Week 7: Virtual Classroom Organization

    While in person, we all know it can be a struggle to keep students organized. Last year, I probably chased at least 5 kids down the hallway per day asking them to grab their forgotten belongings. Since we have been virtual, students have definitely gotten better about organization, but they can still be quite forgetful. While reading Ashley's blog, she mentioned the importance of setting an example for students and keeping your Google Classrooms organized. I never realized how important it was to keep my Google Classroom clutter free. I took Ashleys advice and reorganized my classes. Instead of letting every weeks work pile up, I consolidated each week into our terms. My district starts a new term every 6 weeks. So I relabeled each topic in Google Classroom as "First Six Weeks, Second Six Weeks, etc." This has been a great way to keep students organized and help them keep track of assignments. I even created a topic at the top of my classwork feed called "Important Resources". In here, they can find recorded live lessons, our NTI tips for success, and my contact information. 

    The importance of keeping your Google Classroom goes beyond just making it aesthetically pleasing, it's equitable for our students. Not every parent knows how to do a deep dive on Google Classroom to find missing assignments. "If you aren’t using topics in your Google Classroom, you are missing out on a huge process to maintain organization within your class! Topics help keep you organized and is a great way to store files for your virtual classroom. You can create topics for daily/weekly instructions, categorize different subjects, and create check-ins for continual student communication." I completely agree with Ashley. I was totally missing out last year by not utilizing topics within Google Classroom. It makes your classroom much more parent and student friendly. I encouraged my entire team to rethink their Google Classroom layout to best support our students.