Decide on a Platform

If you decide to go paperless, how are you going to get the assignments to your students?  You will need to decide on a platform.  What will be the method of getting assignments, papers, and quizzes to your students.  There are a few out there.  In the past, I played around with Edmodo.  It is a pretty good platform and it has a very "facebook-ish" feel to it so students will instantly become familiar with it. But, I never could get that excited about it.

A few years ago, my school division made the change to Google Apps for Education (or GAFE).  In my opinion, this was the best decision that my division has ever made.  The collaboration and sharing possibilities with GAFE are incredible and has made the paperwork a lot easier.  There are so many Google Apps that have very powerful use in the classroom.  One of these is (appropriately named) Google Classroom.  Classroom is the main source for my students getting all of their assignments.  

Now, as I am singing the praises of Classroom, remember that you will only be able to use it if your school division uses GAFE.  If not, then you will have to research other platforms to use (really, consider Edmodo as a viable alternative).  In order to access Classroom, students will have to log in using their GAFE email address.  In my division, only students grades 9 and above actually have email (internal school accounts) but all students starting in grade 2 have this login. The email part just isn't turned on until grade 9.  The nice thing is that this login follows them through their entire school career as long as they stay in the division.  So no need to memorize a new one each year.

Here is a short video created by Google showing some of the features of Classroom.  One thing that I absolutely love about Google is that they actually LISTEN to those of us using their product to make improvements.  So what you will see in the video is somewhat different from what actually appears now.  All changes for the better.

One new update is that now teachers have the ability to schedule posts.  A tremendous improvement so that now I can add announcements or assignments when I want and have them show in the "Stream" at a scheduled date and time when I am ready for students to view them.

There are lots of ways to set up your Classroom.  For mine, I have given students the ability to comment on my posts, but not to make a post of their own.  And, as always, you will have someone try to be funny and put in an inappropriate comment.  Don't worry, you can delete the comment and then "mute" that student until you feel that they have learned a better way to communicate.  This way, they can see everything, but they cannot make comments on any of it.  The point is, you have the control over what students can do.

What I truly love about Classroom is that a student can send me a private message through Classroom (so I am the only one who sees the message) and then I will get an email saying that I have a message from a student.  This has been very beneficial this past year to clear up student questions that the student was too shy or embarrassed to ask during class.  I can reply directly in Classroom, or if I feel that I really need a one-to-one conversation with the student, I can pull then aside the next day.  I always acknowledge that I have received a message from a student so they know that I am paying attention and care about their questions or concerns.

Now, I am in no way being paid by Google to market their products (but, boy, wouldn't that be nice) so when I am extolling the virtues of all things Google, it is because I have tried them out in my own classes and have realized their value.  But, if you are looking for a way to go paperless and for a platform to use, do your research.