The Complete Guide to Google Classroom

<a href="https://youtu.be/a5uoxXYgtVg">Link to YouTube Video</a>

01 - <a href="bookcreator://page/OlkNjY-jTfS8eO9rgnHSvA">What is Google Classroom?</a> 02 - <a href="bookcreator://page/5DW22FCTTTuxy1wjWtSekA">Editing Your Class Settings</a> 03 - <a href="bookcreator://page/iRZRzhuaS6qwzhNSJ2y_GQ">Adding Students to your Classroom</a> 04 - <a href="bookcreator://page/ifESvGEHTZOGkjqV_Y_h5Q">Creating a Workflow with Google Classroom</a> 05 - <a href="bookcreator://page/sF2MLS04SFChNahaO7CVSQ">Sharing to the Stream</a> 06 - <a href="bookcreator://page/nnq8WUEdQIGCRCDbzlcaog">Using Google Calendar with Google Classroom</a> 07 - <a href="bookcreator://page/OgKfCFJ5TzSWJjfqnn_jmA">Leveraging the </a><a href="http://about:blank">To Do Area</a> 08 - <a href="bookcreator://page/EaXOU-XURBOJtdWNlvhNSg">Organizing Classwork with Topics</a> 09 - <a href="bookcreator://page/YntgyUP1S2GOenPVyBw3Zw">Google Classroom on Mobile Devices</a> 10 - <a href="bookcreator://page/7C3w0hEkRjywAaN_4vckkg">Moving Forward</a> 11 - <a href="bookcreator://page/Y9JI_txjTK-0u-jkO-UYJA">About Ben Sondgeroth</a>

While Google Classroom is not the cure all for all technology problems in schools. It has tremendously impacted how educators are leveraging the Google tools and digital content in their classrooms. Google Classroom continues to evolve and become a better place for educators of all age levels to use with their students. I hope you found this guide helpful and that you will continue to move forward with your use of G Suite for Education! 

Distributing Information to Students Using Stream

The Stream will show your students everything that you have posted to the class. It is the central location for working class material. Inside of Google Classroom, teachers have several options to reach their students.&nbsp;By creating announcements, assignments, or questions, teachers can engage students in a variety of ways. Each of these engagement types has its own advantages for fostering student interaction.

How does Google Classroom integrate with mobile devices?

Google Classroom is available as an app for both Android and iOS devices.&#160;The apps both offer additional benefits that are not available in the desktop version, including the ability to annotate directly on PDF documents. When using the Google Classroom iPad or Android app, students now have the ability open files and annotate directly on them! As an example, a teacher could assign a primary source document to their students. The students would open the assignment on their iPad, select the annotate option, and then use the available pen features to markup the document. After the students finish their annotations, the file automatically converts to a PDF file and attaches to the assignment in Classroom.

An announcement serves as a way to quickly distribute information to your class. &nbsp;An announcement does not have the ability to be graded inside of Google Classroom in the same way that an Assignment or Question does; however, students are able to respond to the announcement through the comments feature. &nbsp;Announcements are a way to give students a voice in the Google Classroom Stream.

How do you organize your work in the To-Do area?

Teachers&nbsp;and students can also take advantage of the&nbsp;To-Do&nbsp;area inside of Google Classroom to gather all outstanding assignments into one location.&nbsp;If a teacher has not graded a particular assignment, it will display in this area.&nbsp;Similarly, if a student has not turned in an assignment, it will also display in their&nbsp;Work&nbsp;area.&nbsp;So, the To-Do area can serve as a defacto task list and can help teachers and students identify and manage their workflow effectively.

How can you leverage the Class Settings?

Google Classroom offers teachers an area to manage their class.&nbsp;In the Settings teachers can establish posting permissions and turn on guardian summaries, amongst other items.

While the guardians can have updates sent to them from Classroom, they do not have the ability to log into the actual class without using their student’s username and password.&nbsp;Therefore, posting materials on a class website may still be a more accessible option for parents.

08 Organize Your Classwork with Topics

How is content organized in Google Classroom?

Google Classroom allows for posts to be organized in a variety of ways.&nbsp;One method allows for teachers to tag announcements, questions, and assignments with a specific topic.&nbsp;

When an assignment is tagged with a topic, it is organized in Classwork by those topics.&nbsp;Topics allow for teachers and students to recall content quickly and efficiently.&nbsp;

Creating Assignments

Assignments are a way for teachers to create content for students on a specific topic.&#160;When creating an assignment, teachers title each assignment, while also having the ability to include instructions in the description area.&#160;Subsequently, they are able to attach various items to each individual assignment including: Google Drive files, uploaded attachments from the hard drive of their device, YouTube videos, and web links. If teachers attach a Drive file, there are three options through which students can interact when opening the assignment, and this will be explained in further detail.

What is the workflow system that Classroom creates?

At its core, Google Classroom connects directly to teacher and student Google Drive accounts creating an easy to follow digital workflow.&nbsp;Additionally, Classroom applies file naming conventions through the assignment creation process.&nbsp;For example, when a teacher assigns a Google Doc through Google Classroom, a copy of the doc can automatically be made for each student and then stored in a Classroom folder in Drive.&nbsp;By creating individual digital copies of assignments, the headache of sharing and permissions can be avoided.

In Google Docs, each student’s copy also comes with a turn-in button at the top of the page, allowing students to submit their work without having to go back to Classroom.&nbsp;With this workflow there’s no printing, no photocopying, no lost work, and teachers can receive notifications on their own mobile devices as students submit work.

Teachers have the ability to grade Questions and Assignments that are added to the stream.&nbsp;Announcements cannot be graded.&nbsp;Once students have turned in their assignment or submitted an answer to a question, the teacher can give it a numerical grade.&nbsp;When the grades have been attached, teachers must return the assignment to the students before they will see the grade.

When you dive into the world of Google Classroom, the immediate inner workings and language of Google Classroom may be difficult to decipher. To that end, let's dive into how Google Classroom works!

Posting and Sharing

Google Classroom acts as a central location to store and share online resources for classes.&nbsp;Teachers are able to post links to important class websites, share YouTube videos, and post files for students - all in one easy-to-access online space.&nbsp;This is a very efficient way to distribute class materials to students, and it's one of Google Classroom’s most beneficial features. Items can be shared in both the About section and the Stream. We'll explore both these areas in greater depth later.

Integrating with Google Drive

Google Classroom provides an organized Google Drive folder structure, automatically creating file naming conventions that are standard for every student. Essentially, Google Classroom does all the back-end work for the digital classroom and allows teachers and students to readily access digital artifacts with limited searching.

The Complete Guide to Google Classroom

How can you engage the parent's of your students?

As of the 2016 school year, Google released the ability for parents to receive information about their students.&nbsp;Parents have to be invited to participate by the teacher of the class.&nbsp;In the students’ section, teachers can invite guardians to the class by email.&nbsp;After the guardians' email addresses have been entered, they will receive an email asking if they would like to participate with daily or weekly summaries of student work.&nbsp;This update contains: missing work, upcoming work, and class activity posted by teachers.&nbsp;

The addendum to the Guardian Access information is that parents need a Google account in order to receive the updates.&nbsp;This does not necessarily mean a Gmail account, as parents can register for a Google account with their current email address. It is important to note that if a parent has been added for a student in another class, that parent will always be attached to that student's account.

Video Tutorial - Organize Your Classroom Using Topics

Google Classroom allows you to organize your class content using Topics. Learn all about them in this quick video!

<a href="https://youtu.be/utNpEY7oeJk">Link to YouTube Video</a>

Email: bsondgeroth@ltcillinois.org <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_tK5SKByCmF8KRNKAjYbYQ?view_as=subscriber">YouTube Channel</a> Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.twitter.com/Mr_Sondgeroth">@Mr_Sondgeroth</a>

Ben began his career as a social studies teacher in Morrison, IL. He initiated and lead the district’s iPad pilot program and redesigned his own curriculum to include digital resources and focus on Project-Based Learning. After four years of teaching, Ben assumed the role of Director of Technology for the Morrison School District. In this capacity, he led the district’s technology committee through the process of implementing a 1:1 environment of iPads and Chromebooks in grades K-12. Throughout the initiative he provided meaningful and authentic professional development for teachers of all grade levels with a focus on new and engaging ways to use technology in their classrooms. As an instructor and presenter, Ben possesses vast experience at all grade levels and strives to provide authentic, creative, and engaging ways of implementing technology in the classroom. As a Google for Education Certified Trainer, he enjoys helping teachers to develop creative ways to maximize Google tools in their curriculum. He has presented at regional and national conferences such as ISTE, FETC, RSAC (Raising Student Achievement Conference, 2013 featured speaker), Indiana ICE, ICE Illinois, Illinois Learning Technology Center Area 2 Summit, NFI (Networking for Information), and the EdTechTeacher Innovation Summits. Ben holds a Master’s Degree in Curriculum Technology Education Reform from the University of Illinois and a Bachelor’s Degree in History Education from the University of Indianapolis.

Teachers can use the Question feature in Google Classroom to quickly receive feedback from students by multiple choice question or short answer.&nbsp;When setting up a question, teachers can allow students to see their classmates’ responses, allowing for conversations to take place on the variety of answers.&nbsp;This option can also be turned off if the teacher would prefer to keep answers private and graded.&nbsp;The question feature is a great tool to use as an exit ticket to check student understanding or to create discussion amongst students around a topic.

09 Google Classroom on Mobile Devices

Google Classroom Supports Limited Paper Use in Your Classroom

Google Classroom supports teachers migrating to a digital environment by creating an organized environment through which they can create and share Google Drive files with their students.  With its ability to make copies of Google Drive files for each student, Google Classroom can help teachers reduce the amount of paper documents that are created and submitted.

Creating a Paperless Classroom, with Google Classroom

A tangible way that Google Classroom makes teachers’ jobs easier is in the way that it handles documents. Traditionally, if teachers want to create an assignment for students, they have to create it in a word processor, print it out, make photocopies, hand it out to their students. Subsequently, they have to hope that no one loses it (which, of course, someone always does), and then collect it when the students complete it. With Google Classroom, this process is immeasurably easier. Teachers can create the assignment in Google Docs, share it with their class, giving each student their own unique, editable copy. It even comes complete with a big blue turn-in button at the top. There’s no printing, no photocopying, no lost work, and teachers can even receive notifications on their own devices as students submit their work.

When grading docs, teachers have a side window that allows them to provide feedback quickly and efficiently. The comment bank allows teachers to document their most commonly used feedback and insert it into the doc. Grades are able to be given in the window as well. 

Video Tutorial - Creating an Assignment in Google Classroom

<a href="https://youtu.be/clTRSo79k6Y">Link to YouTube Video</a>

Video Tutorial - Adding Announcements and Using the Stream

<a href="https://youtu.be/sMMLwApG2iY">Link to YouTube Video</a>

Once finished with the grading, teachers can select the settings cog in the top right corner of the screen, providing them the options of copying their grades to Google Sheets or downloading all grades to a CSV file.&nbsp;Many teachers inquire about exporting grades to a student information system.&nbsp;While it is possible to import some CSV files into different student information systems, ultimately, that would depend on which system the school is using.&nbsp;We suggest checking with your SIS manager before attempting this task.

Can students create from Classroom?

Teachers also do not have to assign specific Google Doc templates to students.&nbsp;Beyond the teacher-created files teachers distribute, students can also choose to create a file within the Google Classroom environment that best fits their needs.&nbsp; This feature is particularly useful when providing voice and choice for students.  For example, perhaps one student would prefer to respond to a discussion prompt in Google Slides, whereas another would like to use Google Drawings. In this case, the student determines the program he/she will use to complete the learning task. 

Thank you very much for taking the time to read through this book on Google Classroom. I would love to hear any feedback on the book or regarding any work I can do with you moving forward. I have a passion for helping teachers discover effective ways to leverage technology in the service of learning. I hope this book helps you in your journey. If I can ever be of assistance by working with you or your school, please do not hesitate to reach out! This book was written in partnership with <a href="http://www.edtechteacher.org/">EdTechTeacher</a> during my time working for them. If you are looking for quality professional development on all things educational technology please contact them! Keep Exploring, Ben Sondgeroth bsondgeroth@ltcillinois.org

03 Adding Students to your Classroom

04 Creating a Workflow with Google Classroom

There are two ways teachers can add students. The first is by unique class code.&nbsp;When a class is created by a teacher, Google Classroom assigns the class a unique code. Students then go to the Classroom website (classroom.google.com), select Join a Class, and enter the code.&nbsp;As students enter, the class roster is updated instantly.

The second method for adding students is by teacher invitation.&nbsp;Teachers have the ability to invite students by using their Google accounts.&nbsp;By directly adding students, teachers eliminate the step of students incorrectly entering the code, or taking valuable class time helping all students get into the class.&nbsp;This strategy may be best for elementary students that are just learning keyboarding skills and take an extended period of time to type.

<a href="https://youtu.be/v1wnml33ick">Link to YouTube Video</a>

Getting Started with Google Classroom

06 Using Google Calendar with Google Classroom

What can the calendar do in Google Classroom?

Teachers can also utilize the calendar associated with their class.&nbsp;This calendar appears both in Google Classroom and also as an additional calendar in both the teacher and student Google Calendar.&nbsp;From the settings in Google Calendar, teachers can make the class calendar public and send the calendar URL to parents and guardians. When this is done, parents and guardians will see more information than what is provided in the daily summaries generated through Google Classroom.

Google Classroom View

While all assignments and questions that have due dates associated with them appear on this calendar, teachers can also add other events to the calendar. &#160;For example a teacher may want to add a field trip to the calendar. 

Notifications on Mobile Devices

The notifications available with the mobile app can also be very helpful for students. &#160;When a teacher creates a post on the class stream, students are immediately notified on their devices. &#160;Students have raved about the notifications being a tremendous benefit to them as they are able to download the Classroom app on their phones and be notified at any time of the posts their teacher creates. &#160;A student was quoted as saying, &#8220;I don&#8217;t regularly check my email, so receiving notifications on my phone is the only way I know I have work to do in class.&#8221;

What are students able to turn in?

Students are able to submit any file type they are requested to complete. This means that students recording podcasts can submit MP3 files; students recording videos are able to upload MP4 files; anything the student creates - including a wide variety of file formats - can be submitted through Google Classroom.&nbsp;In fact, many websites and mobile apps are now offering direct Google Classroom integration to their product.&nbsp;For example, students can create a video in iMovie on their iPad and share it directly to an open assignment in Google Classroom.

Defining Google Classroom

At the beginning of the 2014 school year, Google released Google Classroom, an innovative online platform that allows teachers to manage the creation, distribution, and grading of assignments from one centralized, web-based location. Since its launch, Google Classroom has seen widespread adoption in schools across the country, with thousands of teachers and students signing on to use it every day. Even with this explosive growth, however, only a fraction of teachers who could be using classroom are taking advantage of this valuable tool. Google Classroom manages to occupy a sweet spot between Learning Management System and Content Management System. Most Learning Management Systems have lots of great features, including many of the features offered by Google Classroom, but the scope of their feature-sets can make them difficult to use, and too complex for teachers who are less comfortable with technology. Content Management Systems, on the other hand, are&nbsp;primarily made to dispense information to students, and so they lack many of the features that teachers need, such as online assignments and gradebooks. The great thing about Google Classroom is that it combines the best of both of these systems, making it more of a “Workflow Management System.” By providing a simple, user-friendly platform for sharing content, creating assignments, and grading, Google Classroom can be a great first step for teachers who are looking to get started in a digital teaching environment.

Saving Posts as Drafts

Teachers can also create posts and either save them as drafts to be published at a later date or schedule them to be sent out at a specific time.&nbsp;Saving as a draft can help teachers prepare their classroom for upcoming work while not having it visible to students.

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