Update your Google Classroom Comment Bank

WEBSITE ↬ YOUR Google Classroom Comment Bank

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ any/all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

Do you use Google Classroom? Have you saved comments in you comment bank? If you've not, you really should! Did you know you can see ALL your comments in one place? Yep! This little know website is https://classroom.google.com/u/0/g/cm and you can see all of your comments in place. Once there, you can edit or delete comments. Unfortunately, you can't ADD them on this site. Here's a screenshot of part of my comment bank:

John Sowash shared this out, along with a lot of other great tips & resources on his podcast: The Chromebook Classroom Podcast. 

Check out these ideas on Google Classroom's comment bank:

• Easy Audio You Can Do (& LOVE!)
• Giving feedback on assignments (from Google)
• Using comment banks in Google Classroom to save time (Sethi DeClercq)

*** Every Monday, I share a newsletter with a collection of Tech You Can Do resources. Interested? Sign up here!  ***

Random name picker - Google Classroom

VIDEO ↬ How to Select Students Randomly on Google Classroom (Manage Participation Easy!)

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ any & all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

A fellow educator I connected with over the summer, Mary, shared this video with me in December. She knows I'm a big fan of Google Classroom. This video, created by "Teach Smart With Fay" on YouTube, shows how to use the random name picker on the Google Classroom app.

What an incredibly easy way to randomly pick students ... and this can be done whether you are in-person, hybrid or remotely. LOVE it!

Thank you, Mary for sharing!

If you like this resource, be sure to check out the other resources like it tagged below.

Grading Forms in Google Classroom

WEBSITE ↬ Grading Forms in Google Classroom
AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ any/all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ any/all

As much as I love Google Forms, their typical use in Google Classroom is simply to be an assessment (or survey) tool, rather than a means to allow the back & forth between teacher & student. 

Last year I had a teacher embark on the ability to use Forms TO assess, but also give his students feedback. NOT an easy task! It took a bit for us to work through, and I received his permission to use our experience to share with others. The result is this: "Grading Forms in Classroom". 

I've had numerous requests for help with this process recently, as teachers have been embarking on different ways to teach & provide feedback to their students. There are very specific settings that require this to work ... BUT IT DOES!

If you get stuck - or have questions - feel free to reach out! I'd be happy to help.

Making Google Classroom more Interactive

WEBSITE ↬ Making Classroom more Interactive
AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ any/all

GRADE LEVELS ↬ all grades

An interactive classroom is relatively easy when we are all together. When we aren't, it's a completely different story. If you are a Google Classroom user, you can use this guide to help inspire interactivity with your students ... and at the same time, work on positive use of a digital space. 

In this Google Slides, I share 3 different ways you can use Google Classroom to boost interaction between you and your students. Your students can even interact with each other! (Don't forget how important YOUR role is teaching them positive behaviors.)

I created this for teachers who are new-er to using Classroom as an interactive tool. Once you start ... you might find it to be something you won't ever quit using!

Google Classroom Comment Bank

WEBSITE ↬ Custom Feedback with Classroom’s Comment Bank (Meagan Kelly)

AUDIENCE ↬ teachers

CONTENT ↬ a short article providing helpful info and video on how to utilize the comment bank in Google Classroom

GRADE LEVELS ↬ ALL

Today is all about a new-ish feature in Google Classroom ... its comment bank. This bank has some real potential for teachers. If you are a Classroom user, be sure to check this one out. Meagan Kelly, a Google Innovator, has put together a quick and easy to read article about the comment bank.

Be sure to poke around Meagan's blog, too. She has shared out some pretty awesome ideas, activities, and helps for teachers. I got hooked on Meagan's blog when I read "Escape the Dungeon! A BreakoutEdu Digital on Area of Shapes", an amazing digital breakout to assess students on their knowledge & ability to apply area formulas. If you are a math teacher (roughly 7th/8th grade), you'll want to check that article for sure!


Have a question or comment? Feel free to comment below, reach out to me on Twitter @kiefersj, or email me at sarah@techyoucando.com.

Day 9: Gamify your Google Classroom

Gamify Your Google Classroom [LINK]

I'll be honest. I've not personally used this - yet - but I'm itching to! I am excited to use what we already have (Google Classroom) in a new way that looks to make the learning not only fun, but more meaningful. 

Lucie Renard, the author, proudly points out BookWidgets are "officially listed" on the #withClassroom website on the "Use interactive learning material" tab. This Google site indicates which apps will integrate with Google Classroom. Let's be honest, if Google is including it on their site, you know it has to be decent.

Lucie shares TEN widgets you can integrate with your Classroom as well as suggestions for each ones potential use. Personally, I'd love to try out the Jigsaw puzzle (#3) and Spot the Difference (#7). 

How cool would that be for a student to log in and see something like this waiting for them ... and be reinforcing what we've been studying?! 

I see it with students I work with, but also in my own home, when even a little bit of fun is included, the learning is deeper and richer. As a teacher, I'm always on the look out for a tool that can help me with this.

BookWidgets looks like such a promising resource, I'm definitely going to dig in deep on this one!


Please click HERE for the collection of all 15 resources.

Day 2: Locked Quizzes & more!

Locked Quizzes & more! [LINK]

Google has been teasing us about the ability to "lock" a Google Form for the past several months. Many teacher friends have been asking for this and it's finally here. (Kind of - read further into the tips section ... )

Let's go through some pedagogy - YES! It'd be ideal to create all of your assessments to be questions that your students can't "Google" ... however, in reality, there are times where a teacher wants/needs to have the ability to focus students on doing the test in front of them. This new tool will allow teachers to do just that.

As a bonus in the same article, Google announces they are improving their Gradebook in Google Classroom. Looking at the GIF (I'm a #hardG kinda gal), I'm super excited at the new layout! Seeing multiple assignments in columns all the way across the page will help teachers see with a glance at large amounts of work. Yea!

A few tips:

• currently, you need to sign up for the beta testing for both the locked quizzes and the new gradebook - please double check with your GSuite Admin to ensure they are on the same page

• it will only work on chromebooks managed by your domain (meaning your school has to be able to manage what does/doesn't go on)

• this is NOT going to stop cheating! Cheating happened long before computers ... 

• the gradebook feature gives Google Classroom the look of a more traditional gradebook, but don't let that fool you ... it is NO traditional gradebook! Grading categories, your entire class at a glance, a complete picture of single student, and more. 

Bottom line on this one - you'll have to sign up and give each of these a go to really test them out. But both are wins to me!

Please click HERE for the collection of all 15 resources.