Google Classroom + Google Calendar + Google Keep

Have you ever felt stuck in your classroom? Unable to interact and connect with your students and struggling to figure out the best way to efficiently share documents and have your students turn in work electronically? Google Classroom is the perfect tool for you.

Check out this video about Google Classroom from Flipped Classroom Tutorials. Google classroom is a great way to interact with students electronically.

One of my favorite features of Google Classroom is the capability to add videos, documents and links under the about tab. Click on "add class materials" and you can add a variety of things. These materials will stay on the about page while the classroom is active.

I was able to add some beginning of the year documents, a coin song we watch on a regular basis and a link to one of my favorite classroom social media sites Flip Grid.

Another feature I love is the ability to add Google Forms to Google Classroom. Check out this video with more information on how to embed a quiz or test from Forms into Google Classroom.

My classroom page looks like this once the quiz is embedded in the stream. I also love that it shows how many students have the quiz done and no done. Managing a classroom could not be any easier.

There are endless features that benefit the teacher.  Classroom has the ability to assign specific iPads to certain students to make the student’s experience easier. This allows less data to be downloaded on the iPad and enhances the student’s experience. Also, Screen View allows the teacher to see what each student is working on. I have been dreaming of this feature, but never found a program to make my dream a reality. When the teacher is viewing the student’s work, there is a notification at the top of the student screen letting them know their work is being viewed. Lastly, my favorite feature is lock screen. To get everyone’s attention at once, the teacher can lock all of the iPads at the same time. I have iPads in my classroom and found these features to be very helpful. Check out the following three photos with information about the three unique features of Google Classroom for iPads.

Google Calendar is another Google feature available to users. Google Calendar can be used within Google Classroom or independent from the Classroom feature. Below is a calendar I made and embedded in the post. What's so cool about Google Calendar is that you can make a calendar public then share it with your parents. What an awesome way to keep them informed about events in your classroom.

In addition to adding events, you can add tasks (or reminders) to your calendar. A task list will appear on the right side of the calendar. You can simply add tasks or add due dates and notes. The tasks can be sorted multiple ways by sliding them up and down. You can also add multiple lists by clicking on the bulleted list in the bottom right hand corner and clicking on new list. This is a great way to stay organized at home and school.

Check out this video with more information on how to add a task to your Google Calendar.

Google Keep is a great way to keep track of notes and ideas. This reminds me a lot of the sticky notes on my Mac Book, but so much better. I love that you can collaborate with others, color code the notes and make multiple labels to stay organized.

My favorite feature would be the ability to make multiple labels. This allows me to keep the compartments of my brain organized. For example, I could have a label for each subject area and one for home.

I also love that you can add photos to your note. This would be helpful when sitting at a professional development session. I could take a picture of what is being presented and add a description to remember to implement it in my classroom. I always have great ideas while sitting at those meetings, but sometimes feel overwhelmed and forget my ideas. What a great way to keep those ideas close.

Check out this video about Google Keep and good luck using all of these awesome Google tools this week!