Good Morning! We’ll get back to some tips and tricks for Google Classroom. I want to encourage you to try Google Classroom sometime before the end of the year. You don’t need to do everything in Classroom, but at least give it a shot! This app can really help you organize your classes.
It’s been a while since I addressed Classroom. For an Introduction to Google Classroom, please see this post: https://sites.google.com/gunnisonschools.net/g-suite/november-2016/november-29
Please don’t feel as if you only need to create one class for each of your classes. Many teachers use classroom to differentiate for students. For example, if you have 4 reading or math groups, you can create a class for each of these groups. Some of the assignments will be the same for all groups and you can share 1 assignment you create with multiple classes. You can also co-teach a class. Invite another teacher to be in on your class. This 2nd teacher also receives all the assignments from the students.
So – here are 5 GREAT tips for assignments in your classroom:
1. When creating your classes, make sure to keep a consistent naming convention for all of them so they are easier to find. For example, you might want to include the semester or year, along with period or other label. For example Spring 2017 Reading Group A, or 2016-17 7th Hour English.
2. When adding assignments, instead of students always creating their own, consider creating a template for them. Then when adding the template from your drive, you can select “Make a Copy for Each Student” and then when students click on that doc, slides, or sheet, they will have a copy for them to use and it even puts the students name in the title!
3. If you create an assignment, you can easily share that assignment with other classes you manage, or even share an assignment from a class from last year! If you want to add last year’s assignment, you’ll still be able to edit the assignment to make it relevant for your class this year!
4. Don’t forget to add detailed descriptions for your assignments. This can be especially helpful if you have absent students. These students can access the assignment and the directions right from their very own home! No need to dig through files to find assignments for students!
5. Lastly for today, when you enter due dates in Classroom, Classroom automatically adds a Google Calendar to your calendars with all the due dates for your class!
There will be more tips and tricks coming for Classroom! Enjoy this resource and give it a try! Students love using Classroom in all grade levels. One more thing, when creating a class, you will see the tab to invite students. You DON’T need to do this. Instead, just have students log in to their accounts and go to Classroom (it should show up in the 9 box square called the apps launcher, but you may need to scroll down and maybe even hit the MORE button). Once students are in Classroom, they can easily join your class using the invite code.
And as always --- HERE’S THE VIDEO!!! It’s a little longer than others, but feel free to watch in pieces. There are the 5 tips plus a few other tidbits such as creating a theme for your class and seeing the student side of Classroom. A GREAT tool!!