Leveraging Google Apps for Student Success in New Jersey

Google's suite of applications offers unparalleled flexibility and accessibility for educators and students.

In functional side-by-side comparisons, Microsoft applications are superior to Google applications. However, I found that opinion to be strictly corporate accounting-based, as that was my previous place of work. Moving into the realm of public education, Google applications are phenomenal. Of course, I still prefer to show students my Excel skills (I use Alt shortcuts), but Google integrates so seamlessly with the other applications my school district uses that I am glad we are a Google district.  

A Cornerstone of Modern Teaching

Google Classroom has become an indispensable tool for managing classroom activities and resources.

The premier Google Classroom application would obviously be Google Classroom. With technological involvement in the classroom more prevalent than ever, there are few better options than Google Classroom. Though the application is not necessarily a physical classroom, Kate McGinnis writes that it is more of a “digital organizer where teachers can keep class materials and share them with students–all paperlessly.” 

During my first week of teaching, I asked my students whether they preferred paper or digital copies, and not one of them wanted paper copies of worksheets and activities.  

Google Classroom is something I could see myself leaning on even if the district did not force us to. 

It is extremely easy to post material, such as scans from my textbook, for us to read as a class. Students can view what I post simultaneously, or they can open the item as a .pdf or in another program, such as Docs or another viewer. I can also post assignments for them to complete, like a worksheet I’ve made. Instead of photocopying a worksheet seventy-two times for one course, I can post it to my three Google Classrooms, and each student can create their own copy. This is not only convenient for me, but I have also tried to emphasize best practices for saving documents and for naming conventions. 

As previously mentioned, for assignments such as worksheets, students can copy announcements about tests. I can force students to be somewhat organized by separating posts by unit, chapter, or however I see fit.  
 

Streamlining Teacher Workflow

Google's suite of productivity tools offers educators a comprehensive platform for managing time, communication, and collaboration.

As teachers, how can we remember all our due dates, conferences, and department meetings? It is pretty simple with Google Calendar. And as a bonus, it is not just your calendar; students can subscribe to it as well. Jennifer Carey shares that since we are essentially adding our events to their life, “they will have the most recent and up-to-date information. They can even sync that calendar to their computer, tablet, or smartphone,” which may be a bit of a reach for now. However, having due date reminders on their phones, something in students' hands almost all the time, might encourage students to complete work on time.  

Even if you do not push Calendar on students, use it for yourself. Not only do many professionals use it, but it is great for scheduling if you are busy, which many teachers are, in my experience. Spoiler alert: all of these Google apps work together and flow into one another. Google Calendar works great for scheduling meetings because you can add someone by their email address (it does not have to be Gmail), being “far easier and faster than setting up a Google Hangout or Skype.” As a bonus, the meeting is automatically set up on Google Meet.  

This application is fairly to the point –Google Meet. Google Meet may not be the first name in video conferencing that comes to mind, or even the basis for the coined name ‘Zoom University’ by college students over the past two years, but the two stack up pretty evenly, in my opinion. Quite frankly, I am not sure how I would have survived the first half of the year without one of the two. Both have tons of features, even though, according to Janette Novak, “Breakout rooms and meeting recordings are available on all Zoom plans but only on paid plans with Google Meet.” 

Our district pays for Google, so I have used breakout rooms for group projects with students who are quarantined, I have worked one-on-one virtually with students in a breakout room, and I have even heard rumors that kids actually used Google Meet at home to work on assignments. Backtracking a bit to Calendar: “all the apps offered work seamlessly together,” so the event you created and added me to can be joined from my Google Calendar to access the Google Meet. I am a big fan of the convenience factor here.  

Enhanced Communication and Assessment
 

Google Meet offers versatile tools for connecting with students, parents, and colleagues.

Aside from purely virtual teaching and group projects, there are many other ways video chats can be used in the classroom. We Are Teachers Staff reports that parents would love to see their child present a project, and now “teachers can take this assignment a step further by recruiting parents, community members, or career professionals,” all by sending out an invite link and streaming the presentation. 

Or perhaps we twenty-something-year-old teachers get anxious thinking about meeting with a fifty-something-year-old parent. Now, we can host a  “Google Meet between [us] and [our] students’ parents” and relax a bit behind a screen. Even hosting a club meeting after school could benefit from a virtual setting. What if a member cannot attend because they do not have a ride home? Some of the best ways to use Google Meet are outside of the classroom.

Back to in-person learning, how can you improve your teaching? How do you know what to improve on? Or what do you do well? Ask the students or an observer. Hint: John R. Sowash notes that they can respond with “a standardized and transparent observation system with Google Forms,” and you can add additional criteria. 

Or maybe giving a “simple math quiz [that] helps first-grade students practice basic math skills and the use of technology in the classroom,” but there’s no limit to the age or subject you can add in. How about the shy student in the corner who certainly will not raise their hand to tell you what is wrong? Using Google Forms “provides a safe space for students to share their current mood and concerns with you” simply by linking to their email address or even anonymously. You are the only one who will see the results. Recently, I used a survey form to ask my students about their music preferences. For some reason, students are embarrassed to talk about things they like out loud, so I made an anonymous survey and now have six class Spotify playlists that everyone loves.  

Enhancing Engagement with Google's Creative Tools

Google's suite of applications offers endless possibilities for creating engaging and interactive learning experiences.

Where am I going with this? Bitmoji classrooms. But that is not a Google application, is it? Sort of. To make a Bitmoji classroom, one must start in Google Slides, the holy grail of reliability. Google Slides is the younger brother of Microsoft PowerPoint, where one can condense readings, lessons, or any kind of information into mini-posters with bits here and there for easier transmission. What blew my mind was how to turn a blank slide into a Bitmoji classroom. Emelina Minero states that using Slides to create a classroom “makes resources like the school calendar easily accessible,” as it links to a picture of a calendar on the wall. It really is somewhere students and, better yet, parents can get involved. There are these “clickable icons link[ed] to assignments, games, read-aloud, and short video lessons,” so it is as if you are in a real classroom with feasible material scattered throughout. All while a Bitmoji (caricature) of yourself sits at the front of the room or waves, dances, or does anything else.  

Google is an amazing suite of resources that can make teaching far easier. As a first-year teacher, I am always on the hunt for convenience, and having all the applications I need in one place is a huge time-saver. From Google Calendar reminding me about things I posted on Google Classroom, to Google Meet adding events to my Google Calendar, everything integrated seamlessly. Aside from that, the tools are superb for students. I can create a form for a test, quiz, rubric, feedback, or even an exit ticket. Granted, I did make my first Bitmoji classroom for an Alternate Route assignment. However, my students got a kick out of it and used it as their classroom for a day. Google products, when used separately, may have better alternatives, but as a package deal and in a classroom setting, they reign supreme and have uses in every setting imaginable.

Adam Jacoby teaches business at Roxbury High School in New Jersey. An accounting major in college, Adam Jacoby used their knowledge of mathematics and economics to pursue a career in teaching through the Rutgers Alternate Route program. The Stockton University graduate is driven by a passion for business education, connecting with students, and imparting to them life-enhancing lessons.