I’m back with more Google goodness! Today’s tutorial will be on how to setup Google Classroom!
We all know that our time is limited at school. We just don’t get enough of it. Planning, analyzing data, grading…there is just not enough time to get it all done. But with a little help from Google Classroom, you too can be a super teacher and stay organized.
In my school, we use Google Classroom. It’s a tool within Google Apps for Education designed to help teachers create and collect classwork paperlessly! Yes, you heard me…NO MORE PILES TO GRADE! When you set it all up, it creates Google Drive folders for each assignment and for each student to help keep everyone organized. Let me give you a tour of what it looks like!
To create a Google Classroom page, you’ll first have to sign up at HERE and is limited to schools that sign up for Google Apps for Education. But don’t worry, it’s free to sign up.




This is a great post. I love this idea! I’d love to read more about creating rubrics and Doctopus extensions. Can’t wait!
Finding primary teachers who use google classroom has been difficult. I’ll be piloting it next year in 2nd grade. I’d love to learn from you!
I like Google Classroom. Did your K’s and 1st graders use chromebooks and are you 1 to 1?
Our 3-12th graders use Chromebooks while our K-2nd use tablets. :) We are a 1:1 district.
I would like to use this but have a few questions. Do all of my kids have to have a Gmail account? Our school only has enough Chromebooks for the kids to have them once a week. Can I only do writing assignments?
What kid of training would my 2nd graders need. What if they can’t type very well?
Thank you,
Denise
Hi Denise! Yes, all your students using Google Classroom will need an account to start. You can upload any kind of assignment or link to watch educational videos too! I use it for all subject areas. I would recommend having your second graders start practicing their typing skills on free online sites such as funtotype.com or typingweb.com. Hope this helps! :)
We are 1:1 in a 7th-12th grade school with Chromebooks and use all things Google, including Classroom. I just wanted to recommend Flubaroo extension for grading Google Form quizzes or assignments. It’s a Google Sheets extension that has some awesome auto-grade features. It’s also a fully free extension. Here’s a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U06W3H_iDho
And here’s the link to the extension: http://www.flubaroo.com/try-flubaroo-now
Wow ,thanx :-)
Hi,
I am new to all things Google this year. My 2nd graders have 1:1 Chrome books and we have been using Google Docs and Google Slides. I have a Google Classroom but haven’t taken the time to figure it out. (yours is the first site that popped up on my “how to” search today!) How do you prevent parents from doing the writing for the students? I assign digital math homework and tell the parents that if they are doing their child’s homework for them, it will show up on the chapter test. Do you do the same thing for writing?
I love the idea of using google classroom, but I’m stumped with how to use it with my 2nd graders. We do have 1:1 ipads in the classroom. What are some ways you have used google classroom with your students? At this time, my 2nd graders do not have any typing experience.
You can use it for lots of things! You could start out by having writing assignments or reflections on there for them to complete. :) Or even a Google Form with a word problem for math to check for understanding.
Hello!!
I love your posts!! They are amazing! I have a question about google classroom. Did your district IT person set up this for you? I made a classroom page and have put up content but how to do i get students access to it? I have played around with an alternate google account and just cannot seem to get it to work.
Is there anyway I can follow your classroom as a student so I can learn and get ideas? Our district is going to Google Docs and pushing Google Classroom but I do not have a 1 to 1 classroom. I have 5 laptops and 4 iPads so I think I will use it for stations and guided reading groups.
I would need an invite and code to follow if you were good with that.
Thanks!
How do you teach students to log in? I used Google with students for the first time this past school year and it was. mAJOR struggle learning to type emails and passwords even with my 4th and 5th graders. Any tips would be appreciated greatly!
Since my students take their Chromebooks home every night, they quickly learn how to log in and out of their accounts. Though, for the students who struggled with remembering, I’d create an index card with their log in information and laminate it for them. :)
My 2nd graders were having the same issue….UNTIL I told them there was 5 min of game time, “starting now!”. Those kids got logged in SO FAST!
Nice!! :)
I use Google Classroom in my fourth grade class. I only teach Reading/Writing. One way I use it is for homework. I’ve become addicted to Google forms and create documents with short passages to read. Then, they respond to questions about the passage all within the form. Another way I’ve used it is for “real time” conferencing. Recently I posted a nonfiction article with four paragraphs. The students had to read each paragraph and comment on the paragraph in the “whole class comment” section. While they were doing that, I was on my computer giving immediate feedback to their responses. It was incredible. The students commented that they felt like they got 1:1 time with me without having to raise their hand or wait in line. Thanks for this article!!
I’m new to google classroom this year and just found your blog. I love hearing some of the great ideas you have. At the end of this article you mentioned using Google Sheets to create a rubric for grading. Have you written more about that because I’d love to learn about it. Thanks!
I really like the idea of Google Classroom; however, I am not. 1:1 school. I have 6 iPads in my room. Is it possible for me to still use Google Classroom?
Any advice wouId be appreciated!
I want to use GC to collect the students writing in second grade, so I will not have a constant pile of papers. I would like them to publish their final draft on GC. I wonder if this would be too difficult for second graders who are not very good at typing.
Derek Russell
Hi Derek! I think they can definitely be trained to do projects like this. :) Start with having them type up a short response and use GC to turn in an assignment. Then slowly add more each time they turn something in.
I have used it at grade 5 before but and looking for suggestions to use it will grades 1-3. Wondering if you have a primary grade set up that I could join and take a look at how you set it up.
Thanks
Hi. I am a 2nd grade teacher as well and will be starting the school year virtually. As a grade level, we have decided to use Google Classroom as our main platform. Do you recommend setting up one class to be used for all subjects or a Google Classroom for each subject area?
Thanks!
I’d recommend one for all subjects!
Our district uses Canvas as their LMS and does not have the Google Suite for Education. I teach virtually and just learned how to to upload Slides assignments into Canvas. However, I’ve heard that students would need an individual Google accounts. Have you heard of ANYONE who had a similar situation? The thought of asking parents to create accounts for their child freaks me out on top of what I’m already stressed to the max about.
ANY experience you could share would be GREAT!! I’ve been DYING to use Slides to give students a chance to manipulate online with assignments.