How to Teach in a Digital Classroom without Imploding

Embrace the cloud!

Organize your drive!

Tip #1 - No Orphan Files
Use folders
And folders within folders

Trick Google to organizing things your way by putting a number or an alphabet letter in front of the file name.

Tip #2 - Use Color
Google makes it very easy to add color to your folders to help you stay organized and brighten your day.

Tip #3 - Use a Naming Convention

Consider including year, course, unit, section, assignment number, etc.

Use everywhere
- Gradebook Programs (Aeries)
- Assignment Headers
- Website
Have students use it, too!

I use a Unit-Assignment number combo

2.03 is Unit 2, Assignment 3

The letters refer to Lecture or class activities that are not graded

2.A is a lecture on Atomic Structure

Teach from your website

This is what I am modeling for you. It is nice to have a self-contained lesson on a webpage. It is visually appealing and has the added bonus of making it easier for absent students.

Furthermore, you have a record for next year!

use google calendar!

Multiple calendars can be created for different classes.
New, as of September 2015, if you use Google Classroom it automatically creates a calendar for that class!

You can embed them on the webpage
Your private stuff is still private
Acts as a lesson plan
A record to review what you did last year
Great resource for parents and students to stay up on assignments
You can include links to assignments and resources for students

Which methods are best for your lesson?

Distributing your assignments

There are 3 primary ways to distribute assignments to students:

1. Put a link on your webpage/calendar

Students will have to make a copy of the assignment
Students will have to "share" with you
Puts the responsibility on the student
Need a way to collect the assignment

2. Send a link via email

Students will have to make a copy of the assignment
Students will have to "share" with you
You have to hassle with mailing lists
Best for smaller classes
Need a way to collect the assignment

3. Use a 3rd party service to distribute - Doctopus (a Google Spreadsheet Add-on that acts like a photocopier and an inbox), Google Classroom (another "photocopier" with a few mores features), Other Learning Management Systems (LMS) like Edmodo, Schoology, Blackboard, etc.

Students provided copies in their Drives
They do not have to change share settings
Often include a way to collect the assignment
May take a little more time to learn and set-up, but provides a more seamless class experience for students

Doctopus Tutorial

Google Classroom

Collecting Assignments

There are 3 primary ways to collect assignments from students:

1. They email you the work

Have they changed the share settings
Can clog your email/miss submissions

2. They turn a link to the assignment in using a Google form as a "dropbox"

Provides a spreadsheet of students assignments
May need to worry about share settings depending on how it was distributed
Easy to embed on a webpage
Takes a little knowledge of Google forms in the beginning

3. They turn it in using an LMS

Usually it is a one-click submission
Unlikely to be concerned over share settings
No need for creating your own dropbox using a Google form

Grading & Providing Feedback

Labs can be found in both Gmail (left) and Calendar (right)

Labs are little experimental programs for Gmail & Calendar. They offer great little customization features for these two essential Google tools.

Featured Lab: Canned Responses

Find yourself typing the same email over and over again? Then Canned Responses is for you! Billed as "email for the truly lazy."

Featured Extension: Boomerang

Boomerang allows you to schedule messages to be sent or returned at a later date and time.

Boomerang will also return messages to your inbox if you don't get a reply within a given amount of time.

Get Boomerang from their website.

I love feedback!

You can reach me via Twitter @CoolChemGal or email CoolChemGal@gmail.com.

You can also fill out the CUE evaluation.