I don’t know about you but I love Google. How did I ever teach without it? It has opened up an entirely different world for me and given me the opportunity to do so much in my classroom that I couldn’t have done 5 or 10 years ago. Heck, so much that I couldn’t do 2 years ago. I understand that Google as a concept has been expanding for years now but I am hoping these ideas I am sharing with you will give you a new perspective on how to integrate activities in your classroom.
I am starting my series of how to use Chromebooks in the classroom by discussing how to use Google Forms in a variety of ways to support learning and make your job a little easier. If you aren’t on the Google bandwagon yet, then jump on. It will change your life.
Giving quizzes and Exams
Google forms is an excellent way to test students. It allows you to embed 
videos made by you, from YouTube or from your textbook. Wherever your videos come from, they will need to end up with a YouTube link to be used in the Google Form. And boom…Scoring is a breeze using Google Forms.
Pre Assessment Tool
Use the Form as a way to gather data about what students know when moving into a new chapter or on a specific culture or grammar topic. Use on the first day of school to see what students know about Deaf culture or fingerspelling. If you make the form anonymous, you can project the answers and discuss with the whole class. This will provide you with instant data to guide your instruction and planning.
Class/Activity/Teacher Survey
I used to give my end of the year survey out on paper and it is long. I love that I can put it all into a Form and send it to students without killing a couple of trees. It also puts all the information in a nice spreadsheet that I can look over and see what needs to be improved on, thrown out or kept as an integral part of the class. Don’t limit yourself to just a survey about the class structure and procedures. Take a class vote on what movie to watch on a free day or which review game students want to play before the test. See my end of the year survey questions here.
Exit Slips
About 4 years ago I started using exit slips as a way to check students understanding. I know there are a million ways to do this and get the same results, but what I like about using a form is it is paperless and you get instant feedback on where students are. No more shuffling through tons of paper or post-it notes. Varying how you do exit slips make them more entertaining, however, forms are one quick and easy idea.
Learning Stations
Set up your stations by incorporating the form. Add a video and questions to check for
comprehension. Place the activity onto the form itself or just require answers to be placed on it. This is a great activity to use with a substitute or to get students moving around the room. The form lets you know that students have completed the work and holds them responsible.
Homework
Forms is a great way to collect work students do outside of the classroom. I have been working on turning my Signing Naturally workbook pages into Google forms (with the help of a team of teachers) for easier grading. You can check it off in a snap and with Flubaroo grading is simple and convenient. I also have students submit homework videos and other homework assignments on a Form for easy collection, time management and again the convenience of going paperless. You can turn most of your assignments into a form and this will help keep you organized…imagine all that work in one place!
Tutoring Sign in/out
Use the form to keep track of tutoring records. I place the link to the form on the homepage of my website and students are responsible for checking in. This allows me to work with students one on one in the order they come in while also allowing me to track who is attending tutoring and how often.
Bell Ringer/Review
Send that form out to kids to use as a warmup at the start of class for students to review material that was taught the day before. I like to add videos of vocabulary and have students fill in the word or you can do multiple choice options. You can also use the upload feature and have students record themselves using terminology to create a story or a series of sentences. Students can use the Chromebook camera and upload the file from the computer.
Rubrics
Create your rubric in Forms to make an easy way for you to provide grades and feedback to students. I use Google sites with students. I make students collaborators on the Form and they make their own copy. Students attach the form next to all of their video uploads on Google sites and receive their score immediately after you grade.
Student Data
Eliminate some of your paperwork and filing by using Forms to gather student information. Ideas for your Form could be parent phone numbers and email, student birthday, what student wants to be called, allergies of health concerns or if parents want to volunteer. Whatever information you want to gather can be placed on one form and filed digitally.
Google Forms allows you to create all types of questions:
- Checkbox
- Short answer
- Paragraph
- Upload
- Multiple choice
- Dropdown menu
Choose a format that works for what you are trying to accomplish. Don’t limit yourself to only using these ideas with students. Try using with parents, staff members, administration, even yourself! Remember, if technology is new to you, don’t try to incorporate everything at one time. Choose what works for you so you don’t become overwhelmed.
If you didn’t take the survey above please do it before you leave!
