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Alice Keeler

7 Hacks for Google Classroom

7 Hacks for Google Classroom
7 hacks for Google Classroom

I love using Google Classroom. It solves the sharing permissions problem when using Google Docs and makes it so easy for me to find all student work in one convenient place in Google Drive. When I have a specific wish for Google Classroom I use Google Apps Script to create a custom solution.

Keep a Roster

Many of my scripts require that you have a roster of your students and their email addresses. I suggest you keep a Google spreadsheet with this information as a template you can copy and paste from. In any Google Classroom assignment, from the assignment grading screen, click on the settings wheel to “Download these grades as CSV.” This gives you a list of student names and email addresses. (The “all grades” option does not include email addresses). Upload the CSV file to Google Drive and right click to open in Google Sheets. Save this as a template to reference frequently!
Download these grades as CSV

1. RosterTab

Create a spreadsheet that assigns each student a tab.
alicekeeler.com/rostertab

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Attach the spreadsheet in Google Classroom as “Students can edit file.” Each student locates their named tab to do their work. This gives the teacher one document to open to review student work.

Click Here for RosterTab blog post.

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2. DiscussionTab

Create a spreadsheet to facilitate a classroom discussion.
alicekeeler.com/discussiontab

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Create a list of discussion topics on the first sheet. A sheet for each question will be created. Tip to rename long tab names. Attach the spreadsheet in Google Classroom as “Students can edit file.” Use the spreadsheet to let all students give initial thoughts on a topic.

Click Here for DiscussionTab blog post.

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3. PDF My Folder

Create a PDF of each students submission to Google Classroom. Helpful if you need to print student work.
alicekeeler.com/pdfmyfolder

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While my first question is… why do you want to print? Putting student work on the wall is a good thing to do. You can also use this script to freeze submissions at a certain point in time.

Click Here for PDF my Folder blog post.

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4. Grade the Folder

My favorite!! Providing high-quality feedback to students takes some time. Use this script to facilitate the process.
alicekeeler.com/gradethefolder

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This script extracts all of the submitted student work from a Google Classroom assignment folder to a Google Sheets spreadsheet.

Optionally you can randomize the submissions to give each student a chance to get feedback first.

Grade the Folder lets you rename the student documents to let you know the grading status.
I first set everyone’s status as “FB needed.”

As I provide feedback, I change the status on the spreadsheet to “graded” or “FB given.” Running the script renames the documents to let you and the students know that the document has been reviewed.

Click Here for Grade the Folder blog post.

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5. Group Maker

Easily assign students to groups and post them to Google Classroom.
alicekeeler.com/groupmaker

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Group maker randomly assigns your roster to groups. Manually edit after the script has run if group adjustments need to be made. Attach the spreadsheet in Google Classroom as “Students can view file.” Students can check the spreadsheet to see what group they are in.

Click Here for the Group Maker blog post.

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6. Group Document Maker

Assign a Google Doc template to each group.
alicekeeler.com/groupdocs

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This script builds on the group maker script. Assign students to random groups or set your own groups. The script creates a copy of a template you create to allow groups to work together on the same document. Each group member is added as an editor to the document. Other groups can not view other group documents. Attach the spreadsheet in Google Classroom as “Students can view file” to allow students to easily locate their group and their document.

Click Here for the Group Document Maker blog post.

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7. List Docs

Create a list of all of the documents submitted to a Google Classroom class. If documents have been returned, sort by student to see what they have turned in.
alicekeeler.com/listdocs
alicekeeler.com/showdocs

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Use the Google Classroom class folder ID to create a list of everything attached to every assignment in Google Classroom. List Docs creates a single list. Show Docs creates a sheet per assignment. This script is not dynamic so new submissions are not updated to the sheet. However, it can be handy to have submissions in a spreadsheet to allow you to make notes or sort and filter.

Click Here for the List Docs blog post.

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