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Google Docs: Create a Template - Teacher Tech

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Google Docs: Create a Template - Teacher Tech

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Every day teachers create awesome resources in Google Docs that can be shared with other teachers. The documents can be shared by sharing the link and the end user uses the File menu to make a copy. Creating a template skips the last step and directly prompts the end user to make a copy.

Anyone With The Link Can View

The first thing you need to do to share a resource you've created is make it viewable by other teachers. By default a Google Doc is private. Click on the blue share button and change the sharing permissions to "Anyone with the link can view."

Google Docs Template

For Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drawings (not Forms) you can easily turn them into a template. The end of the URL on the documents say /edit and possibly some other stuff. Remove the slash edit and other stuff to the right and replace it with /copy.

Original

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tWxOZuSADzAqGneM5FPU7xZu-_tjXXF5ZLpAwyvJrj4/edit#gid=0

Template - SLASH COPY

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tWxOZuSADzAqGneM5FPU7xZu-_tjXXF5ZLpAwyvJrj4/copy

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Google Docs: Create a Template - Teacher Tech

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Every day teachers create awesome resources in Google Docs that can be shared with other teachers. The documents can be shared by sharing the link and the end user uses the File menu to make a copy. Creating a template skips the last step and directly prompts the end user to make a copy.

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Group Brainstorm a Topic with Google Sheets - Teacher Tech

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Group Brainstorm a Topic with Google Sheets - Teacher Tech

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Group Brainstorm a Topic with Google Sheets - Teacher Tech

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Have small groups brainstorm on the same Google Sheets spreadsheet. Each group gets it's own tab. group brainstorm google sheets template

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Webinar Archive - Creating Short Instructional Videos - Teacher Tech

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Webinar Archive - Creating Short Instructional Videos - Teacher Tech

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October 13th at 530 PST Myself, Lisa Ceja, and Elise Legaspi are going to talk about making short instructional videos.

With blended learning and flipped classrooms teachers are creating videos for their students to watch. I am a perpetual student, I received my masters degree online and am working on my doctorate online. Online classes almost always have videos to watch. Videos drive me crazy. I am stuck at the speed of the presenter, who seems to oftentimes forget it is a video so they do not need to repeat themselves and they do not need to go slow.

No matter the medium, you must design for student engagement.

A video that starts with "hi, today we are going to talk about..." RUN AWAY! You lost me, I can not watch that video. Link to my blog post "Hi... and Other Boring Ways to Start a Video." You need to hook your viewer into the video. The first few seconds should be energetic and get the viewer excited to watch the video.

I am going to be honest, when I hear a teacher tell me they are flipping their class the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. 20-minute recordings of math videos are NOT FUN! This is worse than being talked to in class.

10-minute videos are not better.

One minute or less! LESS!!!! You do not have to do the whole thing in one take! Make a series of videos. A 59-second video on Facebook has significantly higher engagement rates than a 1-minute video. In fact, the magic number apparently is 22 seconds.

You can not skim a video. You can not easily find that "one spot." Long videos are not respecting student time.

When I create my videos in one shot I pause, I think about what I am going to say, I ramble. I have a lot of seconds that could be edited out. Record yourself saying the information you are trying to get across. Now do it again in 30 second or less segments (Mine are usually about 12 seconds.) Put together in a playlist. Compare the total run time. Same content. My 20-minute video went down to 7 minutes!

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Webinar Archive - Creating Short Instructional Videos - Teacher Tech

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October 13th at 530 PST Myself, Lisa Ceja, and Elise Legaspi are going to talk about making short instructional videos. Link to events page Video With blended learning and flipped classrooms teachers are creating videos for their students to watch. I am a perpetual student, I received my masters degree online and am working on ...

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Google Classroom: List ALL Your Student Files - Teacher Tech

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Google Classroom: List ALL Your Student Files - Teacher Tech

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While I love Google Classroom, it can be a lot of clicking to locate student files. I created a script that will list all of the files in a Google Classroom class folder. The script lists all of the assignment folders in the class folder, creates a tab for each assignment and lists the files in the assignment folder.

This can be used in multiple ways:

Quickly find a list of student files submitted.

Locate documents a student has submitted.

Make notes and record data on files students have submitted.

See which students are missing documents.

Quickly leave feedback for students on files.

Sort and organize student submissions.

alicekeeler.com/showmeallthedocs

To use the script, you will need to go to the Add-On menu and choose "Show me all the docs." This will open a sidebar menu.

Google Drive

You will need the ID number of your Google Classroom class folder in Google Drive. Go to Google Drive and locate the "Classroom" folder. Open the folder and find the folder for your class. Open the class folder. The URL at the top contains the folder ID at the end. Copy just the ID, it comes after
"https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/"

Run Script

Back in the spreadsheet in the sidebar menu is a start button. Click the button. When prompted, paste the folder ID into the box.

The script will insert a sheet and list all the assignment folders and a link to the folders.

A tab for each assignment folder was created. Click on the "Big Mac" icon of 4 lines in the bottom left to see a list of all the tabs. Go to the assignment you wish to view the documents for.

On the sheet, all of the files submitted to Google Classroom are listed in the spreadsheet. The first column shows the document title. You may want to increase the width of the column to view the full document name. The second column is the document ID, not particularly helpful to you, but helpful to me when I code. The 6th column shows date modified and the 7th column shows date created.

3rd Column - Document Link

The 3rd column is the most helpful, it is a live hyperlink to the document. This allows you to quickly open up student documents to insert feedback.

4th/5th Column - Student Email/Student Name

The fourth column shows the email of the owner. If YOUR email and name is listed, then you have not returned the document to the student. Google Classroom switches ownership from student to teacher when the student turns in work. Go back to Google Classroom and return work to the student. This will not update the spreadsheet. You will need to run the script on a new spreadsheet after you have returned student work.

Note that the spreadsheet is not dynamic. This is a one time snapshot of the files submitted to Google Classroom. Make a new copy of the template and run the script again to achieve an updated list.

What is nice about the spreadsheet is that you can edit it any way you wish. You can sort by student name, make notes, sort and organize the files. These edits do not reflect in Google Drive, but are still helpful.

If you prefer the documents to be collected on a single tab instead of multiple tabs try this script. For me, this means I can use a pivot table to count how many documents a student has submitted. Alternatively, sorting the list by owner name can show me everything each student has turned into Google Classroom in one spot.

alicekeeler.com/listthedocs

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Google Classroom: List ALL Your Student Files - Teacher Tech

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While I love Google Classroom, it can be a lot of clicking to locate student files. I created a script that will list all of the files in a Google Classroom class folder. The script lists all of the assignment folders in the class folder, creates a tab for each assignment and lists the files ...

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Google Classroom: Keep Materials in the Class Folder - Teacher Tech

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Google Classroom: Keep Materials in the Class Folder - Teacher Tech

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Google Classroom: Keep Materials in the Class Folder - Teacher Tech

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Take advantage of the Google Drive folder created by Google Classroom for each class. Save Google Classroom files in the class folder, share with co-teacher

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Google Classroom: Workflow for Creating Documents - Teacher Tech

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Google Classroom: Workflow for Creating Documents - Teacher Tech

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Google Classroom: Workflow for Creating Documents - Teacher Tech

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Google Classroom makes it really easy to distribute documents to students. When attaching a template in Google Classroom as "Make a copy for each student" a document is created for each student with the same document title and appends the students name onto the title.

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Google Classroom: Edit Slides Not Copy - Teacher Tech

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Google Classroom: Edit Slides Not Copy - Teacher Tech

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Link to Slides presentation
Old school thinking back when we used PowerPoint was to create copies of the presentations for back up files or to just update the presentation. Emailing a copy of PowerPoint creates a copy of the document. Any updates to the presentation by the author are not represented in the copy. Sharing PowerPoints can result in "who has the official version?"

I never want to have version confusion ever again.

One Version Always

Paradigm shift for using Google Apps is there is only ONE version. Emailing someone the presentation links them to the exact same presentation you have. Not only does the collaborator always have the current version, they can watch you make edits even if you are in different countries. I literally collaborate with people around the globe. Knowing that what I am looking at is exactly what the collaborator is looking at ensures effective collaboration.

Teaching is too hard to do it alone. Google Slides makes it easier for teachers to share materials. When edits are made, all teachers get the edits. No emailing "oops, there is a typo on slide 5." At the end of the lesson when we reflect and update the Slides for next year, there is no process for updating collaborating teachers. They simply have the current version.

Revision History

Revision history in Google Apps show what edits were made and when. If you need to look at a previous version, there is no need for a copy, simply restore that version. Restoring an old version will not mess up the current version. Go to revision history and restore it back to the current version. In Google Apps, you have all versions at the exact same time.

Collaborate with Students

One of my favorite features about Google Classroom is how quickly I can have all students in the class collaborating together. I can literally create collaborative Google Slides and distribute it to the class in 40 seconds. Attach Google Slides and choose the middle option "Students can edit file."

Note: Please do me a favor and send feedback to Google Classroom to change the wording to "Students can collaborate on file."
Using Google Slides allows for you to create interactive learning experiences. Students are not simply passive consumers of information with a Google Slides presentation. Students can actively participate.

Edit Not Copy

After students have edited a Google Slides presentation collaboratively it is "not ready" for the next class or the next school year. There is NO NEED to copy the file. Use revision history to locate the revision before students edited and "Restore this version."

You have lost nothing.

All revisions are still in revision history. Restore revisions willy nilly, you can always go back to any revision.

Use the Same Slides Presentation ALWAYS

If you do a collaborative activity with 1st period, do NOT make a copy for 2nd period. Simply use revision history to restore the Slides back to the way it looked before 1st period collaborated on it. If you need to go back and review what 1st period did, restore the Slides back to that revision.

Archive

If you want to specifically have a copy of a particular revision, use the File menu to "Make a copy" but this is an archive not a "copy." Rename the document from "Copy of " to "Archive." Continue to make edits and updates to the original. The archive is not meant for editing.

8 Steps in Google Classroom

If you are a Google Classroom user, here is how to update your Google Slides presentations and use the assignment again.

1. Reuse post.

2. UNCHECK duplicate attachments check box.

3. Click on attachment title.

4. Go to the FILE menu.

5. Choose Revision history.

6. Find the revision that is before it was "messed up."
Restore this version.
Make updates to the slides.

7. Close the file (auto save remember!)

8. Post your assignment in Google Classroom.

Link to Slides presentation
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Google Classroom: Edit Slides Not Copy - Teacher Tech

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Link to Slides presentation Old school thinking back when we used PowerPoint was to create copies of the presentations for back up files or to just update the presentation. Emailing a copy of PowerPoint creates a copy of the document. Any updates to the presentation by the author are not represented in the copy.

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Google Forms: Create a Branching Quiz Question - Teacher Tech

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Google Forms: Create a Branching Quiz Question - Teacher Tech

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Google Forms is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It is awesome for formative assessment and allows for the teacher to have a quick response to student needs. Using a Google Form for formative assessment can be graded using Flubaroo. Flubaroo also allows for students to immediate receive an email of their results. This can be achieved under the advanced options.

Immediate Feedback

The problem with Flubaroo is that students do not get feedback until AFTER they submit the quiz. Provide students immediate feedback by taking advantage of the branching feature when creating a multiple choice question.

Create Sections

I suggest you add and name several sections to your formative assessment before creating the questions. Plan out your quiz in advance to avoid headaches.

Sample Outline

Demographic Questions
Question 1
Correction to Question 1
Question 2
Correction to Question 2
Question 3
Correction to Question 3
Final Page

Sections Icon

Click on the last icon in the floating toolbar to add a section.

Control Shift Enter

Control Shift Enter is the keyboard shortcut to insert a question. Click on each section and use Control Shift Enter to add a question to that section.

More Options

Click on the more options icon (3 dots) in the bottom right hand corner.

Go to Section

From the more options, choose "Go to section based on answer."

Setting up the sections in advance allows you to easily branch to a section based on a right or wrong answer.

Tutorial

When students get a question correct branch them to the next question. If they get the question incorrect, branch them to a section with some instruction. A short video, graphic, animated GIF or just text. You can choose to include a "redo" question or just branch them to the next question after that. Be sure to check where each section branches to when student hits next. The default is the "next section." Suggestion to always define the section rather than rely on the default.

Sample Form

Click Here for my sample branching Form. Remember to get the answer wrong to see the branch 🙂

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Google Forms: Create a Branching Quiz Question - Teacher Tech

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Google Forms is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It is awesome for formative assessment and allows for the teacher to have a quick response to student needs. Using a Google Form for formative assessment can be graded using Flubaroo. Flubaroo also allows for students to immediate receive an email of their results.

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7 Features of Google Keep for You To Teach With - Teacher Tech

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7 Features of Google Keep for You To Teach With - Teacher Tech

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Google Keep is an easy way to take quick notes, create to-do lists, or save important information. You can describe Google Keep as "digital post it notes." Google Keep is great for teachers and students to capture quick thoughts and to collaborate. One trick I use a lot is using the web version with the mobile version at the same time. Taking a picture with my phone in Google Keep quickly gets the image onto my computer.
Google Play App Google Chrome
When creating a note you have the option to color code the note. Students can color code their notes based on the type of activity they are doing. Quick note, todo list, importance, etc..

In the search box at the top, there is a small drop down arrow that will allow you to filter your search.

Share the Note

After creating the audio note, click on the share icon in the note to add the students email address to the note. The student will be able to find the feedback easily in their Google Keep.

While Google Keep only works online at keep.google.com, the Google Keep mobile app works great online or off. When I am in a situation where I do not have WiFi, Google Keep allows me to jot down notes, ideas or start on a project.

Google Keep is a great place to start brainstorming and collaborating. Share a Google Keep note and plan out what needs to be done for a particular project or activity. Students can take notes quickly when the teacher says "real quick everyone..." Google Keep is perfect for those quick notes that do not require setting up a whole Google Doc.

Students using Google Keep can use it to take notes and observations during an activity. After the activity, students send the note to Google Docs and make a formal lab report out of their notes. In Google Classroom, students click on "Add" and search their Google Drive to add their work for submission.

The mobile app allows you to sketch a drawing in a Google Keep note. What is fun is to see your drawing you made on your mobile device show up right away in the web version on your laptop.

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7 Features of Google Keep for You To Teach With - Teacher Tech

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Google Keep is an easy way to take quick notes, create to-do lists, or save important information. You can describe Google Keep as "digital post it notes." Google Keep is great for teachers and students to capture quick thoughts and to collaborate. One trick I use a lot is using the web version with the mobile ...

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How To Create a Digital Portfolio Folder With QR Code Link - Google Drawings

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How To Create a Digital Portfolio Folder With QR Code Link - Google Drawings

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How To Create a Digital Portfolio Folder With QR Code Link

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Student centered teaching with Google Classroom - resources including blog posts, ideas, tutorials, and more by EdTech integration expert Alice Keeler.

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3 Things to Try in Google Drawing - Teacher Tech

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3 Things to Try in Google Drawing - Teacher Tech

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Google Drawing (drawings.google.com) is a basic drawing tool. Like other Google Apps, Google Drawing is collaborative. Try these 3 tips when creating Google Drawings.

1. Change the Canvas Size

Use the File menu to change the size of the drawing canvas. Choose "Page setup" from the menu. Use the drop-down menu to choose "Custom" instead of "Standard." Digital resources are measured in pixels. I usually change my units to pixels. If you are wanting to create an image for tweeting, 440 x 220 pixels is the optimal dimensions. Use the File menu to "Download as" and choose "PNG" if you want to use your drawing in something else.

If you want a template for a Twitter image use alicekeeler.com/twitterimage

2. Change the Background Color

The default background for a Google Drawing is "Transparent." Right-click on the background to change the background color. You are not able to set an image as the background. You can do this in Google Slides though! Google Slides and Google Drawing have the same drawing capacities. If you need a locked down background image use Slides instead.

3. Match Formatting

If you draw something in Google Drawing and change the color or border you can match other drawing elements. Simply select a formatted element in your Google Drawing and then draw a new shape. The new shape will take on the characteristics of the formatted shape.

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3 Things to Try in Google Drawing - Teacher Tech

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Google Drawing (drawings.google.com) is a basic drawing tool. Like other Google Apps, Google Drawing is collaborative. Try these 3 tips when creating Google Drawings. Use the File menu to change the size of the drawing canvas. Choose "Page setup" from the menu. Use the drop-down menu to choose "Custom" instead of "Standard."

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Google Sheets: Have Fun with Fonts - Teacher Tech

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Google Sheets: Have Fun with Fonts - Teacher Tech

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Fun news!! Google Sheets now allows for web fonts. All those fun fonts you use in Google Docs you can now use in a Google spreadsheet. Even better, when editing a cell, you can change the formatting within the cell. This means one word can have different formatting than the rest of the words in the same cell.

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Google Sheets: Have Fun with Fonts - Teacher Tech

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Fun news!! Google Sheets now allows for web fonts. All those fun fonts you use in Google Docs you can now use in a Google spreadsheet. Even better, when editing a cell, you can change the formatting within the cell. This means one word can have different formatting than the rest of the words in ...

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Google Slides: Ask Questions DURING a Presentation - Teacher Tech

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Google Slides: Ask Questions DURING a Presentation - Teacher Tech

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A typical drawback of presenting is the challenge of interactivity. Even though we want people to ask us questions during a presentation, it can be difficult for audience members to ask. A new feature in Google Slides aims to fix that.

Q&A During the Presentation

Google Slides now allows the presenter to solicit questions from the audience during the presentation. The presenter is able to see the questions posted, as is the audience. Audience members can vote up the question to ensure the most important questions are highlighted.

Present Button

When presenting in Slides, click on the arrow next to the present button.

Turn On Questions

From the speaker notes floating window, choose to "Start new" question session.

Short URL

A short URL is displayed as a header on the Slides presentation. This makes it easy for your audience to get to the question window. No additional effort by the presenter required. Simply click on the button and you are good to go.

Ask a Question

Audience members are presented with a question window that allows them to submit a question. The questions asked are visible to others in the question window as well as to the presenter in the speaker notes window.

Vote

Audience members can vote on the questions. This helps the speaker to know which questions are most important to all of the participants.

Share the Questions

The speaker has the ability to push out the questions to the presentation. The questions are not embedded into the final slides, but rather display during the actual presentation. This allows the presenter to take questions on the fly during the presentation. It can be really intimidating to stop a speaker in the middle of their talk, using the new questions feature in Slides makes it easy to ask.

Student Centered

Typically standing in front of the room presenting slides is NOT a student centered activity. As with all tools, we use them with a lot of intentionality to create a student centered classroom. Allowing students to ask questions during a presentation is a great first step towards a more student centered model, but still typically puts the focus on the teacher and the front of the room.

How can I use this question tool to put students at the center of their learning?

Guest Speakers

A quick and dirty way to reach R on the SAMR model is to bring in guest speakers via Google Hangout, especially on the fly as students curiosities necessitate asking an outside person. Google Slides can easily present through Google Hangout. A challenge in being a guest speaker via Hangout is it is difficult to see when someone on the other hand has a question. This new feature in Google Slides solves that problem. No matter where participants in a Google Hangout are, they can ask questions.

Online Classes

For my online class I teach, I use Google Hangout and Slides together for added interactivity. Using Google Hangout on Air allows some students to watch the discussion and others to actively join the discussion. By using collaborative Google Slides with a Google Hangout, even students who are watching the recording are able to actively participate. Asking questions is a major challenge for those students though. No longer! In one window, present the collaborative Slides with Q&A. You are not presenting the slides, but the question feature is enabled. Use the Slides Q&A feature as a back channel for all participants.

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Google Slides: Ask Questions DURING a Presentation - Teacher Tech

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A typical drawback of presenting is the challenge of interactivity. Even though we want people to ask us questions during a presentation, it can be difficult for audience members to ask. A new feature in Google Slides aims to fix that. Google Slides now allows the presenter to solicit questions from the audience during the presentation.

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7 Hacks for Google Classroom - Teacher Tech

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7 Hacks for Google Classroom - Teacher Tech

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I love using Google Classroom. It solves the sharing permissions problem when using Google Docs and makes it so easy for me to find all student work in one convenient place in Google Drive. When I have a specific wish for Google Classroom I use Google Apps Script to create a custom solution.

Keep a Roster

Many of my scripts require that you have a roster of your students and their email addresses. I suggest you keep a Google spreadsheet with this information as a template you can copy and paste from. In any Google Classroom assignment, from the assignment grading screen, click on the settings wheel to "Download these grades as CSV." This gives you a list of student names and email addresses. (The "all grades" option does not include email addresses). Upload the CSV file to Google Drive and right click to open in Google Sheets. Save this as a template to reference frequently!

Create a spreadsheet that assigns each student a tab.
alicekeeler.com/rostertab

Create a spreadsheet to facilitate a classroom discussion.
alicekeeler.com/discussiontab

Create a PDF of each students submission to Google Classroom. Helpful if you need to print student work.
alicekeeler.com/pdfmyfolder

My favorite!! Providing high-quality feedback to students takes some time. Use this script to facilitate the process.
alicekeeler.com/gradethefolder

This script extracts all of the submitted student work from a Google Classroom assignment folder to a Google Sheets spreadsheet.

Optionally you can randomize the submissions to give each student a chance to get feedback first.

Grade the Folder lets you rename the student documents to let you know the grading status.
I first set everyone's status as "FB needed."

As I provide feedback, I change the status on the spreadsheet to "graded" or "FB given." Running the script renames the documents to let you and the students know that the document has been reviewed.

Click Here for Grade the Folder blog post.

Easily assign students to groups and post them to Google Classroom.
alicekeeler.com/groupmaker

Assign a Google Doc template to each group.
alicekeeler.com/groupdocs

Create a list of all of the documents submitted to a Google Classroom class. If documents have been returned, sort by student to see what they have turned in.
alicekeeler.com/listdocs
alicekeeler.com/showdocs

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7 Hacks for Google Classroom - Teacher Tech

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I love using Google Classroom. It solves the sharing permissions problem when using Google Docs and makes it so easy for me to find all student work in one convenient place in Google Drive. When I have a specific wish for Google Classroom I use Google Apps Script to create a custom solution.

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Top 15 Alice Keeler Posts of 2015 - Teacher Tech

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Top 15 Alice Keeler Posts of 2015 - Teacher Tech

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Google Forms: Tab Tab Type - Teacher Tech

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Google Forms: Tab Tab Type - Teacher Tech

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When I first saw that the new Google Forms only has one option for multiple choice I was disappointed. Using the mouse is something I try to avoid. Tab and keyboard shortcuts can help me be super productive when creating. Happily a few tricks makes it a snap to create a Google Form.

When adding a question to Google Forms, the default is a multiple choice question. (Control Shift Enter creates a new question by the way.) Type the question, press Tab, press Tab again to type the first answer option.

Press Tab again to go to option 2. DO NOT TOUCH THE MOUSE! Do not delete. Just start typing. You do not have to click on "Add option." Just type.

Press Tab and press Tab again to add a 3rd option. DO NOT TOUCH THE MOUSE. Just start typing.

Notice in the GIF below that I added and created a multiple choice question without using the mouse. If you look closely the mouse icon does not move until the end when I end the recording.

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Google Forms: Tab Tab Type - Teacher Tech

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When I first saw that the new Google Forms only has one option for multiple choice I was disappointed. Using the mouse is something I try to avoid. Tab and keyboard shortcuts can help me be super productive when creating. Happily a few tricks makes it a snap to create a Google Form.

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Google Classroom: Hear From Everyone - Teacher Tech

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Google Classroom: Hear From Everyone - Teacher Tech

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Use technology to create better interactions with students, not just to be paperless. When adopting new tech, ask "How does this make learning better?" "How does this change how I interact with my students?"

New is Not Hard

SAMR is not a measure of difficulty. Sometimes new tasks are EASIER than trying to figure out how to take what you have been doing and make it digital. The Google Classroom feature of asking a question is one of the easiest tasks you can do with your students.

Ask a Question

In Google Classroom, click on the plus icon and choose the "Create Question" option.

Type Your Question

You can do this on the fly. When something comes up in your class, quickly click the plus icon in Google Classroom and add a question to the Stream. Type the question, choose short answer or multiple choice and click on "Ask."

Hear From Everyone

How many students can you reasonably hear from at a time when you pose a question in class? One or Two? Research shows it is the quietest students who have some of the more thoughtful answers. As Jo Boaler says in her article " Fluency Without Fear, " fast is not the same as smart. Students need time to process their answer. Answering digitally allows every student a chance to think and respond. Instead of only hearing from a couple of students, you get to hear from every student.

Click on the Question Title

To view student responses, click on the title of the question in the Stream. Click on any students name on the left-hand side of the assessment screen to view their individual response. For multiple choice questions you can click on the bar in the bar chart to see who answered what.

Continue Discussion

Starting a discussion digitally does not need to be a digital discussion. Starting digitally can just be a starter to the conversation. Use the insights of ALL the students to further the verbal discussions.

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Google Classroom: Hear From Everyone - Teacher Tech

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Use technology to create better interactions with students, not just to be paperless. When adopting new tech, ask "How does this make learning better?" "How does this change how I interact with my students?" SAMR is not a measure of difficulty.

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Google Sheets: Split a List of Names - Teacher Tech

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Google Sheets: Split a List of Names - Teacher Tech

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I like to use listofrandomnames.com to create sample students. This comes in handy quite often. This gives me a list of first and last names. Oftentimes I want the first and last names separated. You can also do this with your actual student names. Copy your roster of students and paste into a Google Sheets spreadsheet. If the names are already in a Google Sheets spreadsheet, highlight the names, copy and immediately paste into the same range of cells.

If you want to use listofrandomnames.com, copy the "list from a text area"

When you paste into a Google Sheets spreadsheet, notice a clipboard icon shows up in the bottom right.

Clicking on the clipboard icon reveals the option to "Split text to columns."

If your roster is listed as "First Last" then the words are separated by a space. The default separator is "comma." Choose "Space" from the list instead. This will cause the spreadsheet to "eat" your spaces and place the individual words between the spaces into a new cell.

Thanks @googledocs for the heads up 🙂

For those of you who, like me, enjoy writing formulas in a spreadsheet =Split(A2," ") works also to split a list of names, separated by a space.

If you have "Last, First" you can use =split(A2,", ") where the comma space is the separator.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2016

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Google Sheets: Split a List of Names - Teacher Tech

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I like to use listofrandomnames.com to create sample students. This comes in handy quite often. This gives me a list of first and last names. Oftentimes I want the first and last names separated. You can also do this with your actual student names. Copy your roster of students and paste into a Google Sheets ...

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Share a List of Resources: OneTab Chrome Extension - Teacher Tech

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Share a List of Resources: OneTab Chrome Extension - Teacher Tech

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Share a List of Resources: OneTab Chrome Extension - Teacher Tech

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A quick way to share a list of web resources is to use the OneTab Chrome extension. Students or teachers can conduct a Google search on a topic. Hold down the Control key (Command on a Mac) when clicking on a link will open the destination URL in a new tab.

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Chromebook: Caps Lock Key - Teacher Tech

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Chromebook: Caps Lock Key - Teacher Tech

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Chromebook: Caps Lock Key - Teacher Tech

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Chromebooks do not have a Caps Lock key. Instead there is a search button, which in my opinion is completely useless when the address bar is a search. Use Control-L to highlight the address bar and type your search. You can switch your search button into a Caps Lock button.

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Google Classroom: Class Code Badge - Teacher Tech

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Google Classroom: Class Code Badge - Teacher Tech

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To share your class code for Google Classroom I created a template in Google Draw. Make a copy of the template and type the class code at the bottom of the badge.

Feel free to use or modify this graphic, no attribution required.

After entering the class code into the drawing, use the file menu to "Download as" and choose PNG. This downloads a 300×300 pixel image to your computer that you can use on your class website or PD slides to share the class code.

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Google Classroom: Class Code Badge - Teacher Tech

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To share your class code for Google Classroom I created a template in Google Draw. Make a copy of the template and type the class code at the bottom of the badge. Template tinyurl.com/gcbadge Feel free to use or modify this graphic, no attribution required.

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Be a Ninja: Learn Keyboard Shortcuts - Teacher Tech

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Be a Ninja: Learn Keyboard Shortcuts - Teacher Tech

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Google Classroom Cheat Sheet - Google Slides

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Google Classroom Cheat Sheet - Google Slides

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Google Slide Cheat Sheet - Google Slides

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Google Slide Cheat Sheet - Google Slides

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Google Drive Cheat Sheet - Google Slides

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Google Drive Cheat Sheet - Google Slides

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Google Sheets/Forms Tip - Moving Google Forms Data to Separate Tabs - YouTube

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Google Sheets/Forms Tip - Moving Google Forms Data to Separate Tabs - YouTube

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Google Sheets/Forms Tip - Moving Google Forms Data to Separate Tabs

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In this video learn how to automatically move Google Forms data in a Google Sheet to separate tabs. Functions/Features you'll use: if(): https://support.google.com/drive/answer/3093364 len(): https://support.google.com/drive/answer/3094081 query(): https://support.google.com/drive/answer/3093343 https://developers.google.com/chart/interactive/docs/querylanguage Data Validation: https://support.google.com/drive/answer/139705?hl=en Link to spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yW1Kxv2RZBYNzxdf0PUta5FTwlnDIOsqRydrAKBVgbI/ If you want to interact with your own version of the spreadsheet, go to File then Make a copy.

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The Google Classroom Quick-Start Guide + tips and tricks! | Ditch That Textbook

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The Google Classroom Quick-Start Guide + tips and tricks! | Ditch That Textbook

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G Suite

Google Classroom was created to focus less time on tech and more time on teaching. And it certainly has lived up to its billing.

Classroom has streamlined the classroom workflow and makes communication easier between teaches and students. At its core, Google Classroom does a few things and does them really well

It creates a central home for class activities.

It lets teachers create assignments (and other class activities).

It collects assignments from students.

It helps teachers grade assignments and provide feedback.

It returns assignments to students.

Have you set up Google Classroom in your classroom? If not, now is the time!

This guide will show you how to set Google Classroom up in a matter of minutes and perform the main tasks. It will even address a few things Classroom will NOT do, as it's not a fully-featured learning management system.

Consider keeping this post open in one tab in your browser and Classroom in another so you can refer back. Feel free to click on the screenshots below to see the full-sized versions. Also, be sure to scroll down to the bottom of this post for a link to this guide in a shareable ebook format, plus links to even more resources.
Let's get started!

How to Use Google Classroom

⚙️ Tutorials to get you up and running

🛠 Organization tips and tools

💡 TONS of activities you can use right away

🚀 Ideas to take your skills to the next level

How to set up your class in Google Classroom

Follow these steps to set up your Google Classroom

Google Classroom is now available for Google for Education accounts as well as regular Gmail accounts. Anyone with a Google account can now use Google Classroom.

2. Click on the "+" button in the top right to create your first class.

(It's next to the checkerboard icon you use to access all of your apps.) Then click "Create class."

If you're getting started for the first time, your screen will likely look like the one above.

If you have some classes already, they'll display on this home screen. You can add new classes with the "+" button.

3. Add information about your class.

You must add a name for your class. This is how your students will identify your class when they open Google Classroom.

Use the "section" field to differentiate between different classes of the same type. Many teachers will use this field for the class period. (This field is optional.)

The "subject" field lets you choose from a list of class subjects or type your own. (This field is optional.)

4. Once your class is created, students can start joining it.

NEW invite students with a link! Students can now join your class using a special invite link. Just click on the class code and click "copy invite link". You can drop this link in your distance learning classroom chat box or email the link if you already have a group email list set up.

Students can join your class with a join code (above). This is a quick, easy way to get students into your class. By displaying the join code (click [ ]), students can log in to Google Classroom, click the "+" button and "Join class" to enter the join code. Then they're added to your class.

You can invite students to your class by email. This is a good option if students don't meet in person for your class. To do this, click the "People" tab at the top. Then, click the "Invite Students" button (an icon with a person and a plus). You can invite students individually with email addresses or by groups if all students are in a Google Group.

5. Customize your Google Classroom.

There won't be any students in your class the moment you create it. This is the time to get creative and have some fun with it! Click "Select theme" on the right side of the header. It will open a gallery of header images you can use to spice up your classroom.

You can also upload a photo to display at the top of your Classroom. You can use an image of your class or something that pertains to your class. Some teachers will create a custom header image with important information and fun graphics. Use this template to create a custom header.

Do More with Google Classroom

Teach better. Save time. Make a difference.

The short how-to tutorials on Google Classroom are EVERYWHERE. But how do we teach well with it? In this book, you'll find practical ideas to do great teaching with Google Classroom and thrive.

Using Google Meet in Google Classroom
Google has added the ability to enable Google Meet right from your Google Classroom!

How to generate a Google Meet link in Classroom

1. Click on the settings icon in your Google Classroom. From there scroll down to "General"

2. Click "Generate meet link".

3. Toggle on "visible to students" if you want your students to be able to see and access this link when they log into Classroom.

4. Once the link has been generated you can copy the link if you want to share it through another platform. You can also reset the link from here as well.

How to use Google Meet for elearning, online learning

When students are learning from home, Google Meet can be the connection you need with them. Here are ideas for using it.

How to use Google Classroom in everyday class
After your class is set up and students join, you have a fully functioning Google Classroom. Congratulations!
But you don't want to stop there. Here are some things you can do in your Classroom:

1. Add an announcement.

This is a good way to communicate with your class and give them up-to-date information. Announcements are posted to the class stream, but there isn't a grade associated with them.

Go to your class Stream and click on "share something with your class". Add the text for your announcement. Add any files (attached or from Google Drive), YouTube videos or links you'd like. Then post it (or schedule it for later).

2. Create an assignment, quiz, question, attach material, or reuse an old post.

This is where students get to work! You can create a graded (or ungraded) question for students to answer, a quiz, OR assignment for students to do. You can create them under the "Classwork" tab (above). You can also attach material you want the students to see or reuse an old post.

Things to include in your assignment or question (above):

A descriptive title for your assignment. (Pro tip: It's good to number your assignments to eliminate confusion.)

A description. This is helpful for students who were absent and for referring back to a previous assignment later.

Points. Choose how many points the assignment/question is worth (or use the drop-down menu to make it ungraded).

A due date. Choose when the assignment is due (or don't use a due date).

A topic. (We'll get to this in a moment ...)

File attachments. Attach files, add files from Google Drive, include YouTube videos, or give students a link.

Assign the assignment immediately, schedule it to post automatically later, or save your assignment as a draft to finish later.

3. Organize your class with topics.

If you have different chapters, units, subjects, etc. within your class, you can categorize your assignments and questions by topic to keep everything organized.

Under "Classwork", click the "Create" button and add a topic. Then, whenever you create a new assignment or announcement, you'll be able to add that topic to it.

4. Grade and return work.

Once students have completed work, you can provide feedback and grade the assignment. Click on the "Classwork" button and click on the assignment to view student work.

Here are some of the actions you can take ...

1. Sort the assignment by students who have turned the work in or all students who were given the assignment. (Just click on the big number.) Or, you can sort by other options with the drop-down menu below the big numbers.)

2. Open and view student work by clicking on it. Inside student documents, slide presentations, etc., you can add comments directly to the file. Or ...

3. Type and view private comments to the student by clicking on the student's name. You can also see when files were turned in with the history.

4. Add a grade to student work.

5. When you're all done, return work back to students. Be sure you've checked the box next to their names and click the "Return" button.

10 ways to make GOOD Google Classroom assignments BETTER

Understanding and utilizing Google Classroom's features can help you make the most out this widely used tool. Here are 10 tips for creating even better assignments for your students.

Google Classroom tips and tricks

Here are some ideas for maximizing your use of Google Classroom ...

1. On your "Classes" page (click the three lines menu button and "Classes"), click and drag your class cards around the page to reorder them.

2. Whenever you see a folder icon, click it to open that class's Google Classroom folder in Google Drive. This is where student work lives when it's turned in.

3. Assignments with due dates automatically go on your class's Google Calendar. Click a calendar icon to view it.

4. Want to make an individual copy of a file for every student in an assignment? (i.e. You have a graphic organizer you want ALL students to complete.) Google Classroom is like your digital photocopier. When you attach the file to your assignment, use the drop-down menu on that file and choose "Make a copy for each student."

5. Know the difference between the types of comments you can leave in Google Classroom. Check out the graphic below!

6. The Google Classroom mobile app is your secret tool for giving students quick, easy, instant feedback. Check out all you can do with it.

7. Adjust the settings for your class using the gear icon from your class's home screen. You can change your class name, display the class code, decide what actions students can take in the stream, and decide whether to display deleted items.

20 tips to use Google Classroom effectively and efficiently

Google Classroom can be even more powerful with a few tips and strategies to make it efficient and effective.

Looking for even MORE G Suite resources?

Get our FREE ebook!
101 Ways to Ditch That Textbook with G Suite, tons of practical, creative ways to use Google tools in the classroom.

The Google Classroom Quick-Start Guide ebook

Top Google Classroom blog posts

Here are some of our most popular posts with even more Google Classroom tips and tricks:

For notifications of new Ditch That Textbook content and helpful links:

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The Google Classroom Quick-Start Guide + resources, tips and tricks!

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G Suite Google Classroom was created to focus less time on tech and more time on teaching. And it certainly has lived up to its billing. Classroom has streamlined the classroom workflow and makes communication easier between teaches and students.

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Google Classroom: Assigning to Small Groups - Teacher Tech

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Google Classroom: Assigning to Small Groups - Teacher Tech

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Google Classroom: Assigning to Small Groups - Teacher Tech

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When assigning work to small groups of students instead of the whole class the trick is to include the audience in the description or document title. Clearly indicate in the description who the assignment is for. Other students can ignore the assignment or just click mark as done.