Get More Googley
Because Chromebooks matter too
We’re an iPad-heavy district, hence why my recommendations and advice tend to lean in that direction. While most of us use the Google Suite to one degree or another, much of our use is predicated on what will also work well with the iPads, but that iOS-centric tunnel vision can result in missing out on a lot of great tools that are built solely for browsers and Chromebooks, and even some that have cross-platform compatibility but just never bubble to the surface of our Apple-laden environment, so whether you’ve got a fleet of iPads or Chromebooks at your disposal, read on to learn how you can ramp up the Googliness in your classroom!
Hyperdocs and Choice Boards
If you’ve dabbled in the standard suite of Google tools for any amount of time and haven’t yet attempted to wield their power to build some sort of choice and agency into your students’ work, you’ve thus far been missing out on the true power of the tools. Hyperdocs have been around for some time and aren’t at all a hard concept to understand — they’re digital-aged worksheets on steroids — single Google docs stuffed with instructions, links to external tools, task descriptions, rubrics, etc. and given a beautified interface (tables, colors, images, internal navigation links) to allow for students to work through a full lesson or concept from one digital “place.” The best of these provide multiple pathways for learning and choices for how a student demonstrates that learning. You can find templates and more examples than you’d ever want over on the official site.
The challenge with Hyperdocs is that they can be a bit overwhelming to venture into for the first time until you’ve gotten some practice crafting them, even if you are starting from a template. The spiderweb structure can be a bit much to wrap your head around, and crafting a hyperdoc that’s more than just a few links slapped on a worksheet takes a bit of time.
The choice board or learning menu concept, is a much simpler way to begin using the power of Google to provide choice to students and differentiate in your classroom without as steep a learning curve. Learning menus have been around forever in static form and can be as simple as a tic-tac-toe board of options, or as complex and detailed as this restaurant menu-themed slides template (There are references to a lot of Chromebook-friendly tools in that one too, btw!). These can be used with almost any age group and the level of choice can be customized to meet your students’ needs. Reading, writing, math and vocabulary are all ripe for choice board use!
Many times students are asked to pick at least one of a number of choices within a certain category on a choice board or menu, thus ensuring that essential concepts are covered by all students no matter what combination of choices are made. The keys here are to provide choices that are varied enough to cater to a variety of learning styles, categorize them so there aren’t any that appear overly easy or hard as compared to the other available options, and make mandatory anything that absolutely needs to be. You can further vary the form by assigning point values to each task and simply requiring that students’ choices add up to a certain sum total. Set achievement levels along the way and assign badges to students as they progress through the choices, and you’re well on your way to gamifying your classroom…but that’s a topic for another day!
New Visions Curriculum
I’ve shared this site with some before, but it’s definitely worth a second (or first) look. Newvisions.org has a very well done and thorough collection of FREE resources (I’m talking full unit plans with all lessons, pacing guides, handouts, materials, posters, etc.) for ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies and “Middle School,” which is further divided into Reading, Discourse, Writing, and Vocabulary sections. The Reading Routines and Silent Collaboration strategies under the Middle School umbrella are excellent instructional strategies that are equally applicable to a variety of levels.
Overall, it’s one of the very best free curricular resources I’ve ever come across, and it is all composed of Google docs and slides, external links and PDFs, all of which can be saved to your Drive or shared to a Google Classroom with one click, used as is or edited to your heart’s content.
Google Cast for Education
This tool allows users to mirror a tab from one device running the Chrome browser (i.e. your kids’ Chromebooks) to another device (i.e. your computer). As such, it would allow for students to easily and seamlessly present their findings to the class without the need for previously submitting their work to the teacher. Check out the video below for a quick overview, then go to the Google Chrome store and download the Google Cast for Education extension for your Chrome browser. It’ll install a little green casting icon on your menu bar and walk you through an extremely brief setup. You can choose to allow immediate access or “request” privileges to individual student accounts, groups and even entire Google classrooms.
Google Applied Digital Skills
Here’s another tool I’ve touched on with a few before, but it is an absolute gold mine that’s been largely untapped in our district. The Google Applied Digital Skills curriculum allows students (and teachers) to learn and practice valuable tech skills while working through engaging project-based learning activities like “Planning for an Event” or “Picking the Next Box Office Hit.” Your students will learn transferrable word processing, presentation, spreadsheet manipulation skills couched within a project focused on content-area learning goals. The lessons apply to a number of different disciplines, including creative writing, research, economics, math, study skills, career exploration and more, and are suitable to a variety of age groups. They are collaborative in nature but may be completed at an individual pace. This is about as neatly-packaged as HIGH QUALITY tech integration gets, people!
That’s it for today, folks. Hopefully at least one of these tools or ideas can allow you to get a little more out of your Google suite than you were before. If you have any questions, you know where to find me!
