Professional Development: Google classroom Stream & Student tabs

The next post in my Professional Development series is on the Stream & Student tabs in Google classroom.

The Stream Tab

Think of the stream like the Facebook news feed or twitter. It is the primary way of communicating info via classroom. I like to think and describe it as social media

http://www.thebluediamondgallery.com/handwriting/s/social-media.html

for the classroom. It is a great communication tool for you and your students and allows them to communicate in not only a way they are used too but also in a more collaborative way, which is something employers are looking for.

http://www.myalgoma.ca/2016/07/15/we-have-a-few-announcements-to-make/

In the stream you have 4 types of "posts" you can use, announcements, assignments, questions, & reused posts.

The first type of post is an announcement
, which a lot like a typical Facebook post or tweet. It is as its name implies an announcement to the class. You can attach files from your computer, your drive, YouTube, and/or share links. Students and you are able to post comments to announcements which is a great way to teach and encourage collaboration (more about this later). Some teachers use announcements as a way to "hand out" work/assignments as a way to cut down on the amount of emails they get. I primarily use them to update the class on info they may need or find helpful. I also use it as a way to stay in contact when I am out of the classroom physically.

http://kmsmc.edu.pk/category/literary-club/presentations-assignments/

The second type of post is an assignment.
An assignment is just as it sounds an assignment you want students to complete and hand in. As with announcements you can attach files, drive files, YouTube videos, & links. With an assignment you can add more details/instructions as well as due dates & times and attach a grade/score. You can also track who has completed the assignment as well as which ones you have handed back. What I like about the assignment post is that it eliminates the dreaded no name paper. I also like that it assigns a date and time to when students have submitted their work so there is virtually no question about when it was handed in to you.

https://uacu.uk/articles/1354/uk-student-visa-interview-questions/

The third type of post is the question.
A question is simply that a question. You can treat it like an assignment with due dates and attachments as well as instructions. However, a question gives students the ability to type in or select an answer. It is a great way of doing entry or exit tickets as formative assessment. Students can respond to each other as well as see a cumulative summary of responses.

The forth type of post isn't really a post so much as a way to post past assignments, questions, and announcements. It is the reuse post feature. This feature allows you to go back to other classes (both current and archived) and select posts you would like to use in the current class. This is a handy feature to cut down on the about of retyping you do if you teach the same class in the future.

I mentioned that student are able to post comments to posts. Some teachers may find this intimidating or annoying at first but I have found that as with any tool if taught how to use it and manage it, students can use it effectively. I encourage students to post comments as a way of sharing helpful info, asking questions, and looking for advice. It makes the work more social and real life rather than just another boring class. I won't kid you by thinking students don't misuse it and use it as a way to chat. I usually let them do this for a day or two and use it as a teachable moment which helps take the novelty away. You can also mute specific students and turn off the feature all together.

The Student Tab

The student tab is pretty simple and allows you to manage students and guardians. You can add students to classroom by using either a code (easiest) or by inviting them via email. I find using the code to be the simplest way. I simply create an assignment (paper or via Skyward) with directions on how to setup classroom and the class code. Once students setup their classroom correctly the first assignment they see is a setup google classroom assignment that they simply need to mark as done. Although I do know some teachers who invite via email each of their students.

You can also invite guardians by clicking on the 3 dots next to the student name and select invite guardian. There you type in the parent email address and it sends them an email link to sign up. This does not give parents access to the classroom it simply signs them up for email alerts to posts in classroom. You can also send out mass emails to parents and students from the student tab. You can also click on a student's name and see a filtered list of their work as well as scores. 

Instructional Video

Professional development: Google Classroom setup

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.

Professional Development series

One part of this blog is to start a tag/label called professional development. the goal is to start expanding my skills in helping teacher perfect their craft. Under the professional development tab you will find short posts, videos, links, etc. on tools, sites, techniques I use in my practice. I will show how to use them and break down their parts as well as share how I use them in/with my classes.
I want to say as I start this new journey that I am by no means a definitive expert on technology in the classroom. That being said please if you notice things that could be done a different way or are not quite right please share your comments. Also, please please please share how you use the tools I am sharing as more heads are better than one. As my principal says "We are all in this together" and I know that I could use your help in expanding the tool box I use in my teaching craft.

Lastly I want to encourage your suggestions of not only tools you would like me to add to this series but also on how I can improve. I have been doing screencasts in the classroom as part of the "Flipped Classroom" model. I have received some wonderful feedback from my students on how to improve my videos and I hope to get some great feedback from you.



Image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/codnewsroom/32649529442

Gone but not forgotten

As  you can probably tell I have been gone for awhile but I haven't forgotten about my blog. I will be picking up my blogging work this year in earnest as the summer gets closer and time becomes more free.

A little bit about what I have been up to over the last 5+ years since my last post. I have been working as a middle level Technology/Engineering/Robotics teacher. I have also been working as a technology PD leader for my school and district helping teachers better integrate technology into their practice. Helping teachers perfect their craft through integration is my passion and what I hope to use this blog for moving forward. I also hope to use this blog to have some discussion and discourse about the use of technology and when and where it is appropriate to use technology in the classroom. I also hope to hear from those of you out there about your uses of technology in the classroom as I want to learn from you as well.

Recently our district went 1:1 with Chromebooks. It has been an interesting transition from computer labs to 1:1 computers for every student. I still work in a computer lab but am looking at changing over from a traditional lab to one that enables students to sync up their Chromebooks with an AWS server. I am excited for the possibilities this brings to my classes both in and out of the classroom. Anyone out there currently use AWS or something similar and can give me some feedback or advice or thoughts that would be greatly appreciated.

So before I leave you today I want to sure something I am doing with my classes that is making a difference in getting students to engage with learning how to manage a project. I am doing what is called 20% time. I model it after a story I heard about Google giving their employees 20% of the day to work on a project that they enjoy. We have what we call a late start Monday where we meet with other teachers in our building and/or district to align curriculum, plan out unit and lessons, and other stuff normally relegated to after school or other off times. This is see shortened periods for our kids which amount to about 20% of a students time in my class. I start off the semester with a definition of what 20% time is and then move into a couple of weeks helping students choose a project or skill they would like to focus on. From there I teacher how to use a Gant Project Planner found in Excel to manage their project. Then I let them go on their work for the rest of the semester. Students work on projects ranging from planning a composting project at school, to soccer skill development, to programming, to typing, to vlogs, and much more. This is just my first year at trying this but what I am finding is that kids enjoy the time to focus on their likes/interests and often times what they are doing relate back to what we are learning about in my classes. It also gives me more time to see their passions as well as work with those kids who need a little extra attention/differentiation during the week because if students are done with the lesson or work I have given them for the day then they know to work on their 20% time project. A book you can read (I am just starting it) is called "The 20time project: How educators and parents can launch Google's formula for future-read innovation" by Kevin Brookhouser. I hope to get some more ideas on how to grow and improve this time so kids.

I welcome your feedback and suggestions.