Google Drive

Google Drive is a simple way to share, collaborate, back up, and create files. These Drive features have revolutionized the Internet allowing people to work together to create some unbelievable products.

Check out this Google Drive website with information about the storage features of Drive.

Google Drive has a couple basic programs that are similar to your typical Microsoft programs. These include Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, and Drawings. This week we will touch on these five programs.

To get us started, check out this video to learn the basics of Google Drive.

Now check out this video with some advanced features of Google Drive.

Google Docs is the word processing program for Google Drive. However, you can do more than you ever imagined when using Google Docs. Docs can be easily shared with students in your classroom. They can be given the ability to edit a document or only the ability to view the document. Google Drive has the capability to add add-ons such as Grammarly. Grammarly edits your Docs as you work. There is also the ability to use more fonts not listed in the basic font column. The options are endless. YouTube has tons of informational videos about anything you are interested in learning about.

Check out this video with some basic information about Google Docs.

Google Slides is my favorite program to use. It is so easy to create beautiful slide presentations to share and collaborate with others. For example, I used Slides to create a Slide about some Google Sheets features. 

Here is a video with more information about Google Slides.

Google Sheets is similar Microsoft Excel. One of my favorite features of Google Sheets is the ability to find add-ons. One of my favorite add-ons is the QR Code Creator. Unfortunately, I was not able to embed the Slide, so below is a screen shot of the slide then the embedded video is below the slide. This add-on feature will undoubtedly revolutionize my classroom and save me so much time! I cannot wait to use it to easily connect an audience with my students' work.

Google Forms has already amazed me and I haven't been able to use it in my classroom yet. At the beginning of the summer I sent out a parent survey using Google Forms. I only had about 50% participation, but it was easy to make and I could quickly analyze the data. In addition to making surveys with Google Forms, you can also make self-grading quizzes! Here is an example of a quiz I created using Google Forms on Geometry.

Google Drawings is the last Google Drive feature for today. Google Drawings is a fast and easy way to design anything for your classroom. Let's say you need a graphic organizer. Google Drawings is a great tool to help you create that organizer. Below is an example of a graphic organizer I recently created.

Now that you know more about Google Drive, I hope you can incorporate more of their awesome features into your daily life or instruction. Google Drive definitely makes life easier!