As we gear up for a new school year, we thought it was a good idea to go back and talk about all things Google Classroom. Whether you are remote, in-person, or a hybrid version of the two, there are ways that you can set up Google Classroom so that it is optimized for whatever comes your way.

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Show Notes

News and Updates

• Blog Post for all Google Updates announced at the Anywhere School event
• Google Classroom Updates:
  • To-do list on the classes page
  • Join via a link
  • Available in 54 languages now
  • 5 originality reports for free accounts and slides coming soon
• Google Assignments - incorporate into your LMS (Brightspace, Canvas, Schoology and others)

Featured Content

• Map out your plan first before setting up your classroom - uses for stream, classwork tab, topic setup (weekly vs unit), assignments, multiple vs single classroom
• Idea - Use classrooms as mastery-based modules; inspired by EdPuzzle certifications
• System of naming can help with Google drive folder organization
• Settings:
  • Stream - do you want students to post and comment, comment only, or only teacher; play with the settings
  • Classwork on the stream - hide notifications to declutter your stream
  • Turn on guardian summaries - super useful to keep parents/guardians in the loop!
  • Google Meet - turn the link on or off or regenerate new codes in the settings panel
  • Grades - can be set up in the settings panel for categories, overall mark calculation, show overall mark to students

Tips

• Template classes - take some time to set one up to save you team each year. Everything copies in draft form which can be easily scheduled
• Reuse posts, assignments etc. from old classes
• Explicitly teach students how to use classroom - some students lack language or experience
• Google calendar linked to your classroom - linked to your classwork page; use if for your topics & lesson planning to keep your students organized
• Materials under each topic - unit overview doc to organize/hyperlink resources; use "anyone with the link can comment" to turn it into a Q&A board
• People tab
  • Clicking on a student name shows a summary of work for that student
  • Can also filter for handed in, returned, or missing in the left-hand panel
  • Use the mail symbol to email the student, guardian, or both & attach a work summary here too
• To-do list - review all work here; bookmark each class to navigate here easier
• Assignment submission - turn in or submit vs. mark as done
• Create a sandbox with your colleagues!

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