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G Suite Update - Google Templates Gallery - The New Way to Have Group Work in Google Classroom

G Suite just got that much sweeter (read it out loud, its a pun!). Now, within in the G Suite Apps you can upload templates for anyone within the Coloma Community Schools to be able to use. The old template gallery is going away in 2017, but the new one is very useful and will be a great addition to the G Suite. It is really simple to do and allows for students to easily get a template for group work activities without having the students needing to make a copy!

To get started, go to any of the following websites: docs.google.com, forms.google.com, sheets.google.com, or slides.google.com.

Once you are at the chosen website, the steps are all the same. For this example, I am using the Google Docs side of things.

At the top of the page, you will see an option that says "Templates Gallery" near the suggested templates at the top of the page. Go ahead and click on that area.


Next, you will see the option for "General" or "Coloma Community Schools." Select the Coloma Community Schools option. This will bring you to the district template gallery. 



Once you are on the Coloma Community Schools template gallery, you can upload your own gallery item. To begin the process, simply click on the "Submit Template" button. 


Then, you can select a document, decide whether or not you wish to upload the original document or create a copy of the document, and provide it a title. You can also categorize it with some of the preset categories. After uploading your template, anyone with a @ccs.coloma.org email address will be able to have access to it.*

Applicable Classroom Use

Using this in the classroom is incredibly easy. For instance, if you are doing group work, one student can download and share the document with the group, allowing you to only have one turned in. It could be really awesome instead of blasting blank documents to all students. You can also put up team lesson plan templates or department lesson plan templates to allow for easy use and adaption. 

Classroom use doesn't stop there. It is also a place where we can keep forms for frequent activities to allow us all to have quick, easy access to the all of the materials and paperwork that we need to do. 


Disclaimer
* Do not put confidential student information in a template. This could become a violation of FERPA as students also have access to the templates. Be very careful about what might be submitted as a template. 




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