students in Classroom. When students access these assignments, they are automatically logged into their Edcite accounts using single sign-on.

Make any video your lesson. Pick a video, add your magical touch and track your students' understanding. With the EDpuzzle integration, teachers can automatically import all Classroom courses and students at sign up.

Syncing with Google Classroom creates class rosters in Edulastic and keeps them up to date. Teachers can then share Edulastic assessments right in students' Classroom feeds, allowing them to access the assignment without entering another password or navigating to the Edulastic site.

Teachers can create music notation and composition assignments in Google Classroom using Flat Education, the online music notation software. Teachers can synchronize existing Classroom rosters and design new music activities accessible to students from Classroom.

Flipgrid is a website that allows teachers to create "grids" of short discussion-style questions that students respond to through recorded videos. Each grid is effectively a message board where teachers can pose a question and their students can post 90-second video responses that appear in a tiled "grid" display. Easily share links to Flipgrids and add them to assignments in Google Classroom.

Fluency Tutor is a web-based application that provides tools to enable students to practice reading aloud and to record pre-assigned passages called "assessments" or tests. Easily assign reading passages as assignments in Google Classroom.

Gale's research resources include unique online databases, library primary sources, newspaper digital archives, eBooks, courses and large print books.

GeoGebra's K-12+ STEM curriculum materials can be inserted into Google Classroom as tasks with just a few clicks. More than 700,000 materials (plus more added daily!) are available to meet the STEM needs of students and teachers.

GoGuardian Teacher allows teachers to mirror the classrooms they've set up in Classroom, syncing student enrollment, class period, and subject across platforms. Students and teachers can benefit even more from their Chromebooks with streamlined setup and use.

Google Cast for Education is a free Chrome app that allows students and teachers to share their screens wirelessly from anywhere in the classroom. Cast for Education has built-in controls for teachers and seamlessly allows them to easily add students from Classroom.

InsertLearning is a Chrome extension that lets you turn websites into interactive lessons. You can add sticky notes, links, videos, discussion questions, multiple choice questions and more! Then easily share your lesson with students in Google Classroom. InsertLearning is featured in my FREE ebook: 18 Challenges for Teachers in 2018 (including a coupon code)! (See also 4 Ways to Blend Learning with InsertLearning.)

LearnZillion is a website that provides teachers with a library of interactive math and language arts lessons, videos, quizzes, and assignments for students. LearnZillion tracks student progress and achievement on the lessons and quizzes and reports the results to the teacher's dashboard for assessment.

With the Kami integration, teachers can distribute assignments, worksheets, and curriculum resources in PDF format for students to complete and easily turn in.

Khan Academy supports teachers with rigorous personalized learning tools and data-driven insights - all for free. Now, teachers can import their Google Classroom rosters into Khan Academy and directly assign Khan Academy content to their students through Classroom.

Listenwise is an award-winning listening skills platform. We harness the power of listening to advance literacy and learning in all students. Our collection of podcasts and public radio keeps teaching connected to the real world and builds student listening skills at the same time.

Little SIS for Classroom auto-creates Google Classroom classes and auto-syncs class rosters from student information exports, making it easier for schools to adopt and maintain Google Classroom at scale.

Lucidpress is a web-based drag and drop publishing app, enabling anyone to create stunning content for print and digital.

Nearpod is an interactive presentation and assessment tool that can be used to amazing effect in the classroom. The app's concept is simple. A teacher can create presentations that can contain Quiz's, Polls, Videos, Images, Drawing-Boards, Web Content and so on.

With the Google Classroom integration, teachers using Newsela can sign up, import classrooms, and share assignments directly with Google Classroom. This makes it faster and easier for teachers to get started using Newsela.

Teachers can assign OpenEd assessments, videos, games, and simulations with one click, and completed assignments will be marked "done" automatically. OpenEd also provides rostering and single sign-on, so all classes and students will be synced seamlessly.

Padlet is an online virtual "bulletin" board, where students and teachers can collaborate, reflect, share links and pictures, and more. (Share to Classroom available in Padlet Backpack version.)

PBS LearningMedia™ is your destination for direct access to thousands of classroom-ready, curriculum-targeted digital resources. PBS LearningMedia builds on the strength of public media and is designed to improve teacher effectiveness and student achievement. Resources are aligned to Common Core and national standards and include videos and interactives, as well as audio, documents, and in-depth lesson plans. You can browse by standards, grade level, subject area, and special collections. You can also favorite and share resources with your class and colleagues. Best of all, PBS LearningMedia's basic service is free for PreK-12 educators.

With Pear Deck and Google Classroom, it's easy for teachers to connect all of the devices in the room together in an interactive lesson. There's no need for codes or URLs that take students so long to type! is featured in my FREE ebook: 18 Challenges for Teachers in 2018 (including a coupon code)!

This integration makes it seamless for teachers to assign Quizizz games to their class. Students can join a Quizizz game with one click and all their performance data is sent back to Classroom.

Quizlet makes simple learning tools that let you study anything. Start learning today with flashcards, games and learning tools - all for free.

Wonderfully intuitive and easy-to-use, Read&Write for Google Chrome™ provides personalized support to make documents, web pages and common file types in Google Drive (including: Google Docs, PDF, ePub & Kes) more accessible. It's designed to help everyone engage with digital content in a way that suits his/her abilities and learning styles.

RM Books enables students to read fiction and non-fiction ebooks and curriculum textbooks anywhere and at any time. It's free to use and has no support or subscription fees.

SalamanderSoft Active Directory will automatically create and maintain Google Classroom classes directly from your management system, including calendar timetables and guardians.

The award-winning, non-profit Science Buddies empowers K-12 students, parents, and teachers to quickly and easily find free project ideas and help in all areas of science from physics to food science and music to microbiology.

With the Share to Classroom Chrome extension, teachers and students using Chrome browsers can instantly share web pages with one another. In addition to sharing to students' browsers, teachers can also attach a webpage to a Classroom post. (Check out these other Google Classroom Chrome Extensions.)

Create music, podcasts, language exercises and much more in Soundtrap. With the Google Classroom integration, teachers can invite students, follow their progress and create assignments.

Sycamore syncs class rosters, assignments, attachments, and grades into the Sycamore gradebook to produce reports for teachers.

Make learning fun with Tes Teach with Blendspace, the free and easy edtech tool teachers love for lessons, projects, presentations, and more. No planning needed. (Learn more: Create Interactive Lessons for Google Classroom.)

Tynker's Google Classroom integration streamlines the process of importing students to Tynker, assigning Tynker lessons, and viewing grades.

Blend classroom lectures with interactive assignments, make distance learning more effective, or use Versal at the administrative level for student orientation and professional development.

IXL provides unlimited practice in more than 7000 topics, covering math, language arts, science, social studies, and Spanish. Interactive questions, awards, and certificates keep kids motivated as they master skills.

WeVideo is the complete, feature-packed video editing and digital storytelling platform for today's classrooms. You can easily share your finished videos to Google Classroom with a click of a button.

This course is perfect for anyone just joining Google Classroom, and it is completely FREE! Enroll today!

© Shake Up Learning 2018. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog's author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Kasey Bell and Shake Up Learning with appropriate and specific direction to the original content on ShakeUpLearning.com. See: Copyright Policy.

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50 Awesome Apps that Integrate with Google Classroom!

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Check out this list of 50 Awesome Apps that Integrate with Google Classroom! Did you know that Google Classroom plays well with others? Yep! Google is known for making their applications open to working with third-party applications, and Google Classroom is no exception.

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Google Classroom for Everyone its finally here! NEW 2017 Features

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10 Exciting NEW Google Classroom Features! Back to School 17-18

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As we approach the new school year Google Classroom is getting some long wanted Updates! Check these TEN amazing updates to the platform that will help you improve how students and teachers use Classroom! You can find the official announcement on Google's Blog here: https://www.blog.google/topics/education/10-ways-were-making-classroom-and-forms-easier-teachers-school-year/ Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE today for more videos!

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The must-have emoji extension of 2016! The easiest way to search, 1-click copy and paste, or auto-input emoji anywhere in Chrome.

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Have an old KMZ/KML file that you want to view on the new Google Earth? Open it... it works!

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Google Classroom is a workflow management system designed with the goal of saving teachers and students time by organizing assignments and class content in one easy-to-access online space.

As a fully integrated part of the G Suite for Education platform, Google Classroom works seamlessly with all of Google's apps for education, allowing students and teachers to effectively and efficiently manage their digital workflow.

How Google Classroom Works

Posting and Sharing

Google Classroom acts as a central location to store and share online resources for classes. Teachers are able to post links to important class websites, share YouTube videos, and post files for students-all in one easy-to-access online space. This is a very efficient way to distribute class materials to students, and one of Google Classroom's most beneficial features.

Assignments

Google Classroom turns creating, distributing, collecting and grading assignments into a quick and simple process. First, the teacher enters a title and description for the assignment, attaches any resources they want students to access (Google Drive files, YouTube Videos, web links, etc.), and shares it with the class. Students then complete the assignment, which can include any type of file in Google Drive, and submit it back to the teacher. Finally, the teacher grades each assignment and sends a response directly to each student.

Questions

The Question feature lets teachers quickly receive feedback from students with multiple choice or short answer questions. Teachers can permit students to see and comment on their classmates' responses, or this option can be turned off if the teacher would rather keep answers private, and graded. The question feature is a great tool to use for checking on on student understanding.

Calendar

Google Classroom automatically creates an assignment calendar for students and teachers. When assignments are tagged with a due date, that assignment will show up on the class calendar for both the student and the teacher.

Google Classroom FAQ

Google classroom has many great features that can be used as little or as much as a teachers see fit for their particular classroom. We hope that these questions and answers help you as you enter into the world of Google Classroom.

What are some ways that teachers can engage students using Google Classroom?

Inside of Google Classroom, teachers have several options to reach their students. By creating announcements, assignments, or questions, teachers can engage students in a variety of ways. Each of these engagement types has its own advantages for fostering student interaction.

Assignment: Assignments are a way for teachers to create content for students on a specific topic. When creating an assignment, teachers title each assignment, while also having the ability to include instructions in the description area. They then are able to attach various items to each individual assignment including: Google Drive files, uploaded attachments from the hard drive of the device they are using, YouTube videos, and web links. If teachers attach a Drive file, there are three options through which students can interact when opening the assignment, explained in further detail below.

Question: Teachers can use the Question feature in Google Classroom to quickly receive feedback from students by multiple choice question or short answer. When setting up a question, teachers can allow for students to see their classmates responses, allowing for conversation to take place on the variety of answers. This option can also be turned off if the teacher would rather keep answers private, and graded. The question feature is a great tool to use as an exit ticket to check student understanding.

How do you add students to your class?

Students can be added three ways. The first way is by unique class code. When a class is created by a teacher, the class is given a unique code by Google. Students can then go to the Classroom website (classroom.google.com), select join, and enter the code. As students enter, the class roster is updated instantly.

The second way is by teacher invitation. Teachers have the ability to invite students by using their Google accounts. By directly adding students, teachers eliminate the step of students incorrectly entering the code, or taking valuable class time helping all students get into the class. This strategy may be best for elementary students that are just learning keyboarding skills and take an extended period of time to type.

If you have a very large number of students, a technology administrator can add an entire roster through Google's API. Ask your Google Administrator about this process.

Where can teachers store important core material for students to access?

One question that is frequently asked is if this area will take the place of a teacher website. While Classroom offers the section to store resources, it does not necessarily take the place of the teacher website. One of the main reasons involves guardian access. While the guardians can have updates sent to them from Classroom, they do not have the ability to log into the actual class without using their student's username and password. Therefore, a teacher posting materials on a class website may still be considered a more accessible option for parents.

Can you grade in Google Classroom? Can you then export those grades?

Yes, you can. Teachers have the ability to grade and Assignments that are added to the stream. Announcements cannot be graded. Once students have turned in their assignment or submitted an answer to a question, the teacher can give it a numerical grade. When the grades have been attached, teachers must the assignment to the students before they will see the grade.

Once finished with the grading, teachers can select the settings cog in the top right corner of the screen, allowing them the options of copying their grades to Google Sheets or downloading all grades to a CSV file. Many teachers inquire about exporting grades to a student information system. While it is possible to import some CSV files into different student information systems, ultimately, that would depend on which system the school is using. We suggest checking with your SIS manager before attempting this.

How is content organized in Google Classroom?

Teachers can also create posts and either save them as drafts to be published at a later date or schedule them to be sent out at a specific time. Saving as a draft can help teachers prepare their classroom for upcoming work while not having it visible to students.

Teachers should also utilize the calendar associated with their class. This calendar appears both in Google Classroom, but also as an additional calendar in both the teacher and student's Google Calendar. From Google Calendar, teachers can make the class calendar public and send the URL to guardians. While all assignments and questions that have due dates associated with them appear on this calendar, teachers can also add other events to the calendar. For example a teacher may want to add a field trip to the calendar.

Assignment: Assignments are a way for teachers to create content for students on a specific topic. When creating an assignment, teachers title each assignment, while also having the ability to include instructions in the description area. They then are able to attach various items to each individual assignment including: Google Drive files, uploaded attachments from the hard drive of the device they are using, YouTube videos, and web links. If teachers attach a Drive file, there are three options through which students can interact when opening the assignment, explained in further detail below.

Question: Teachers can use the Question feature in Google Classroom to quickly receive feedback from students by multiple choice question or short answer. When setting up a question, teachers can allow for students to see their classmates responses, allowing for conversation to take place on the variety of answers. This option can also be turned off if the teacher would rather keep answers private, and graded. The question feature is a great tool to use as an exit ticket to check student understanding.

What are students able to turn in? Can it only be a Google Doc?

The answer to this is no. Students are able to submit any file type they are requested to complete This means that students recording podcasts can submit MP3 files; students recording videos are able to upload MP4 files; anything the student creates and is in a file format is able to be submitted through Google Classroom. In fact, many websites and mobile apps are now offering direct Google Classroom integration into their product. For example, students can create a video in iMovie on their iPad and share it directly to an open assignment in Google Classroom.

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Google Classroom is a workflow management system designed with the goal of saving teachers and students time by organizing assignments and class content in one easy-to-access online space. As a fully integrated part of the G Suite for Education platform, Google Classroom works seamlessly with all of Google's apps for education, allowing students and teachers to effectively and efficiently manage their digital workflow.

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Newest Google Classroom Cheat Sheet - Published

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Online training courses for K12 teachers including Google and G Suite for Education, Google Certification prep courses, and digital learning professional development for educators.

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Google Classroom list of blog posts by Alice Keeler: Co-Author of the book "50 Things You Can Do With Google Classroom." Google Classroom tutorials.

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Shake Up Learning in your classroom today!