Distance Learning

Google Classroom

Your virtual classroom - Organize all classroom assignments and resources, provide feedback and grades, communicate with students, and provide an opportunity for students to communicate with each other.

• Have old Google Classrooms? - Clean up Google Classrooms from last year by returning student work and archiving old Google Classrooms

• Create new Google Classrooms linked to Aeries - Yes, you definitely want to do this! It will automatically import your students to Classroom, keep Classroom up to date with new students, and give the students an easy link from their schedule in Aeries. Start here or return here after creating your Google Classroom to finish linking. (Note - Your students won't import into Classroom until attendance is initialized in Aeries, so have patience.)

• How To Use Google Classroom by Eric Curts from Control Alt Achieve - Use Eric's video tutorials to learn how to create a new Classroom (unless you are creating it in Aeries using the directions above); create announcements, materials, and assignments; grade assignments; create self-grading assignments with a Google Form; add a Google Meet link to your Classroom; and see the student view of how they complete assignments.

• Setting up and using a Google Classroom for distance learning (Cheryl's Tips for making life easier) - Add your last name to the Classroom name to help co-teachers. Turn off assignment announcements in the Stream. Use topics for a Class Resources section. Organize assignments under weekly topics and name assignments with days of the week and time of Meet class meetings. Adjust students ability to comment and mute individuals. Add co-teachers. E-mail students and guardians. Guardian invites and summaries. Assign to parts of your class or individual students.

Google Meet

Your live classroom - Create live lessons (synchronous), have discussions, help small groups and individual students.

• Starting a Google Meet through Google Classroom - Use this with colleagues. Only parents with Google accounts can join you in a Class Meet with video, but they can call in to participate audio only.

• Starting Google Meets from your Google Classroom or with a nickname - Use this with students when you don't want them to be able to enter without you or go back into the Meet room later without you.

• Recording - See Screencastify section below (the free recording option for Meet is gone, so Screencastify will be your go to tool)

• Use breakout rooms - Break students into smaller groups for discussion. The paid version includes this built in, but those of us on the free version can use this work around.

• Tracking attendance - With half a class of students, you may be able to quickly note who is present as you make sure they participate. However, if you want an easy way to keep track, go to the Chrome Web Store and search for "Meet attendance." Try Meet Attendance (I used this one) or Google Meet Attendance (I am going to test out this one) that are both by teachers and respect student privacy.

• Office hour appointments

• Tips for seeing your students when presenting

Sites

Your public classroom (not required) - Post information, contact info, schedules, resources, and images that you want to share with parents and the larger community.

It is easier than you think, but don't start with this if you are overwhelmed

• Create a new Google Site

• Insert links to other sites

• Share your resources

• Insert a Google Classroom Calendar to show the list of assignments and due dates

Screencastify

Your easy way to record video - Create recorded lessons and tutorials (asynchronous), greetings, and overviews; and have students show what they know and present.

• Record a Google Meet - Record the lesson and/or direction part of Meet so students can refer to it

• Record webcam videos - Record video of you for greetings, overviews, and lessons using offline materials

• Record lesson with Slides or other online materials

• Students record themselves - Explanations, demonstrations, presentations, assessments

• Other screencasting options: Screencast-o-matic offers many more features, such as recording over sections and blurring out private information for an extremely low price.

Forms

• Have students view video or link, then answer questions.

Edpuzzle

Turn videos into interactive learning tools - Use videos from YouTube, other online sources, or your own recorded videos. Use just a particular section, insert questions and reflection spots, prevent students from skipping through the video, and see students' interaction with the video.

AUSD has purchased the Pro version for 6-12 grade teachers that includes unlimited video storage. The free account allows 20 video lessons to be stored.

• Edpuzzle Help Center for Teachers - Ed puzzle is simple enough to jump right in since they have simple tutorials embedded on each step, but if you want a little more information, head here.

• Look at the left menu to find popular video channels and use the search bar to search by topic.

Jamboard and whiteboard.fi

Virtual whiteboards - Show students a process as you would on your physical whiteboard. Have students collaborate on a shared whiteboard and/or show you what they know.

Jamboard - Google's collaborative whiteboard works like a shared Doc or Slide, perfect for when you want multiple people to be able to work on the same whiteboard.

whiteboard.fi - Create whiteboards for your whole class instantly with no login. You can show yours to all students and can see all of theirs as they answer or ask a question. Perfect for formative or summative assessment. You can save all students' whiteboards as a PDF, if needed. Check out their short demonstration video. When you create the whiteboard room, copy the link and paste it in the Google Meet chat for students' quick access.