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Google Apps for the Classroom on Flipboard

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Google Apps for the Classroom on Flipboard

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Google Apps for the Classroom on Flipboard

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By Patrick Donovan | Patrick Donovan created a magazine on Flipboard. "Google Apps for the Classroom on Flipboard" is available with thousands of other magazines and all the news you care about. Download Flipboard for free and search for "Patrick Donovan".

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Google Classroom tips for the Non-Newbie Teacher | 2016

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Google Classroom tips for the Non-Newbie Teacher | 2016

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Podcast: Download | Embed

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Google Play | Stitcher

In this episode of the TechEducator Podcast, we take a look at some of the more advanced (and newer) features of Google Classroom that are available for the new school year.

The TechEducator Podcast is a weekly round table discussion about current topics in educational technology. For more information, please visit www.techeducatorpodcast.com.

TechEducatorPodcast.com

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Hosts

1. Jeff Bradbury - TeacherCast.net - @TeacherCast

2. Jeff Herb - InstructionalTechTalk.com - @JeffHerb

3. Sam Patterson - MyPaperlessClassroom.com - @SamPatue

4. Jennifer Judkins - TeachingForward.net - @JennJudkins

5. Josh Gauthier @mrgfactoftheday

6. Alexa Schlechter @AlexaSchlechter

About our Guests:

Show Information (not in any particular order in the show)

1. Working with tags and organizing your Classroom posts

2. Inviting Parents into the Classroom

3. Working with Google Calendar

4. Integrating Classroom and Google Sites

5. Using Google Classroom on the Mobile App

6. Google Classroom Notifications

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Are you enjoying Educational Podcasting Today or other shows on the TeacherCast Network, please share your thoughts with the world by commenting on iTunes today. I enjoy reading and sharing your comments on the podcast each week.

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Google Classroom tips for the Non-Newbie Teacher | 2016

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Podcast: Download | Embed Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Google Play | Stitcher In this episode of the TechEducator Podcast, we take a look at some of the more advanced (and newer) features of Google Classroom that are available for the new school year.

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10 Google Classroom time savers for teachers | Ditch That Textbook

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10 Google Classroom time savers for teachers | Ditch That Textbook

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G Suite

If you and your students are using Google Apps in the classroom, Google Classroom can save you tons of time and effort. It helps you assign, collect, grade and return work seamlessly.

But, like anything else, there are tricks that can help you do the same work in less time.

They make you more efficient and effective.

Here are 10 tips to save you some time while using Google Classroom:

1. Find student work in Classroom by using Google Drive.

Digging files out of assignments in Google Classroom isn't the only way to open and review student work. Files that students turn in to you are saved in a folder in your Google Drive called "Classroom." They're sorted by class and by assignment, too. You can always find those files by opening the subfolders in Drive. You can also use the search bar to search for a specific student name or assignment name.

2. Let students help each other by posting a question.

Teachers don't have to answer every question! We can empower students to help each other. Use the "+" button to create a question for a particular assignment or project. It can serve as a discussion board where students can help each other. (Of course, you can always pop into the question to view discussions to make sure they're accurate and on point.)

3. Get just the right amount of email by adjusting notification settings.

Next, Google sends you notifications for a variety of actions. To change those notifications use the button next to each action to toggle them on or off.

Get notified of late student work.

Google Classroom will now email you when students turn in late work. So you can turn on that notification and receive an email for it.

4. Use keyboard commands instead of the mouse.

Other keyboard commands: Tab can move through links and text fields on the page. The space bar works like a mouse click.

Of course, don't forget the basics: Ctrl+C = copy, Ctrl+X = cut, Ctrl+V = paste, Ctrl+Z = undo. Another favorite: Ctrl+K = add a link. (Use Command instead of Ctrl on a Mac.)

Not all keyboard commands are faster than clicking with a mouse, but you can definitely find some that save you time

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.

6. Keep everyone up to date by sharing the class calendar.
This shared by Sean Fahey.

Making the class Google calendar public so parents can see what assignments are due helps save time when parents want to know what assignments are due, missing, late, etc.

First, go to calendar.google.com and find your class calendar.

Then, click on the three dots next to the calendar and choose "Settings and sharing".

From there you can change the access permissions and make the calendar available to the public.

Finally get the shareable link and email it to all of your parents and guardians. Now they have an easy way to see whats due and when!

7. View all student work in one place.
Tip shared by Sean Fahey.

Go to people tab in Google Classroom and select a students name.

Now you will see an overview of all of the assignments for that particular student including the due date if there is one.

From there, you can:

Filter by status of work assigned, turned in, late, or missing.

View any grades for classwork.

View any attachments to submitted work (you will see a paperclip icon).

See if the student sent you a private comment (you will see a comment icon next to their work).

8. Connect other tools to Classroom quickly.

9. Organize and sort your posts with topics.

Click on an individual topic to see ONLY the posts in that topic.

(Curious about that animal cell claymation video you see above? Click here to watch it.)

10. Reuse posts so you don't have to create them again from scratch.

Do you create the same kinds of posts over and over? Don't re-create them from scratch each time! Use the "reuse post" option.

Click the "+" button. Choose "Reuse post".

Select the class where you posted it first. (Note: You can take a post from one class and reuse it in another class!)

Select the post you want to reuse.

Classroom will create a new copy of that same post that you can customize. You can add it to any class, change the text, add new links or files, etc.

Click "Assign" to assign it to your class immediately, or use the dropdown arrow and choose "Schedule" to schedule it to post later.

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

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10 Google Classroom time savers for teachers

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G Suite If you and your students are using Google Apps in the classroom, Google Classroom can save you tons of time and effort. It helps you assign, collect, grade and return work seamlessly. But, like anything else, there are tricks that can help you do the same work in less time.

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250+ Google Classroom Tips, Tutorials and Resources | Shake Up Learning

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250+ Google Classroom Tips, Tutorials and Resources | Shake Up Learning

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The Best Google Classroom Resources for Teachers

I've been curating Google Classroom tips and resources on Pinterest (also embedded below), which now includes over 250 Google Classroom tips, tutorials, and resources for teachers. I have curated YouTube tutorials, blog posts, infographics, books, guides, tips, tricks and more on this Pinterest board. So whether you are new to Google Classroom, or ready to take your skills to the next level, there is something in here for you. CLICK HERE to view the 250+ Google Classroom Resources (also embedded below). Keep reading for more information below!

What is Google Classroom?

Just in case you are new to this blog: Google Classroom is a free application designed to help students and teachers communicate, collaborate, organize and manage assignments, go paperless, and much more!

I'm always prepared to learn something new, and love learning more about Google Classroom. Google Classroom is the only platform that Google has created specifically for educators, and they listen to your feedback. From that feedback, Google has made and continue to make amazing improvements to Google Classroom. So be ready to learn to tips as the improvements roll in from Google for Education.

The Teacher's Guide to Google Classroom eBook

I have also written a short how-to e-book: The Teacher's Guide to Google Classroom, which includes step-by-step instructions for creating classes, assignments, and more. There are tons of screenshots of both the teacher view and the student's view of Google Classroom. I've also included a FREE BONUS for those that purchase the e-book: The Student's Quick Guide to Google Classroom. The Student Guide is a 15-page, printable, step-by-step guide written for students! ( Click here to preview.)

The Teacher's Guide to Google Classroom and The Student's Quick Guide to Google Classroom are available for purchase from five different websites, including AMAZON Kindle!
Purchase the eBook from:
If you are not using Pinterest, you are missing out! Pinterest is a powerful search engine that is visually driven, and teachers have shared hundreds of thousands of resources on Pinterest. So even if you don't have an account, you can use it search for teaching ideas and resources. I have curated over 8,000 pins across more than 35 educational Pinterest boards. CLICK HERE to go to the Google Classroom Pinterest Board. You can also follow Shake Up Learning on Pinterest here: https://www.pinterest.com/ShakeUpLearning/

© 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.

18 Challenges for Teachers in 2018 FREE eBook!

Get the FREE eBook: 18 Challenges for Teachers in 2018! Simply fill out this form and we will send you the 83-page PDF ebook.

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250+ Google Classroom Tips, Tutorials and Resources | Shake Up Learning

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I've been curating Google Classroom resources on Pinterest, which now includes over 125 Google Classroom Tips, Tutorials and resources for teachers. I have curated YouTube tutorials, blog posts, infographics, books, guides, tips, tricks and more on this Pinterest board.

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Another new update to Google Apps this summer was the introduction of the new Google Sites. The new Sites will be the standard Sites sometime in the next year or so but you can still use the old Sites for the time being. The new Sites are very simple and easy to use, which is great for students and teachers who have not done much with website creating and editing. You can easily embed any Google Apps including YouTube, Sheets, Slides, and Docs.

While new Sites are currently missing some features that were in the old Sites that allowed for more customization and inclusion of tools, the new Sites are much easier for students and most teachers to use. I fully expect Google to include more with the new Sites before they are the default.

My advice is that if you are creating a new site for your class or having your students creating a site, such as a digital portfolio, I would use the new Sites so you don't have to worry about it being converted later. The new Sites do include a feature that I really like, which is the ability to see how your Site looks on various devices by clicking the Preview button. This makes it much easier to see how your Site will look on cell phones, tablets, or computers without having to use each one of them separately to view them. This is important for those working at schools that are using tablets or small laptops to make sure the format is working for what you want.

Watch the video below to see how to get started with the new Sites.

in Classroom Applications, Google Innovator. Tags: Google Apps

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Another new update to Google Apps this summer was the introduction of the new Google Sites. The new Sites will be the standard Sites sometime in the next year or so but you can still use the old Sites for the time being. The new Sites are very simple and easy to use, which is...

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Google Classroom and Forms Fall Updates 2016 | Donovanscience

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Google Classroom and Forms Fall Updates 2016 | Donovanscience

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Google released some great updates this week to get ready for the new school year. You can easily annotate assignments in the mobile Classroom app, add parent/guardian emails to send weekly reports from Classroom, create Topics for sorting in Classroom, and add images to options in multiple choice or similar questions in Google Forms. You can find the post explaining the updates, and a couple others, at http://googleforeducation.blogspot.com/2016/08/taking-learning-beyond-classroom-walls.html but you can also watch the videos below to see what the updates look like.

in Tech Tips. Tags: Google Apps, Google Classroom

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Google Classroom and Forms Fall Updates 2016

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Google released some great updates this week to get ready for the new school year. You can easily annotate assignments in the mobile Classroom app, add parent/guardian emails to send weekly reports from Classroom, create Topics for sorting in Classroom, and add images to options in multiple choice or similar questions in Google Forms. You...

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Improve Your Workflow Clarity for Students | Donovanscience

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Improve Your Workflow Clarity for Students | Donovanscience

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One common issue that I hear about a lot, is that as teachers have adopted a more digital workflow in their classrooms, students are not always clear on the how/what/when of the class. Students may get lost in all of the resources or become unclear about what they are supposed to be doing, due to the complexity that happens as we bring in a large amount of digital tools and resources without looking at our workflows. Ideally, the digital tools and resources we use in our classrooms should be improving the learning and not hindering. We can't expect students to automatically be able to adapt to our newly adopted digital workflows if those workflows are not clear and explicit.

The biggest tip I can give is to think about this: How easily can a student figure out what is expected of them? How easily can they find what they are supposed to do and by when?

Make it as clear as you can about what students are supposed to do and learn. Even if you said it in class, we know that people (adults and students alike) don't always listen well the first time. Find an easy way for students to quickly see what is going on each day and when the important, and graded, stuff is due. Find ways to make it easy for those students who are gone to be able to get caught up quickly and remove any questions they have about what they are supposed to do. We must have empathy for our students because we do ask a lot of them and it is very easy to get lost in the vast amount of work that is expected of them, especially when they are sick or are dealing with issues at home.

Classroom Workflow Clarity Tips

1. Have one place (Site, Calendar, Document) students can go to see the schedule (classroom topics for the day, assignments due dates, next assessment).

2. Reduce the steps/documents/sites needed to complete a task.

3. If you are using Google Classroom, make use of the Topics tool to make it easier for students to find information.

4. Have all steps, directions, outcomes clearly written out where students can get to them. If you are using a rubric to assess, make sure the student has this ahead of time. If it went on the board, it should go online (take a pic to share with the class?)

5. Ask someone else to do a "Clarity Audit" to help find ways you can improve your workflow clarity.

in Classroom Applications.

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Improve Your Workflow Clarity for Students

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One common issue that I hear about a lot, is that as teachers have adopted a more digital workflow in their classrooms, students are not always clear on the how/what/when of the class. Students may get lost in all of the resources or become unclear about what they are supposed to be doing, due to...

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by Terry Heick

Google Classroom is quietly becoming the most powerful tool in education technology.

It may lack the visual appeal of iPads or the student credibility of a BYOD program. It may not be as forward-thinking as we'd like here at TeachThought, but Google Classroom excels in providing solutions for a broad swath of teachers who have a variety of expertise and comfort levels with education technology. It also uses Google's familiar template that many teachers have used for years. As such, it scratches the itch for many teachers in many classrooms right here, right now.

So below are (at least) 60 things you can do with Google Classroom. We'll be updating this list as new ideas come in, the platform changes, and we learn more about its subtleties on our own.
60 Smarter Ways To Use Google Classroom

1. When an assignment, lesson, or unit doesn't work, add your own comments-or have students add their own feedback), then tag it or save it to a different folder for revision.

2. Align curriculum with other teachers.

3. Share data with your professional learning community.

4. Keep samples of exemplar writing for planning.

5. Tag your curriculum.

6. Solicit daily, weekly, by-semester, or annual feedback from students and parents using Google Forms.

7. Share anonymous writing samples with students.

8. See what your assignments look like from the students' point-of-view.

9. Flip your classroom. The tools to publish videos and share assignments are core to Google Apps for Education.

10. Communicate assignment criteria with students.

11. Let students ask questions privately.

12. Let students create their own digital portfolios of their favorite work.

13. Create a list of approved research sources. You can also differentiate this by student, group, reading level, and more.

14. Post an announcement for students, or students and parents.

15. Design more mobile learning experiences for your students-in higher ed, for example.

16. Have students chart their own growth over time using Google Sheets.

17. Share due dates with mentors outside the classroom with a public calendar.

18. Email students individually, or as groups. Better yet, watch as they communicate with one another.

19. Create a test that grades itself using Google Forms.

20. Control file rights (view, edit, copy, download) on a file-by-file basis.

21. Have students curate project-based learning artifacts.

22. As a teacher, you can collaborate with other teachers (same grade by team, same content across grade level).

23. Encourage digital citizenship via peer-to-peer interaction that is documented.

24. Use Google Calendar for due dates, events outside the classroom, and other important "'chronological data.'

25. Communicate digitally with students who may be hesitant to 'talk' with you in person.

26. Streamline cross-curricular projects with other teachers.

27. Aggregate and publish commonly-accessed websites to make sure everyone has the same access, same documents, same links, and same information.

28. Vertically-align student learning by curating and sharing 'landmark' student assignments that reflect mastery of specific standards.

29. Encourage a common language by unpacking standards and share district-wide.

30. Encourage students to use their smartphones for formal learning. By accessing documents, YouTube channels, group communication, digital portfolio pieces and more on a BYOD device, students will have a chance to see their phone as something other than a purely for-entertainment device.

31. Create and publish 'power standards' (with students, other teachers, and other schools) for transparency and collaboration.

32. Promote peer-to-peer and/or school-to-school interactions-students with other students, students with other teachers, and teachers with other teachers.

33. Create 'by-need' groups as classes-based on reading level, for example.

34. Check which students have accessed which assignments.

35. Provide student with feedback.

36. Add voice comments to student writing (this requires a third-party app to do so).

37. Help students create content-specific YouTube channels.

38. 'Closed-circuit publish' annotated research papers according to specific styles (MLA, APA, etc.) or other otherwise 'confusing' work.

39. Share presentations.

40. Create a digital parking lot"' for questions.

41. Administer digital exit slips.

42. Instead of homework, assign voluntary 'lesson extensions' for students. When questions arise about mastery or grades, refer to who accessed and completed what, when.

43. Create folders of miscellaneous lesson materials. digital versions of texts, etc.

44. Enjoy smarter conferencing with students and parents with easy-to-access work, data, writing, feedback, access data, and so on.

45. Save pdfs or other snapshots of digital resources in universally accessed folders.

46. Create a data wall but with spreadsheets and color-coding.

47. Make substitute teacher work or make-up work easy to access.

48. Collect data. This can happen in a variety of ways, from using Google Forms, extraction to Google Sheets, or your own in-house method.

49. Give prompt feedback for learning.

50. See who's completed what-and when-at-a-glance.

51. Track when students turn in work.

52. Since access is tracked, look for patterns in student habits-those that access assignments immediately, those that consistently return to work, and so on-and communicate those trends (anonymously) to students as a way of communicating 'best practices in learning' for students who may not otherwise think

53. Differentiate instruction through tiering, grouping, or Bloom's spiraling.

54. Create groups based on readiness, interest, reading level, or other factors for teaching and learning.

55. Use Google Forms to poll students, create reader interest surveys, and more.

56. Model a 'works cited' page.

57. Create reference sheets.

58. Design digital team-building activities.

59. Create a paperless classroom.

60. Share universal and frequently-accessed assignments-project guidelines, year-long due dates, math formulas, content-area facts, historical timelines, etc.

60 Smarter Ways To Use Google Classroom

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by Terry Heick Google Classroom is quietly becoming the most powerful tool in education technology. It may lack the visual appeal of iPads or the student credibility of a BYOD program. It may not be as forward-thinking as we'd like here at TeachThought, but Google Classroom excels in providing solutions for a broad swath of teachers who have a variety of expertise and comfort levels with education technology.

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6 Tips for Getting Started with Google Classroom [infographic] | Shake Up Learning

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6 Tips for Getting Started with Google Classroom [infographic] | Shake Up Learning

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Ready to Join Google Classroom?

Join the Google Classroom revolution! It will completely change the way you deliver assignments, communicate and collaborate in your class, and give your students future-ready skills!

Google Classroom is a free application designed by Google to help students and teachers communicate, collaborate, organize and manage assignments, go paperless, and much more! This application was developed by Google specifically for students and teachers, and they want it to be your go-to assignment manager for Google Drive and beyond.

Google Classroom is a very clean, easy-to-use application, but there are a lot of best practices you will learn along the way. I've put together some of the tips I have learned while using Google Classroom into this handy infographic. Set your classroom up for success and get ready to be amazed at the ease and simplicity Google Classroom brings to your workflow.

But Wait, There's More...

Keep reading to learn about my FREE Getting Started with Google Classroom Mini Course!

6 Tips for Getting Started with Google Classroom

Getting Started with Google Classroom with this FREE Mini Course!

Not only have I created this handy infographic to help teachers get started with Google Classroom, but I have also created a FREE Mini Course! That's right! I said FREE! So if you were thinking about pulling the trigger, now it the time!
What's in this FREE Getting Started with Google Classroom Mini Course?
This FREE, video-based, mini-course will walk you through the process of creating your first class, creating your first assignment, and give you a general overview of the Google Classroom platform!

There are four lessons in this course to help any teacher get started with using Google Classroom. Below is an outline of the course lessons.

© 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 Guide to Google Drive Sharing

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6 Tips for Getting Started with Google Classroom (and a FREE Mini Course) | Shake Up Learning

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Join the Google Classroom revolution! It will completely change the way you deliver assignments, communicate and collaborate in your class, and give your students future-ready skills! Google Classroom is a free application designed by Google to help students and teachers communicate, collaborate, organize and manage assignments, go paperless, and much more!

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Change default visibility of new sites - G Suite Administrator Help

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Change default visibility of new sites - G Suite Administrator Help

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Change default visibility of new sites - G Suite Administrator Help

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This article is for administrators of the classic Google Sites (no "Publish" button at the top right). Get help for administrators of the new Google Sites. By default, all users in your doma

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Understanding Publishing Settings in the NEW Google Sites

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Understanding Publishing Settings in the NEW Google Sites

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Recently, Google released a brand new version of Google Sites. Over the last few weeks, I have had the pleasure of working with teachers and school districts from around the country to create amazing websites for their classrooms, clubs, and curricular departments.

Where Google Sites is a very easy application to learn and quickly get up and running with, many are having issues understanding some of the publishing settings and how collaboration works. Let's take a moment to dive into Google Sites to fully understand how to share your new website with your audience.

Google Sites, much like every other Google application has an autosave feature that will backup your work every second or two. This is a flawless feature that allows you to have worry free website editing. At the current time, there is no revision history, however if you are working in your website for a period of time, you can use the back arrow or hit "Command (or Control) Z" to go back in time and fix any mistakes.

Adding Editors

Instead of a traditional blue SHARE button, Google Sites has a familiar button of a person with a plus sign. In this screen you can do "some" of the traditional actions that you find in Docs, Sheets, and Slides.

By adding a name or email list, you can add another account as an editor of your website. If you are familiar with how other Google Apps work, this is a great feature and collaboration between two editors works very easily. There is one feature missing from here which is the ability to add someone as a "view only" member of the team. I honestly feel this is a missing feature as many teacher would like to have a non published website and provide access for their students to see any unpublished work.

But, what if you want to have someone check out your work that isn't published? Just above in that same section you can toggle your website to the traditional options of:

This is, of course, a great way to have anyone look at your unpublished website, however, because you are not adding someone specifically, they need to have a copy of your link in order to see it. The website does not appear in their sites.Google.com area.

Here is where website creators are having the most difficult time. In order to make your website go global and shareable with your audience, you must first hit the blue PUBLISH button and create a unique name for your website. If you are creating on a non-school domain your website will start with "sites.google.com/view/?????, if you are creating your website on your school domain it will look like "sites.google.com/yourdomain.com/???

After publishing, you will see an arrow to the right of the blue PUBLISH button with three options.

Publish Settings - This menu option brings you back to your publishing settings where you can adjust the privacy of your website.

View Published Site - This is the key menu option that takes you to your public website based on the website address you setup when publishing.

Unpublish - This menu option will unpublish your website and "remove" it from the world wide web.

It is important to understand that your website does NOT need to be unpublished while you are editing it. After you hit the publish button, you website will simply take 3-4 seconds to publish any changes you make to the live website. You can then go back and make as many changes as you want, for as long as you want and your users will NOT see those changes until you again hit the blue PUBLISH button. As stated above, your website will automatically save every few seconds, but this will NOT affect your live site until you hit the publish button once again.

Many web developers have been making one key mistake when it comes to their publishing settings. They are using the actual URL (web address) of their EDITABLE website and giving this out to their students and users. This web address might look something like this:

What is actually happening in this situation is that website creators are sending their students the EDITABLE version of their website and this of course, allows students to EDIT their teachers website.

Is that the only mistake when it comes to publishing?

Another thing that web developers are doing is opening up their sharing settings to the world. Remember from above, you have a blue PUBLISH button and then you have the button with the person that allows you to add editors. Several people are by accident changing their editing settings to "On - Public to the web." This makes total sense as it is what you would generally do with a traditional Google Doc. However, in Google Sites, this is basically saying ... ANYONE THAT IS IN THE WEBSITE IS NOW A FULL EDITOR OF THE WEBSITE.

Here are my recommendations when working with the new Google Sites.

1. Only use the person/plus button when you want to make someone else an EDITOR of your website.

2. When you are ready to make your website go "live," hit the blue PUBLISH button and name your website something unique.

3. When giving out the website to your website ONLY use the link that looks readable.

1. sites.google.com/view/??

2. sites.google.com/yourdomain.com/??

Where I wish this process was much simpler for the non-techy people out there, I hope this blog post shed some light on this situation.

What do you think of the new Google Sites? Are they working for you? Do you have any feature requests? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

If you have been creating Google Sites of your own, please leave some links below. I'd love to see what you are up to.

Jeff Bradbury, creator of TeacherCast, and father of the famous @EduTriplets is the Coordinator of Instructional Technology at Westwood Regional School District. Thanks for checking out TeacherCast today. Please take a moment to find me on all of my Social Media channels!

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Understanding Publishing Settings in the NEW Google Sites

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Recently, Google released a brand new version of Google Sites. Over the last few weeks, I have had the pleasure of working with teachers and school districts from around the country to create amazing websites for their classrooms, clubs, and curricular departments.

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Guardian email summaries FAQ - Classroom Help

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Guardian email summaries FAQ - Classroom Help

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Guardian email summaries FAQ - Classroom Help

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Note: Guardians can only be added for students using Classroom with G Suite for Education school accounts. When a guardian is invited to Classroom, they receive regular emails about their studen

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Classroom email summaries for guardians - Classroom Help

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Classroom email summaries for guardians - Classroom Help

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As a guardian, you can get email summaries about your student's activity in Classroom. Email summaries do not include grades. For grades, ask your student or contact the teacher.

In email summaries, you can review:

Missing work-Work not turned in when the summary was sent.

Upcoming work-Work that's due today and tomorrow (for daily emails) or that's due in the upcoming week (for weekly emails).

Class activities-Announcements, assignments, and questions recently posted by teachers.

If there's no activity to report or if a teacher turns off email notifications, you might not get an email summary.

Before you begin

You can get email summaries sent to any email address. However, to view or update email summary settings, you need a Google Account. With a Google Account, you can change the frequency of your emails, update your time zone, see the students connected to your account, and unsubscribe from email summaries. For details, go to Create a Google Account.

If you unsubscribe from email summaries, you're still connected to a student as long as you have a Google Account. Otherwise, unsubscribing removes you as a guardian.

You can only get summaries if your student is using Classroom with a G Suite account, which looks like student_name@school.edu. If you're not sure, ask the teacher or school administrator.

Get email summaries

To get email summaries of your student's work, you must accept an email invitation from a teacher or administrator. You have 120 days to accept an invitation before it expires. You can unsubscribe from summaries or remove yourself as a guardian at any time.

1. The teacher or administrator emails you an invitation to join your student's class.

2. In your email program, open your email invitation.

3. Click Accept.
If you're not the guardian, clickI'm Not The Guardian.

4. Click Accept to confirm.

When you accept an invitation, you and your student get an email confirmation.

Manage summaries

View or update your email summary settings

Create a Google Account in the email summary to access summary settings

1. In your email program, at the bottom of any email summary, click Settings.

2. On the email settings page, click Create New Account.

3. Fill in the requested information and submit.

Change the email address where you get summaries

Unsubscribe from email summaries

Warning: If you don't have a Google Account, this action removes you as a guardian from your student.

You can unsubscribe from email summaries at any time. At the bottom of any email summary, click Unsubscribe.

Remove yourself as a guardian

You can remove yourself as a student's guardian at any time. If you want to remain a guardian, but not get the summaries, you can Unsubscribe from email summaries (details above).

If you have a Google Account:

1. At the bottom of any email summary, click Settings.

2. Next to the student's name, click Delete Remove.

If you don't have a Google Account:

1. At the bottom of any email summary, click Unsubscribe.

2. Click Unsubscribe to confirm.

The student gets an email that you removed yourself from their account.

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Get Classroom email summaries (for guardians)

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As a guardian, you can get email summaries about your student's activity in Classroom. Email summaries do not include grades. For grades, ask your student or contact the teacher. In email summaries, you can review: Missing work-Work not turned in when the summary was sent.

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5 ideas for using Google Classroom’s new differentiation and grouping feature | Ditch That Textbook

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5 ideas for using Google Classroom’s new differentiation and grouping feature | Ditch That Textbook

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One huge drawback of using Google Classroom has been the inflexibility of creating assignments. Everything you assigned had to go to every student.

Deliver assignments to small groups? Ha! Differentiate to subsets of students? Nah.

Until now.

Google announced a few changes to Google Classroom, and this one was the bombshell: assign activities to small groups of students (or even individual students).

BOOM.

Let's dig into this important new feature. You'll see three sections: what is it, how does it work, and what can I do with it ...

What is it?

This feature allows you to assign work to individual students and small groups. You can check off which students need to get the assignment - any number of students, from one to all but one in the class and anywhere in between.

After it's assigned, when you click to grade the assignment, only those students assigned to that assignment will show up. The assignment will only be displayed to students to whom it is assigned.

How does it work?

It's a very simple feature. Below is a screencast tutorial that walks you through the whole process start to finish ...
Here's what it looks like (described with words and images):
1. Open Google Classroom and go to a class. Click the "+" button in the bottom right corner and click, "Create assignment.

2. You'll notice a drop-down menu that says "All students" next to the name of the class you're assigning to. That's where this feature comes in ... click it!

3. If you want to assign to all students, just leave it as is. All students are selected by default. But if you want to select a smaller group of students to assign to, uncheck "All students". Then select the students you want using the check boxes next to their names.

4. Complete your assignment. (Don't forget to do the instructions part. When students are absent or return back to an assignment later, they'll be lost without them!) Then click "Assign." (You can also schedule it or save it as a draft with the drop-down triangle button next to "Assign".)

5. Your assignment is assigned to that group! When you go to grade the assignment (click on the "Done" or "Not done" area), you'll see that only the students you assigned it to are displayed.

(Note: Any students you did not assign this assignment to will not see this assignment in Google Classroom.)

What can I do with it

A lot! This new feature unlocks several options in the classroom ...

1. Group activities - Assign an activity to an individual group. Then, all the group members are all together in one place. You won't have to check and double check who is in which group.

2. Providing extra practice - If some students are struggling and could use some extra work - or some suggested sites for practice - assign it just to those students.

3. Leveling activities - Differentiate an activity by creating two, three or four versions of it. A more basic version of the activity has less steps, less detail or less rigor. A more advanced version has more steps, detail or rigor. Add one or two versions in the middle and you have several levels to challenge a variety of students. Assign as needed.

4. Interest-based activities - Have some Harry Potter fans in class? Or a group that loves motocross or sports? If you can identify groups of students that have the same interest, how fun would it be to include those interests in the work they do in class?

5. Rotating activities - If you have stations or a set of activities students will do over a period of days or weeks, keep assignments simple by assigning just the one that group is working on. If students will rotate through four different activities, assign one group just activity #2 until they're done with it. Then assign them the next one. The "reuse post" feature will make this quick and easy once you've assigned all of the activities once.

[reminder]How else could you use this new grouping/differentiation feature in your class? How have you used it, or how do you hope to use it?[/reminder]
For notifications of new Ditch That Textbook content and helpful links: Interested in having Matt present at your event or school? Contact him by e-mail! Matt is scheduled to present at the following upcoming events:
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Check out our summer bundle. 9 GREAT COURSES ONE LOW PRICE!

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5 ideas for using Google Classroom's new differentiation and grouping feature

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One huge drawback of using Google Classroom has been the inflexibility of creating assignments. Everything you assigned had to go to every student. Deliver assignments to small groups? Ha! Differentiate to subsets of students? Nah. Until now. Google announced a few changes to Google Classroom, and this one was the bombshell: assign activities to small groups of students (or even individual students).

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Differentiate Assignments with Google Classroom - Teacher Tech

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Differentiate Assignments with Google Classroom - Teacher Tech

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A new feature makes it easier to assign different things to different students. This allows you to provide challenges for students who are ready to move forward or give students who are into Pokemon a math assignment that uses their game data.

Default is All Students

Notice when creating an assignment the default is "All students."

Hunt for the Tiny Triangle

As a general practice you want to always be on the hunt for the tiny triangle. Tiny triangles indicate additional options are available. These are all over Google Apps. Notice next to the words "All students" is a tiny triangle to switch to selecting certain students. Clicking on the triangle brings up a list of your roster with "All students" selected. Uncheck the checkbox to unselect all students.

Group Work

Assign a collaborative document to a select group of students. Click on the tiny triangle next to "All students" and select the students who will be working together. To allow this group of students access to the same document make sure to change the attachments to "Students can edit file."

Personal Favor

As a side note, I would really really like "Students can edit file" to be reworded to "Students can collaborate on file." If you would click on the question mark in the left hand corner of Google Classroom and send feedback for this change I would be very grateful.

Lets Make a Deal

Sometimes we need to play "Let's make a deal" with a student. This one student is going to do a project or something to make up for some missed work. Or perhaps a students is going on vacation and we want a way for them to incorporate their trip into their assignments. You can create an assignment in Google Classroom and assign it to only one student. The other students are not able to see this in their Stream.

Differentiation Not Tracking

A word of caution: think carefully about if this is being used to differentiate for student interest and needs or to track students. Jo Boaler in her book Mathematical Mindsets advises for heterogenous groups over homogenous groups. It is win win for struggling and advanced students. Instead of selecting easier or more challenging tasks for students I suggest offering choices and letting the students self select. No one wants to play a video game that is too hard or a game that is too easy. My experience is that for the most part students choose appropriately. The most important thing we do as educators is to build relationships with students. It is through this relationship of respect that you have built that you can encourage students to try something outside of their comfort level.

I play a math baseball game where the student gets to choose an easy, medium or challenging math problem. At first they ALWAYS choose the easy problem. It doesn't last long, students are quickly attempting the harder and hardest problems. Success builds success, encouraging students and offering a choice of challenges can be really motivating and gives every student an opportunity to work at high levels.

Choice

Instead of using the differentiation tool in Google Classroom to assign different levels of activities, consider posting the learning objective instead. Then offer some different choices for how the students could address the learning objective. Create one Google doc with different choices or separate Google Docs for each choice and attach in Classroom.

Group Docs

A while back I created an Add-on script to assign group documents.

alicekeeler.com/groupdocs

This automatically creates a copy of a template for each group of students and shares it with them. You would simply attach the spreadsheet into Google Classroom with the list of links. No need to make multiple assignments in Google Classroom.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2017

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Differentiate Assignments with Google Classroom - Teacher Tech

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A new feature makes it easier to assign different things to different students. This allows you to provide challenges for students who are ready to move forward or give students who are into Pokemon a math assignment that uses their game data. Notice when creating an assignment the default is "All students."

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Advanced Google Classroom - Google Slides

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Advanced Google Classroom - Google Slides

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Parental Guardian's Portal in Google Classroom - Google Docs

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Parental Guardian's Portal in Google Classroom - Google Docs

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Parental Guardian's Portal in Google Classroom

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The New Google Sites Training - Google Slides

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The New Google Sites Training - Google Slides

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Sites: The New Google Sites - Google Docs

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Sites: The New Google Sites - Google Docs

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Free Technology for Teachers: A Timeline for Transition from Old Google Sites to New Google Sites

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Free Technology for Teachers: A Timeline for Transition from Old Google Sites to New Google Sites

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Last November the new version of Google Sites was made available to everyone who wants to use it. For many people that marked the beginning of the end of the classic version of Google Sites. In fact, earlier today someone asked me when the old version would be going away. By pure coincidence, not an hour later Google published this blog post explaining when the old version of Google Sites would be phased out.

The classic version of Google Sites will phased out beginning in Q4 of this year. Tools for migration to the new, current version of Google Sites will be made available to users of classic Google Sites. Once the official deprecation timeline for classic Google Sites is announced, those sites will still be supported for at least a year although you won't be able to create new Sites using the classic editor.

What all this means is that if you're thinking of building a website by using Google Sites, use the new (current) version of Google Sites because eventually you're going to have to use it anyway. If you already have a site established through the classic version of Google Sites, you have some time before you have to make the switch.

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A Timeline for Transition from Old Google Sites to New Google Sites

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Last November the new version of Google Sites was made available to everyone who wants to use it. For many people that marked the beginning of the end of the classic version of Google Sites. In fact, earlier today someone asked me when the old version would be going away.

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Free Technology for Teachers: How to Invite Students to Google Classroom & How to Join a Google Classroom

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Free Technology for Teachers: How to Invite Students to Google Classroom & How to Join a Google Classroom

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The addition of Gmail users to the Google Classroom platform has made it possible for almost anyone to create and join courses in Google Classroom. This has also caused some confusion for people who previously used Google Classroom with a G Suite for Education account. The confusion arises when a person tries to join a Gmail-based Google Classroom while logged into a G Suite for Education account. I recorded the following videos to hopefully clear-up some of that confusion.
How to create a Google Classroom with a Gmail account.

How to invite students to Google Classroom. How to join a Google Classroom with a Gmail account.

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How to Invite Students to Google Classroom & How to Join a Google Classroom

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The addition of Gmail users to the Google Classroom platform has made it possible for almost anyone to create and join courses in Google Classroom. This has also caused some confusion for people who previously used Google Classroom with a G Suite for Education account.

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Free Technology for Teachers: How to Create a Google Classroom With a Gmail Account

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Free Technology for Teachers: How to Create a Google Classroom With a Gmail Account

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Allowing anyone who has a Gmail address to create a Google Classroom was one of the most popular product updates that Google released last month. I've fielded a quite a few questions from people who are having trouble creating a Google Classroom with their Gmail addresses. To address those questions I created the following video tutorial.

Join me in Getting Going With G Suite to learn how all parts of G Suite can work together in your classroom.

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How to Create a Google Classroom With a Gmail Account

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Allowing anyone who has a Gmail address to create a Google Classroom was one of the most popular product updates that Google released last month. I've fielded a quite a few questions from people who are having trouble creating a Google Classroom with their Gmail addresses.

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Free Technology for Teachers: New Google Classroom Features Focus on Individual Instruction

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Free Technology for Teachers: New Google Classroom Features Focus on Individual Instruction

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Earlier today Google added some new features to Google Classroom. The most notable of the new features is the option to give assignments to individual students or subsets of students within a class. To do this you will deselect the default sharing option of "all students" and then select the students that you want to receive the assignment. Detailed directions are available here.

Another new option in Google Classroom lets you receive notifications when students submit assignments past their due dates. And you can now receive notifications when students re-submit assignments. You can find notification set-up directions here.

The third Google Classroom update of note is for administrators. The admin console now lets administrators see Google Classroom usage in aggregate. The admin reports include how many classes and posts are being created. More information about admin console reports is available here.

Applications for Education
Besides the obvious application of using the distributing differentiated assignments, the new option to give assignments to individuals through Google Classroom could helpful in getting assignments to students who are out of school for an extended period of time.
Thanks to Mark Damon for the notice about the latest Google Classroom updates.

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New Google Classroom Features Focus on Individual Instruction

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Earlier today Google added some new features to Google Classroom. The most notable of the new features is the option to give assignments to individual students or subsets of students within a class. To do this you will deselect the default sharing option of "all students" and then select the students that you want to receive the assignment.