Parents & Google Classroom: Important Info to Make Everyone's Life Easier & Less Stressful

At the Google Academy for Parents a couple of weeks ago, several parents who receive email digests from Google Classroom asked about the notifications they receive that their student has not completed an assignment, when in fact, the assignment has been done. I had an "a ha" moment.  Often, as teachers, we post an "assignment" in Google Classroom that does not require a physical artifact or the artifact is not something that is attached to the assignment. For example a teacher may post an assignment such as, "Go to XYZ website and watch ABC video." The student follows directions, watches the video, and then continues with class instruction. Or a teacher posts a link to a Google Form quiz that "lives" outside of Google Classroom.

When the parent gets the Google Classroom email, the assignment will appear to be missing, even though the student did the work.  Enter the "Mark as Done" button. Train your students to click the blue "Mark as Done" button when they have completed the task. This is good habit for the students in managing their workflow, and it reduces stress for the parents because the information they get is accurate. The video below is older, but the information is valid.

https://youtu.be/rTB5tztxr34

Google Classroom

Many BISD teachers and students use Google Classroom regularly, but I am a firm believer in two things: 1) We learn when we're ready to learn; 2)We can always learn something new. So, for those of you who are just dipping your toes into Google Classroom, here is a link to a library of videos to support you as you get started.For those of you who have been using Classroom for awhile, check out the latest releases to enhance the product. The English teacher in me is particularly excited about the "originality reports" beta that was released in the last couple of months to help teachers identify plagiarism. Alleluia! 

Blended Learning Spotlight: More from Pear Deck

The Digital Classroom teachers visited Engaged Classrooms in Cambridge Elementary and Alamo Heights High School this month to experience blended learning in action. Some of the classrooms that we visited used third-party apps to engage students in teacher-led or student-paced activities. Pear Deck, which works with Google Slides, offers great options for keeping students engaged in thinking and making connections. This month the Pear Deck blog offered free templates for social studies and world language, digital citizenship, and media literacy. Today, they shared ten critical thinking templates that you can drop right into your Google Slides presentations. Ten teachers in BISD are currently piloting the paid version of the add-on. If you and your students became power users of Pear Deck, let me know.

GT Spotlight: GT Teacher Toolkit

While the GT Teacher Toolkit site isn't the prettiest website I've visited, it packs layers of powerful resources to help us meet the needs of our GT students. I did a few drive-bys through the links on the site, and landed on the "Verbal and Visual Learners" link (which is really a link that addresses all learning styles). 

I was immediately transported back to the Clark High School library in the '90's where I received my first training on addressing students' preferences in learning styles. In the interim decades, I've learned that learners may prefer a particular mode for a particular subject and another mode for a different subject. And that sometimes, students may prefer a particular mode one week/day and change preferences the next week/day.  That's a definite challenge on the lesson planning front! Using choice boards or tic-tac-toe boards which offer different pathways to the learning allows students to self-select activities that best suit their learning styles and interests.