Saturday, October 4, 2014

Google Classroom in Action

Mrs. Winkler's - 7th grade Language Arts Class

Students and staff at the +William Davies Middle School seem to be adjusting well to Google Classroom.  I have had positive feedback from staff and students on using it.  They are surprised on how easy it is to learn and how intuitive it is with handling classroom assignments between teacher and student. 

The picture above displays Mrs. Winkler's 7th grade students using a 1:1 initiative with their school issued netbooks.  In addition, we allow students to bring their own device to school.  Note:  there was one student who was using his phone to navigate to Google Classroom.  

My learning goal for students is as follows:  "I" will demonstrate an understanding of how to use Google Classroom, where "I" is the student.

My technology integration lesson for students include  following:
  • to login to their Google App for Education account
  • are introduced to Google Drive, docs, etc, file and folder management
  • to join a class using Google Classroom
  • to open an assignment in Google Classroom
  • to turn in, un-submit an assignment
  • post a comment or note to an announcement or assignment
  • understand the folder structure that is generated by Classroom
  • proper terminology associated with Classroom
My training for staff on Google Classroom includes the following:
  • create groups for their classes
  • distribute the class code for the students
  • create announcements and assignments
  • grade assignments
  • comment on assignment
  • return the assignments
  • distribute attachments to students with view, edit, or make a copy for each student capabilities
  • understand the folder structure that is generated by Classroom 
  • attach links, videos, and files to the stream
  • obtain assignment details
At the end of the lesson, I had students fill out my digital exit ticket.  This exit ticket is a Google Form and is another example of how Google Apps makes it efficient and easy to collect and analyze data. 

So far, using Google Classroom in daily classroom activities is having a positive effect on both the students and teachers.  I will continue to encourage and support teachers who are willing to take the risk and "un-learn and "re-learn" the technology tool.  Although Classroom has only been out since August, in my opinion, using Google Apps for Education and Google Classroom will make the classroom workflow much more efficient and a teacher's life much easier!