How to Make Grading Easier! (Google Classroom Tutorial)

Luckily my school district has gone GOOGLE.  This means every child from Kindergarten through 8th grade has their own unique GOOGLE account and unique login information with a district-provided email.  No matter if they are at home or at school, as long as the child has Internet access they may sign into their Google Drive accounts and work on any of their files.

Google Classroom is for you if you are a teacher who:
1. Dreads grading (the process, having to look at unsightly conventions & handwriting errors)
2. Constantly Takes Paperwork for a Ride in Your Car (to/from school without being touched)
3. Is familiar with and already uses Google on a daily basis (for personal and/or work use)

This past summer I was introduced to Google Classroom, and might I say, it is as simple as it looks! Check out the quick tutorial video!  YES!!! It is really easy to get started, especially if all of your students are in a database because your school district technology department has already setup student accounts.

As shown in the Google Classroom 101 video, if you select "Make a copy for each student" when delivering an assignment to your class - it keeps your teacher DRIVE organized without all of the notifications and student files cluttering your "Shared With Me" section.  Google Classroom will give you sharing rights to view each individual student's work but its not taking up memory space in your DRIVE storage.  This is a sanity saver for me!! 

The dashboard allows you to see who has and has not submitted the assignment.  Regardless, you have access to view every student's file.  Another great thing about grading with Google Classroom is you are in control of how little or how much you want to grade!!  And, just as Google Docs/Slides/Sheets (you know Google everything) auto saves as you are working on a document, so does Google Classroom as you are grading!  I can't believe how many times I wish my online gradebook had this feature.  After providing students with their grade and comments, you can "return" the assignment to them so they may view your feedback!

After you have completed your class grading, sort by last name, print and/or toggle back and forth between your online gradebook system for easy inputting of grading.  Typing comments gives that specific and immediate feedback we know is greatly beneficial for students, but it also saves your pretty FLAIR ink pens from dying out after a major writing project or assignment.

If you second guess yourself and really can't figure out whether or not you graded a student assignment or returned it, you can quickly view points received and a message that says "not returned" letting you know your student hasn't been sent your feedback or total points yet.  If you have a bunch of students who should receive the same feedback, simply group them together and before you are prompted if you are ready to return to each individual, you can enter comments that will be delivered to all in that group.  I love how this cuts down on grading time so quickly!

There are some cases where I prefer to give feedback within the actual document itself.  To do this, you can open the actual document and add specific comments on the particular page, paragraph, etc. that you'd like to provide feedback on.  

Here's to hoping your school district will GO google too!

If you'd like to try the free Text Features assignment shown in the preview images above, click here!  Sorry I'm only providing VIEW ONLY access so you will have to make a copy to edit as mentioned with the yellow text box on the title page.