Google documents

I have always been a big fan of google docs, but am finding that I am using them more and more to collect data and assessment from students in PE.  I have tried a few different things this year to see how I could improve my student reflections, this is something that I am quite passionate about – I feel that we don’t have the right set up at our school, and that it is too easy to ask students to give you nothing important in a handful (or copious) number of words.  Anyway, I digress – Google docs has been a wonderful way to allow me to collect student assessment via forms.  If you have every used a google form you will know that it is very important to set them up very carefully so that you are sure of the questions your want to ask (and the answers you wish to get back) and then when the form is done to then ensure that the columns on the spreadsheet are set up in such a way to all you to collect your answers/responses in the format you are going to use them.  I also suggest doing a test answer to make sure you have your form exactly how you want it for your students.  I like to pick different themes so that the students can be reminded of the form by its theme – rather than the rather boring school titles (I suggest that you keep requesting that google put out more themes… via their email response).  Students like the forms, I can put the spreadsheet up and they can see thei rresponses fit neatly onto the projected screen, thus I can tell who has done this and who hasn’t and can be working with the students who are struggling to get work in.  Usually I download the spreadsheets to excel and then use them to make mail merge type documents for student summative assessment.  I do have a few things I would like to trial this coming year:

• experiment with google drive – how will this change my document work
• try out autoCrat to make mail merges with my spreadsheets
• try to email work out to parents – so that they can see the work rather than having to ask their child to show them their portfolio
• see if I can share more student photos and videos – will need to do some reading here.
• try and give a little more PD to my department so that we can share more documents as a group rather than having different copied files from our school data network saved as local copies on our tablets – this just makes good sense!