New to Google Apps for Education- any advice with Google Classroom?

Google Apps for Education is rumored to be coming soon to my district and I cannot be more excited! As a Google App lover to begin with, I am looking forward to having my students benefit from the advantages of Google Drive. By having the access to the Cloud, it'll change the way I deliver information (way less paper passing is needed) and it will allow students to collaborate from wherever they are! Has anyone used Google Classroom? I am interested in your experiences in managing data, setting up classes, and keeping students accountable with acceptable use of technology.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Lynn Gerrish on March 18, 2015 at 6:57pm

I have been using Google Classroom this year and absolutely love it! My students can easily see the assignments, rubrics and lectures, and also see their grades from the work they "turn in" and see the assignments that they haven't "turned in". Did I mention...I LOVE this!!

It's easy to set up classes, list assignments, attach rubrics and videos. And it's especially nice when you have to be out for any reason and a substitute is called in, the students log into their classroom and can see the notes and the assignment that are due.

Permalink Reply by Ron Haywood on March 20, 2015 at 9:27am

I would suggest starting slowly, the number of assignments can accumulate pretty quickly, plus take time to educate the students in creating a document from within google classroom rather than from Drive. Extra time put in on instruction will save you some headaches later.

Permalink Reply by Gayle Parola on March 22, 2015 at 6:57am

I agree with Ron; start slowly. I am placing all of my documents from class into Google Drive, but I plan to take the time next year to have my students create and share documents especially with group projects. I teach adult learners and some of them are more resistant to the digital world, but introducing things slowly will definitely help both them and me get more comfortable with using the application.

Permalink Reply by Angela Wilson on April 6, 2015 at 7:08am

Ron,

Starting out slowly sounds like a great idea! I know with any new initiative, it takes a while to get the bugs ironed out! I'm not as concerned about what to use Google Classroom for as I am with my students using it. I teach a wide range of students from ELL to Honors and want to make sure that they can all use it appropriately. What troubleshooting advice do you have for me when it comes to students using it?

Permalink Reply by Angela Wilson on April 6, 2015 at 7:05am

Lynn,

I am glad to hear that it is easy to set up classes. I teach four sections of social studies. Can I copy and paste the assignments and activities from each section or would I need to create it all over again? What types of classroom norms have you set up to get kids to use it appropriately?

Permalink Reply by Lynn Gerrish on April 6, 2015 at 7:51am

Angela,

Once you have created your classes with information in the About section, you choose one class (and choose other classes from the drop-down menu), then add your assignments, instructions, attachments and assign due date. Each class can be edited later on as needed.

I add each student, they receive an email with a link to join the class. Each student chooses "student"
and not "teacher", and are added to the classroom. Under the student tab, I only allow commenting, or only teacher can post.

Lynn

Permalink Reply by Brian Rock on October 9, 2017 at 8:54pm

I remember my first year teaching, I had a notebook where I wrote every homework and classwork assignment, so students could look at it when they had to make something up. And they'd only get to conference with me about their grades every few weeks, and they always wanted to know how things were going.

When I first started using an online gradebook (Engrade), that changed. Schoology made it even better a few years after that. We just started using Google Classroom now, so I'm making the transition, but students definitely love having a digital home for all the class resources and to be able to see their grades.

Permalink Reply by Donna Bonavia on March 21, 2015 at 6:51pm

I have my students save their work in their Google Drive account and we use Google Docs, but I never heard of Google Classroom. After reading your post I looked up Google Classroom. I'm a little confused; what exactly is Google Classroom?

I have recently implemented the Flipped Classroom instructional model and I am so grateful to be able to store all the videos in my Google Drive. I know that I will never lose them if my computer crashes and I don't have to purchase any flash drives. I have access to the video on any computer, its quite brilliant! I do want to find out what exactly is Google Classroom. Thanks

Permalink Reply by Gayle Parola on March 22, 2015 at 7:00am

Donna,

Your school would have to be a Google Apps for Education school. If I remember right, the school buys the membership, and then all classrooms have access to the Google Classroom. This is a more secure way to keep all documents and Google Drive apps within one safe place for students to access. Please someone correct me if I am wrong. Thanks!

Permalink Reply by Lynn Gerrish on April 6, 2015 at 8:20am

Google Apps for Education is free to schools.

Permalink Reply by Donna Bonavia on April 6, 2015 at 9:00am

Thanks...I'm going to investigate to see if we have an account. Donna

Permalink Reply by Lynn Gerrish on March 22, 2015 at 3:41pm

With Google Classroom, a teacher can upload videos, Documents, Presentations, rubrics, and lectures for the students to view. Assignments can be posted with due dates - students create a document, spreadsheet, presentation, etc., within the Google Classroom assignment. This assignment defaults to the "name" the teacher calls the assignment and also adds the student's name to the assignment. When completed, the student clicks the icon "Turn In". The teacher can see the assignments that have been turned in, and the ones that are late. The teacher will then correct the assignment and assign the grade - all in Classroom.

Classroom creates folders in your Drive for each class you create. Classroom creates a folder in each student's Drive for the class too.

I explored and figured this out myself, which means...if I can do this, then you can too ;-) I'll be happy to answer any questions. It's taken a few months to iron out and streamline, but my students have jumped onboard and doing well with it. Plus, when a student is absent, he or she can access Classroom at home and see what the assignment is, and also show their work and grades to their parents/guardians.