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I totally agree with you on this—it’s so easy to waste ages re-prompting the AI when grabbing an actual SPHE book off the shelf is just way faster! I’ve noticed the exact same thing when you mention an Irish primary context; it always seems to default to funny stereotypes rather than what our classrooms actually look like today. Love that you still salvaged the “toolkit of power” idea though, that sounds like a brilliant visual for 3rd class to hold onto. Definitely agree it’s probably much better suited to lighter topics like healthy eating or teamwork where you don’t have to be quite as delicate with the wording!
I really like this! Using picture-based questions and smiley faces on a Google Form is such a smart way to adapt digital AfL for Junior Infants. It can be tricky getting tech to work for that age group, so keeping it purely visual is spot on.
I love that you’re using the quick feedback to loop directly back into hands-on, sensory work—that’s where the real learning happens for the little ones anyway, and it keeps the tech serving the pedagogy rather than the other way around. Just out of interest, do you have the children complete the Form individually on tablets during station teaching, or do you run through it as a whole-class activity on the Interactive Whiteboard?For our next SSE cycle, I really think our focus should be on Formative Assessment specifically getting the 5th and 6th class pupils taking a bit more ownership through self-assessment, while giving us a clearer picture of where they’re at. I’d suggest leaning heavily on Google Workspace to keep the workload manageable for everyone. Google Forms would be ideal for quick exit tickets at the end of literacy or numeracy blocks, while Google Slides could work really well as simple digital learning logs where the kids pop up pictures of their work and reflect on how they got on. In terms of digital evidence, the focus could be on gathering: Summary charts auto-generated in Forms and Sheets to spot gaps in understanding right away without spending hours correcting, short self-reflection notes and quick audio clips added straight to the children’s Slides logs and quick baseline and end-of-term Form to measure if the pupils actually feel more confident assessing their own progress over time. As a practical starting point, my idea would be to set up a shared Drive folder with reusable exit ticket templates that the senior team could tweak and test out. This would feed directly into our SSP targets by giving us real-time data for differentiation, without landing anyone with a massive pile of physical marking every evening. That said, I know getting a process like this used consistently across the whole school will take time and a good bit of staff training—maybe using some Croke Park hours to get everyone up to speed. It definitely won’t happen overnight, but starting with a small pilot in the senior classes would make rolling it out to the rest of the school a lot smoother down the line
Carrying on with my 6th class podcasting unit, I decided to give the prebuilt Brainstorming Gem a go to pull together a quick list of topic ideas and hooks for the pupils to choose from.
I kept its role pretty limited—just asked for engaging, age-appropriate topics for a 2-minute recording. When I went through the output, I kept a lot of the suggestions like sports debates, book reviews, and school life, and tweaked a few so they fit our local community a bit better. I threw out a good chunk of ideas that were either way too broad for a short audio clip or just felt too American for an Irish classroom context. On the safeguarding side, I kept it strictly on my end for prep—no pupil names, personal data, or student work ever went near the tool. Overall, it definitely adds value to my practice. Having a solid list of realistic topics ready to pop onto the pupil-facing slides saved me staring at a blank page, which meant I could spend my time getting the scaffolded templates and exit ticket sorted instead. For SSE, Google Workspace handles data collection, but Gems could save a mountain of admin time. They’d be brilliant for pulling key themes from survey comments, drafting SSP targets, and writing parent-friendly updates—provided all feedback is fully anonymised first for data privacy.Great idea for the centenary project—interviewing past staff is brilliant for local history. I agree with you on the voice typing in Docs. Taking away that barrier of handwriting makes such a difference for pupils with literacy needs, letting them actually concentrate on their questions. Assigning group roles on Slides is really handy for keeping them on track too. On the exit tickets, I had the exact same reservation about the time commitment! What works for me is keeping the Forms down to two or three quick questions max. The charts auto-generate on Forms anyway, so you get your AfL and SSE data in about two minutes without doing any actual correcting. Once you save a basic template to tweak, it takes no time at all.
I continued on with my topic of Script writing for this forum response. I created a pupil-facing slide deck to guide my 6th class through scripting, recording, and reviewing a 2-minute podcast episode. Instead of doing a standard draft in their copybooks, pupils follow the step-by-step slides to co-write a 3-part script on Google Docs, record their audio, and submit everything with a quick Google Form exit ticket.
Having the task sequence laid out visually on the slides stops students from rushing ahead to record before they’ve actually planned their script. The format itself taps right into their interest in podcasts and streaming. For inclusion, I linked a color-coded Google Doc template with optional sentence starters directly on the slide. This takes away that “blank page” panic for SEN and EAL pupils, and gives students who struggle with heavy handwriting a chance to show off their literacy skills through oral language.For feedback, the final slide links to a Google Form using simple Two Stars and a Wish prompts. On my end, scanning those quick form responses and listening to a short 2-minute recording gives instant AfL on whether they actually understood how to adapt their writing tone for an audience. Pupils can use the feedback to change and re-record.
On a side note, I found this module so informative again, particularly the tips around using the voice-to-text feature and adding ALT text to images. They are such simple, practical tools for making daily digital resources far more accessible in the classroom!I think this is a fantastic idea and an excellent way to support students in this class. I have previously used Book Maker in this way , however this course has shown me that the Google Classroom is much more accessible for students with SEN.
For the purpose of this response I have chosen 6th class and the topic is Writing for an Audience (for podcast scripting – curriculum links: Literacy and Digital Learning)
The design I have chosen is pupil facing slides in the Google Classroom App. I would have a clear topic title: Podcast Project. I would ensure the structure of it is clearly labeled to ensure accessibility for the students. The following would be included in the slide:
1. Read & Analyze: Sample Script & Success Criteria (Material)
2. Draft: Podcast Planning Doc (Assignment set to ‘Make a Copy for Each Student’)
3. Record & Upload: Audio Portal (Assignment)
4. Peer Review: Reflection Form (Google Form)
Including the success criteria supports clarity for students as they know exactly what is expected before completing tasks and submitting work.
For sequencing purposes, ordering the slides encourages the students to plan out scripts first eliminating the want to record straight away. Numbering the tasks also builds a predictable routine and clear instruction which supports consistency in the task and avoids consistent questioning of ‘What am I doing now?’.
An adjustment I would make is to use colour coded templates (as shown in the module) to make the sections clear into three parts: Introduction, Main Task and Ending. Sentence starters would also support students.
From an SSE angle (Looking at Our School), this hits Learner Outcomes by giving 6th class a genuine audience, which forces them to actually think about tone and pace rather than just writing to please the teacher. It also ticks the Learner Experiences box by building independence, digital skills, and proper peer-feedback habits.
A good reflection question for us to ponder on the course is: Does a Google Classroom setup like this actually help kids get a better grip on audience tone and peer review, or would traditional copybook drafting do the exact same job?
Throughout this module and upon completing this forum post, as somebody who is very new to Google Classroom, I have reflected upon whether the setup supports students get a good grip of audience tone and peer review or would traditional copybook drafting be similar? I have found this module very interesting and have learned a lot in the structure of google classroom, docs etc and can see when practiced and familiarized how much these tools can be utilised in the classroom.Laura I completely agree with above and this module has also highlighted safer anonymity to ensure no students details are shared. Not sharing their recent choir performance is something I would not have thought of myself!
Using it for warm up ideas with a choir is an excellent idea. When used safely it is a fantastic resource.
I entered the following statement:
I am a 6th class Irish primary teacher. Can you create a Math’s lesson with interactive stations to revise topics and assess understanding of previous learning?
Gemini gave a breakdown of four simple stations Station1: Code breaker – covering place value, Station 2: The Estimation Station (Rounding and Operations) Station 3 Fraction and Decimal Match Ups and Station 4: Real world problems. Gemini also included classroom management and rotation guide.
I would adapt these through differentiation. Although, above gives a good interactive guide of how it could be done, it does not take into account the many different levels of learning needs in a large classroom. The rotation guide also suggested a minimal time for each station which wouldn’t suit students who work at a particular pace. A boundary that should be in place is careful review of any response given as well as ensuring no personal information is entered. Upon reflection I am aware that I did not go into enough specific detail when writing the statement, but I was also conscious of sharing any information of the class.