Sunday, April 15, 2018

Professional development: Google Classroom setup

Image result for google classroom
Image credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Google_Classroom_Logo.png
To start off my professional development series I am going to work on showing the tool google classroom.

image credit: 

Google classroom is a powerful tool that is part of the google apps for education suite that teachers and administrators can use to hep organize assignments, observations, conduct professional development and more. I liken it to social media for the classroom, as it is more a communication tool than what some might call an LMS (Learning Management System) like Blackboard, Schoology, and others. Classroom does not have all the bells and whistles of a true LMS but it is a powerful tool in helping kids learn organization and communication skills.

To start off the Classroom series I show you how to set up classroom as a classroom teacher and how to invite students. Some important things to keep in mind as you start your journey into Google Classroom.

  • When first signing up make sure to sign up as a teacher. If you sign up as a student you don't get access to all the features and to switch your account takes some work
  • There are 2 views, Teacher  & Student. It can be frustrating if you want/need to show students their view
  • Be prepared for an upswing in the amount of email you get.
    • You can manage this in the settings by turning off email notifications
As I mentioned earlier Google Classroom is more a communication tool than a true LMS. It has some features of an LMS like:
  • Assignment distribution and turn in
  • Interactive questions
  • Messaging (Announcements)
  • Google Calendar and Google Drive syncing
However currently some of the features it is lacking are:
  • Linking to an LMS or IMS (information management system) like Skyward
  • One stop shopping for grades, payments, announcements, etc.
  • School and district info
There are numerous ways classroom teachers and administrators can use google class. Here are a few suggestions (please share how you are using it as well):
Classroom Teacher:
  • Classroom homepage
  • Classroom Communications
  • Assignment distribution and collection
  • Formative assessment (questions)
  • Classroom library (about tab)
  • Lesson Planning 
Administration:
  • Professional development portal
  • Evaluation portal
  • School resource library
  • Staff meeting portal
  • Observation document repository
I am sure there are many more uses to which I can't wait to hear more about. 

Too start off these series I have a video below on how to setup Google Classroom. In future videos I will show you how to utilize the 3 tabs (Stream, Students, About), as well as how to submit feedback.






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