G Suite is now Google Workspace for Education.  Used by students and teachers for school, the platform continues to provide tools that qualifying institutions can use for free.  Google for Education allows educators and students to interact simply.  Whether school is in session or consisting of online classes, these Workspace tools include essential web based applications.

Google Workspace allows teachers to plan and implement standard based lessons, manage grades and meet the needs of diverse learners.  A more simple way to explain how these tools and resources help educators is to say that it’s a collection of apps, just like you have on your phone. These apps are designed for use in work and educational purposes.

Some of these apps already exist for any organization needing to engage collectively online, but many have been specifically created for teachers and their classrooms. These Google tools will help you to engage students to interact with the content of any lesson presented, including back and forth communication other than just email or live online session.

Why Use Google Workspace for Education?

1. Free sign up then determine free eligibility for your institution.
2. Easy Collaboration between students and fellow teachers.
3. Use Google Workspace on any device with one log in.

Never before have these tools been more essential with many students having to attend their classes online. These resources bring all students together, whether at home or in school, to help increase everyday work flow for critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity with your students. All of this happens while supporting the standards in learning objectives that you have.

Google for Education Apps

You may recognize many of these Google platforms because as mentioned, many of them are not only used for education. Google for Education simply groups them all in one place through your Google account, in addition to adding specific apps essential for the online classroom.

Core Services of Google Workspace for Education

Whether conducting classes in school, online or a little of both, here are the Google apps that will make it easier for your students to connect through their each individual Google accounts, just as teachers and administrators are doing.

Classroom

This is one of the most commonly used workpace apps but many Google Classroom’s features may not be fully utilized. Even though the classroom is online, it is very secure as only those who are invited can join through a class code emailed to each individual student. Once a classroom is created teachers can can add various classes and sections as needed.

Some key features of Google Classroom are:

• Track classwork and submit assignments.
• Check originality, feedback, and grades. Share resources and interact in the class stream or by email.
• Parents and Guardians can get a regular email summary of student’s work.
• Review announcements and activities.

Drive

Think of Google Drive as a flash drive that is stored on a different computer that you can access from anywhere and from any of your devices. This is the same for students. It’s the easy way to share lesson files or educational videos and everyone in your class will have the latest copies. Add and remove files at will or update documents without having to forward revised materials your students. Drive brings all of the Workspace tools together for easy access on the cloud by everyone in your class.  Inside Google Drive you can create docs, work sheets, slides and forms for various purposes.

Docs

Any document your would normally create, print off and hand our to your students can be created in Google Docs. These docs will be available instantly for your entire class to see. You can restrict these documents from being edited by students, or their may be circumstances when you want to allow editing, if not students then with other teachers or administrators you share documents with.

Sheets

Make your lessons come to life with colorful charts and graphs. Google Sheets offers built-in formulas, pivot tables and conditional formatting options save time and simplify common spreadsheet tasks. Choose from a wide variety of budgets, schedules, and other pre-made spreadsheets — all designed to make your work that much better, and your life that much easier.

Slides

Google slides allow you to choose from a variety of presentation themes. There are hundreds of fonts, embedded video and animations as well. A wide array of pitches, portfolios and other pre-made presentations are also available.

Forms

Imagine the ability to create a pop quiz without having to print off copies and wait for students to attend your class? Google Forms is also a great place to get feedback from students. For example, lets say you want to create a place for students to leave questions or comments. Rather than sending out an email and getting overwhelmed with responses, you can create a form for them to list their name and comment or question. It’s also a great way for all students to see what their online classmates are thinking, just as if they were in a school classroom asking a question.

Sites

One of Google’s oldest platforms, Google Sites is easiest way for you to create a website for your classroom. Update it as regularly as you wish or simply use your class website to present year long resources, including links to safe websites for research. Many teachers provide a link to our safe search engine for kids to use..

Assignments

This tool allows teachers to streamline the distribution of assignments to students, as well as analyze and grade all work. Google Assignments integrates into your LMS (Learning Management System after your school administrator has turned on the tool within your domain. Learn more about how it works at https://edu.google.com/intl/en_ca/assignments/

Meet

Here is where you set up your classrooms for virtual learning. Just as all of Google for Education tools, it’s free for schools and gives you complete control to meet security and privately. You can block students from using classic Hangouts and Google Chat on their school-managed Chromebooks. You can block all students. Or, set different rules for students in certain groups.

Chrome

There are a lot of benefits to making Google chrome your default browser. First and foremost is the idea that Chrome works best with Google.  Since you’re using all of these Google tools you’re less likely to encounter any snags. Using Google Chrome also allows you to keep everything the same no matter what device you are using thanks for Chrome Sync.   

Gmail

Pretty straight forward here. Your Google email is connected to your Google account and has the same log in credentials as any Workspace tool you are currently using, all while maintaining efficient communication between administrators, teachers, and students. Gmail is not required by students to be part of an online class, but they will need a Google account and an alternate email address to get class notifications.

Calendar

The easy way to schedule online classes. Students and parents are always kept “in the loop” and everyone can get reminders about upcoming activities. You can also create multiple calendars that everyone can use together. Use of this app by all participants means students don’t have to create their own calendars to keep track of their schedules.

Contacts

Busy teachers often have different groups they need to communicate with. With Contacts you can organize and merge your contacts, as well as create personal mailing lists. Quickly send messages to specific groups of people with a single click.

Keep

The quick way to stay organized.  Create quick lists and add structured information and sub tasks.  Easily access your notes and lists on the web and your mobile devices.   Google Workspace administrators can control who uses Google Keep within your school. Users who have Keep turned on can use it to create, manage, and share notes within your school.

Admin

Google for Education within every school is controlled by an administrator. The Google Admin console is their access to manage all teachers and students using Workspace. There are plenty of free online tutorials to learn how to operate all of Google’s work and educationally based apps.  Google also provides training for educators to become Google Workspace administrators to fully utilize the power of the formally named platform G Suite.   Courses are held online and are regularly scheduled to continued availability.

Shared Workspace

Learn how a shared workspace online can benefits students for better learning, as well as encouraging collaboration with other teachers.  Explore ways teachers can use GitHub in the classroom.

Few families have not traveled together. Families gel and become one unit in part because of their ability to travel together. It is one of the foundations of human civilization. As families migrated countless millennia ago, they bonded together as cohesive units that in time, becoming what we are today.

A typical family trip is one of the best ways to create wonderful memories and make your kids fall in love with traveling.  If you want your kids to get bitten with the travel bug, follow these points:

Take Them to Different Places

If you keep going to the same town or lakeside townhouse year after year, it is an axiomatic assumption that your kids are going to get bored after the first few trips. After all, there are only so many places you can go sightseeing, and only so many times you can fish from the same river. Eventually, they are going to end up getting severely bored. When that happens, they will try to avoid your travel plans. And come up with weird excuses.

If your kids start complaining of tummy aches and the like, on the eve of your annual sojourn to your favorite mountain cabin, maybe it is time to rethink your priorities. It would be a great idea to allow them to decide on your next vacation spot. This way, they will be fully involved in the whole process and they will do their level best to find the best places for everyone.

Explain Things Beforehand

Always remember that a confused child is an unhappy child. In addition, if they are first-time travelers, you must explain everything to them beforehand, as clearly and as concisely as possible. If there are excessive stimuli, they might become uncomfortable

Here, it would be a good idea to go over an outline of the entire trip. You should explain what they would see and experience so that they will be able to understand the whole point of the trip. If they are aware of what is going to happen in advance, they will be full of anticipation, rather than apprehension.

Don’t Overpack

Many traveling families tend to pack just about everything including the kitchen sink. They believe that having familiar items around will make their routines more consistent and they will always have what they need, right at hand. Unfortunately, this is not a good idea at all. You will likely be carrying all that extra luggage along with your kids from destination to destination. You don’t want to do that.

On the other hand, it is a far better idea to pack as little as possible. This way, you will be able to travel light and also be comfortable at the same time. Not only will you remain safe from sore arms and an aching back, but you won’t have to take care of everything all the time. You can always buy whatever you need from elsewhere. And your kids will love all the new things you get them.

Take a Road Trip

There are few bonding opportunities as exciting as a road trip. This holds particularly true if you have an international driving permit and can opt for road trips abroad. This is a great way to teach them about the local culture and traditions. Best of all when you have your transport, and you will not be dependent on flight schedules, bus and train timings, and the like.

You can take all kinds of healthy snacks with you and make sure your kids do not go hungry. If the trip were to be a very long one, with little scenery along the road, it would be a wise plan to pack a few games with you, at least until you get to a more scenic part of your route.

Conclusion

If you want your family to bond together, it is a really good idea to take a trip, specifically a road trip. If you handle it right, your kids will just simply love traveling with you, whenever and wherever you want to go!

Discovering Together: Crafting Magical Moments While Traveling with Kids

Keeping your family safe and happy is second nature to any parent. And as spring gets into full swing and our kids are spending more time out and about, it’s important to keep their immune systems boosted so they can have fun without you worrying too much!

No matter what age, here are some helpful tips to keeping kids healthy at home, in school, and outside on the playground:

Make sure they get their nutrients

It goes without saying that one of the best ways to keep your kids healthy is by making sure they’re eating a balanced diet and getting all the nutrients they need.  A balanced diet that includes all necessary nutrients is just one piece of the puzzle in promoting children’s health. Introducing them to digestive wellness specialists can be integral in ensuring their dietary needs are met adequately and catered to their unique requirements. Digestive wellness specialists work alongside families to provide personalized nutrition plans covered by most insurance policies, ensuring accessibility and sustainability.

Vitamins and Supplements

A great way to supplement your kids’ diet is by giving them vitamins to give their bodies the nutrients that they can’t always find in foods.

Getting your kids to take their supplements is one of the biggest challenges for parents. But luckily, there are a variety of kids vitamins out there to choose from that come in child-friendly formats, such as gummies and soluble formulas that taste great too!

Another way to boost your kids’ immune system is to give them a daily probiotic to keep their gut healthy and digestive system clear. Probiotics are often available in convenient supplement tablets, making it easy to support your child’s health with a simple daily routine.

Diet

Although it can be tough to get your kids to eat healthy foods, when they eat a balanced and varied diet, their immune systems are at their strongest. We get nutrients from all kinds of foods, and a good diet consists of a balance between:

• Proteins
• Carbohydrates
• Fibre
• Fats
• Minerals and vitamins

Whilst all foods fall into these categories, we know that not all foods are healthy. We should try to avoid giving our children foods high in saturated fats, sugar and salt, and foods that are processed.

Groups that are particularly good for our children are nuts (providing they don’t have allergies), starchy foods such as potatoes, rice and pasta, lean meats and vegetables.

When it comes to vegetables, they aren’t wrong when they say “Eat the rainbow” because different colored vegetables and fruits contain different nutrients and vitamins that are crucial to the immune system’s natural function.

But how do we get them to eat them?

Knowing what’s good for them is one thing, but convincing children to eat anything that hasn’t been deep fried is a challenge in itself. But, there are a lot of ways to jazz up healthy foods that kids don’t typically like such as vegetables by flavoring them with seasoning, blending them into a healthy smoothie at home and even hiding them in dishes with a sauce or breadcrumb!

Remember, everything in moderation

While we all want our kids to eat healthy for both physical and intellectual development, we have to understand that they will want to eat other not-so-good foods from time to time. The trick is how we frame those foods. If you ban your children from eating junk food, it’ll only make them want it more, so take the excitement out of it by allowing them to have some from time to time.  Also, introduce them healthy foods from other cultures to keep their meals interesting.

Encourage them to stay active

Leading an active lifestyle is important for everyone, and developing this habit starts in childhood. We all know about the numerous benefits of exercise for our mental and physical health, and it’s no different for children.

In fact, kids tend to have a lot of energy, so getting them to be active shouldn’t be too hard. The key is finding an activity that they enjoy. Each child has different interests and skills, so try to expose your child to an array of activities so that when they find something they like, keeping them active won’t be a chore for either of you.

You can encourage your children to stay active in a few different ways. One is incorporating exercise into everyday life, such as walking to school or playing a team sport as a family on the weekend. Then there are classes, clubs and groups that your kids can participate in regularly. Here are a few examples:

• Dance
• Team sports such as football, baseball or soccer
• Track
• Gymnastics
• Skating
• Trampolining
• Martial arts such as karate or taekwondo

Get them into a good sleeping schedule

Sleep is one of the most important parts of our routines, as our bodies and brains get a chance to regenerate and rest, and this is even more important for children. As they are growing so fast, they need more time to rest – on average a child needs 9 – 11 hours of sleep per night whilst adults only need 6 – 8.

So keeping your kids healthy means making sure they sleep well. And we all sleep better when we have a regular routine. Get your kids to bed in the evening and up in the morning at similar times to get their bodies into a good routine. And the better sleep they have, the more healthy they are.

Keep their hygiene routines in check

There’s no secret that personal hygiene can make all the difference in protecting ourselves and those around us from infection and disease. And children are no exception. As they are more in contact with the public from going to school, it’s even more crucial to teach them healthy hygiene routines to keep them and your family safe from illness. This includes regular hand washing routines, especially whilst at school, before eating and after going to the bathroom. Teaching them to wash their hands properly can slow down the spread of germs and hopefully keep them and you safe this spring.

Overall, there are many ways that we as parents can keep our children healthy, including healthy oral care. By arming them with the right tools to fight off bacteria and germs that they are inevitably going to come into contact with, whether that’s at school or in the playground, we can increase their protection against illness.

Hopefully these tips will help you keep them in the best routines for their health.

Additional Health Resources:

Recognizing the signs of health concerns.
Are your kids mandated to have health insurance?

If you have noticed your child is interested in Spanish, use this moment to promote the child’s healthy development. Foreign language develops a kid’s ability to multitask, improves memory and boosts critical-thinking skills. And the good news is that you can easily integrate the language learning process into a child’s everyday routine using an online format.

Benefits of online Spanish classes

Despite a popular belief, a foreign language in no way confuses a child and interferes with the mother tongue. Bilingual children are more creative and learn much faster. The earlier is the age of a learner, the less he is inhibited by the fear of making mistakes. And a new language increases opportunities for cross-cultural connection.

For example, Spanish will let you speak with more than 463-million audience worldwide. And the rapid growth of e-learning language resources makes it possible to get a lot of additional advantages from online Spanish classes.

With the demand for online learning there is a larger number of educators that are seeking online teaching jobs, therefore, options for find the right Spanish teacher for your child continues to grow.

1. Unique opportunity to create an individual schedule

When you visit regular offline classes, you have to adhere to a certain time pattern. And it is a different story with online study. It is up to you how long your Spanish class is going to be and how often you will take it.  It is really cool when the study rhythm is formed not by the school bell and breaks between lessons, but by you. Moreover, at home, the atmosphere is often predictable and calm. Children develop their own rhythm and follows it without additional loads and worries to miss something.

This approach will also allow adapting classes to individual features of each child – some need more time for verbal tasks while it takes longer for others to master grammar rules. A personal AI language tutor can further enhance this experience by providing customized lessons tailored to each child’s needs.

2. Identify a child’s weaknesses and work on them

Individual work with an online tutor will immediately demonstrate what material a child absorbs on the go and where more efforts are needed. It may become a surprise to parents who have previously voiced dissatisfaction with the school as a whole or with teachers about the child’s lack of success in a particular field of knowledge.

Besides, parents can observe their child and determine whether the child is attentive during classes or they are having trouble with speech. Full-time education does not allow to reveal such hidden problems as the teacher is not always able to spot them in a bigger group of children.

3. Perfect Spanish Immersion

Online classes allow kids to dive directly into the Spanish environment without traveling abroad. Traditional classes have more focus on writing and reading, and the teachers are rarely native speakers. No matter where in the world you are located, you are just a click away from a Spanish tutor.

There are many online resources such as Preply that will instantly take you to live language surroundings. And online immersion is a proven path to language proficiency. The ability to interact with native speakers stimulates kid’s engagement and speeds up language fluency.

4. Repetition.

The famous Latin proverb says “Repetitio est mater studiorum.” And it is especially true when learning a foreign language. Children at school are often embarrassed to ask the teacher to explain the material again when they did not understand something. And this problem disappears online – the child can listen to the lesson or part of it as many times as needed to consolidate knowledge. Tests that can be taken several times until all queries are resolved. Moreover, you can always return to the old lessons in the online format to refresh the Spanish grammar rules.

5. Development of self-discipline skills

Learning to learn is a top skill a person throughout life. Education experts are convinced that in 2030 the learning process will be continuous. Therefore, it is vital to pump this skill starting from an early age. In traditional classes, kids are more distracted and are more influenced by teachers, while distant classes teach kids to be more focused. Many studies prove that students who study remotely have fewer behavioral issues, more stable self-esteem, they easily master higher education and are more successful in adult life.

And the main advantage of online language classes is that parents are actively involved in the learning process. They can constantly monitor the child’s progress. This encouragement and support make a significant contribution to children’s academic success. The list of the above-mentioned benefits can be continued. But the verdict is obvious – online Spanish classes will not pass without positive results.

Reading Resources:

Learn how to teach proper English to non native speakers.
Read this guide to Spanish learning resources for kids