When we know them and what they're into -- their passions, their hobbies, their curiosities, and more -- we build a level of trust. Trust leads to influence. It also builds rapport and motivation to succeed in our classes.

So, how do we find out what students are into?

Student interest surveys!

A Google form makes it simple and easy to get started connecting with all of your students. Ask your students to fill out the form as they are logging in for the day. You can review their answers while they complete a bellringer or warm-up.

This form and template was created by Mari Venturino. See her post for more information.

Sometimes, you learn little things about your students at surprising times. Interesting things. Important things. For example, in the hallway, a student might tell you about their favorite YouTuber ... or that they have a big volleyball match in a week ... or that a family member is having surgery. If you have a spot to save those important things quickly, you won't forget them ... and they might help drive your teaching or your relationships forward.

Parent-teacher conferences, grade level meetings, collaboration meetings and more all require finding a time that works for everyone.

This form is designed to make scheduling meetings with other educators quick and easy.  It has a place to edit available times, items to discuss and even dietary restrictions if you are serving food. 

This template is geared toward higher education or adult professional development but with some editing it would be easy to make it work for your class. 

You can choose to have your students be as brutally honest as you'd like while having them give you feedback for the year.

Dr. Pooja Agarwal has studied cognitive science through the K-12 lens for years and has focused her study on retrieval practice. Its potential benefits for students of any age or content area are huge.

One of her favorite ways to have students use retrieval practice in the classroom.

She called it the “brain dump.”

The idea here is simple: get everything you've learned out of your brain. Type it out then click submit. It's like a dump truck. Tip the bed over and get that stuff out of the truck!

We often use 3-2-1 as an exit ticket for class and it works well to reflect on a lesson, day or even an entire unit. We can use that same protocol to encourage student self reflection too.

Using this idea students will identify three things they did well, two concepts they need to practice more,  and ask 1 question of their teacher.

If you want to help students lock learning in for the long-term (who doesn’t???) this one’s for you.

It’s called the “two things” protocol.

It encourages retrieval and participation. Jotting down just two things gives students a simple way to think about what they have learned.

Embed a video in the first part of the quiz then challenge students to create a multiple choice question for the video. 

They will need to create the question along with three incorrect answers and one correct answer. 

Looking for videos to use? Check out TEACHFLIX.org!

Sometimes a simple linear scale is a great way to gauge how well students feel that they understood a lesson. 

The great thing about google forms is that it sends that date directly to a spreadsheet where you can see where the majority of the class is feeling they are. Then you can break it down by student or group. 

This is a simple assessment form from the Google Forms template library.

You can use it to generate a quick assessment for your students on any topic or lesson. 

There is placeholder text along with a variety of question choices that you can use, add to or delete.

Google Forms already has the ability to correct quizzes and show the user the missed and correct answers.

A self correcting form adds an extra element of gamification and fun because the user must go back to the question and try again in order to advance. It's almost like a mini escape room!

In a Google Form digital escape room everything you need to figure out the clues and unlock the locks are all inside the form. No clicking around for clues.

These types of escape rooms are great for beginners both for those creating and those completing them. 

The framework for an Explore Explain Apply HyperDoc is simple, yet provides the teacher and the students with a concrete way to dive into a well thought out digitally designed lesson. 

• Explore: Students gather background knowledge on a topic on their own. This can be through articles, videos, images, and more.
• Explain: The teacher fills in the holes with explanation. This can be whole-group instruction, or it can be teacher-provided videos, articles, images, and more.
• Apply: Students take what they've learned and use it. They create something to show what they know instead of just answering questions. 

Traditional lesson plan books have their limitations. Being paper-based, they’re not searchable and they’re not easily shareable.

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to search quickly for a specific lesson plan instead of flipping back page by page?

How about being able to share lesson plans with others without making photocopies?

You can use Google Forms to create a lesson planner that creates documents — automatically! — with all your plans in a format nicely designed by you!