Four Great Google Forms Ideas to Try Right Away

There are certain tools that are so flexible and easy to use that their potential use cases are infinite. Google Forms has recently added some new features that make it one of the go-to tools I recommend to even the most tech-tentative educators. Previously, educators needed to use add-ons to make their Forms self-correcting, and the question-types and design options left much to be desired. But the new Forms have been leveraged by the teachers I work with in such creative and productive ways this school year. They are worth recording in this post so that more students and educators can benefit.

Use #1: Flipped Activity Instructions

The Pain Point
Our middle school physical education teachers sometimes use videos from Ninh Ly's Rules of Sports YouTube playlist to teach their students the rules of a sport before they head outside to play it. The downside is that playing the videos during class time takes away from precious active time on the field or court. With class periods that are only 45 minutes long, they need to make every minute count.

Google Forms to the Rescue
One of the teachers now makes quick 5-8 question Forms and then posts both the link to the video and the link to the Form on his class website. Students take about 5-10 minutes to watch the videos and complete the Forms at home. Before they even see their students the next day, teachers know which students have watched the videos, whether they understand the rules, and which elements might need a quick review. Even better, students instantly know how they've done on the Form because the teachers use the Quizzes feature (accessible by clicking the the gear on the upper right when building a Form) to ensure that the Form tells students their results right away so they know what to expect the next day in class. Now everyone has much more time for active play during the school day.

Use #2: Midyear Student Feedback

The Pain Point
The teachers in one of our academic departments are striving to deliver a more consistent experience across their classes so that more of our students master their content at the appropriate level before moving up in subsequent school years. Although tests and quizzes can check for academic mastery, they do not help measure whether teachers are using consistent methods or workload and how well students are handling the curriculum and assignments.

Google Forms to the Rescue
One way to measure consistency is through student feedback on homework, teacher helpfulness, assessment fairness, and more. After a brief training on Forms, a group of 5 teachers developed a 30 question Form that all of their students took to provide them with important feedback. Questions asked which resources and tools are most helpful, how students manage homework, whether curriculum pacing was reasonable, and if grading policies were clear. They used the results to create an action plan for the second half of the school year and are planning to survey the students again to see if the adjustments they made are helping their students.

Use #3: Student Research as Part of PBL

The Pain Point
One of our English teachers wanted to bring the reading gender gap to her students' attention. They read Why boys don't read and then were charged with finding out whether the information in the article was an accurate reflection of themselves. (We work at an all-boys school.) Of course, they were also charged with developing their own actionable solutions that could help encourage them and their peers to read more.

Google Forms to the Rescue
In order to determine whether their own reading habits fit within the concerns expressed in the article, they worked together to develop a Form. They decided to ask about how they find books to read, how often they read for pleasure, and whether they identify themselves as "readers." The results indicated that they did, in fact, represent the boys the article was about. It allowed them to become more invested in their projects over the long haul. Today many of those students are living out their projects by working with school librarians and administrators to create new initiatives that will increase reading for pleasure among our student population.

Use #4: Classroom Questions with Live Results

The Pain Point
This idea actually came from a recent conference presentation. At ASCD's Empower conference, I co-presented a session on promoting young education leaders. My co-presenters and I knew that our audience would include both administrators looking to promote leadership and young educators looking to become leaders, but knowing the makeup of our audience would help us tailor the session to their goals. Similarly, teachers often launch into a lesson without knowing for sure whether the classroom full of students has existing opinions/perspectives on the topic.

Google Forms to the Rescue

We created a one question Form for participants to answer, identifying their role at their school or district. Then, while they answered, we projected the responses tab of the Form on the big screen. The pie chart that Forms auto-generates for multiple choice questions live updated the results. We all watched together as we discovered that the room was fill with 56 participants from varying roles. This same tactic could be quickly and easily applied to the start of any new lesson or project in any classroom.

How are you stretching and using Forms with your students and colleagues? The possibilities are literally endless. Share your favorite tips and links to your own blog posts below!