At the start of the year, I shared some new updates to Google Classroom, and they were all nice improvements. However, I wanted to take a closer look at one feature in particular that I believe can have the most impact on the way teachers assess student work. Now, in Classroom’s new Classwork page, when teachers view student submissions, it appears in a new grading and feedback shell that allows teachers to do a couple things more efficiently. 1) Teachers can now quickly cycle through student submissions without having to open and close new tabs. 2) Teachers can create a comment bank of frequently used feedback phrases and provide this feedback to students with just a few keystrokes. Check it out in the brief video below.

And in related, but different news, I recently received a great tip from Music teacher Scott Ferguson. He sent me a link, announcing that Google had just created some new shortcuts that allow users to quickly start new projects right from your web browser.  You can type doc.new, docs.new, or document.new in your web browser to make a new Google Doc, just like you would type a website address. Use sheet.new, sheets.new, or spreadsheet.new for new Google Sheets. Forms.new or form.new will open a new Google Form. You can also make new Slides with slide.new, slides.new, or presentation.new.  Want a new Google site? Try site.new, sites.new, or website.new.