Managing Electronic Late Work

Figuring out your system for organizing online paperwork can sometimes take a little trial and error. This week, I had two teachers share how they keep their sanity with electronic late work, and when they showed me, I had one of those "Huh. Why didn't I think of that?" moments. Maybe you already have your method perfected. Maybe you did think of this. But just in case you didn't, I give you...the Electronic Late Work Form!

Overall, the teachers utilize the same process. There is a stack of little forms by the class turn-in tray. When a student turns in an assignment electronically, he/she also picks up one of the forms, takes two seconds to fill it out, and turns it into the tray. The form then serves dual purposes. First, it not only informs the teacher that the assignment was turned in, but also tells the teacher where it was turned in, which is probably the more important of the two. (Knowing it was turned in doesn't speed things up a whole lot if the assignment is aimlessly wandering the halls of Google High School.) Second, the form becomes a receipt for the student; after the teacher grades the assignment, she writes the "graded date" on the form before returning it to the student.

Here are both versions of the form that teachers said I could share with you. Version A is only available as a Word document because Google goofed up the formating. Version B is a little more elaborate and available as a Google Doc.

If you have another method to manage the digital madness, I'd love to hear about it. Please email me or leave a note in the comments.

FREE Google Education On Air Online Conference

This spring, Google is hosting a free two-day online conference called Education On Air. Join other educators from around the world, and participate in online Keynotes, panel discussions, and mini-sessions. It appears to be the sort of thing that you can jump in and out as your schedule allows, so if you are unsure of committing, register just in case! Remember, it is FREE!

Friday, May 8: Leading for the Future (9 am - 2 pm CST)

The Friday online Keynote and panel sessions are marketed towards those in leadership positions (anywhere from admin to a team leader to IT), but the posted topics sound applicable to classroom teachers as well. The full schedule will be released in April, but here are a few of the currently posted sessions:

*Creating Student Ownership

*Fostering Innovation in Schools

*Making Technology Work for Learning

*Communicating Change

Saturday, May 9: Shaping the Classroom Today

The Saturday online sessions are meant to be convenient and applicable to the classroom teacher. As Google puts it, "run by educators for educators, designed to be immediately useful to you." Sessions range from 15-45 minutes, and they are led by Google Certified Teachers, trainers, and general Googlers. Again, the full schedule is set to be released in April, but here are the posted teaser sessions:

*Supporting Literacy in Early Learners

*Fostering Collaboration with Google Docs

*Empowering Digital Citizens

Register Here!

Doctopus, Goobric, and Docappender...Oh My!

There has been an upswing in the number of teachers utilizing Google Classroom this semester, and a common concern I've heard is one regarding losing the ability to run various scripts and add-ons with student Google Docs. Thankfully, there are a number of fantastic tools connected to Google Drive that you can still access for assignments created through Google Classroom, specifically Doctopus and Goobric.

Andrew Stillman recently posted on Google+ regarding some improvements to the Doctopus and Goobric partnership and improvements to how they interact with assignments created through Google Classroom, and he should know because he helped designed them. After searching YouTube, I came across the video below regarding how to make use of Doctopus and Goobric through Google Classroom. (Posted just a week ago on January 9, 2015, it is the most up-to-date explanation I could find.) It is about 17 minutes, but it contains great information on how to utilize the two to give students feedback using an online rubric. (Disclaimer: It is more of an explanation and overview than an actual tutorial, but it does cover some of the basics.) If you are crunched for time, the first ~11 minutes covers Doctopus and Goobric. One nice piece about using Goobric is that you can provide your students with digital rubric-based feedback and still easily enter comments on the student's Google Doc as it is all viewed in the same window.

If you do have the time to watch the entire 17 minutes, please do! The last segment is focused on a tool called Docappender. I was unfamiliar with Docappender until viewing this video, and I am intrigued. Docappender gives you the ability to add a student self-assessment piece to the feedback process. And, due to some Googly magic, these three tools combine their powers and record all of the feedback on the student's original document. The student's document ends up with the teacher's rubric-based feedback and comments, and the student's self-assessment added to the end.

If you would like a tutorial on how to do the entire process of using Doctopus and Goobric through the Google Classroom platform, the following video is a great place to start. It is ~7 minutes and walks you through each step. It was posted in early December, 2014, so it is fairly recent.

Whew! Anyone else tired from just thinking about all of those feedback opportunities? If you give these pieces a try, I'd love to hear about your experience. And, if you'd like to look at these pieces together, just send me an email and we'll find a time.

Go forth and give effective feedback!

Google Classroom Updates

Google Classroom has released a few updates this week, including both Android and iOS (iPhone/iPod) mobile apps! Keep sending them feedback and suggestions for improvement via the little question mark icon in the lower right hand corner of your Classroom pages!

Mobile Apps

The app was just release today, January 14. You can download it to either your Android phone or iPhone/iPad. The apps are geared to be tools for both teachers and students. As with any new product, there is room for growth. (Click here to read a short article.) Here are the main features at the moment. Teachers can view all of their classes via their on-the-go technology. They can create announcements and communicate with their students, however there is not the option (yet?) to create new assignments. Teachers can view previous assignments and student work via the app. Students are able to view class announcements and access their assignments through the app. They can also upload photos from their phone to their assignments.

Teacher's Assignment Page

Teachers can now view all assignments in one spot. From within a class, click on the three lines in the top left corner of the page. Select "Assignments" from the list. The default page will list assignments from all of your classes. You can sort the list to view assignments specific to one class via the drop down box labeled "All Classes."

Archive Old Classes

If you want to start with a clean slate for each semester, you now have the ability to archive old classes and keep your Classroom dashboard clean. From the teacher dashboard page, click on the three dots in the top right corner of the class you wish to archive. (This is the same place you would click to edit the class name.) Select "Archive," and you are finished.

Using Goobric in Google Classroom

If you have avoided Google Classroom because you didn't want to lose the use of Doctopus and Goobric in your classroom...Or, if you have stopped using Doctopus and Goobric in your classroom because you thought they didn't play well with Google Classroom...Or, if you have no idea what I'm talking about with Doctopus and Goobric...

Fear no more! They can all be friends!

Apparently, even though Doctopus is somewhat woven into the threads of Google Classroom, you can still utilize the full Doctopus script, as well as the digital rubric called Goobric. This tutorial video is about 10-minutes in length, but it will take you through the steps of how to use both tools within Google Classroom.

Google Classroom Updates!

Google Classroom is beginning to roll out some new features based upon educator and student feedback! (I say beginning because I have high hopes regarding where Classroom can go...) Keep sending them feedback for improvements you would like to see. And, if you hear another teacher mention a desired improvement, send some more feedback. Bombard them!

Here are the most recent features:
1. You can invite students to your class via Google Groups.
2. If the assignment doesn't require a document to be "turned in," students can mark assignments as "done."
3. Teachers have more control over student comments on the Stream.
4. Teachers can export grades into an Excel spreadsheet.

And, here's the BIG one..

5. Teachers can sort students by last name!

Google posted further detail on each of the updates; you may read them here if you so desire.

Keep sending Google feedback!

Student Access to Google Classroom

There are a few different ways for students to access Google Classroom. Students can add the app from the Chrome App Store or they can access Google Classroom through the actual website (classroom.google.com). Once they are on the website, they can drag the padlock icon from the address bar to their bookmark toolbar to create a shortcut.

Google Classroom Ideas and Suggestions

Ideas and Discoveries

*Post your daily agenda as an announcement. Include pertinent information such as: date, the essential question/goal, a brief list of the days tasks, etc. Then, attach files used during the class (notes, PPTS, handouts, etc.) This can serve as a one-stop-shopping-spot for absent students.
*When a student turns in a paper through a Google Classroom assignment, the student's version of the document is un-editable until you "return" the graded document. If a student needs to edit something before you grade it, he/she must undo the turning in, and then resubmit the document by clicking the "Turn In" button a second time. This will update the time-stamp showing when the finished document was officially turned in.

Suggestions for Google

Below are some suggestions teachers have shared about possible improvements to Classroom. I encourage you to send this feedback to Google as well; hopefully with many voices, they will listen to the feedback in a timely manner. (Your teacher dashboard and your class pages have a feedback button in the lower right hand corner.)

*Provide a "View as Student" button for teachers. (The student page is different than the teacher page.)
*Allow teachers to schedule future assignments by setting a future date and a specific time. Future assignments should remain hidden to students until the scheduled posting date/time.
*Provide options for alphabetizing student names, especially by last name. (Few teachers have a grade book set up with student names alphabetical by first name!)

Google Classroom Video

Google released this video midsummer, showing off a few of the features of Google Classroom. It's only two minutes; check it out if you haven't yet had a chance to play with Classroom. Google also released this short video where teachers who piloted the app last year shared a few thoughts.