☝ Google Classroom tips for end of year

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💡 THE BIG IDEA 💡

📺 Dr. Phil, AI, and education

Well, it finally happened. After our recording date got delayed initially, I got to be a guest on the Dr. Phil show. Topic: AI in education.

We recorded it in front of a studio audience of ~150 people. It’ll go live sometime this summer — probably June or July.

I had no idea what to expect! Here are my takeaways …

• There were seven segments (a segment is a section of the show between commercial breaks). I appeared on the fifth and sixth segments.

• I got asked about my thoughts on balance between AI and human in education. (I believe in a healthy balance where AI augments what we humans do in the classroom.)

• I also interjected comments a few times about AI bias, the problems with AI detectors, and the importance of human teachers. (I learned quickly that if I was going to get to talk, I had to kind of butt in!)

• The first half of the show was about the Alpha School, a charter school in Texas that does instruction via AI and employs (non-licensed) coaches, not teachers. (Interesting model. I think it’s important that schools push boundaries to show us what’s possible … but I think they’re missing out on the importance of experienced, licensed teachers.)

• I was joined on stage by Jean Darnell, a Texas teacher librarian whose school district banned AI completely for students. She bravely shared why she thought that was a mistake — and how students need to learn how to navigate AI.

Other fun observations about the process …

• I had never worn makeup until yesterday. They have makeup people and wardrobe people. The wardrobe person steamed my suit for me (which was nice!).

• We weren’t allowed to bring phones or smart watches into the studio for the taping … so I have no photos of the stage or the show or Dr. Phil. But thankfully, they did have a photographer take photos with Dr. Phil and each guest, so I’ll get that eventually.

• I’ve never been on the set of a talk show before. It was interesting. They had a “hype man” come out and interact with the crowd before the show. The scope of the camera crew and production assistants was bigger than I expected.

I had a couple short moments one-on-one with Dr. Phil. I thanked him for creating a forum to help people learn about this important topic — AI in education. He seemed genuinely interested in the topic. The interaction with the guests wasn’t scripted; he was asking his honest, curious questions, which I thought was good.

Say what you want about Dr. Phil, but I thought it was a good, informative, interesting show about a topic that’s near and dear to my heart.

If you want to watch it when it airs, you can find it on the Merit Street network (which some cable/satellite TV providers offer). Or you can search for the Merit+ app on your phone to watch it for free.

(But remember … it’s not there now … it’ll air in June or July!)

💻 Tech Tip

Tips to clean up your Google Classroom at the end of the year

As we wind down the school year we want to make sure that things are organized as things are ready to go for the fall. Our Google classrooms have served their purpose and our students will no longer be in our classes. So what do we do with all of that digital work? And what do we do with the Google classes themselves?

Here are 10 easy ways to clean up your Google Classroom …

1. Return all work, grade it if you need to

Whenever students turn work into you it's transferred over to you as the teacher and so if we want to make sure the students have access to all their work it's generally a good idea to go back through and grade and return all that work back to the student.

2. Archive old classes

Once the year is over you can archive any classes you won't be teaching again.

• How to archive a class in Google Classroom:

• Go to classroom.google.com.

• On the class card, click More then click Archive.

• Click Archive to confirm.

3. Consider removing or unenrolling students who are no longer in your class

If you would like to prevent students from viewing the class or sharing the class with others you might consider removing them completely before archiving.

4. Do NOT Delete the Classroom Folder

.Do not delete it I repeat do not delete the Google Classroom folder. It's really hard to get back that main folder!

5. Clean up your Google Drive

Consider creating some folders outside of the classroom folder to move some files over that you want to keep and find easily. However, don't get "delete happy" and be sure to follow #4 before you begin moving and reorganizing your Google Drive.

6. Create a folder for exemplary work

Consider creating a folder of work that you can use the next year as an example of exemplary work for rubrics or anchor papers.

7. Keep files in "Shared with Me"

Shared with me is a filter not a folder of your own documents in Google Drive. Those files are ones that have been shared with you but are not those that you own. They will show up in search results if you need to find them. However you should not move things around within shared with me because it will affect others who have access to that file or folder. "Shared with me" is usually a hot mess, we just have to learn to live with it.

8. Delete old class calendars

To eliminate clutter in your Google Calendar you can delete calendars from old classes so that they no longer show up in your account. You can also just unclick the check next to the calendar which allows it to be hidden from view without deleting permanently.

How to delete a class calendar:

• On your computer, open Google Calendar.

• In the left column, find the calendar you want to delete.

• Click on the three dots next to that calendar.

• Click on settings and sharing.

• Scroll down and click delete.

9. Make a Google Classroom template

If you have classes that you will be teaching again consider making that class a template for next year. You can do this by copying the class and renaming it "template for (insert class name)".

🔗 How to Create a Google Classroom Template (for next year)

10. Reflect on your Google Classroom practices, collaborate with others for ideas

At the end of the school year it's always a good idea to reflect on the past year and think about what worked and what didn't. You can take the opportunity to ask your colleagues or your PLN for advice or feedback on how to improve your practice.

👋 How we can help

There are even more ways I can support you in the important work you do in education:

1. Read one of my six books about meaningful teaching with tech.

2. Take one of our online courses about practical and popular topics in education.

3. Bring me to your school, district or event to speak. I love working with educators!