Google Tools
Google Drawings
Why you should use it:
This often overlooked app is quite possibly the most powerful Google app you’ve never used! This simple tool can help you annotate over content or create graphic organizers, posters, mind maps, flow charts, infographics, interactive personalized lessons and even memes! Students can use it to demonstrate their understanding, collaborate with others and showcase their creativity. Click through the slideshow to gain ideas, and click the link below for TONS of templates that are ready to use in your classroom.
How to get started: Go to drawings.gooogle.com to start a new drawing. They are saved automatically in your Google Drive.
Ready to dive deeper? Check out some interactive lesson possibilities here. You can also grab some ready-made templates for your classroom.
Google Drive
Why you should use it:
Think of Google Drive as the flash drive you don't have to carry around with you. Google Drive stores all types of files (without converting them) and allows you to access them from any computer with internet access. For even more convenience, I highly suggest downloading Google Drive for Desktop on your computer. This creates a Google Drive folder that looks just like all the folders in your computer, but the difference is that items placed in these folders automatically sync online!
How to get started:
- To access your drive, go to drive.google.com and login with your Google account.
- If you'd like to download Google Drive for Desktop, click here.
- You can drag files or folders right into your Google Drive for later access.
- The resource on the right helps you to set up Google Drive offline, so that the work doesn't stop if you don't have an internet connection.
Check out the resources below for some helpful tips on how to stay organized in Google Drive. I also have instructions created by our tech department on how to download Drive for Desktop on your school computer.
This slideshow will help you get started in utilizing your Google Drive for file storage.
This resource will help you to install Google Drive for Desktop on your work computer.
Getting Started with Google DriveThis guide will help you get started with using Google Drive.
Feel free to print or bookmark it for future reference.
Google Drive Tips for TeachersThis guide will give you some organization tips, including how to deal with the "Shared with Me" folder, and how to choose the order that your folders and files are displayed in Drive.
Google Classroom
Why you should use it:
Organize digital learning opportunities, post resources and links, allow for easy collaboration without the mess of document sharing between the teacher and students, collect work digitally with a click of a button, allow students to present work quickly and easily, share and post resources between teachers, and so much more!
This slideshow will walk you through the basic uses of Google Classroom.
This slide deck of flashcards will help you dig deeper and learn about all of the elements of Google Classroom. It will also offer step by step instructions for how to perform tasks in Classroom.
46 Ways to Utilize Google Classroom46 Ways to Utilize Google Classroom
This guide provides you with several ideas for how to use this tool in your classroom.
Google Classroom Tips and TricksGoogle Classroom Tips, Tricks and Training Resources
This exhaustive list of resources, tutorials, and websites will help you find answers.
Google Classroom Instructions for Teacher EvaluationGoogle Classroom Instructions for Teacher Evaluation
If you are on-cycle, these instructions will help you access and complete your evaluation document.
Student Quick Guide to Google Classroom
This handy infographic may be enlarged and printed for quick reference.
Google Docs
Why you should use it:
Google Docs offers tons of opportunities for student collaboration and creation. This tool is awesome for peer review of writing using the commenting and suggesting features. As a teacher, you can use File>Revision History to see all changes (along with who made them) which helps you combat against copy/paste and plagiarism.
Have you seen the fonts available in Google yet? Many teachers get stuck on the default fonts, but if you click the down arrow next to the font, and then choose "More Fonts" from the bottom, it will open up a whole new world of possibility!
Finally, by inserting a "Drawing" into Google Docs, you can get around the lack of formatting options by inserting shapes, text boxes and graphs and placing them wherever you'd like on a page.
Tom Rademacher's Danger of a Single Story Lesson- GROUP TWOThis lesson was created in Google Docs by Tom Rademacher. It allows students to collaboratively explore a topic, and use the commenting feature to add links, facts, and other resources to contribute to the understanding of their peers.
Steps to create your own collaborative reading in Google Docs:
- Select the text from a relevant news article and paste it into a Google Doc under "READING ONE" (Don't forget to cite your source!) Use the directions from the document on the left to show students what to do.
- Find a YouTube video and link it under the "WATCH" section. Include your directions for what you want students to watch for and add to the document.
- Find a piece of literature or a story to add under "READING TWO" and include directions for what students should be looking for.
- Under the "Analysis" section, think of how you want students to wrap up the information they gathered from the 3 resources in their Google Doc.