Google Forms now supports automatic closing based on a date, time, or response limit. This update helps teachers automate quiz deadlines and allows clerical staff to cap event registrations automatically. These tools remove the need to manually stop accepting responses. View the screenshot and official update for more information.
Brisk Teaching now integrates directly with Kahoot! to streamline your lesson prep. Simply use the "Create" menu, select "Quiz," and choose "Kahoot" to instantly transform any resource into an interactive game. This update eliminates manual data entry, making reviews more efficient. Watch this video tutorial or read the Brisk newsletter for details.
Google Classroom's new Student Groups feature is a game-changer for teachers looking to differentiate their instruction. With Student Groups, you can easily create customized learning experiences for different groups of students based on their needs, interests, or abilities. Assign specific materials, activities, or assessments to each group, ensuring that every student receives the support and challenges they need to succeed. Review this video tutorial for more information.
Google Forms has recently introduced a new question type called: Rating. This feature allows users to select a scale ranging from 3 to 10 icons, with options including stars, hearts, or thumbs-up. This can be a great option for quick and easy surveys. Give it a try with your next Google Form.
For the past few years, elementary teachers have had the option to prepare report cards with the Post Grades tool or use Progress Monitor. Next school year, Progress Monitor will be the only option for posting report card grades. This fall, I used this presentation to re-introduce Progress Monitor. Use this TIP Sheet as a reference or schedule a Q&A Help Session if your grade-level team would like an in-person demonstration.
The "grading window" will open approximately 10 days before the midterm for teachers in grades 6-12. Use the TIP Sheet to post the In-Progress grades on the Midterm report card.
Google Classroom recently introduced assignment exemptions. Secondary teachers can now mark assignments as "Excused" for individual students, excluding them from the calculated grade. I have not been able to confirm, but it appears that the excused score will also be exported to your IC Grade Book.
I've been sharing information about Google Classroom's Practice Sets. Launched last year, the tool allows educators to create interactive assignments from new and existing content. Students receive real-time feedback as they complete practice sets, and teachers receive performance insights and snapshots of student progress. Now, teachers can save time when creating assignments by importing Google Forms into practice set questions. This new feature makes it even easier to give practice sets a try.
This post highlights another feature I shared in the November after-school PD session, What's New in Google Classroom? Last spring, Google Classroom Practice Sets were introduced to help teachers personalize student learning. Practice sets allow educators to transform their teaching content into interactive assignments and use an auto-grading tool to save time. Teachers also gain insights into student performance to tailor future lesson plans accordingly. Students receive real-time feedback, hints, and visual explainers as they complete practice sets, which can boost their confidence and engagement. Watch the video below for more information.
Summary from MDE Educator Edition, Vol. 2, No. 3: Nov. 6, 2023
On June 30, MDE replaced PearsonAccess Next student tutorials and item samplers. The Student Readiness Tools (SRTs) offer a comprehensive platform for MCA test preparation, familiarizing students with test formats and question types. If students are comfortable with the format and functionality of the test they will be taking, they are better prepared during testing to demonstrate what they know and can do related to the academic standards.
To assist educators in aligning with the Minnesota Academic Standards, MDE launched the Minnesota Questions Tool (MQT). The tool contains hundreds of items to help show how questions are written to reflect the rigor and complexity of the standards.
Yes, GoGuardian can be used to monitor student Chromebooks in the classroom, but its real power comes from Scenes. This feature allows teachers to limit students to one or more websites, or block specific websites. You may have used Scenes in your classroom, but did you know you can apply different Scenes to different groups of students or individual students during a Teacher session? For example, a teacher may use a "Quiz" Scene to limit students to an online assessment. As students finish the quiz at different times, the teacher moves the individual students into a "Research" scene, giving those students access to a variety of selected websites. Watch the video tutorial to learn more.
It is always great to get a quick scan to see where students are with a lesson or for the day. However, sometimes we have students take out their devices, and it becomes a distraction for some quick feedback. If you want to try something new, check out Plickers. The teacher needs to download the app and create cards for each student that they can keep with them. When a teacher asks a question, they need to hold up their answer (a-d) with the direction of their card. The teacher scans the room with their phone and all the answers come right up. The teacher is able to show the class how they responded and is able to keep the data for future reference. It’s a great way to get quick feedback from students when their device isn’t already out. Watch the video tutorial for more information.
Earlier this school year, IXL released a new feature which allows teachers to create custom quizzes. The quizzes are quickly created by selecting the skills, levels, and number of questions assigned. Teachers can link an IXL quiz from Google Classroom, or direct students to the "Quizzes" tab on the IXL website. Review the video tutorial to learn more.
Where is the best place for K-5 teachers to score students' assessments?... IC: Progress Monitor If you are entering assessment scores on a spreadsheet, and later re-entering the scores to post grades in IC, you are wasting valuable time. Watch the video below to learn how to get started with Progress Monitor:
During the summer months, representatives from each grade level (K-5) reviewed the learning targets on the standards-based report card. Any changes to the standards / learning targets have been updated in IC and are displayed on the Progress Monitor tool. The representatives also recommended the following changes:
In addition to the settings changes, IC upgraded the following Progress Monitor features:
If you or your team have not been using Progress Monitor, I encourage you to make the switch. The tool has received positive feedback and continues to improve with input from teachers like you.
If you’re like me, the Kahoot music drives me crazy! I’m a huge fan of Quizlet Live instead. However, Quizlet has an alternative tool for you to use, similar to a Kahoot, but with less annoying music and the same fast individual feedback. Quizlet Checkpoint has been a tool I have used in my classroom the last week or so to introduce new vocabulary word to my students. This tool takes flashcard sets and makes them into a game that you can play as a class but without the teams feature. Now you can keep the game atmosphere but stay focused on the individual students. This new option provides students with a definition and 4 options for the word. Then they have 15 seconds to pick which word it is. At the end, you get a breakdown of which words the students knew the best ranked all the way down to the least known term. It’s a quick formative assessment for any age and a great alternative to Kahoot!
When you or your students respond to a Google Form or Quiz assignment, your progress will automatically be saved as a draft for 30 days from your last edit, or until your submission is complete.
This was highly requested to ensure students won’t have to start over if:
To disable this feature, on a specific Google Form, go to Settings > Presentation > Restrictions > Disable autosave for all respondents.
