Chapter 1: Getting to Know Google Classroom

Google Classroom is a learning management system (often abbreviated to LMS) offered by Google to teachers. It provides a central location to communicate with students, share resources, pose questions, and create assignments. In an increasingly digital world, Google Classroom helps facilitate online learning for today's digital learners. As with many new applications, Google Classroom comes with a unique look and feel. Since your method of setting up your physical classroom is as unique as your method of teaching, Google Classroom begins as a blank canvas. Before we can add students into Google Classroom, you will need to create online Classes for your physical classes.

First, you will get comfortable with where everything is in Google Classroom. Being the teacher of the Classroom will provide access to options that are not visible to students and will allow you to change settings, such as what students can do in Google Classroom. You will be able to add students to the Classroom, create announcements and assignments, and upload course materials from this teacher view of the Classroom. But first, you will need to create and set up your first Class.

In my Classes, I tend to spend most of my time thinking about the structure of the online Class before creating it. As creatures of habit, establishing online expectations through Google Classroom, similar to what we do in person, will help us and our students know where to turn. Examples of some of the questions I ask myself when planning an online Class include: How do students ask questions? When is it appropriate for them to ask questions? Where do they find resources? How are they dismissed? By establishing this structure at the beginning, you will feel less guilty about not responding when a student contacts you at 7:30 in the evening with a question.

In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:

• Creating your first Google Class
• Navigating around Google Classroom
• Personalizing your virtual Classroom
• Managing resources in your Class
• Inviting additional teachers
• Accessing Classes from Google Classroom's home page

  Note

  Within this book, Class references a Google Classroom Class and class references a bricks-and-mortar classroom.