Introduction: Google Forms in the Classroom

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About: Aloha, I'm Jess! Equal parts teacher, dreamer, and maker of things. I'm super passionate about STEM & Maker Education and love all things art and DIY. :D

As a teacher, I have always had a passion for creating and sharing maker projects and techy resources that help make the day to day classroom stuff better. I also really love using Google Education tools!

Google does an amazing job of creating tools that simplify our lives in and out of the classroom and Google Forms is a perfect example.

If you haven't used Forms in the classroom, no worries! Forms is a tool that allows you to digitally collect and store all sorts of classroom data and it's really user-friendly.

I made this Instructable to share a few of my favorite ways to use Google Forms in the classroom and provide you with some resources that I created to help jumpstart your creation and use of Forms in the classroom.

Feel free to make a copy and then edit all of the templates I've included to fit your classroom needs and if you have any fun or unique ways that you use Google Forms please share them in the comments so we can keep the ideas flowing. :)

Step 1: Assessments

Teach, Assess, Repeat… It’s the classroom loop we often find ourselves in as we navigate this world of data-driven instruction. So let’s get this one out of the way!

Google Forms is a great tool for assessing students. It’s easy to create Forms to assess the standards in almost every subject and the quizzes feature with auto-grading is a teacher time saver.

I like to create quick checks and exit tickets for math that provide formative data to help me scaffold and support students through the concepts we cover.

Here’s an example Math Exit Ticket.

Step 2: Collecting Parent/Student Information

Back to School Registration and Open House events are when we collect all that important parent/student information and a perfect opportunity to use Google Forms to simplify the process and save time.

Creating a Back to School Form is easy and the same form can be used year after year with minimal tweaks as different information is needed.

Once you create your Parent/Student Information form, you can set up a computer station for parents to fill it out as they stop by your room during your registration or open house meet the teacher events. You can also share it with parents via email or a class newsletter.

Bonus: By having parents fill out the form digitally, all the important information you collect can populate into a Google Sheet that is stored and accessible through Google Drive from anywhere you are. It also saves you time by not having to copy the paper information into a digital document.

Here’s a great example you can use or modify to fit your needs: Back to School Form

Step 3: Organized Parent Conference Data Collection

When I started teaching, I created a Word Doc for parent conferences and I would print copies of it for every parent meeting so I could keep a record of the parent info, date/time of the meeting, conference notes, and any action plan or goals we set.

After the parent conference, I would add the form to the “Parent Conferences” tabbed section of my nifty teacher binder for quick reference when needed.

If any of that sounds familiar, you need Google Forms in your life!

Save some trees and use this Parent Conference Notes Log! Feel free to copy and make it your own. :)

Step 4: Student Surveys

Student Surveys will vary greatly depending on the grade level(s) and subjects you teach, but they can be created and given to students in just about every grade level.

If you have never given a survey to your students, now is a great time to start and Google Forms is a perfect survey creation tool to use.

Need student survey ideas? Here’s an example Student Interest Survey and here's a few classroom ideas for inspiration:

Math Data- Collect student data for use in math charts/graphs. For example, survey your students to find out their favorite breakfast cereals or candy and then use that data for students to graph.

Student Interest Surveys - At the beginning of the year, I like to give interest surveys to help me learn more about my new group of students. When I taught upper elementary students, I asked general questions (i.e. How many brothers and/or sisters do you have?, What hobbies do you have?) and a lot of “favorite” questions (i.e. What’s your favorite book?, movie?, video game?, Sport/Sports Team?, Ice Cream flavor? etc.).

When I taught 6th grade STEM, I asked students questions that were more geared to their interests in different STEM subjects and how comfortable they were with different tools. I also asked them what they were most excited to learn in STEM that year which really helped inform some of my lesson planning. Then, at the end of the year, I gave a STEM exit survey with some of the same questions so I could compare the data and see how their ideas and opinions changed during the year.

Step 5: Peer Review/Rating Activities

If you plan to use a lot of rubrics with your students, then peer reviews/rating activities are a terrific way to teach students how rubrics function and why they are important.

After group projects and/or student presentations you can have students use a Google Form that you create using the scaled rating question options in Forms.

Then, students can record their scale responses based on a peer review rubric or the rubric you plan to use to grade their assignment/presentation. I prefer the later so the students really understand what they will be graded on.

Here's a Sample Peer Review Rating Form template.

Step 6: Digital Reading Logs

This is for all my elementary teacher friends! :)

Typically, reading logs are sent home as part of the "Read 20+ Minutes a Day" type of homework, but digital reading logs can also become part of your 90 minute ELA Block and/or Reading Centers/Stations.

Using Google Forms, you can create reading logs that students complete after reading independently or after reading with you during small group.

Reading Logs can provide a quick check-in point for students to log where they are in the book or passages and they can also be a wonderful way for students to monitor their own understanding of the content.

Here’s a sample log I created: Digital Reading Log This Form is broken into sections that allow students to choose whether they are reading fiction or nonfiction and answer questions about their book based specifically on that factor. I seriously love the tools and features in Google Forms! :D

Step 7: Sign Up or Sign Out Sheets

Whether you’re trying to keep track of parent donated snack sign-ups or students leaving the classroom, Google Forms makes it easy. With just a few clicks of your mouse and strokes on the keyboard, you can have a quick Form that will log the needed information into a spreadsheet for all your data tracking needs.

Here’s an example for each of these situations:

Snack Sign-Up Form

Class Sign-Out Form

Don't forget to share the ways you use Google Forms in the classroom in the comments below and if you use any of the examples in this instructable to make your own classroom Form please take a picture and post it as an “I Made It”. :)