Classroom
A Parent Guide 5-12
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Google Classroom: A Parent Guide 5-12 by Scott Kinkoph is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://bit.ly/GCPg512.
Table of Contents
Click to take you to specific portions of this document.
What devices can be used to access Google Classroom? [4]
How do I log into Google Classroom? [5]
Chromebook, Laptop, Desktop View
Class Dashboard > Calendar [9]
Classroom [10]
Stream [11]
Stream > View all [12]
Classwork [13]
People [14]
Smartphone View
Signing in to the Classroom app [16]
Classroom Dashboard [17]
Stream [18]
Classwork [19]
People [20]
Guardian Summary [21]
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What is Google Classroom?
Google Classroom is a digital space used by teachers to organize work and provide feedback to students on an ongoing basis.
This document provides guidance and information about the various parts of Classroom.
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What devices can be used to access Google Classroom?
Most devices connected to WiFi or mobile data will be able to access and open Google Classroom. Those devices include
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How do I log into Google Classroom?
Desktop or Laptop
1. Search for Google Classroom.
2. Click on the link for Google Classroom.
3. Click on Go to Classroom.
4. Sign in with your child’s email address for the username.
5. Sign in with your child’s password.
6. Google Classroom will open to the Dashboard.
Smartphone or Tablet
1. Install and open the the app from the App Store or Play Store.
2. Sign in with your child’s email address for the username.
3. Sign in with your child’s password.
4. The app will open to the Dashboard.
Chromebook
1. Open the Chromebook.
2. Sign in with your child’s email address for the username.
3. Sign in with your child’s password.
4. Locate the Google Classroom app by clicking the Launcher button on the keyboard. Launcher button look likes a magnifying glass.
A parent/guardian can only log into a child’s Google Classroom using the child’s username and password. If a parent is logged into their own Google profile, or any other profile (name@gmail.com), and try to access Google Classroom, an error will take place and access will not be allowed.
The simplest way of accessing Google Classroom is to use your child’s Chromebook. Other methods are listed below for you to use.
Type in student email address
Type in student password
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Chromebook, Laptop, Desktop View
Classroom Dashboard
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The dashboard displays cards for all of the classes in which your child is enrolled. On each card are two icons:
1. Click on this icon open work assigned.
2. Click on this icon to open the Google Drive folder.
Above the cards are two other links:
3. To-do which, when clicked, gives a list of assignments organized into four categories.Those categories are: No due date; This week, Next week, and Later. Students can toggle these four categories open or closed to see their work.
4. Calendar which will open up in Google Calendar and display assignment due dates.
The next two pages show and explain To-do and Calendar.
Class Dashboard > To-do
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The To-do page defaults to work due during the current week under the category title This week. Current assignments will be listed under This week and state the title, the class, and the date and time. Not all assignments have a specific time.
Each category lists the number of assignments.
The other categories that To-do displays are No due date, work due Next week, and work due Later.The caret icon can be toggled on and off to show assignments in those categories.
Above the main page are two other categories which are Missing and Done. Click these links to see which assignments are missing or completed.
Class Dashboard > Calendar
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From the Classroom Dashboard, students and/or parents can click on Calendar to see assignments in calendar view. The Calendar provides a simple display of work due by class within the current week.
Above the calendar to the left is a drop-down menu of classes. Click on the drop-down and choose a different class to display those assignments.
The example above shows two assignments due on Thursday 27. Both assignments, when clicked, will take the student to that specific assignment in Google Classroom that contains the title, instructions, attachments, Turn in button, and a field to send the teacher a private comment.
The upper right corner contains a link to Google Calendar. A student can see all assignment due dates in one calendar. However, viewing all assignments this way will be overwhelming for most students.
Classroom
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This is what a class looks like after clicking on a class card in the Dashboard. There are five areas on which to focus.
There are three main navigation tab the stop of the page. These are
1. Stream
2. Classwork
3. People
Below the class image are two areas.
4. Stream is the place where teachers post class messages to students as needed.
5. Upcoming displays assignments coming due.
The next pages dive deeper to explain about each of the items above.
Stream
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Stream is where teachers will post messages or announce class information to students. There are two parts to this page: Stream of announcements and Upcoming.
Teachers can share messages to the whole class, a small group of students, or individuals via the Stream. Any message, or announcement, sent to a small group of students or individuals will only go to those particular students. As parents, look here to see what the teacher is announcing to your child. This could be a reminder for an upcoming test, a reminder about class, or other types of messages.
To the left of the Stream is Upcoming. Upcoming displays specific assignments to students that are due within the next seven days. The work displayed in Upcoming is linked to a specific assignment. Click on an individual assignment in Upcoming and that assignment will open. Clicking on View all in the Upcoming box will open all of the work a student has been assigned. The next page displays what View all looks like when clicked.
Stream > View all
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After you click on View all (under Upcoming on the Stream page) you are brought to this screen. This screen displays
1. A list of all assignments. Take note of the due dates and times they are due.
2. The menu on the left has three categories, and each is clickable. The categories are:
Assigned will show assignments that are assigned and not completed yet.
Returned will show assignments that have been returned by a teacher.
Missing will show assignments that have been assigned but are missing or not completed.
Classwork
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Classwork is the area of Classroom where teachers organize work for students using a weekly organization scheme. Within the week teachers can give five different types of work. The types of work are
Assignment, noted by this icon , is work students need to complete by a due date.
Quiz Assignment, noted by this icon , is a quiz designed in Google Forms.
Material, noted by this icon , can be a document, video, PDF, or other file a student needs for class. Think of these as handouts.
Question, noted by this icon , is a short answer or multiple-choice question a teacher asks for a variety of reasons. Questions can also be used to create a digital discussion between students in a class.
The numbered areas of the screen are as follow:
1. The week with assignments under each week.
2. The weeks under All topics can be clicked to show one week at a time.
3. Click View your work to show a list of all assignments students are to complete.
4. Class drive folder will open the associated Google Drive folder for this class.
5. Google Calendar will open a class’s Google Calendar displaying all work by date and when they are due.
People
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People allows a student and parent to quickly access the teacher by clicking on the email the icon. Gmail will open and an email can be sent.
There will also be a list of all of the other students enrolled in the class. Next to each name, there will be an email icon that will allow you to send an email via Gmail to that student.
Smartphone and Tablet View
Download the Classroom app from the App Store or From Google Play
Signing in to the Classroom app
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Step 1 - Enter your child’s email address and click next.
Step 2 - Enter your child’s password and click next.
Classroom Dashboard
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The Classroom Dashboard shows the class cards vertically. At the top of each card is the title of the class. The bottom left hand corner displays the teacher name. Under the card assignments with due dates are listed.
Title of class
Teacher name
Assignment
Stream
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This is the Stream view. Announcements from teachers will appear below the class image and include any attachments.
At the bottom of the screen are three menus. These are
Click on these menus at any time to navigate within Google Classroom.
Announcement with an attachment. Click on the attachment to see what the teacher has provided.
Three menus are
Stream
Classwork
People
Classwork
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This is the Classwork view. This is organized by week with assignments in number order. Due dates appear below each assignment with a time.
Above the weeks are two symbols.
Week with assignments due.
Three menus are
Stream
Classwork
People
Filter by topic which will take you to a different screen for a single week to be chosen.
To-do will display a list of missing, assigned, or returned assignments.
People
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People displays the teacher and a list of the other students enrolled in the class. There is an email icon next to each name. Click the email icon to open the Gmail app to send a message to the teacher or to one of the other students in the class.
Teacher Name
Guardian Summary
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Teachers will invite you to receive a Guardian Summary, and the invitation will be sent to the home email address on file in Progressbook. BBHCSD suggests the invitation be accepted as one form of classroom to home communication. Accepting Guardian Summaries from one teacher will provide information for all of the classes in which your child is enrolled.
A summary will come to your home email daily or weekly. Each parent determines how often to get the summary.
Guardian Summary is a list of
See a Guardian Summary example to the left.
Technical Help
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