Google Drive has changed the way I teach. And Autocrat has changed the way I Google Drive.
My colleagues complain about students having disorganised folders, or how students send work named incorrectly and titled badly and without spacing or a heading...etc.
My Google Drive is organised so that every assignment is in its own folder, separated by period, and titled with "Last Name First Name Assignment Title." That makes it incredibly searchable. It also auto-fills a heading, a title, and puts a timestamp on it. Finally, it's set up in whatever format I want - single or double spaced, with a table, or with questions already loaded...basically anything I want
All that happens through Autocrat, an add-on for Google Sheets. The installation is fairly simple, and it creates the easiest document management system I've ever found.
My colleagues complain about students having disorganised folders, or how students send work named incorrectly and titled badly and without spacing or a heading...etc.
My Google Drive is organised so that every assignment is in its own folder, separated by period, and titled with "Last Name First Name Assignment Title." That makes it incredibly searchable. It also auto-fills a heading, a title, and puts a timestamp on it. Finally, it's set up in whatever format I want - single or double spaced, with a table, or with questions already loaded...basically anything I want
All that happens through Autocrat, an add-on for Google Sheets. The installation is fairly simple, and it creates the easiest document management system I've ever found.
It allows me to spend FAR more time teaching, and having students working than setting up and turning in documents. I still get the "How do I turn it in?" question a lot, and the first major writing project of the year is always dutifully printed out and ready to turn in the day it's due.
But after almost half a year of using the system, it's becoming exactly what I want it to be: invisible.
Students fill out a form on my website, check their email, open the document and start working. And I can see everything as they work.
I've also figured out a procedure for using Google Draw documents. I can't use Autocrat to push those out to students, so instead, I make a template, put it on the day's slide deck, and then have students open that, make a copy of the document, rename it, then share it with me. I announce names as they get turned in, and if a student doesn't submit theirs, I go right then and ask them to share it.
Google Draw is fantastic for so many things. We use it for a graphic organiser and note-taking guide nearly every week. The ability to drop and drag pictures makes visual note-taking possible. Students can arrange their notes in the way that makes sense to them.
Those are things that make my classroom run better. It's not an overstatement to say that I couldn't run a paperless classroom without Google Drive, and without Autocrat.
Okay, I could.
But I wouldn't want to.
But after almost half a year of using the system, it's becoming exactly what I want it to be: invisible.
Students fill out a form on my website, check their email, open the document and start working. And I can see everything as they work.
I've also figured out a procedure for using Google Draw documents. I can't use Autocrat to push those out to students, so instead, I make a template, put it on the day's slide deck, and then have students open that, make a copy of the document, rename it, then share it with me. I announce names as they get turned in, and if a student doesn't submit theirs, I go right then and ask them to share it.
Google Draw is fantastic for so many things. We use it for a graphic organiser and note-taking guide nearly every week. The ability to drop and drag pictures makes visual note-taking possible. Students can arrange their notes in the way that makes sense to them.
Those are things that make my classroom run better. It's not an overstatement to say that I couldn't run a paperless classroom without Google Drive, and without Autocrat.
Okay, I could.
But I wouldn't want to.
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