Post date: Mar 23, 2017 3:49:06 PM
Keeping life organized is not easy. With my three daughters all now in school and participating in school activities, sports, and girl scouts there is a lot going on. That doesn't even count homework, projects, and having friends over. When my wife and I are included (do we even have a life anymore?!?) there is even more happening. Life is crazy. I'm certain I am not sharing anything you don't already know or aren't experiencing yourselves. In our case, we needed to get it together. After brainstorming we came up with an idea to paint an approximately 4'x4' part of our kitchen wall with magnetic paint, then cover that with chalkboard paint to create blackboard of sorts where all of our schedules are written out and we can hang project documents for my daughters' classes and their activity schedules. Things have gone well so far! None of that includes technology but I think the point relates to our classes, teachers and students have a need to be able to come together and organize their projects, homework, and assignments. Google Classroom could be the answer for your class.
Unlike my homemade blackboard of organization, Google Classroom creates a paperless environment and promotes sharing and collaboration between teacher and student, student and student, and even teacher and teacher. This also makes sharing information with parents more direct than sending information home when you're not quite sure it actually gets to the parent. If you haven't noticed I definitely prefer the paperless environment. I'm the annoying parent that has their kids complete written homework assignments in Google Docs and share them with the teacher rather than printing it and handing it in.
If you're interested in checking out Google Classroom follow the steps in the video to get started. Here are some links to helpful resources about what you might use your Google Classroom for. And of course, ask a colleague that currently uses Google Classroom or reach out to me.
20 Things You Can Do With Google Classroom