Google Classroom

What is Google Classroom?

This guide is intended to help parents and carers understand what Google Classroom is and how to do common tasks such as viewing set work. This in turn can help you help your child. We have put small video clips where possible as a visual aid.

Google Classroom's purpose is to encourage paperless communication between teachers and students and simplify the way classwork is managed. Classroom makes it easier to assign work and share resources with the students. It's also a great experience for our students.

Google Classroom is a web-based application just like Facebook or Twitter. You can easily access the service using any modern web browser such as Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge.

Google Classroom can also be installed as an application on mobile devices running Apple iOS and Android. We recommend your child installs Google Classroom and Google Drive as a minimum on their phone. This gives them the ability to see what work has been set at a glance and also read any feedback they have received. Obviously, phones are not typically used to produce work, so we recommend the use of a chromebook, laptop or desktop to produce the work.

Please use Google Classroom to submit work to teachers where possible. The work will be set on Google Classroom, some of which can be produced and handed in electronically. Try to avoid emailing work because a teacher's inbox will become cluttered with 90+ submissions at a time. Instead, attach work to the assignment and Hand In electronically.

It's important that your child is logged into their school email account prior to accessing Google Classroom.

 

How students sign in to their school account

Students are issued a Google account by the school. They can access all the services we've enabled such as Email, Google Classroom, Google Drive through this account.

These instructions are for intended to be followed on a computer:

  1. Using your preferred browser, visit google.com
  2. Click Sign In
  3. Provide your child's school email address and click Next. Tip. The format is firstname.lastname@moultonschool.co.uk (They should know this as they use it on an almost daily basis).
  4. Provide your child's school password and click Next. Tip. If they have forgotten their password, please email: itquery@moultonschool.co.uk. We will reply to your request the same day.

 

How do I access Google Classroom?

There are a couple of ways to access Google Classroom using a web browser:

  1. A Google Classroom link is available once signed in, located in in the top-right corner. Simply click the squares and click Classroom.
  2. Simply visit www.google.com/classroom

 

How to join a Google Classroom

The majority of our teachers use Google Classroom with their students. Your child may already be enrolled in one or more classes. This small guide explains how they would join a newly created class they are not yet enrolled in.

Join using a class code: In a classroom environment, the teacher will share a class code on the board with the class. The students use this class code to join the Google Classroom.

  1. Simply press the + (plus) icon located in the top-right corner and click Join Class.
  2. Type in the class code you've been issued in the Join class popup box.

Join by invite: A teacher may invite their class students using an email invite. The student can accept the invite by clicking the link contained in the body of the email or check Google Classroom for any new Classrooms invites and click Join.

 

Checking for new assignments

There are several places you can view set work. Your child will receive an email notification for every post the teacher creates. If your child has downloaded and installed the mobile app, they can also enable push notifications.

Posts vary in type such as: Assignment, Quiz Assignment, Question, Material or General Message.

 

How to produce and attach work using Google Classroom

There are two different ways to produce work. Method 2 is the preferred way of doing work electronically when an assignment has been set. If an assignment has not been set, but your child needs to produce work anyway, then use Method 1.

We'll break both scenarios down for you:

Method 1 - Using Google Drive.

  1. Visit www.google.com/drive OR click the squares in the top right corner and select Drive.
  2. Click New.
  3. You will see the option to: A) File Upload - Use this if your child has already created the work. By selecting this they can upload the file they have created to Google Drive. This can be submitted to the classroom later on. B) Folder Upload - Use this if you have multiple files in a folder they want to upload. C) Google Docs, Sheets and Slides - These are the Google equivalent of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. You can create these types of documents within the browser without the need for additional software.
  4. If you select any of the Google document types, a new tab will open giving you access to the office tools.
  5. The file is saved in Google Drive automatically. Saving happens automatically as you type. You can Print, Share Directly or Email the document when necessary. Please refrain from emailing work to teachers. It's not easy to manage an inbox of 90+ submissions every day. Instead, where possible, please use Google Classroom for submitting work.

 

Method 2 - Using Google Classroom. (This is the preferred method if your child has been set an assignment and is expected to produce work electronically and returned to the teacher for marking).

This method really only applies when an Assignment has been set. The assignment will show in your child's Classwork section of the Google Classroom. When an assignment is available, the student has the ability to create the work in much the same way as Method 1, only Google will automatically title the documents after the assignment name and suffix the student's name. It also links the documents to the assignment so your child does not need to attach the work manually.

  1. Find the assignment your child has been set.
  2. Expand the assignment and click View Assignment.
  3. You will see a section to the right called Your Work.
  4. Click Add or Create.
  5. Select the appropriate application / file type you need to produce the work that satisfies the task.
  6. A new tab will open with the name of the assignment. Your child can then produce the work. At this stage, they can work on the file at their leisure. They can close it and come back to it at a later date. When they are ready to submit the work, they simply press Hand In.