Teaching in the SUITE life.

  How 'Suite' is it to have a community of applications at our finger tips to alleviate the pressures of online teaching this academic year.  Whilst we are avid Google users the G Suite application is fairly new to most educators, as such, opportunities for teacher training across the island have been offered by the Jamaica Teaching Council in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information to create a community of virtually competent teachers.

So what makes G Suite the best 'Suite"? 

  G Suite for Education is geared towards fostering development of the 4Cs (Critical thinking, Collaboration, Creativity, Communication) among our students.  It is a combination of free Google tools specifically designed for educational institutions especially during this virtual shift.  These tools are free, ad-free, reliable, secured and are widely used across the world by teachers and students.  The G Suite tools for Education opens windows to new norms of teaching and learning, are relevant to students' needs and are quite easy to utilize.

What are these Google tools?

  Within the Suite a myriad of tools are provided that suits all your needs. These include Gmail, Google Classroom, Google Meet, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Forms, Google Drive, Google Calendar and Jamboard.  While the list is not exhausted, the aforementioned tools are among the most popular applications that teachers and students will use for virtual classes.

A closer look at these applications:

Gmail- This application is the key🔑 to your Suite and will be required in order to access the other applications.  Once you are logged in you gain access to everything in one space. Sounds easy, doesn't it?  It definitely is.

Google Classroom- Classroom? Yes your virtual space where you and your students take on the virtual world in order to communicate and collaborate in the learning process. It gives teachers the ease of going paperless for students with consistent internet access, organize lessons based on the curriculum, grade assignments, provide feedback  and so much more. It's all there waiting on you to explore. What are you waiting for?

Google Meet- So face to face has taken the back burner in recent times, but Google Meet is convenient for live classes with your students. Teachers will be able to do live stream classes, screen sharing and have a personal connection with their students through the virtual space.  Students are adjusting and Google Meet provides them with a sense of belonging to a group whom they can see even from the distance of their homes.  They will be able to match the face behind the teacher in their Google classroom and create a mental image of him or her.

Google Docs- Now, what is a classroom without documents such as worksheets, books and test papers? Paperless! Right? This application allows teachers to create activities to be shared with their class in real time. Each student gets his or her own copy, completes the activity and submit it in the Google Classroom.

Google Sheets- Now all these Google Docs are submitted and grades need to be assigned.  Google Sheets have you covered for data analysis and organization in spreadsheet style.

Google Forms- Did somebody say quiz time, surveys? Google Forms are perfect for that. Google Forms are quick and easy to generate and provides responses to information in real time.

Google Drive-  So your flash drives are full or you misplaced them.  Now you are flustered and pondering what to do.  No worries, Google Drive is here to the rescue. It allows you to securely store your files and access them from any device of your choice. You can also create, edit and open your files right there.  Documents used in your Google Classroom are also automatically stored in your Google Drive for easy access. No need to worry your Drive has you covered.

So, there you have it. These G Suite tools will become your best friends as you adapt to the changes of schooling.  Virtually, learning may seem tedious in the beginning, but once you've mastered the tips and tricks of using these tools and platforms you will be well on your way to being nominated as 'Techie Teachers' of the year.  Classrooms have changed, giving birth to more advanced teaching styles.  Let's log in to our 'Suite' and take ourselves and students on a 'Suite' ride.

Stay tuned for more tips and tricks from the Techie Teacher- Miss Sheriff