3 Ways to Help Students Be Successful in Class with Google Tools

Have you read the book Small Teaching by James M. Lang? If not, you should check it out. It provides solid examples of various ways teachers can implement specific teaching methods to bolster student knowledge and engagement. Another great resource specific to the topic of retrieval practice is a website called retrievalpractice.org. This website is full of ideas and resources to help teachers help students with retrieving information that was gained during a lesson or unit study.

This got the Evolving Educator team thinking about ways that teachers can utilize Google Workspace tools to help promote student success. Take Google Forms for example. Teachers can assign a reading assignment for homework and then quickly conduct a short answer of multiple choice quiz at the beginning of class. Then, the teacher can teach a lesson pertaining to the reading assignment. Immediately following the lesson, students once again briefly assess students by giving a Google Forms quiz. The use of very brief assessments helps students with retrieving information that was learned during the homework assignment as well as the lesson.

Another way Google tools can be used to help with improving comprehension of the topic at hand is to consistently use Google Classroom and Google Calendar to post assignment due dates, communicate information and assessment dates. This helps students with staying on task and understanding what is expected of them in the near or distant future. Committing to Google Classroom and Google Calendar for communication and organization purposes aligns with promoting the success of students both in the physical and virtual world.

Finally, a tried and true method to help with student success is the use of flashcards for studying purposes. Leveraging Google Slides to make virtual flashcards can help students prepare for an upcoming assessment. Have students work in pairs or small groups to create their very own slide deck. From there, the best way to view the slides is by downloading the Google Slides app on a tablet or smartphone. That way students can tap/flip through the virtual study guide they so proudly created.

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