Year End Google Classroom Clean-up

 

As we approach the end of the school year we often do some things to our physical classroom to prepare for the next school year, such as clearing out files, making copies and returning student work.  We should do many of the same things in Google Classroom as well. Below are some end of the year Google Classroom Clean-up tips. 

#1 Archive, don't delete

It's best practice to archive your Google Classroom as opposed to deleting the Google Classroom or deleting all the work and reusing the same classroom year after year.  When you archive your Google Classroom it takes it off your main screen and places it in your archived classes.  If at any point you want to restore the classroom or reuse material and assignments you can unarchive the classroom.  Anyone who is a Teacher in the Classroom can archive a class.  So best practice is that the main Teacher is the one who archives the class.  If you are a co-teacher and no longer want to see a class remove yourself from the class instead of archiving it.  

#2 Return Student Work

Google Drive, Doc and Classrooms ownership and permissions can be tricky to navigate.  In a nutshell, when you create an assignment for a student and make a copy for them, they are the owner of that copy. They can type on it and edit it.  When they mark it as done and turn it in, the ownership changes to the Teacher and the student only has view only rights until they either un-submit the assignment or you return it.  It's just like in the physical classroom.  You own the worksheet while it's in your possession.  When you make copies of the worksheet and pass them out to your students they own the worksheet while it's in their folder or backpack.  When the student hands it back in to the Teacher, the worksheet is now owned by the Teacher while it's on their desk. The student does not have access to write on the worksheet, until the Teacher returns the worksheet to their students.  The student may not ever need that piece of work, but they may want it for a portfolio or other evidence of the learning in your class. That's why it's always best practice to return work to students, so they become the owner again of their work.  We wouldn't just grade an assignment and keep it on our desk forever or throw it out. We would return the work to the student; and we should do the same thing in Google Classroom.  

The following are some optional and suggested ideas and tips.

#3 Copy a class instead of deleting

Once you have a class set up and organized the way you want, you can copy that class.  It will make new copies of all of your materials and assignments in draft form.  All you have to do is rename the class, post assignments as you see fit and add your students.  

#4 Un-enroll students and co-teachers from old classes

Again, this is not a must do, but rather a might want to do.  Un-enrolling students will prevent them from sharing or showing course content to new classes in future years.  With that being said, this will not completely prevent this issue as all documents from the class will still reside within their Google Drive.  It just makes it a little harder for them to access your content.  Re-moving co-teachers is another personal choice.  By removing any co-teachers, this will ensure they do not archive your class without your knowledge and or delete assignments and materials.  If the co-teacher really wants access to the materials, they can always make a copy of the class for themselves.  

#5 Remove old class calendars

Every time you create a Google Classroom it also creates a Google Calendar for that class.  When you are no longer using that Google Classroom, you do not need the Google Calendar and it is often just cluttering up your calendar.  If you go to Google Calendar you can hide or delete the corresponding Google Calendar.  

#6 Reflect on what worked and didn't work

It's not a bad idea to reflect on what worked and didn't work in your Google Classroom.  For example, is there a better way to organize your assignments and topics to make it easier to navigate?  Did your Google Classroom become overwhelming and perhaps could you create a new Google Classroom every 10 or 20 weeks?  

To learn more about these tips and tricks as well as other ideas for using Google Classroom reach out to one of the Instructional Techs.