Using Google Forms

Google Forms is my most favorite way to de-clutter my space. Is my space still cluttered? You bet. But! It's easier for me to find the information I need all in one place. Google Forms has helped with that.

My Favorite Ways to Use Forms:

 Parent Communication:
I have so many ideas on how to use this to improve my interaction with parents, but the number one thing I've learned is to try one new thing at a time. This is the first way I started using forms, and I'm hooked. 
Before every Parent Conference, I send parents a Pre-Conference Survey with a nice little email asking them to take a few minutes to fill it out. This gives us information to common questions like "How much time does your child spend on homework each night?" and "What questions/concerns would you most like to address during the conference?"
After filling out the questionnaire, I've had some parents really take a look at their child's habits and this final question has changed, even before coming in. My team and I love how this survey gives us background information and helps us to be prepared, so there are no surprises.
Here is a copy of the form - feel free to hit "Make a Copy" to use it yourself!

Pre-Conference Survey

After filling out this form, I use the "Save as Doc" Add-On to Google Sheets to convert the answers to a Google Doc. This can easily be shared with anyone who might want to have some insight into the student and family, like Admin, Guidance, or Student Support Services. 

Student Reflection:
As I started my Flipped Learning journey, I knew I needed a way to track my students' learning and understanding. I actually worked on this before I took any other steps! The whole reason I wanted to flip was so that my students would be drivers of their own learning - the only way to make that happen is to help them be more reflective.

I developed an editable Google Form that took some tweaking and getting used to before I got it right. But, after 3 chapters of using it, my students and I both love it! (I'm sure they may not say that in so many words, but I can tell they really do love it... right?)

Here's how it works: At the start of each chapter, I create a new form. Students go in on the first day of the unit and create their personalized "link". They use this link throughout the chapter. 

On the form, I have a list of topics that I add as we learn them. These are typically links to Khan Academy exercises, although I'm still on the hunt for the best tool. Each evening, they are to go on to their link and complete the new topics I've posted. After completing each topic, they determine their confidence level. (We spent a good 20 minutes one class involved in a stations activity about what each level means. Otherwise, it's tough to have them rate their understanding on any scale. Highly recommended.)

The beauty of this form is that it grows, but their answers are still their from previous topics. This encourages them to review material from the chapter, continue working on skills they didn't feel confident about, and gives them motivation to study or ask for help (hopefully both). Since I have started with the forms, I have seen students independently going back through the topics of a chapter and reviewing them - without prompting! They're asking great questions and have a different level of motivation. They are watching videos, doing practice problems, and checking in with me on their own. It's beautiful!

Here's how it works - I post the link to the form on Google Classroom as an assignment.
Chapter 6 Topics
Students go to the form, fill in their name, class, and mark each topic "Tough" (there are usually only 1 or 2 topics at the start of the chapter - this was at the end of a chapter, so it's pretty full.) and press "Submit"

This is where it starts to get tricky - they have to STOP and click "Edit your response"

This is where they get that personalized link - they will need to copy and paste the link after this in the URL bar - NOT the one that pops up highlighted - I know right? I always tell them to go to the Tippy Tippy Top and that usually helps. But, they're kids, they get the hang of online processes pretty quickly..... for the most part.... So it only takes a few times doing it one on one or in small groups before you can find the kids that totally get it and ask them to help those that are still confused.

Once they have that link, I have them submit it to me in the assignment and - voila! - they have a personalized link that they can use throughout the chapter to keep track of their learning. It's like a living, breathing, personalized study guide.

With the data they submit, I can sort the spreadsheet alphabetically and by class. With easy peasy color formatting, I can highlight the kids who are struggling in red so that I can see who I need to check in with if they aren't already seeing me. It's a great way to know how a whole class is getting a topic and who is not taking their learning into their own hands.

Surveys
It is always important to have a pulse on the culture of the class. Every now and then I send out a reflection form. Sometimes it is a self reflection, other times it is about the class and how it's going. I'm always interested to get inside the kids heads to see what is making an impact and what they would change. I'm always interested to hear how they think they are performing. Here is a copy of a survey I sent home after Term 1 grades closed, before Report Cards went out. It was fascinating to see how the kids ranked themselves, and great to use at conferences.
Term 1 Survey

Other Ideas
Those are the only two that I've mastered at this point, but I have so many ideas. The BIG one I'm working on is a rank book. I want it to do so much for me that I'm not happy until I make something just right. There are so many easy ways to do this with Sheets - but I want a nice easy form that I can click a few boxes and boom! ranked! Stay posted - when I find something I promise to share it!!!

I love the idea of using forms to track attendance, permission slip returns, homework, parent communication logs, etc.

For Elementary School teachers, things like lunch counts would be so easy to do with a form. Administrators may like the idea of staff sign ins at Professional Development or Reflections.

I also the idea of using forms with students - self-grading quizzes, exit tickets, cooperative learning, etc.

Here's what I want you to do: 
FIRST, I want you to think about some data collection or other tasks that you struggle to keep up with, stay consistent with, organize efficiently, or never get around to analyzing.

THEN, I want you to think about how a form might help you with that. It might be an on-going exploration, and that's ok, but it's worth exploring!

After that, Google "Using Google Forms in the Classroom" to find how other teachers have used them. You can be specific and put your grade, specialty, or subject area, but there are so many out there with the generic search term that you're bound to find something you like.

Here's a sheet I want you to copy to help keep track of your thoughts and resources:
Google Forms Solutions

(Yes... I know it's not a form.... Here's the next lesson - if it's not going to work - don't force it!)