Posting documents on Google Classroom that don't need to be submitted

[UPDATE: Google Classroom has fixed this problem with the addition of the Post Material option, so this post is moot.][Does Google ever run their updates by actual teachers?! ]

I have a particular problem with the new Google Classroom - you can't assign a topic to an announcement.

So if I want student to be able to go back and locate a worksheet or a text document to study for a quiz or test, I have to post it as an assignment, so the posts are organized by topic.

But if I am sending out a graphic organizer on Google Docs, I want the students to have their own copy, and I don't want them to have to submit the document back to me - it's there for them to use, and to train them to take notes.

I tried to do it as I did last year, but it didn't work.

Unfortunately, as teachers we cannot see what the student gets when we post something. Luckily I have a fake student account, and recently I went back and forth through 4 different attempts until I got what I needed.

To wit:
1. Send out as an Assignment so that it can be grouped with the other worksheets and easily retrieved later.
2. Force each student to make a copy of the original document so that each student is working on his/her own copy
3. Not require them to return the document to me, but just to click the MARK AS DONE button.

The Process

Step One: Create your document on Google Docs.

Step Two: Change the Sharing settings from Anyone with the link can edit to Force everyone to make a copy.

You can do that manually (see directions here) or you can use the Sir Links-a-Lot Chrome extension (see post here).
Make sure the new link is saved to your clipboard.

Step Three: Open Google Classroom and Create an Assignment.

Name the assignment, change the Points Value to "Ungraded," do not assign a Due Date, and assign a Topic.

Do NOT use the Add Link feature! Paste the force-copy link on the Instructions line, and click ASSIGN.

This is what the student sees:

Student clicks on the link and it opens another window and forces them to make a copy. Student can then just click MARK AS DONE and clear the "assignment."

Individual copies in Google Docs

A teacher came to me with a very specific need. He wanted to send out a note-taking template - that he used to xerox and hand out - as a Google doc.

He did not want to have to collect them, so he did not want to use the Assignment feature of Google Classroom with "EACH STUDENT WILL GET A COPY." But he also wanted the option of being able to look at them on line to see how their note-taking skills were progressing.

He did not want to convert it to a pdf and have the students write on it with Kami, because he wanted them to have as much space as they needed to write.

He was also concerned about document spacing - when the students would type in the allotted space on the document, it would push all the white space he had previously created for the students' handwriting.

Spacing

The last problem just required some creative editing. I suggested that rather than leave all the white space, he should just add "RESPONSE - " (or the appropriate prompt) after the question and leave one blank line after that. The students can place their cursor after the word "RESPONSE - " (or whatever) and they can type as much as they like for each question.

So from this...














to this.

Sharing

Deciding how to share the document with all his students, allowing each student to get his/her own copy (no collaborative note-taking!) took some more experimentation. If he just shares the document with the entire class, everyone will be writing on the same document.

The best way to meet all of his expectations is:

Share the Google doc with the class as a Can View.

The students will not be able to write anything on it.

Then the students should be instructed to make a copy of the document. (File > Make a Copy) . The new file will be called Copy of [Whatever the file was named].

Instruct the students to replace "Copy of" with their name, and to share it with the teacher.

This satisfies all the requirements - each student gets his/her own copy, and the teacher can view them when needed and offer feedback or encouragement.

Lesson Planner Lost & Found

Although I have moved much of my life online (attendance and grades, file storage, bill paying, shopping) I have yet to find an online app or program that could replace the same type of wire-bound lesson planner that I've been using for 28 years.

I wasn't sure what I was looking for, exactly, but I felt, as Justice Potter Stewart said in an entirely different context, that "I [would] know it when I see it."

I finally found a fully customizable program that gave me exactly what I wanted (more on that in a bit), only to be disappointed to receive an e-mail that it was eliminating the free version, and the features that I wanted would now cost me $14.95/month. No thank you. I could get HBO for that.

But having had the program, albeit briefly, it finally clarified for me the criteria I needed to design one on my own. I wanted something that would differentiate between my classes, add a date stamp, give me room to describe what I taught, what got sent out to my students and whether I posted any handouts or SMARTBoard notes to Google Classroom.

The first part of my solution has been Google Forms. (I know, right? It was there all along along, like the Purloined Letter, or the ability to go back to Kansas.)

If you're unfamiliar with Google Forms, I'll provide a brief tutorial. If you are familiar with it, check out the next post, which will detail  the ways I am organizing and displaying all this data once I collect it.

Setting up the Google Form

What follows is what I did to meet my needs. You can set it up however you wish to meet your own needs.

Go to Google Forms (or just Google it) and choose a new document. Click on the first "Untitled Question," rename it Date. In the pull-down menu on the right, choose Date.

Click the + on the side to add another variable, and rename it. This spot is going to be for my classes, so I will name it "Class" and I am going to use a Dropdown menu and add each of my classes.

For the description of my lesson (again, click the + and rename the question), I might need lots of room, so I will choose Paragraph.

For my handouts (or this year, with 1:1 Chromebooks, send-outs), I will just choose the Short Answer.

For the last piece, a reminder whether I posted anything to Google Classroom, I just used a Multiple Choice question with two options - Yes or No.

 I have taken this form and put a link to it on my Bookmarks Bar in Chrome.
Next post: Now that we are collecting this data. what do we do with it?

UPDATE: I ended up adding two more categories - one for Homework and a follow-up to Post to Google Classroom - If so, then what?

UPDATE #2: I realized that I really didn't need all of this information as the semester wore on. To streamline the process I eliminated the Homework entry and the Handouts entry, as it was duplicated by the What did I post to Google Classroom entry.

Kami - Fill out pdfs online

Several teachers have asked me about making the switch to Google Docs. They are concerned about converting their documents from Word or other text editors (especially some of the Judaics teachers who cling tenaciously to Davka Writer).
 They are also concerned with the problem of formatting - when you start typing on a Google doc, it pushes the blank space between questions forward.

Kami is a Chrome app and extension that opens in your browser and allows you (or the students) to write in blank space in a pdf. (And remember, you can use Share to Classroom to shoot Kami out to your students on the first day of class!)

So if you have a worksheet that in the past was printed out and filled in by hand in class, you can convert them to pdfs (just 'Save As... pdf' in most word processors) and then you can upload them to Google Classroom as Assignments (not Announcements) and have the students fill them out on the Chromebooks. Imagine - no more reading difficult handwriting! Reminder: Make sure to choose 'Make a copy for each student' before assigning.

Installing Kami

Just have the students install the Kami app as well as the extension (which allows for offline work) and when they open the assigned document in Chrome, they should select Open ... Kami.

The first time you (or your students) open a document in Kami, it will ask for access to your Google Drive. 

IT IS CRUCIAL THAT YOU ALLOW THIS ACCESS! Otherwise it will not work with Google Classroom properly, and work will get messed up or lost. (I know, I have a few "tinfoil hat" kids who are paranoid about granting access online, but trust Google and Kami. I've met the designer. He's cool.)

Using Kami

Most features of Kami work without paying for the Pro account. (There's one important exception, as we shall see.) Click on the T to add text anywhere within the blank space.  Kami gives a pretty bright choice of colors for text, but you can click the Settings gear and choose a more subdued, darker, legible color for text.

Begin typing

You just click on the Text button (the T in the circle) and then you can then begin typing normally in whichever language you choose. 

(English has spell-check; Hebrew does not.) And you can go back to your answer later and edit it, which is a feature missing from similar programs.

Saving and Google Classroom

Assuming you have signed in to Kami, the program will automatically save your work as you type.  However, it will not automatically save back to Google Drive unless you are running the Pro version. (Currently $99/teacher/year.)

  This is very important, because if you are assigning the document through Google Classroom the work needs to be saved there as well.

When you click the Sync button on the top right, you can MANUALLY save the file in Google Drive as well. (I say 'as well' because Kami will also keep a copy of it. Which is all the good, because things sometimes get lost.)

 

However, for this to work properly, the student will have to re-direct Kami to save the document in its Google Classroom folder. (They could move it after they're done and before they're ready to submit their assignment, but I think in the long run it's easier to train them to do it from the start every time.) 

In each student's Google Drive, there is a folder called "Classroom." Within that folder are folders for each of their classes. Within those folders are the files (Google Docs, pdfs, etc.) for each GC Assignment.

The student must first click >→ Move, and then maneuver to the appropriate folder.

 This only needs to be done once per document. But it is crucial for submitting the finished work to the teacher in Google Classroom. If they do not, they will end up returning the original blank document instead of the copy with all their answers in it.

When the student is finished working in the pdf document, they should save it one more time, and then they can head back to Google Classroom. The document in their folder is now the filled-in pdf. Like any other Google Classroom assignment, when they're ready, they can just click TURN IN.

That's it. The teacher gets the completed pdf the same way s/he gets any document through Google Classroom.  And if the teacher uses Kami, s/he can grade and comment on the pdf as well. Postscript: Just in case you were worried, once the pdf is submitted to the teacher, Kami will not allow it to be edited directly by the student.

How to use the Assignment feature on Google Classroom for Student Uploads

I was asked about using the Assignment feature for Google Classroom (GC) for items that are not Google Docs, Slides etc.

The teacher wanted to have the students take phone pictures of their written work in their workbooks and submit the pics through GC, because she wanted to make use of the Assignment feature that keeps track of who has submitted and who has not (yet).

This method can be used to upload ANY material that is created or found by the students - artwork, Word documents, web links, videos, etc.

While I was at it, I decided this would be a good opportunity to show you what the students see when they do an assignment on GC.

START OFF by going to GC, clicking the +, and choosing Create Assignment

Your assignment is for the students to upload a camera pic of their work

When the STUDENT gets the assignment - this is what s/he sees in her/his GC:

Once they have completed their work and photographed it, they click ADD to upload their picture.

The students can also include a PRIVATE message to the teacher that is NOT seen by the rest of the class. When they are done, they click TURN IN.

It gives them one last chance ...

Once they submit the work, it shows up as done. If they're having second thoughts, they can UNSUBMIT it before the teacher opens it.

Back on the TEACHER'S GC, you can see how many have submitted the assignment.

 When you click on X DONE, you can see WHO has submitted the assignment. You can then click on the file and view it.
(For advanced users - if you use the Chrome extension Pic Monkey, you can write comments on the picture.)

Once you've seen the submission, you can grade it and return it.

You can also respond privately to any posted questions.