I absolutely love our math Facebook group! There are so many wonderful, caring, thoughtful, intelligent, sharing teachers in there always willing to help each other. The community has grown way past what I had ever imagined when I opened it in 2017. At that time I had added my husband as the first member because I was so afraid no one would join!
Related post: How to send Google Forms to students
One of the awesome math teachers in the group is Danielle Fulbright. Danielle posted about the way she uses Google Forms to streamline homework data collection and so many wanted to know more. Danielle doesn't (currently:) blog, so I asked if she would want to write a guest post. And she accepted! So below is Danielle's post.
When I started teaching, finding a homework collection method that worked for me was a real challenge. As a math teacher, I firmly believe that the only way to learn math is to DO math. I actively teach my students that you don’t STUDY math, you PRACTICE math. My students practice A LOT and I needed a way to hold my students accountable, even though I assign homework grades based on completion rather than accuracy.
I decided to try Google Forms with Google Classroom and it was life-changing! Google takes my students’ responses and assesses/presents the data in real-time so I can make on-the-spot instructional decisions.
Here is the link to a Shared Google Folder with photos and video of how I create my Google Forms, copy them when needed, and post them to my Google Classroom!
As a middle school teacher, I have multiple classes. Each class needs to review different concepts, so each class has their own form. To keep everything organized, each class is assigned a color and has their own HW Check folder in my Google Drive. This way I can easily find data on any student for any assignment.
My Classroom Routine:
➤Students come in and check-in their Homework with me for a stamp. This is when I mark absences and incomplete work in my gradebook.
➤Students spend the first few minutes of class the next day checking their HW on Google Classroom.
Requirements:
➧Checked in pen
➧Star correct answers
➧X incorrect
➧Circle wrong questions we did not go over as a class
➧Correct work for what we went over in class.
➧Fill-out the Google Form (I attached one below)
➧Rate their Learning Targets in their Interactive Math Notebook.
Ratings are:
1: I have no clue
2: I can kind of do this (need help to start or get stuck frequently)
3: I can do this
4: I can teach this
➤I look at the bar graphs on the responses and only go over questions that more than 5 students missed. This helps cut down on time spent on going over homework. Students that missed other questions can come see me during class or during intervention time for extra help.
➧Having a different form for each class allows me to tailor this instructional time to the needs of those particular students.
All of their Homework Checks can be found under the topic “Homework Checks”.
*Google has updated all new Classrooms so that the most recent assignment will appear FIRST! Yay!!!
This is what each assignment looks like to students. Heads up, submitting the form will NOT submit the assignment on Classroom. My students don’t use this feature for HW Checks because their names are on my response sheet.
This is a typical Checker for my students. A simple form with check boxes that they can mark what was incorrect.
Important Note: If you don’t want your students to see you answer key, you can create answers to the questions on the Google Forms. Your students can then enter their answer and the Form will self grade! This would save time overall. I prefer to have my kids practice marking their own and looking for mistakes.
The magic of Google Forms is in the automatically generated response sheet!
Clicking the SUMMARY response tab will show you:
1) A list of all students who filled out the form (the names on my form are random and not my students)
2) Bar graph(s) that show how many students select each answer
3) A pie chart that shows the percentage each Learning Target rating was selected.
Clicking the INDIVIDUAL response tab allows you to look at how every student filled out the form.
Google Forms also allows you to create a spreadsheet that organizes the data for you. All spreadsheets generated like this will automatically sort into the folder on Google Drive where the matching form is.
Automatically generated spreadsheet:
I like to sort by Learning Target Rating so the students are grouped based on ability level.
Additional information:
A teacher in the Facebook group asked, "What do you do about absent students or students who turn in the homework late? Do they have access to the answer key since it's in classroom?"
Danielle's answer:
"I do post the key and the form together. They all have access to the key so they can check their own work, there is a process. My keys are answer only. My students know that if they have no work, they do not get credit. I never take down the forms, so absent students can still check their work. I make marks in my grade book to denote who is absent/late. The first thing my students do when they come in every day is check their work in with me so I can see where they are and have short clarifying conversations with them."
If you have been looking for a way to make homework data collection easier and less stressful, I hope this post has been helpful!
More posts:
One of the awesome math teachers in the group is Danielle Fulbright. Danielle posted about the way she uses Google Forms to streamline homework data collection and so many wanted to know more. Danielle doesn't (currently:) blog, so I asked if she would want to write a guest post. And she accepted! So below is Danielle's post.
Using Google Forms to Streamline Homework Data Collection
by:Danielle Fulbright
When I started teaching, finding a homework collection method that worked for me was a real challenge. As a math teacher, I firmly believe that the only way to learn math is to DO math. I actively teach my students that you don’t STUDY math, you PRACTICE math. My students practice A LOT and I needed a way to hold my students accountable, even though I assign homework grades based on completion rather than accuracy.
I decided to try Google Forms with Google Classroom and it was life-changing! Google takes my students’ responses and assesses/presents the data in real-time so I can make on-the-spot instructional decisions.
Here is the link to a Shared Google Folder with photos and video of how I create my Google Forms, copy them when needed, and post them to my Google Classroom!
As a middle school teacher, I have multiple classes. Each class needs to review different concepts, so each class has their own form. To keep everything organized, each class is assigned a color and has their own HW Check folder in my Google Drive. This way I can easily find data on any student for any assignment.
My Classroom Routine:
➤Students come in and check-in their Homework with me for a stamp. This is when I mark absences and incomplete work in my gradebook.
➤Students spend the first few minutes of class the next day checking their HW on Google Classroom.
Requirements:
➧Checked in pen
➧Star correct answers
➧X incorrect
➧Circle wrong questions we did not go over as a class
➧Correct work for what we went over in class.
➧Fill-out the Google Form (I attached one below)
➧Rate their Learning Targets in their Interactive Math Notebook.
Ratings are:
1: I have no clue
2: I can kind of do this (need help to start or get stuck frequently)
3: I can do this
4: I can teach this
➤I look at the bar graphs on the responses and only go over questions that more than 5 students missed. This helps cut down on time spent on going over homework. Students that missed other questions can come see me during class or during intervention time for extra help.
➧Having a different form for each class allows me to tailor this instructional time to the needs of those particular students.
All of their Homework Checks can be found under the topic “Homework Checks”.
*Google has updated all new Classrooms so that the most recent assignment will appear FIRST! Yay!!!
This is what each assignment looks like to students. Heads up, submitting the form will NOT submit the assignment on Classroom. My students don’t use this feature for HW Checks because their names are on my response sheet.
This is a typical Checker for my students. A simple form with check boxes that they can mark what was incorrect.
Important Note: If you don’t want your students to see you answer key, you can create answers to the questions on the Google Forms. Your students can then enter their answer and the Form will self grade! This would save time overall. I prefer to have my kids practice marking their own and looking for mistakes.
The magic of Google Forms is in the automatically generated response sheet!
Clicking the SUMMARY response tab will show you:
1) A list of all students who filled out the form (the names on my form are random and not my students)
2) Bar graph(s) that show how many students select each answer
3) A pie chart that shows the percentage each Learning Target rating was selected.
Clicking the INDIVIDUAL response tab allows you to look at how every student filled out the form.
Google Forms also allows you to create a spreadsheet that organizes the data for you. All spreadsheets generated like this will automatically sort into the folder on Google Drive where the matching form is.
Automatically generated spreadsheet:
I like to sort by Learning Target Rating so the students are grouped based on ability level.
Additional information:
A teacher in the Facebook group asked, "What do you do about absent students or students who turn in the homework late? Do they have access to the answer key since it's in classroom?"
Danielle's answer:
"I do post the key and the form together. They all have access to the key so they can check their own work, there is a process. My keys are answer only. My students know that if they have no work, they do not get credit. I never take down the forms, so absent students can still check their work. I make marks in my grade book to denote who is absent/late. The first thing my students do when they come in every day is check their work in with me so I can see where they are and have short clarifying conversations with them."
If you have been looking for a way to make homework data collection easier and less stressful, I hope this post has been helpful!
Free math resource library |
How long is your class period?
ReplyDeleteThank you for asking. I asked Danielle... 48 minutes.
DeleteThis is amazing!! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteIt was so nice of Danielle to write this post! I'm happy you found it helpful!
DeleteWhat do students do who did not do the homework while everyone else is checking? How long does it take for students to check their homework?
ReplyDeleteGood questions! I will ask Danielle and report back:)
DeleteI ashed Danielle and this was her reply: "They only fill it out for what they did. All students check in with me first so I can see who did their HW and who didn't. It only takes my kids 5-6 minutes. Most even start during passing time. As soon as they enter my room, they check-in and start checking their HW. I put notes in my gradebook about how much was done. This helps me track them better."
DeleteIs your school one-to-one? I'm assuming it is, but thought I'd ask to be sure.
ReplyDeleteI am interested in the interactive math notebook you mention when talking about where the students rate themselves. Is that digital or paper? Where can I find how you use that?
ReplyDeleteIf you are in the Visual Math Facebook group, you can tag Danielle Fulbright with this question. She will be able to help!
Delete