New in Google Classroom: Saving Time While Grading

From Google for Education blog:
Posted by Anibal Chehayeb, Google Classroom Software Engineer

We built Classroom to save teachers time, and we know that grading is one of those tasks that can involve a lot of little time wasters. In fact, students have turned in more than 200 million assignments via Classroom to date, which adds up to a lot of grading hours. Today, we’re launching new features to help make grading a little faster and easier.

• Export Grades to Google Sheets: In addition to .csv files, you can now export your grades directly to Google Sheets. The Sheets template includes a class average and an average per student. If you have ideas about how we can make this export to Sheets even more useful, please leave us feedback by clicking the question mark at the bottom left of the Classroom page, then choosing “send feedback.”
• Easier to update grade point scale: We know not all assignments are out of 100 points. You've always been able to change the point value, but a lot of teachers had trouble finding this feature. So we’ve made it easier to change the grading scale to any number you need it to be.
• Keyboard navigation for entering grades: When you’re entering lots of grades, you need a fast way to navigate from student to student. We’ve added the ability to use the up and down arrows to move directly from the grade entry area for one student to another.
• Sort by name on grading page: In addition to sorting students by completion status (done, not done), you can now sort by first or last name.
• And in case you missed it last month, you can now add a private comment for a student when you’re returning their work.

In addition to these grading improvements, we’ve been hard at work on other updates. We’ve polished the look and feel of Classroom on the web with icons to help differentiate items in the stream and added a cleaner look for comments and replies. We’ve also recently updated our Android and iOS mobile apps, so they’ll now load even faster. You can post questions for students on the go, and Android teachers can reuse previous posts. Finally, you can now post a question from the Classroom Share Button, which you can find on some of your favorite educational websites.

We hope you’ll find these updates helpful, and you’ll get a chance to relax and refresh over the winter break (or summer, for our friends in the Southern Hemisphere). Look for more Classroom updates next semester.

The new Certified Innovator Program is here (and better than ever!)

From Becky Evans, Program Manager, Google for Education:

It was over a decade ago when we held our first Google Teacher Academy with a goal of bringing together outstanding educators using technology in the classroom. With so many changes since then, we decided it was about time to make some changes to the program as well. So today we’re thrilled to announce that applications are now open for the new and improved Google for Education Certified Innovator program—an energizing 12 month professional development experience for creative leaders in education. Built from the same magic that was present in each Academy, but extended into much more than a onetime event.

Certified Innovators help their organizations, each other and Google push the boundaries of what’s possible in education. As ongoing participants in this community of educators, they transform the organizations they’re serving, advocate for change, and grow their own capacity as thought leaders. The new program focuses on helping Innovators launch a transformative project to help improve education in their schools, regions, or the world. Support includes mentorship, online learning activities, and an in-person Innovation Academy.

See full post at:
http://googleforeducation.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-new-certified-innovator-program-is.html

MS Office Plug-In for Google Drive

This plug-in is only available for Windows users right now, but will soon be available for Mac users too. Watch the video for more information.

Attach a Google Form to Your Classroom

 

From Google for Education: Teachers: It’s now easier to attach a Google Form to your assignments, and you can open responses right from #GoogleClassroom.

Google for EDU Expeditions Pioneer Program

Sign up here. Visit this post for more information.

"Starting today, we’re bringing this experience to thousands of schools around the world with the new Expeditions Pioneer Program. During the 2015/2016 school year, we’ll be bringing “kits” containing everything a teacher needs to run a virtual trip for their class: ASUS smartphones, a tablet for the teacher to direct the tour, a router that allows Expeditions to run without an Internet connection, and Google Cardboard viewers or Mattel View-Masters that turn phones into virtual reality headsets. Although nothing replaces hopping on the bus for a field trip, there are some places that are just out of reach (hello, Chichen Itza!). Virtual reality gives teachers a tool to take students places a school bus can't."

Google Classroom Now Has an Integrated Calendar!

Good news, Classroom now has an integrated calendar! You can view the calendar through Classroom or in Google Calendar. Each class you have created will have its own calendar. Read more information here or get help.

New Google Docs Updates!

"School’s in! As you settle into your classes and start to juggle soccer practice, club meetings and homework, we’re here to help. We’ve been spending the summer “break” creating new tools to help you save time, collaborate with classmates and create your best work—all for free." Check this post for all the information.

Head Back to School with New Features in Google Classroom

Check out this post for all the new Google Classroom updates!

Back-to-School with the Google for Education Training Center

Check out the newly revamped Google for Education Training Center! It offers free, online training for the classroom that helps educators do what they do best, even better. Login with your Google account to keep track of your training and progress whether you've learning the fundamentals or tackling more advanced topics and skills. Pick up where you left off and access your learning anytime, anywhere!

For Teacher Appreciation Week, More New Features in Google Classroom

Teachers now have the ability to ability to grade assignments on phones and give private feedback notes to individual pupils. Check out all the details in this post.

Teaching Teams in Google Classroom

Starting today, you can have multiple teachers for a class in Google Classroom. Just go to your About page and you'll see the button to invite another teacher to your class. You can also save draft assignments until they're ready to post. Read the full post here.

Google Classroom is Currently Down

RT @jencmiller We are currently investigating a #GoogleClassroom outage and will post to the Apps Status Dashboard with info http://goo.gl/NOZTZ

Your Google Apps Learning Plan

In order to provide more on-demand, self-paced learning for all PPS staff around Google Apps for Education, you can now get a Google Apps Learning Plan!

How does it work?
Take 10-15 minutes to fill out the Google Apps Competencies Form. Once it's filled out, you will receive an email with targeted feedback to guide your learning of Google Apps for Education features! You must login with your PPS Google Apps account. The form is embedded below or you can go to http://bit.ly/gappslearningplan.

Please pass this along to colleagues and anyone else who may be interested. Questions? Contact Melissa.

Comparison of Hapara's Teacher Dashboard and Google Classroom

Check out this post for a nice comparison of Teacher Dashboard vs. Google Classroom. It's actually a podcast, but you can see the written transcript as well.

5 Ways School Administrators Can Use Google Apps

Check out this great blog post from @TeacherJenCarey on easy and quick ways for administrators to use Google Apps. Basically, she suggests:

1. Create a shared Google Doc for faculty/staff meetings.
2. Use a Google Form for classroom observations.
3. Use Google Forms for sign-ups.
4. Use Google Calendar's "appointment slots" for meetings.
5. Collect images and videos via a shared folder.

Follow the link above to see more details and resources in the post.

Camp Chromebook 2 and EdcampPDX Express

Show your love for Google and join us on Valentine's Day for another day of Camp Chromebook!
Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015
8:30am-3:30pm
Lewis Elementary
Follow the link above for more information and registration. We are looking for additional workshop session facilitators. Look over the schedule here. If you see a session that you could facilitate or want to recommend your own session, please fill out this form. Lunch will be provided.

EdcampPDX Express

Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015

8:30am-noon

A special express version of EdcampPDX is happening on the Saturday after IntegratED PDX to encourage those attendees to join us and add new voices to the mix. Concordia University is hosting the event at their new Columbia River campus and providing breakfast. Interested folks can also join us for lunch and a photowalk in the afternoon.  Follow the link above for more information and registration.

Google Classroom App is Here!

For Android and iOS.

Here's the full blog post with all the details about what's new in Google Classroom.

Google Chrome | Increase Productivity | The Apps Show

Check out this video for some great tips!