Saddle Up for a Google New Feature Roundup...
Gather 'round, y'all - here's a Texas-sized list of the goodies that Google has added to its apps and services over the past few months.
Your TIS friends keep an ear to the rail for these updates, and we try to roll them up in bundles (bales?) so you can focus on them. These little updates pepper us all year long, so it helps to say "whoa" for a moment and look for features that directly impact you and your work with students.
Creating (Google Docs, Google Forms)
A new twist on feedback: Emoji reactions 😃 as comments 💬 in Google Docs
Coming soon, you (and the students, when allowed) can react to content within a Google Doc in the same way you might on a text message thread. Sometimes, a thumbs up 👍 is all you need!
Google taking on Grammarly: More assistive writing suggestions in Google Docs
Now, Google Docs will offer suggestions in the areas of Word Choice, voice, conciseness, and more!
Sometimes, you just have to craft that email. And sometimes, you need approval or support before sending it. Now, you can build it in Docs with colleagues and send it from Docs when it's ready.
Embed a chart from a Google Form in a Doc, Slide, or Drawing
Did the kids do a schoolwide survey? Now, have them move the charted results into another document and use it as evidence in their lab, persuasive writing, etc.
Managing Classes (Google Classroom)
What we've needed since 2020: Schedule posts for multiple classes in Google Classroom
Better late than never - you can now make an announcement or assignment and push it to multiple class sections in one move. Warning, though - you can only select whole classes right now, not individual students out of different classes. If things get too tangled for you, consider setting up a new Google Classroom class for your small groups that span multiple class sections.
Coming Soonish: "Practice Sets" assessment tool in Google Classroom
Sometime soon, we'll have the option to build out small-scale assessments within Classroom itself. They'll have the capability to auto-grade like a Google Form, and they'll have ways for teachers to provide contextual hints and lesson material like videos. Looks like it may offer its own hints as well - watch this video to learn more!
Meetings and Scheduling (Google Meet and Google Calendar)
Good for PD meeting tracking: Attendance Reports for all Google Meet meetings
Now, even if your meeting only has two people in it, you'll receive an attendance report. Previously, you needed five participants to earn one of these.
Speed up scheduling with parents and more: Create externally friendly booking pages with Appointment Scheduling in Google Calendar
We in the TIS group are very curious whether this new feature might help us all with in-person (and virtual) conferences. We'll be testing this out this spring...if you try it, let us know how it goes! If you're curious to try it, let us know that, too - we'll come help you with it!
That's all for this roundup...now git along!
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