GOOGLE CLASSROOM ASSIGNMENT UPDATES - FEBRUARY 2020

If you are a user of Google Classroom, you may have noticed some updates to Creating Assignments as of February 2020!  These include CREATING DOCS, DRAWINGS, FORMS, SLIDES, & SHEETS on the Assignment page and, DRUM ROLL PLEASE - RUBRICS!!  (Finally!)

To my luck, these Google Classroom updates launched two days before I had an ADVANCED GOOGLE CLASSROOM training session in NJ... causing me to have to completely update my presentation. (Insert eye roll!) HOWEVER, the educators and edu leaders were really grateful that they were, freshly, up-to-date.  Here are the updates:

SCHEDULE A POST & SAVE DRAFT
At this point, this feels like an oldie but goodie, but educators were still surprised to hear about it.  You can schedule your Google Classroom Announcement or Assignment to post at a later time or day.  When your ready, instead of hitting "Post," hit the downward arrow to the right of the button and select "Schedule" and select the date and time you would like to share your announcement or assignment.  If you're not quite done with your announcement or assignment, simply hit that downward arrow and choose "Save draft" and then share it or edit it when you are ready.  You'll be able to find it in your "Drafts" on your STREAM or CLASSWORK tab.

CREATE -> NEW _______ (Docs, Slides, Sheets, Drawings, or Forms)
How many times do you get to the Classwork tab ready to create and assignment and realize "I NEVER MADE THE ASSIGNMENT!"  So you proceed to your Google Drive -> New -> .....

NO MORE!  When creating an assignment, under the "Instructions (optional)" section, there is a new "Create" button.  You can choose to create a new Google Doc, Slides deck, Sheet, Drawing, or Form AND THEN the assignment will AUTOMATICALLY LINK TO YOUR ASSIGNMENT!  You will also be able to determine if you would like to make the file editable, view only, or have a copy made for each student, as you could before.   This can also be done with ".NEW" (Blog post HERE!)

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RUBRICS THAT LINK TO THE GRADING TAB
Finally, and FINALLY!  Google Classroom has 100% launched Rubrics for Google Classroom.  Trainers have been hearing the rumors for months, nay years!  Nonetheless, Rubrics are here and they are pretty awesome!

​When you create an assignment on the Classwork tab, after you type in your "Title", the "Rubric" button will activate.  When you click on it you will have three options:  Create Rubric, Reuse Rubric, or Import from Sheets​.  You can create a rubric with "Criterion Titles," "Criterion Descriptions," and "Points" for each category.  When a student views their assignment, they see the Rubric.  Better yet, while grading their assignments, you will have access to the Rubric to select the markband of best fit from the "Grading Criterion".  BOOM!

These tools are always growing if you have any comments, feedback using Google Classroom or NEWER updates, please share them in the comments or message me directly!