Google Classroom: The central hub to manage, distribute, and grade classwork in one place.
🔍 What does it do?
Google Classroom is a free web-based platform that brings all your teaching materials together. It replaces the traditional “paper trail” by allowing you to post announcements, set assignments, and collect work digitally. It automatically organises your files into folders in Google Drive, making it impossible for students to “lose” their homework. In Falkirk Google Classroom is used as a Virtual Learning Environment which is a digital extension of the physical classroom.
🎓 Why is it useful?
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Centralised Communication: Use the Stream to post daily agendas, reminders, or discussion prompts. It keeps your class informed without cluttering their inbox.
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Paperless Workflow: When you create an assignment, you can choose to “Make a copy for each student.” This automatically gives every pupil their own Doc or Slide to work on – no more photocopying!
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Real-time Feedback: You can see student work as they are doing it. You don’t have to wait for them to “hand it in” to leave a helpful comment or nudge them in the right direction.
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Streamlined Grading: The Grades tab gives you a birds-eye view of who has submitted work, what is missing, and how the class is performing overall.
⚙️ How does it work?
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Launch: Open the Google Classroom app on your iPad or login to Google Classroom on your internet browser.
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Sign In: Use your Glow email (e.g., gw15smithjohn@fa.glow.scot) and use your normal Glow password.
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Create a Class: Tap the ‘+’ icon and select ‘Create class.’ Give it a name like “P6 2025/2026” or “Mr F – S2 Science.”
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Invite Students: Share the unique Class Code with your pupils. They enter this code on their iPads to join instantly.
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Create Assignments: Tap the ‘Classwork’ tab and then the ‘+’ icon. Choose between Assignment, Quiz, Question, or Material.
🚀 Beyond the Basics
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Discussion Forums: Use the ‘Question’ tool to post a debate topic (e.g., “Should school uniforms be banned?”). Students can post their answers and – if you enable the setting – reply to their classmates’ points.
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Exit Tickets: At the end of a lesson, post a quick Google Form as a ‘Quiz Assignment.’ Classroom will automatically show you which pupils grasped the concept and who needs more help tomorrow.
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Multimedia Resources: Use the ‘Material’ type to post a “Choice Board.” You can attach a YouTube video, a website link, and a Google Doc, allowing pupils to choose how they want to research the topic.
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Private Check-ins: When students submit an assignment, they can add a ‘Private Comment.’ This is a safe space for them to tell you if they found the work hard or if they are proud of what they achieved.
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Individualised Assignments: You don’t have to send every assignment to the whole class. Use the ‘All Students’ dropdown to select specific pupils for differentiated tasks or extension work.
💡 Top Tips for Google Classroom
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The Comment Bank: Save time when marking! You can create a “Bank” of your most common feedback (e.g., “Great use of adjectives!”) and pull them into any student’s work with just a few taps.
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Scheduled Posts: You don’t have to post your work in real time. Use the ‘Schedule’ feature to prepare your whole week’s lessons in advance; they will appear for students exactly when you want them to.
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Reuse Post: Don’t reinvent the wheel. If you have a great lesson from last year, use the ‘Reuse post’ feature to pull it into your new class, including all the attachments and instructions.
🔗 Teacher Quick Links
Get Started with Google Classroom for Students – iPad
Get Started with Google Classroom for Students – Latop/PC
A Guide to Google Classroom on Your Connected Falkirk Device
