Google Resources
Google provides a multitude of resources for educators! So many of these are perfect tools for teachers to use with classes that are distant or online. Check out a few of these beneficial tools!
Classroom
The most beneficial resource for working with students at a distance can be Classroom. It is a "light LMS" with many resources for homework assignments, quizzes, shared content, and much more! Find out more HERE!
Slides
Create interactive and collaborative projects that students can work on from anywhere!
Create a Slide project with students and have each student assigned a slide. Students will use their slide to add content to a given subject. Be sure to give an example slide and what content you want on the slide.
Perfect welcome activity or get-to-know-you activity! Create a Slide presentation and have student create a slide about themselves. Be sure to participate as the teacher with your own slide! Give them guidelines what to put on slide: Name, favorite things, etc..
Pear Deck - This app works with Slides to create engaging slides. You can insert interactive questions into a slide. More uses HERE!
Shared Drives
The Google Education feature provides use of Shared Drives. These are a wonderful way to collaborate with students on many documents while keeping them organized.
Create a Drive for each class - that will only share files with those students.
Create a Drive for a project - share with only those students working on the project. It can be one class or many!
Calendar
Google Calendar lets you create individual calendars that can be shared with whoever you wish!
Use the Appointment Feature to have students or parents sign up for times that you are available for help or questions.
You can use this feature for parent/teacher conference times.
Share with each class and post assignment reminders, due dates, and anything you want the students to remember!
You can also have a calendar shared with parents that keep them up to date with reminders and assignments.
Schedule a Zoom meeting directly from Google Calendar. (You will need to enable the Zoom Scheduler Chrome Add-on.)
Sites
Create a Google website with your class! There are several ways to use Sites that can be beneficial to your class.
You can create a private site and share with only your students to share content and material that only they can see.
You can also create a site for your class or a project and let them add the content! They can learn valuable skills about how to create a site that they can use in the future.
Students don't have to be on the same Google Domain to edit the site. You control the permissions.
Forms
Google Forms are a way to create questions in a fill-able form. Form submissions are turned into easily viewable Spreadsheets and all of the information is in one place.
Surveys - Create surveys to check understanding or do light quizzing.
Absent Form - Have a form for students to fill out when they know they will be gone.
When you have students at different sites, this will help you keep track of who's gone & when.
Feedback - Create a form to receive feedback from students or parents.
Scheduling - Use a form to Schedule appointments offering dates and times.
Use form Add-on Choice Eliminator to have people only selection one option, then it disappears.
Can also be used as a check-out system with books, laptops, classroom materials, etc...
This can be helpful with parent/teacher conferences.
Evaluations - Use a form as an evaluation tool or peer to peer evaluation on a project or other work.
Evaluation content can be shared with just certain students, teachers, or everyone.
Drawings
Did you know that Google Drawings have many templates that you can use! There are chess boards, weather charts, and so much more! Below are several resources worth looking through to find what fits your subject area.
Jamboard - Ending soon!
Google Jamboard is a white board tool. Google has decided to sunset this tool and is partnering with Figma as an alternative.
Add-ons & Extensions
Google has lots of additional resources to make your documents more interactive, smarter, or flexbile with Add-ons and extensions. View a quick list here of some that have been useful to other teachers: CLICK HERE!