Step 1

• Navigate to the classwork page on your google classroom and create a new ‘assignment’ (Image 1)

Step 2 

• Give your new assignment an appropriate title so that it makes sense to students and it is easy to find 

• Write simple instructions for the students to follow in the space provided. Be sure to explain the WHAT, WHY and HOW. (What are they doing? Why are they doing it? And how should they approach it?) Be direct and concise. Perhaps consider writing in bullet points for extra clarity. (Image 2)

Step 3

• Attach, or link students to, the digital resource (or collection of resources) that you would like the students to explore - e.g. a YouTube video, a PDF handout, an online article, a web page, an info-graphic, a podcast or a well-sequenced combination of these. 

• Design and assign an engaging activity for students to complete digitally. This could take any shape or form, from a template/graphic organiser to complete, to creating a webpage or screencast video to evidence their learning. Be sure to ‘make a copy for each student’ so that they can produce, and personalise, their own individual evidence.

• Advice on creating excellent Google Classroom Assignments. Definitely worth a read - 10-ways-to-make-good-google-classroom-assignments-better 

• (As most of you will already know, if you assign the digital activity so that ‘students can edit the file’, all of the students that it is assigned to will be able to work collaboratively on the same digital document. Huge potential with this to level up your classroom.)

• Your digital assignment can be as simple or as complex as you like. You are the expert, you are the craftsman. However, as when creating a face to face activity, simply consider the level / ability of the group and how long you would like for it to take the students to complete. Be careful not to make it far too easy or too difficult - find the perfect ‘struggle zone’. Set high expectations. Know your group. 

Step 4

• Remember to plan in any scaffolding to your tasks or attach any additional help sheets at the stage to maximise the potential for all (Teach to the top and scaffold down).

• Consider whether you need any additional activities within the same google classroom assignment and if so assign them now 

• If appropriate at this stage (or indeed for this lesson) include a formative assessment activity to check learning and test what knowledge is ‘sticking’. This could be an interactive quiz or exit ticket (using Google Forms, Socrative, Kahoot etc.) but it could equally be a creative activity that provides the opportunity for all students to ‘tell you’ what they know or ‘show you’ what they ‘can do’. 

Step 5

• Set the appropriate deadline for the assignment and attach it to the appropriate ‘topic’

• In your instructions be sure to remind students to ‘turn in’ their assignment on completion

• Click 'Assign' for your assignment to go live. 

Extra Considerations 

• Google Classroom assignments can be ‘scheduled’ in advance so that they can only be accessed at the predetermined date and time. Simply click on the downward arrow next to the 'assign' button and select 'Schedule' from the drop down menu. Great for pre-planning! 

• If and when you are creating a complete lesson in this way, be sure to return to the shared WVR teaching and learning fundamentals to ensure that you have fully considered the important elements. In this sense, planning an online lesson is no different to planning a face to face one. 

• As with a traditional face to face lesson, the success lies in the quality of the digital assignment that is designed and issued to the students.