Google Classroom
Have you heard your child talk about Google Classroom? It's a free web service for schools that makes it easy for learners and instructors to connect—inside and outside of schools. AFUHSD has been using Google Classroom for five-six years and more teachers are implementing this communication tool each year.
It is a one-stop shop where teachers can push out resources to their students. Students can turn in assignments, write and organize their work, have a quick place for resources, have access to a calendar for all assignments, and have access to all course materials.
What it looks like for your student(s)?
Your student will be able to see a menu of options on the left with the following headings:
Your Work
Class Drive Folder
Classroom Calendar
Google Calendar
There is also a list of topics directly underneath the menu. Teachers can assign topics for assignments to help with organization. You can click on any topic and a list of those assignments will appear.
On the class stream, your student will see a stream of "posts" or assignments. You can see an example of resources provided from the "post" at the top, as well as the option to add a class comment.
You will see how your students can turn in assignments. They MUST hit Turn In for the assignment to be completed and you can see that if that is not completed, the word MISSING will remain on the assignment.
What are the benefits?
Provides resources to students - such as websites, documents and notes.
Allows teachers to give immediate feedback to students as they are working on assignments or tests.
Helps students see what classroom work they may have missed so they can catch up.
Monitors student understanding of a topic so teachers may differentiate instruction.
Makes it possible to "flip" the classroom so students can learn concepts at home with videos and resources.
Connects teachers and students - inside and outside the classroom.
Ensures all students have the same online resources at their fingertips.
Google Classroom's main function is student and teacher collaboration and communication. It organizes student work and classroom resources in one convenient, online dashboard.
Google Classroom offers a program called Guardian Summaries. This program allows parents to receive a weekly or daily summary of assignments and classroom activities. If parents are interested in using this feature, they should contact their child's teacher.
how to sign up for PARENT NOTIFICATIONS
Not only can teachers assign work, and provide feedback to your students through Google Classroom, but they can also keep parents in the loop.. Any email address will do—a Gmail account is not required. Just ask your student's teacher to be included and they can add your email.
Once added, parents/guardians will begin receiving email summaries outlining class activity, including missing work for their student, as well as upcoming work. Parents can choose to receive Daily or Weekly summaries. See a sample of an email summary here.
Once a parent/guardian email address is linked to a student, it is linked for the entire domain/district. Don’t want your class included in email summaries? You can opt out by turning the “Include this Class” switch off.