It doesn't hurt to go for a test DRIVE, end up liking all the bells and whistles, and coming home with a luxury sedan.

If you are tech savvy, this post may be beneath you.  No need to snub.  

Perhaps you could grace us with your insights and how you use features of Google Drive in your classroom. Even better- if you use it in your elementary music classroom, share away!

Back in the day, (in the times of technology advancement, this was about a year ago) I explored Google Drive on my own.  Once I did more looking into Google Drive the clouds opened to more possibilities this can provide.  If you have never used Google Drive, I strongly encourage you to watch this video for a non-quick, but very descriptive and helpful video on the main features of Google Drive.

Sharing and Comments Feature.

Of course the most useful aspect of using Google Drive is that you can work collaboratively.  We all know how important collaboration is in today's society.  Let's play out a scenario.  

You are preparing a slideshow presentation for your staff with a colleague.  It is very difficult for you to find a time that you can both meet to prepare the slides together. So, you create a Google Slides presentation, share it with each other, and begin to work on the slides at your convenience.  You leave comments and questions for each other using the comments feature, and ta-da!  You saved an immense amount of time out of your personal and professional schedules and the presentation looks great! 

Let me share a real-life scenario with you that happened in my very own classroom.  

True Story.

I had my 5th graders begin a guided inquiry project on a music genre of their choice.  This was the 2nd year doing this project.  The first year, I had students do a powerpoint presentation to present all of their information.  One person saved the document under their name, and the group sat together giving input on the powerpoint.  I'm sure you can imagine that some groups had members that dozed off during this time or started making spitballs with this "free time."  So this year, my LMS suggested that I use Google Slides to avoid this issue.  They could also share their presentation with me so that I could pull it up easier on my computer when presenting to the classroom.  The students and I began to use the comment feature present in Google Drive.  This made life so much easier as there was no way for me to help each group every class session.  I could go over their slides at any time, provide feedback and they could follow up in their time as well.  The comment option is in the top right corner of this real life conversation.

Google Forms.

Need pick peoples' brains about your music program?  Are you so sweet that they think they will hurt your feelings if they tell you to your face?  Need a quick exit ticket to check for understanding? Fear no more.  Google Forms is here to save the day!

I have provided a link to a google form that could be used for feedback on a musical.  I usually do the same format for performances every time.  Sample Form Here.  I know there are changes that I can make to better accommodate the students and audience.  I just don't know what I don't know.  It is always nice to get someone else's perspective.

Google Drawing.

Have you tried the drawing feature yet?  It is similar to the old school "Paint" feature that we are all used to.  

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Back to the topic at hand...

Obviously, it is more sophisticated than the advanced scribble feature of MS Paint.  You can create documents, share with your students, and have them fill in answers right within the shared document, or you can print the document and have students write in by pencil.  Of course there are so many more options you can use with Google Drawing.  Here is an example of something that I created for my 4th grade students.  Sampe Drawing Here.  I would print this for my students in this particular case.  Need other ideas or more information on how Google Drawings works?  Watch this tutorial here:  You all know how I love my disclaimers.  The disclaimer I have here is: the mouse movement will make you nauseous.  Sometimes you may need to close your eyes and place your head between your knees.  Hopefully, you make it out on the other side.

I hope you try out these features.  Sometimes you just need to explore the unknown and the ideas will come to you for use in your own classroom.  If you have some amazing ideas, fill us in!  Don't keep them to yourself.  See you next time!