Yes! It's hard to believe, but Google just added two more features to Google Classroom based on feedback from teachers. It's still not perfect, but it is getting better with every update!
1. Materials
Teachers have wanted a materials or resources so students have a place to find these items easily. In the Classwork section of Classroom, you now have a new option to add materials instead of just questions and assignments! Remember, you can still add announcements in the STREAM section of Classroom.
One thing to be aware of - once you put in a material, you can't reorganize them (at least not yet...). So, you might want to think about the resources you put in and know that you can add more than one item to each resource.
Also, you can assign a topic to your resource. For example, if you want your resource to be with a group of assignments, label them all the same. I could put a few website links to poets in my poetry topic section of Classroom and then students will see the assignments for poetry along with the material (or resource). If you don't assign a topic, those materials will be at the top.
2. Converting old classes (from last year) to the new Google Classroom.
In the first post I did this year about the changes to Google Classroom, I said that you needed to create a new class in order to get the Classwork page. This is NO LONGER the case! You can now convert those old classes and add the Classwork page.
To add the Classwork page, just click on the ? at the bottom left of the Stream page. Then click on ADD CLASSWORK PAGE to get this page added to your old class.