Updates to Google Classroom

Updates to Google Classroom: April 2019

Today, we are going to discuss Google Classroom. With all of the updates that have come to Google Classroom over the last few months, I thought we could dive into some of them.
Stream vs Classwork

So the first updates we are going to discuss is the new Classwork tab in Google Classroom. Prior to the update, anything you posted in Google Classroom showed up in your stream. This made it hard for students to differentiate between something that is an assignment and something that was just an announcement or a question. That is now fixed. When you are wanting to post an announcement in your Google Classroom, you can do so straight from the stream. You will see a box right in the middle of your screen on the stream that says “share something with your class”. Click on that box and begin typing your announcement. Reusing a prior announcement could not be easier now. You will see the reuse button in that box. The reuse button is two arrows with one pointing to the right and the other point to the left. Click on that and you will be brought to all of your current and previous classes. Find an announcement you want to reuse, click on it, and hit the reuse button. Now to post an assignment in your classroom, you will now head to the classwork tab. Assignment post will still show up on the stream but now have an updates icon to go along with them. If you post an assignment, students will see that you posted an assignment with an icon that looks like a clipboard. If you post class materials, which we will get into later in the episode, students will see a post with an icon that looks like a book with a bookmark. If you post a question, students will see it with an icon which is a box with a question mark in the middle. These posts basically just show the title, icon, and date posted. These show up almost like quick updates the students can just check to see what is going on. Students can access assignments and whatnot from the stream or they can head to the classwork section. There they will find their assignments organized by the topic the teacher has created making it super easy to locate.
Organization with Topics

Topics, in general, have been in Classroom for a while, but the ability to truly organize your classroom with them is a huge update. Previously, when you would post an assignment in Google Classroom and attach a topic to it, you would see a list of your topics on the left-hand side. As a student, I could click on the topic name and it would then show me all of the assignments that had that topic tag but by default, my stream would still show everything in chronological order from the newest post at the top to the oldest post at the bottom. So you could kind of organize assignments, but it wasn't great. Now, when you create a topic in Google Classroom, it creates a section where all of the assignments with that topic tag will fall under that topic section. This is a much better visual organization system for students. To create a new topic, head on over to the Classwork tab, click the big create button in the top left-hand corner, and choose topic. From there, type out the name of the topic you wish to add to your classroom and then click add. If you have some assignments in your classroom and add a topic afterward, you can easily add the topic to an assignment that is already in your classroom. To do this, all you have to do is hover over an assignment and you will see the vertical ellipsis appear. This is the verticle three dots icon. From there you will click edit. You will then see a section in your assignment where you can add a topic. Choose your topic and click save. Your assignment will now be organized in that specific topic section.

Another way you can organize your topics is you can control the order in which they appear in the classwork section of google classroom. To do this, once you have created a topic, click on the verticle ellipsis and choose the option of move up or move down.

Quiz Assignment

So if you have been using Google Classroom for a while, you know that you can attach a Google Form to an assignment. Also, if you attach a Google Form that you have created as a quiz, it will import the grades from that quiz into Google Classroom. In the past, you had to create your quiz outside of Classroom and then attach it to an assignment. Now, there is an option to create a Quiz Assignment. What this does is it creates an assignment and automatically creates a blank quiz form. You can then click on the form and edit your quiz right then and there. When doing it this way, Classroom automatically sets all of your Form settings to a quiz. Also, in my district, we are currently apart of the beta test for the locked mode on Chromebooks for forms. When creating a quiz assignment, you can toggle on the locked mode right within Google Classroom. Also, it will automatically toggle on grade importing. This makes it nice because you can create your form quiz and never have to leave Google Classroom. When creating a quiz assignment, classroom will organize your forms in your Google Classroom Drive folder.

Class Materials

The next update we are going to be covering is one that I really was looking forward to which is posting Class Materials. Previously, if you wanted to post some class materials, you could post it in the About section of Classroom. Then, students had to remember that they had to go to the about section to access class materials. Now, class materials are now posted right in the Classwork section of Google Classroom. What I do is I create a topic titled Class Materials and I post all of my class materials and tag it with that topic. Also, I move the Class Materials topic to the top of the Classwork section so it is the first thing students see when they open the classwork section of Google Classroom.

Grades

The final item we will be talking about today is the update grades received in Google Classroom. You have always been able to give students grades in Google Classroom, but now accessing them and viewing them is a whole lot easier. Now there is a Grades tab at the top of Google Classroom. When you click on this tab, you can now easily see all of your students and see what assignments they have turned in and what assignments are missing. You can also quickly see the class average for each assignment. Also, if you click on a student’s name, you are then able to just see their assignments. You can filter by assignments they have turned in, ones that have been returned with a grade, and assignments that are missing. Also on this page, you can email the information to the student directly or their guardian.

Checking for Understanding: Five Ways to Collect Data and Allow Students to Have Fun While Doing So

Checking for Understanding: Five Ways to Collect Data and Allow Students to Have Fun While Doing So

Checking for understanding is something that we as teachers do on a daily basis and multiple times during that day. Since checking for understanding, also known as formative assessments, is something we do on the regular, we can get overwhelmed with paperwork and data. Since checking for understanding is something that we do so often, it can sometimes become, dare I say, boring. Not only for us as teachers, but also for our students. In this post, we are going to look at five ways you can check for understanding, collect data, and your students will have a blast while doing so! They might have so much fun, they won't even realize they are completing a "formative assessment".

Quizizz

 Quizizz is a web-based program where you can quickly create quizzes. These quizzes are in the form of a game. Students can access the game/quiz on any device that has access to the internet. As a teacher accessing Quizizz, you can search for premade quizzes, create your own quiz either from scratch or pull questions from quizzes that are already made. From there you can create collections or store and organize your quizzes. If you know other teachers are using Quizizz, you can share your quiz with them.

Once you have your quiz create and are ready to administer it, there are a few ways that you can do that:

1. Live Game: This is when you have all of your students in the classroom and everyone is taking the quiz at the same time. Even though all students are taking the quiz at the same time,  they go at their own individual pace.

2. Homework: In this mode, teachers can assign a Quizizz quiz as homework whether it be by giving the students the direct link to the quiz, or you can assign it through Google Classroom. With the Homework option, you have the ability to set the closing date and time. Just like in Live Mode, you can shuffle questions, shuffle answer options, give the ability to show answers after questions, and show quiz review which shows students all the questions after the game. You also have the ability to show the leaderboard, question timer, play music, and the part the students really get excited about show memes after each question. The memes change depending on if they get the question correct or not.

Once students have started taking the quiz, you can track their progress in real time. Once the class is finished, you are able to see the results of the quiz either by student or by question. Looking at the results by question is a great way to get a quick overview of how the class did and if there are any areas that you need to focus on. Results can either be downloaded or if the quiz was assigned through Google Classroom, the grades can be automatically imported into Google Classroom.

Quizlet Live

Quizlet Live is a cool way to not only get some good data back from your students but also get them communicating and collaborating. With Quizlet Live, you can create your own Quizlet or you can find premade Quizlets. Once you have your Quizlet all set up, you can assign it to your class. Once assigned, students are put into groups. Students then go through questions, with each student have the same question on their screen and answer choices. The kicker is only one student in the group has the correct answer. This then requires the students to communicate and collaborate to get to the correct answer. The teacher can project the teams progress so everyone in the class can see where they are compared to other groups. The first group to make it to the finish line wins.

Upgrading your Quizlet account allows you to gain valuable insight into your classes performance. Upgrading to Quizlet Teacher account allows you to track student progress, see the most missed questions, and view progress over time.

Flipgrid

Flipgrid is all about amplifying student voice! Flipgrid allows you to create Grids (classes) and within those grids, you can create Topics. Students then can access the topics and reply to the prompts within each topic. These responses are all done via video. As a teacher, you can control the length of the video from as short as 15 seconds to 5 minutes in length.

Students take pride in their responses due to the fact that they are posting a video of themselves. Teachers can watch each student video and provide them feedback. Teachers can also attach a rubric to students videos. Not only can teachers provide feedback, but students can reply to each other's videos. Teachers also have the ability to moderate video posts so videos have to be approved before being posted to the grid.

Teachers can use Flipgrid to ensure student understanding of topics covered in class or quick exit ticket. This is great for teachers because they get to hear from every student in their class. Teachers can quickly view their students videos and get a grasp on student understanding.

Seesaw

Seesaw is a digital portfolio that empowers students to be able to document what they are learning. Students can document what they are learning through video, photo, voice, drawing, notes, or adding a file from their Google Drive.

Like many other services, teachers can create their own activities or search from a library of other pre-made activities to use with their students. Teachers can set up classes where students can see their classmates work or where work is only seen by the student and the teacher. 

Not only can students document their learning associated with an assignment the teacher posts in the classroom, but students can also freely add video, notes, photos to their "journal" in Seesaw. Students then can receive feedback from their teacher on items posted in their journal.

Another great feature of Seesaw is it has a parent link. This link allows parents to see the work that is being posted in Seesaw by their student.

Edpuzzle

Edpuzzle is a platform where you as the teacher can assign videos for your students to watch. Teachers call either upload videos that they have created or pull videos from platforms such as YouTube, Khan Academy, National Geographic, and much more. Not only do your students get to learn from the videos you assign to them, but you as a teacher get to see how your students are understanding the content that is being presented in the video. 

With Edpuzzle, you can insert questions throughout the video. The video will stop and the students answer the question you placed in that point of the video. You as the teacher can also require students to answer the question before moving on and continuing with the video. Teachers can see in their Edpuzzle grade book whether or not students have watched the video, their grade on the video, and when they turned it in. Teachers also get to see an overview of how the class did on each question. Scores are then able to be exported.

These are just a few ways to check for understanding and allow students to have fun while doing so. How do you check for understanding in a way that your students find fun? I'd love to hear about them in the comments section!

Easily Access Comments in Google Classroom Comment Bank

Easily Access Comments in Google Classroom Comment Bank

Whenever I am meeting with teachers, something that always comes up is teachers wishing there was a more effective and more efficient way of providing feedback to students. This is especially true for the secondary teachers I work with. I was so happy to share with them a way that they can do that!

With the updates to Google Classroom, giving students feedback has become so much easier. You can now compile a bank of comments and use them at your disposal by accessing them in the comment bank when opening a student’s document in Google Classroom. 

To quickly access all of your comments in the comment bank, type in # in the comment window and BOOM! your comments from the comment bank with be there. It will show you the first five. Once you start typing, the comments that you are looking for will appear. The great thing is all of your comments stay in your comment bank no matter what application you are in. Whether you are in Google Docs, Slides, etc. your comments are there in your comment bank.

Hopefully, this tip will save you time and make giving feedback to students a more enjoyable endeavor.

Google Slides: More Than Just a Presentation Tool

Google Slides: More Than Just a Presentation Tool

When people think of Google Slides, they usually just think that it is used for creating presentations. While you are sitting at your computer putting together your next Google Slides presentation, have you found yourself wondering, "I know there has to be more that I can do with this amazing tool than this, right?!?!" You are 100% correct! In this post, we are going to talk about all of the ways that you can use Google Slides beyond just a presentation tool.

Student Creation

Digital Magazine

With Google Slides, you can have your students create digital magazines. With Google Slides, you can adjust the page size (File > Page Setup > Custom) to fit the size of a magazine. 

Students can then create their magazine and then it can be converted to a pdf (File > download as > pdf). 

Here are a few links to some magazine templates created by Ryan O'Donnell (@creativeedtech).

Time Magazine

National Geographic

Create Your Own Adventure

If you are like me, I loved reading those create your own adventure books as a kid. You can transfer that excited to your students by having them create their own adventure using Google Slides. With Google Slides, you can add hyperlinks that link to other websites, but did you know you can link to other slides within the document? 

This allows you to create a create your own adventure story by having students set it up where depending on the option that is chosen it will direct them to a specific slide. A link to a Create Your Own Adventure template can be found here.

Student Interactions

Collaborative Groups

With the power of G Suite apps, students can work collaboratively on a doc, slides, sheet, etc. While this is awesome, it can get a little confusing at times to keep track of what slide you are on and make sure you are contributing to the correct slide. Well, Alice Keeler (@alicekeeler) has created a great template for collaborative groups. The template can be found here. With this template, groups are assigned a color. Each slide is a different color. Groups can add new slides by clicking the arrow next to the plus sign to add a new slide with their groups color. 

This helps students stay organized. Also, it helps the teacher monitor students to ensure that they are on the correct slide.

Group Collaboration Questions

Another way you can have students collaborate with Google Slides is by having them answer questions collaboratively. With the Group Collaboration Questions template, which can b found here,  Students have a place to insert their answer and then there is a spot of a group consensus answer. You can have the students adjust the color in which they type in their answers so when they compose their group answer, you can easily see which parts of each individual answer helped contribute to the group response.

Brainstorming/Graphic Organizers

Another awesome use of Google Slides is to use it as a collaborative brainstorm/graphic organizer platform. Ryan O'Donell (@creativeedtech) has once again created another gem which can be found here.

I could go on forever here. Google Slides has so many uses beyond just a presentation tool. Is there a way that you have used Google Slides that was not mentioned? I'd love to hear about it in the comments section below!

Google Chrome Tips and Tricks

Google Chrome Tips and Tricks

Google Chrome is my browser of choice. This is mainly due to the fact that we utilize G Suite apps in my district so using Chrome works nicely with those integrations. After using Chrome for a while, I have learned some tips and tricks. I am here to share those with you. I find these useful for my everyday use and productivity. 

Removing Bookmark Names

One thing I like to do is just have a website's icon on my bookmark bar. This allows me to have more visible bookmarks. To do this, all you have to do is right-click on a bookmark, choose edit. From there, delete the name of the bookmark. Afterward, click save. Now, you will just have the website icon.

Pulling Tab Out to Create New Window

Another trick I like to use in Chrome is pulling a tab out to create a new window. This is especially useful when you re using a dual monitor setup. You can easily pull a tab out and drag it over to the other monitor. To do so, all you have to do is click an hold on a tab. While still holding down, drag the tab out to create a new window.

Resizing Omnibox

Another trick I like to use in Chrome is resizing the Omnibox. This is especially useful when you have two windows side-by-side and cannot see the entire URL of a website. To resize the Omnibox, simply move your mouse up to the right side of the Omnibox until you see your mouse change from an arrow to a line with arrows on each end. From there you can simply drag the Omnibox to the right and left to resize it.

Open Chrome to Particular Page(s) on Startup

You can have Chrome open to a particular page(s) when opening Chrome. To do so, simply head on up to the vertical ellipsis (three dots stacked on top of each other) and go to settings. From there, head down to On Startup. From there, you can choose to Open a specific page or sets of pages. You can then add the URLs of whatever page or pages you would like Chrome to open on startup. Personally, I have Chrome open Google Keep and My Drive due to the fact that these are the two programs I tend to use the most throughout the day.

Add Extensions

Extensions are great tools to help enhance your Google Chrome experience. To add an extension to Chrome, head on over to the Chrome Web Store. Once you are in the Web Store, click on Extensions. There you can search for the extension you are looking for and add it to Chrome. Check out our blog post on Useful Google Chrome Extensions to find some useful extensions I use.

Do you have any tips or tricks you use in Chrome not mentioned here? Share them in the comments sections!

Super Useful Keyboard Shortcuts

Super Useful Keyboard Shortcuts

A keyboard is something that we interact with daily, sometimes multiple times a day. The programs that we use have certain functions in them. Did you know that there are keyboard shortcuts that allow you to access those functions quickly? Let's go over some of the keyboard shortcuts I find most useful and ones that I use daily. These keyboard shortcuts are ones that I use while surfing the web with Google Chrome and using a Windows device and a Chromebook.

Cut (Ctrl + X)

Using this keyboard shortcut allows you to cut either text, an object, or an image out of a document. It is now placed on your clipboard. You can now paste the text, object, or image into another place on the document.

Copy (Ctrl + C)

This keyboard shortcut allows you to copy text, an object, or an image in your document. The text, object, or image is now placed on your clipboard. You can now paste the text, object, or image into another place on your document.

Paste (Ctrl + V)

After you have either cut or copied a piece of text, an object, or an image it is placed on your clipboard. To paste what you have placed on your clipboard, simply use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + V.

Undo (Ctrl + Z)

If you are wanting to undo a change you have made on a document, simply use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Z.

Select All (Ctrl + A)

To select everything in a document, simply use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + A.

Lock Screen (Search + L)

If you want to lock your screen, simply click on the spotlight + L (Chromebook) or Windows key + L (Windows). That way, to get back into your computer, you would have to input your password.

Interest a Link (Ctrl + K)

To quickly insert a hyperlink, simply highlight some text, an object, or an image and then use the insert link keyboard shortcut Ctrl + K. This will bring up the options to insert a link to then make the highlighted text, object, or image a hyperlink.

New Window (Ctrl + N)

When using Google Chrome, to open a new window, simply use the new window keyboard shortcut Ctrl + N.

New Tab (Ctrl + T)

To quickly create a new tab in Chrome, simply use the new tab keyboard shortcut Ctrl + T.

Chrome Menu Window (Alt + F)

To quickly bring up Chrome's menu window, simply use the keyboard shortcut Alt + F.

Move Object to the Top (Ctrl + Shift + Up Arrow)

When working in Google Slides or Google Drawing, when you are layering objects or images on top of each other, to quickly move one to the top simply use the Ctrl + Shift + Up Arrow.

Screenshot on Chromebook

If you are wanting to take a screenshot when using a Chromebook, simply click the spotlight key (the one with the magnifying glass) + all windows key. This will take a screenshot fo your entire screen. You Could also use Ctrl + F5.

If you are wanting to take a partial screenshot, simply click the spotlight + Shift + all windows. You could also use Ctrl + Shift + F5. You will then see that your mouse arrow will now turn into a plus. you can now click and drag over the area of the screen you wish to take a screenshot of. 

Any keyboard shortcuts you use that were not mentioned here? Please share them in the comments!

Super Useful Chrome Extensions

If you are not familiar with extensions, they are these great applications that you can add to your Google Chrome browser. Extensions allow you to add some extra functionality to your Chrome browser. If you were head over to the Chrome Web Store, you will find a plethora of extensions and could easily get overwhelmed. I am going to share some of my favorite extensions and how I use them.

G Suite Training

This extension is a good one for those people who are new to G Suite. With the G Suite Training extension, you have access to simple interactive lessons specific to the Google app you are using. For example, if I am using Google Docs, I can access the G Suite training extension to find lessons specific to Google Docs. You will see the G Suite Training icon in the top right-hand corner of your window. Simply click on it to access the lesson.

Google Keep

 The Google Keep extension allows you to save things you find while surfing Chrome to Google Keep. Whether it be a website, image, or quote all you have to do is, while on the site, simply click the Google Keep extension icon and it will save it to your Kepp notepad. You can add a title and some notes straight from the extension.

Grammarly

Grammarly is a great extension if you want to ensure that your spelling and, you guessed it, grammar are firing on all cylinders. Grammarly makes sure that what you are typing, whether it be on Gmail, social media, or nearly anywhere you write on the web is mistake free. If you register, you will also receive weekly email updates with your performance stats.

Screencastify

Screencastify is a screen recording extension. With Screencastify, you are able to annotate your screen with a pen tool and have a focused spotlight on your mouse. With the premium version, you can crop and trim your recordings. All recordings save directly to your Drive. This is a great tool to use if you are wanting to create demonstration videos for students.

Tab Scissors and Tab Glue

If you have at least two tabs open, Tab Scissors extension will split it into two smaller side-by-side windows. All of the tabs that are open to the left of the selected tab will stay to the left, and the rest of the tabs will stay to the right. The Tab Glue extension brings all of the Chrome tab windows back together into one window.

Google Cast for Education

Google Cast for Education allows you to turn your computer into a wireless projector. Google Cast allows you to share your screen from another device to the device connected to the projector. This is a great tool if you are wanting to quickly share something on a student's device with the class. 

Turn Off the Lights
Turn Off the Lights is a great extension to use in the classroom if you are watching a video on YouTube. With just a single click of the extension, your page will fade to black only showing the video you are wanting to share with your class. By clicking on the extension again, your page will return to normal.

AdBlock
AdBlock is a good extension to have to be able to block ads on YouTube, Facebook and ads everywhere else on the web. On the AdBlock extension, you will see the number of ads that have been blocked on the particular site you are visiting.

Just Read
Just Read is a nice extension to remove distractions from a web page. With just one simple click of the extension, you can quickly remove ads, the pages style, popups, and comments. All you are left with is just the text and images relevant to the article you are reading. With another click of the extension will take you back to the original format of the web page.

OneTab
OneTab is a quick and easy way to convert many tabs into a list. When you need to access those tabs again, you can restore them individually or all at once. Another way this extension can be put to good use is compiling website you want to share with students. You can have the websites you want to share with students open on each tab, activate the OneTab extension, and then you can share the link to the OneTab with students and now they have access to the website you want to share with them.

Share to Classroom
With the Share to Classroom extension, you can quickly push web pages to any of your Classroom classes, so they open instantly on your students' devices.