Recent Updates to Google Classroom
Over the last few months there have been several updates to Google Classroom; some obvious, some not.
Practice Sets allow teachers to create sets of questions using artificial intelligence (AI). Teachers can either search for questions by topic, type their own questions, or import their own questions. But the real power behind Practice Sets is AI. The AI can identify appropriate remedial resources that the students can access if they do not answer the questions correctly. Thus connecting students to the right resources at the right time. In addition, it uses the questions that you ask to determine suggestions for the appropriate skills sets to associate with that question. Presently, teachers can ask short answer, paragraph, single select, and multi select questions; with the ability to auto score short answer, single select, and multi select questions. For more on practice sets, check the official Google blog.
There is also a new feature that allows you to attach YouTube videos to your Google Classroom assignments and add questions at various points throughout the video. The new YouTube feature is in its infancy and currently works a lot like a basic version of Edpuzzle, for those of you who are familiar with that tool. I have been using this new feature a bit lately and one thing about it that I really liked was that the videos I used were saved as a separate activity that I could then add to other assignments later.
Google has also added Grading Periods and Visiting Google Classrooms features that you can read more about by clicking on the respective links.
Massive Archive of Google Resources
Here is an online spreadsheet of all sorts of Google resources. If you'd like to make a copy of this spreadsheet, click here.
Congratulations Are In Order
This spring we had 4 teachers pass the Google For Education - Level 2 exam and earn their Level 2 certification. Congratulations to Brandy Parks, Veronica Siwy, Kristy Stephens, and Melissa Summerville. All four of these MSD of Boone Township teachers have upped their ed tech game. As a bonus, they each received a $250.00 stipend and 15 Professional Growth Points to use toward renewing their teaching license. In order to earn the Google for Education Level 2 certificate, each of these teachers also had to take and pass the Google for Education Level 1 exam before completing the Level 2 test. Speaking of Google certifications, the Google for Education - Level 1 and Google for Education - Level 2 self-paced classes are available again this fall. Email me and I will send you the invite link to join. The test can be taken at no cost with the use of a voucher and there is a $250.00 stipend awarded to teachers who successfully earn the Level 2 certification.
Other Professional Growth Opportunities for MSD Of Boone Township Teachers
I would also like to invite those of you who are interested in exploring The Modern Classrooms Project (MCP) to complete the online training this fall. In the spring, if there are enough teachers who are interested in using some of the strategies in MCP, I would like to put together a pilot program where we can use the strategies and discuss ways to implement them successfully.
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