4th Gr. Teachers at Allen

From Robyn D.: “Having the support from Mrs. Kennedy in computers has been huge with having the students become more comfortable with Google Classroom. To get started with Google Classroom, Mrs. Kennedy had the students log in during computer time and use the unique class code created to 'join' our class. It was that easy! Once in the virtual classroom, they were able to take a picture to customize their profile. Assignments are easy to create and then they are posted in the classroom 'stream' which is automatically shared on our 4th grade Google Calendar on the Southgate website. Students can send us questions privately about the assignment and we are notified through email. We are also notified when they submit their work. At that point we can give immediate feedback in the comments and send it back to them to fix any errors and re-submit upon completion. We can also post important links, videos, and PDF's on the 'about' tab so that students always have access to important information. The hardest part has been getting parents comfortable with the switch as they have been so used to using Shutterfly the past several years. We created a step by step guide with pictures to help easily see how to log in to Google Classroom and how to find the Google Calendar on the school website. We heard from several parents that they were "overwhelmed" by the variety of avenues they were receiving classroom information such as ClassDojo, Shutterfly, and Remind101. We were hoping to streamline classroom info between these two avenues.”

From Denise B.: “I think the kids are enjoying being able to submit assignments to us. It is a learning experience, but as we keep practicing, they will get better at it. A lot of our students prefer to type their writing instead of handwriting it. I find Google Classroom to be beneficial for me as a teacher because I can conference with them online. I love the feature of highlighting what is wrong in their writing and being able to provide suggestions for revising. Students have to edit and revise their writing and submit it back to me for a grade. Google Calendar, like Mrs. Davis said above, has helped the confusion of multiple avenues of communication. Parents don't have to sign up for different things like Remind, Shutterfly, and DoJo. One of the complaints we have had from parents during conferences is that they get Remind text messages all the time from PTO, the school, and the different teachers. They have said it is way too much. I feel that Google is the way to go since they are also doing it in the upper grades. It would be nice if eventually we could start this in every grade so they could keep a portfolio of their writing throughout their school years. My daughter is in third grade and is using Google Classroom in a different school district. I think we need to get on the Google train :) I love how I can organize my files and Google docs autosaves my work.”