When you’re using the Google Classroom app on a mobile device (tablet or phone) you can click on the “People” tab and have access to a student selector tool. This is like a high tech way of pulling sticks. I’m not a big fan of cold calling kids on a regular basis, but there are a few times when I might want to pull a random student. There are also times when I need to run down the list of my kids in a random order for one reason or another. This tool is perfect for that! You can mark kids absent, skip past students until later, and easily keep track of who has been picked - even if you need to stop and pick the rest another time. Very handy if you ask me. Not a tool I’ll use every day, but it is something I will make strategic use of.
To find this tool, open your Google Classroom App on a mobile device and tap on the “People” tab. In the upper right corner, you’ll see a little icon that looks like four little squares, but one is tweaked sideways. Tap that little icon to launch the Student Selector tool.
The first time you tap on this, it will welcome you to the student selector and you can tap “Start” to begin.
Now you can see a random student. You have options to mark them absent, call them later, or tap to see the next student. You can also see a rundown on the left side showing how many students have been picked, how many are left, and how many were absent. If you tap on the X and go out, when you come back, the count will still be there. To reset the count for another activity, you can tap on the “Reset” button in the upper right corner.
This is a very quick and easy tool integrated into an app you already use - no third party app necessary. Thanks, Google!
If you want to read more about Google Classroom’s Student Selector tool, you can click here to see Google’s Help Page.
