How to use Google Classroom - For Teachers - A step by step guide

In this article, we will look at the Google Classroom Application in detail, we are writing this for Teachers, if you are a Student, your interface is much simpler and is discussed in a separate article here : Link

We found that the best experience for presenting as a Teacher with Google Classroom is from a laptop or a desktop (Linux or Windows or Chrome OS). A pen-enabled touchscreen laptop is useful for Google Meet during presentations.

Screenshots shown in this article are taken on a Laptop with the application accessed through a browser. For Phones or Tablets, the layout of the screen and the placement of the buttons will change, but the features and functionality will remain the same (We tested it on many devices).

Starting Google Classroom

Open the browser and type in the URL bar : classroom.google.com

Provide your E-mail address

Type your password

Preferably, use a 2-Factor Authentication

How to create and manage a class

Click the + button and "Create class"

Agree to the terms and continue

Fill in the necessary details and create the class.

The opening screen will show the "Stream Tab" where all the important messages are displayed. Notice the "Class code" on the class badge? Teacher needs to share this with Students for them to join. If the School is already subscribed to "GSuite For Education", sharing the "Class code" is not needed.

The "Classwork Tab"

The "People Tab" shows all the students

Teacher can E-mail the Student with ease without needing to search for his E-mail address

An example of a post created for the class, all the students will be able to see the post in their "Stream Tab".

A variety of Links, Attachments can be included in the post

The post can be displayed immediately or scheduled for a later time

Scheduling a post

What the student will see

How to create an Assignments

Assignments usually include detailed instructions and sometimes diagrams. The best way to present these to the student is by creating the document first and sharing it as an attachment. In the "Classwork Tab", start by clicking "Google Drive".

Click "New" and create a new document, spreadsheet etc

This can also be shared with other Teachers for modifications

Giving the necessary permissions

Sharing links in Assignments

Once the sharable content is placed in Google Drive, come back to "Classwork Tab", click "Create" and select "Assignment".

The process of creating a Assignment, attachments can be done using the "Add" button

Assignments can also be scheduled

Once assigned, it appears in the "Classwork Tab". "Turned in" shows how many Students have already submitted the Assignment.

The "Calendar" will automatically update the event to the Student's Calendars well. The "Stream Tab" will also update automatically to show the Assignment.

Creating a Quiz Assignment

Quiz Assignments make use of Google Forms and are easy to create. Quiz Assignments can be used to conduct Short Tests or Exams and can generate Grades. Start by clicking "Create" --> "Quiz Assignment"

Fill in the details of the Assignment

Click the "Blank Quiz" form that is included by default, fill the question

Select the type of answer

Add the answers one by one

Fill in the description for "Incorrect Answers" and "Correct Answers"

Webpage links and Youtube videos can be included for explaining

Allot the number of marks for the question and click "Done"

Once saved, the "Quiz Assignment" will show up in the Classroom Tab and the Calendar.

It will also automatically appear in the Stream Tab.

Regular and Quiz Assignments can be reused in the future

When the Students submit the Assignments, "Turned in" shows the number

Details of Students who submitted the Assignments can also be seen

The "Grades Tab" will show the results of the Quiz Assignments

Students can communicate with the Teacher via messages and ask questions

A sample reply from the Teacher

Q & A Strategy

Students can post questions during the live class session to the chat section of Google Meet. Teacher can either answer them right away or answer all the questions one by one towards the end of the session.

After the live session is complete, students can ask questions using "Messages" of Google Classroom.

Conclusion

We are confident this article covers most of the features of Google Classroom, we will continue expanding it as and when Google adds more features.

Teachers can let us know any questions in the comments below regarding the software. We will explore and try to find the answers.

Google Classroom can be accessed from various devices and we have discussed them in detail here : Link

For Teachers who use Google Meet as well, a detailed demo of Google Meet's features is here : Link