Page 9 - FDLRS Focus Winter 2021

Googlicious

Google Meet:
Teachers who are teaching in person as well as virtually are utilizing Google Meet for instruction.
This allows students who are learning from home to participate alongside peers that are in the
brick and mortar classrooms. Closed captioning is also available, meeting the needs of our
Deaf, Hard of Hearing students. Not only are teachers using Google Meet with students, they
are participating in IEP meetings, professional development and meetings with other teachers.
Google Meet has also been a game changer for all district staff. Because of Google Meet, staff is more
available for meetings, tech assists, IEP meetings, team building and workgroups. Google Meet has allowed
FDLRS/ESE staff to visit classes virtually, and to provide coaching for teachers and staff.

Jamboard:
Jamboard, and interactive whiteboard, is now available to use within Google Meet. It has
been a welcome addition to the Google Suite to help engage students in learning activities.
JamBoard is a valuable tool for professional developers in engaging teachers and modeling
lessons to use with students.

Google Drive:
With the move to distance learning, many of us have had to change our way of working
and Google Drive has fit the bill. With Shared Drives, teams can work on documents
simultaneously or they can share them with one another.

Google Forms:
Google Forms has been helpful for both teachers and district staff. Teachers can create
assignments and assessments and can even have them graded. Google Forms provides district
staff the ability to send surveys, needs assessments, evaluations and more. It has proven to be a
versatile tool that helps district personnel across the board.

Google Docs, Google Sheets and Google Slides:

These tools, although similar to their Microsoft counterparts, Word, Excel and
PowerPoint, Google Docs, Sheets and Slides run seamlessly within the Google
platform and teachers are able to use them within Google Classroom. The
accessibility provided in Google Docs and Slides allows students to use voice
typing and to have closed captioning available in presentations. The ability for
collaboration within a document also allows several students or team members
to work collaboratively from wherever they are!

Volume 42 Issue 1 Page 9