Google Classroom Item Types You Can Do

I am finding it more important than ever to help teachers understand and use the right "item type" in Google Classroom. While it may not seem necessary, please understand it DOES make difference. It became incredibly clear to me during the spring closure. And now, I hope to help teachers put intentional thought into the use each of the item types in Classroom.

Last week, I shared "Google Classroom "To Do/To Review" You Can Do". Using the right item type will help keep your students To Do list clear and easy to use. It will also help keep your To Review list clean and organized.

There are currently 7 item types in Classroom. It is important to put thought into the item types you select. They each have a purpose. They each have a meaning. If we use the item type that truly matches the intention we have planned for our students, it will go a long way in keeping out Classrooms organized and packed with purpose. Our students (and their families) deserve this. I also see a big payoff for teachers - the more clear our setup is, the fewer questions we will have to answer.

Another big tip I want to pass on ... be sure to specifically teach your students about the icons. Teaching them intentionally to recognize the icons will also payoff in the long run. When you understand and use the right item type, and they recognize the icons and their purpose, everyone wins.

In the presentation below, I share the purpose and when to use each item type. The final two Slides are meant to be printed and kept close at hand for when you are creating in your Google Classroom. A link for you to view & print is below the Slides.

To view this Google Slides, please click on the link "Google Classroom Item Types". You are welcome to print any/all of this. Please also share with your colleagues. If we all operate from a consistent place, everyone will be better organized.

In the upcoming weeks, I plan to share about top settings and guardian summaries in Classroom. Stay tuned for some deep dives!

I highly recommend checking out my Google Classroom Wakelet collection, too. I continually am curating tips, tricks, and resources to better support our use of Classroom.

Do you have questions? Comments? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below. You can also Tweet at me ... @kiefersj or email me Sarah@TechYouCanDo.com.

Google Classroom "To Do/To Review" You Can Do

Google Classroom got a few - much needed - features in August. One that has been a "game changer" is the new "To Do" & "To Review" section. This is NOT to be overlooked, especially with your students. In the spring, one of the biggest headaches for students and their parents at home was knowing what to do and when it was due. 

With the "To Do" feature - and some specific teaching - students will have clear knowledge of what is due and when. Be sure to show this to your students and explain how helpful it is. It will also help YOU see Classroom how they see it. (I showed the To Do to my own 5th & 3rd grade daughters and it truly is SUPER easy to read.) The To Do list layers all classes for students.

For teachers, the "To Review" feature will provide a simple and clear way to easily see work that has been assigned and what needs to (and can be) graded. You can see all of your classes layered together OR select one class and focus in.

Below are Slides I created to help guide teachers in this new reality of face-to-face, blended, hybrid, or remote teaching and learning. I start with Google Classroom specific vocabulary and then a quick overview of each of the new pieces as well as some suggestions on organizing Classroom. Keep in mind, simplicity and clarity are your best friends. 

Organize Classroom through your students eyes and you will have a very successful year! I always wanted my students to spend their time doing the work rather than figuring out what they needed to do and when it was due. On the final slide, I share some organizational strategies you can implement, too. 

I have also recently written a couple of other posts about Google Classroom and the thinking behind creating and using it with students. I hope you check these out, too:

• How MANY Google Classrooms Can You Do?
• Starting Google Classroom You Can Do
• Classroom Header Template You Can Do with activity idea

And finally, check out my Google Classroom Wakelet. I continually collect tips, tricks, and resources specific to Classroom. 

Questions? Comments? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below. You can also Tweet at me ... @kiefersj or email me Sarah@TechYouCanDo.com.

This year is going to be a year like no other ... and we can make it successful and wonderful.

Dear Educators, You Can!

Dear Educators,

I've been trying to write this for 3 weeks. As with most everything in 2020, plans changed. I should already have had 2 weeks of school under my belt by now, but my first day is this coming Thursday. My oldest daughter still has a week of summer vacation before starting high school. I should have spent the majority of this weekend at a soccer tournament. I don't think I have the right words, but I need to get this out. I know I can.

This reality has a new feeling ... I hesitate to call this "normal" ... I don't want this to BE normal. This reality has new and different challenges. I've shed tears and I know more will come. I've been angry and felt defeated. COVID-19 has rocked me. What started out as a 3 week pause, turned into a full remote learning for the entire fourth quarter. Then summer was extended as guidelines changed and precautions were outlined and new safety measures were developed.

With everything, I know I have a choice. I have a choice with my words and my actions. I may not like my choices, but they are there for me to make the best of. I'm not perfect and I won't always make the right choice. 

We say the same thing to our daughters here at home. My youngest two girls started school this past week. Face-to-face, five days a week. They have to have their temperatures taken before entering school. They wear masks. They mostly sit in their desks. Specials teachers come to their rooms. They sit on dots spaced out in the cafeteria. And when we explained the "rules" for school, they smiled and accepted them. They don't like wearing masks, but they wanted to go back to school. I cried when we dropped them off ... HAPPY tears! After 5 months, they were back in school.

I don't want this to be "normal" ... but I have accepted this is what we have to do right now. And I want to face this head on and do the best I can. 

I listened to one of my favorite podcasts this morning on my post-run cool down. The Innovator's Mindset by George Couros. It was 10 minutes long and he talked about giving grace to others and yourself. He said it well when he said it's easy to give others grace but often, it's tough to give it to ourselves. That is so very true! Give your students grace; give their parents grace; give your colleagues grace; give your administrators grace; and give YOURSELF grace. You can.

As this school year starts, I don't know truly what to expect. I hope I meet the challenges head on. I hope I ask for and seek help when I need it. I hope that my daughters have a good year. I hope that we all stay healthy. I hope we use this forced change to improve everything we do. I hope that we will look back on this school year and say, with confidence, we did it!

Stay connected ... I'd love to hear your comments below. Tweet at me ... @kiefersj. Need some help? Feel free to email me ... sarah@techyoucando.com .

Sarah

Making the Most of August You Can Do

August always brings mixed emotions for me. August signals the beginning of the end of summer ... school supply shopping ... heavy prep work for the coming school year ... rush to finish projects around the house ... squeeze in family time ... ramping up of fall sports ... soaking up every bit of sunshine possible ... all good, yet a little sad - I love summer!

August 2020 is in many ways the same, yet COMPLETELY different! If I'm being honest, the past 4 1/2 months have been both wonderful (extra family time, enforced slow down of running around, extra learning time) and stressful (the unknowns, the fears, the crazy, the emotional roller coaster). It's also been physically taxing on me (I fell on a run & required shoulder surgery - I'm 6.5 weeks post-surgery, healing nicely, but this is going to take time). But I'm not here to complain!

Thanks to the wonderful people around me, I've been able to accomplish a great many things this summer and I still have some items to check off my "to do" list. I'm excited!

Back in April, I kicked it off with presenting at the April meeting for GEG Ohio. I shared how you can create an "app" using Google Slides. There is a lot of goodness in this meeting - I appear around the 1 hour mark.

From there, a huge thanks goes out to Dr. Desiree Alexander, my #NYC19 Innovator Coach. She allowed me to share 11 - yes ELEVEN - webinars with a great many educators. And ... we have a few more planned! Yay! Not only does she do these live, but she records them and shares them out on her YouTube channel (Educator Alexander) so you can watch them afterwards. All the resources are tucked in the show notes, so be sure to click the "show more" so you can learn right along with the recording.

Pre-injury, I installed new floors throughout our 1st and 2nd floors. We also did a fair amount of painting. Unfortunately, our new stair treads were backordered and didn't come in until after my surgery. My dad is super handy and came over a couple of times and helped complete most of the projects! My mom got to enjoy some fun with my girls, too.

I also was able to participate in a handful of conferences that moved their entire conference online and offered it freely to everyone! There was EdChange Global, WeVideo Creator Community, and Beyond the Bootcamp with Jeff Bradbury. You can find them all on my YouTube Channel on the "My Presentations" playlist.

And I have a few more things still coming up! This week will kick off Monday with the G-Tech Summit hosted by the Genoa Area Local Schools in Ohio. I'll be presenting on both Monday & Tuesday. I encourage you to join in the learning fun - there will be tons!

I'm also excited to keep learning about Data Studio, Blended Learning, Google's new Certified Coach curriculum, and I've always got a stack of books to read. 

Guess I better get moving and tackle some of the items on my "Today's To Do" list. How about you? What's on your list?

Have a question or comment? Please leave it below. Or Tweet at me - @kiefersj - I'd love to connect. Would you like some help with something - feel free to email me sarah@techyoucando.com .

How MANY Google Classrooms Can You Do?

Nearly a month ago, I shared a reflective activity I had designed to better help teachers think through the process of setting up their Google Classrooms. I called it "Starting Google Classroom You Can Do." It is a great step-by-step process you can do individually, as a teaching team, or even as a leadership team to better guide your teachers. Feel free to make a copy of the slides so you can get right to work! I included 8 topics to consider, gave some specific thoughts on each one, and then asked a reflective question.

Since I've published it, I have presented on this at the EdChange Global virtual conference and incorporated it into my webinar "Tech You Can Do: Intro to Google Classroom". Both times, it has been well received. You see, as teachers, now more than ever, we need to Stop. Think. Reflect. Question. Discuss. Think. Reflect. Discuss. We have taken the blinders off and, hopefully by now, we've all accepted the fact that education is changing. And while change IS scary, change CAN be good! We can grab this change by the horns and MAKE it great!

I have had numerous conversations with teachers the past several weeks regarding the number of Google Classrooms to have -- wouldn't it be nice to just have someone tell us the "right" answer here? 

That's the tough part ... there ISN'T a right answer.

Each class is unique. Each teacher is unique. Be ok with this.

Embrace this!

Now, since you DO have to set up Classroom(s), let's dive in deeper on this. Since there is no magical formula, you need to consider a few things. I've created a Slide deck to walk you through this thinking. I don't have all the answers ... I don't know the best situation for you ... but I can help you doing some solid thinking. I can give you some pointers to jumpstart your planning, so you can make the best decision for you! Good luck!

If you have questions, you'd like additional help, or if you'd like to have a discussion with me to best decide your path, please reach out! Comment below, email me, Tweet at me, or Facebook me! All my contact info is to the right.

Would you like a link to share with others? Here you go! (I've also use a new URL trick I've learned to remove the navigation menu!)

I have been staying busy this past month or so with quite a few presentations & I still have a handful more coming up! Please check out My Presentations tab if you are interested in hearing more from me.