And it can be a scary one. Our children have access to more technology than we could have ever dreamed of, and that has changed the landscape of school. Your child is coming home using chromebooks, Google Classroom, and all sorts of programs you've never heard of (and maybe they aren't that interested in showing you). Making sure your child is completing work can certainly be a challenge if you don't know what you are looking for.

This page will help you to be proactive in monitoring your child's work. As always, graded assignments are posted in the Parent Portal for you to view. If you do not know how to access the Parent Portal to see your child's grades, please contact the Guidance Office.

It is important to note that all of the Google Apps, including Classroom, are available as apps on phones and tablets. Having GMail on the phone, for example, is a handy tool for students to receive notifications of new posts in Classroom.

See these tutorial videos for extra help understanding Google products!

A colleague also shared this website with resources for parents you might be interested in: Helping Our Kids Go Back to School Well

• Only students can access Google Classroom. However, you can ask your child to open up their Google Classroom and look around for yourself!

• Components of Classroom

  • When your first get to Classroom, you will see a page of tiles, one for each class your child is enrolled in. Click on the class you want to look at.

  • When you get into the specific class, you are in the Stream. This is comparable to a Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter Feed. The most recent posts are at the top and they are all dated.

    • There is also a tab called Classwork. That may not be as helpful as the stream, as posts will be grouped by topic rather than seeing the most recent.

  • Types of Posts

    • Announcements- These are just messages from the teacher to the students.

    • Material- This is a post with attachments for the students to view and potentially use. These could be Google Docs or Slides, Websites, YouTube videos, etc.

    • Question- This is a question posed by the teacher, perhaps with additional resources, for the students to respond to (either written or multiple choice). These may be graded.

    • Assignment- This is any activity assigned by the teacher that requires students to complete and submit work. These are usually graded. The work assigned may already be created for the students or the students may need to generate their own. This can be done through Make a Copy or students may create a product right from Classroom.

  • When you see a post of interest, just click on it to get more details. You will see instructions, attachments, due dates, and if the work was submitted. Feel free to look at your child's work! Sometimes students submit blank work to make it look like an assignment is completed when it is not so may be helpful to do.

Other important resources:

• All assignments and questions with due dates are put on each student's Google Calendar. I have posted the Class Google Calendar on each class's web page.

• Students also have a To Do List, found in the left hand menu (click on the three lines to show the menu- three lines or three dots is always a menu). This will list all of their To Dos from all classes

Your child should be checking their gmail a few times a day. They will receive notifications of anything posted in Google Classroom and can also use it to communicate with their teacher and each other. They can not receive any emails from outside of the school nor send any emails outside of the school.

This is a helpful tool. Any assignments with due dates in Google Classroom are shown in your child's Google Calendar. It's another resource for time management and being aware of due dates.

This is where all of your child's files are located. Files may be shared with teachers or other students for collaboration.

Similar to Microsoft Word, these are documents that teachers can assign as a worksheet or students can create their own work on.

Similar to Powerpoint, these types of files may be created by the teacher to present information. They may also be interactive, with embedded activities for students to complete, perhaps in the form of a Bitmoji Classroom or a hyperdoc. Students may also be asked to create their own Slide presentations.

This is a way for teachers to gather information in a survey or use as an assessment.