Google Classroom Hack #6: Grade at a Glance with Colors

Google Classroom can take a while to load, so use this color-coding trick to make grading faster--without waiting for loading! If you color code your drag-and-drop or matching assignments, you can grade by simply looking at the thumbnail. Piece of cake!Last year at about this time, I started a spring survival series on my blog. And that seems to be necessary. The weather is warming, the student’s wardrobes are pushing the limits, and so are their attention spans.

And why not? Down here in balmy Georgia, we only have six more weeks until that glorious moment in time called summer break that comes and goes so quickly each year, but without which we surely could not survive.

When the weather is gorgeous, so few among us actually want to work. During the dreary winter months when the rain wouldn’t stop, I woke up at 5:30 each morning to drink coffee and get some work done. But now that it’s pretty outside and glorious summer is within reach, I hit snooze until 7:00 and roll out the door at 7:30, yelling at my son to, “Hurry up!”

If I am struggling–I know my students are.

Google Classroom can take a while to load, so use this color-coding trick to make grading faster--without waiting for loading! If you color code your drag-and-drop or matching assignments, you can grade by simply looking at the thumbnail. Piece of cake!
When I look up and see this, I struggle to focus.

The point is, I know it happens every year at about this time, so my goal is always to make it as painless as possible for my students and me without sacrificing the vital instruction time remaining. Last year at about this time, I wrote all about giving in and going outside and gallery walks for my spring survival tips. I even wrote about making grades the star (in order to remind students that they are still accountable).

I still do all of these things; however, this year, I have made quite a change in my classroom. As my district is rolling out the 1:1 model (one Chromebook for every student), I am blending my classroom (mixing technology with traditional instruction).

So, my spring survival tips this year will take the form of “Google Classroom Hacks.” And with that said, here goes number 6 (I’ll be counting down to 1):

Grade at a Glance with Colors

If you are color blind, I apologize here and now, as this will not help you, just as any recipe containing flour will not help me (I have the autoimmune disorder Celiac–I cannot digest the protein gluten that is found in oh so many delicious things), and I know it’s frustrating.  
 
But for the rest of us, this is pretty cool.
 
As great as it is not to have to deal with stacks of paper and to have all assignments right in the same place, one of the nuisances of Google Classroom is having to open each of your students’ submitted assignments and wait for it to load. 

Well, if you have a simple one-page assignment that is matching or drag-and-drop, wait no more! Remember the color pattern, and open nothing. Just click on the assignment title from your desktop, and you will see small thumbnails of everyone’s submission lined up.

Glance at each thumbnail.  If all of the colors are lined up, it’s a 100. Mark down for incorrect answers from there.

Google Classroom can take a while to load, so use this color-coding trick to make grading faster--without waiting for loading! If you color code your drag-and-drop or matching assignments, you can grade by simply looking at the thumbnail. Piece of cake!

I am currently working on more color-coded drag and drop Google Drive activities, but I have a few on TPT now. And here’s a special just for this week. I have this French Revolution Timeline that is a one-pager and color-coded for “grading at a glance.” I will be adding interactive Google Drive notes to go with it, but until I add them, the timeline will be over half off–just $1.50.

French Revolution Interactive Timeline
Go on and snag it HERE

It’s a steal because if you get the timeline now, in a week you can download the notes, too at no additional charge.

What Google Classroom Hacks do you have? What Google Classroom problems would you like to see solved? Let me know in the comments below.

 

Read the next hack in this series–CLICK HERE.
 
 

 

Get My Notes!

* indicates required
Email
Facebook
Pinterest
Twitter

You might also like...

AI is everywhere. It's found its way into creation tools and search engines. It's generating blog posts, jingles, and images. It's also generating essays for our students. For better or worse, AI is here to stay. It's time to talk about 4 ways to use the powerful AI tool ChatGPT to your advantage in the classroom. This might change your life...

4 Ways to Use ChatGPT to Your Advantage in the Classroom

AI is everywhere. It’s found its way into creation tools and search engines. It’s generating blog posts, jingles, and images. It’s also generating essays for our students. For better or worse, AI is here to stay. It’s time to talk about 4 ways to use the powerful AI tool ChatGPT to your advantage in the classroom. This might change your life…

Read More »
Teaching during the pandemic taught us a lot. I've been reflecting on that and this series, Reclaiming Education: What to Lose and What to Keep after the Pandemic is the result of those reflections. In this post, I discuss a way to lose Cookie-Cutter Learning in favor of a workable style of Personalized Learning and the importance of keeping deadlines. Don't forget to download the templates from my free resource library to help you implement this approach!

Lose Cookie-Cutter Learning, Keep Deadlines: How to Use Personalized Learning While Maintaining Deadline Integrity

Teaching during the pandemic taught us a lot. I’ve been reflecting on that and this series, Reclaiming Education: What to Lose and What to Keep after the Pandemic is the result of those reflections. In this post, I discuss a way to lose Cookie-Cutter Learning in favor of a workable style of Personalized Learning and the importance of keeping deadlines. Don’t forget to download the templates from my free resource library to help you implement this approach!

Read More »


Welcome! Stay a while and browse classroom-tested tips, strategies, and resources that will take your teaching to the next level!

Learn More

Want Access To The Free Resource library?

Sign up, answer the short survey, and get the password!