Save Time Posting Google Classroom Assignments With the “Share to Classroom” Extension
Google Classroom is an amazing tool for sharing activities, links, and assignments with your students! It has been a total gamechanger in my classroom.
However, sometimes it can be annoying to create assignments. You have to go to Classroom, go to the Classwork page, put in all the information, and then find the resource in your Drive (which can take a while, especially if your Drive isn’t very organized!).
If you’re nodding along in agreement, I have great news for you! I recently discovered a Chrome extension that makes creating assignments super easy, and you don’t even have to visit Google Classroom to use it!
First, add the “Share to Classroom” extension to your Chrome browser from the Chrome Web Store by clicking here and selecting, “Add to Chrome.” You do need to be using the Google Chrome browser for this to work.
You should now see the “Share to Classroom” icon next to your address bar. You are now ready to create assignments in mere seconds!
When you’re ready to create an assignment, open the file that you want to share with your students in your browser – it could be a Google Doc, a Slides document, a link, etc. Click the “Share to Classroom” icon by your address bar and a window will pop up from the icon.
From this window, you will first select which class you would like to share with. Don’t worry if you want to share it with more than one class – it will give you that option on the next page! Just pick one of the classes to start with.
Next, choose how you’d like to share the file. If you want to create an assignment that students will be able to complete and then “turn in,” choose “Create Assignment.” If it’s just a website you want them to visit or a file you want them to view but not modify, then choose, “Create Announcement.” (You can also “Create Question” or “Push to Students,” but I won’t be covering those options in this post.)
For this activity, I wanted students to complete the Slides activity individually and then turn it in, so I created an assignment.
Next, you will fill in the information about the assignment. You can select which classes and/or students you would like to share the assignment with.
You are required to fill in a title, and you can also add any additional directions, point value, due date, and topic (I like to use topics to keep my Classwork page organized!). The file of the page you’re on will already be attached, and you can choose how you want students to get access to it: you can allow them to view it but not be able to edit, give all students editing access to the exact same copy, or make a unique copy for each student. If you want each student completing their own file, you want to choose that last option!
Next, click “Assign” (or you can schedule it for a later time or just save the draft for later, as long as you didn’t select multiple classes to share it to) and your assignment is ready to go! You can click “View” to see the assignment in your Stream.
If you just have a link that you want your students to visit, you can choose the “Make Announcement” option to easily share the link to Classroom from the website itself. When on the page you want to share, just click the “Share to Classroom” icon, choose “Make Announcement,” choose your classes, add in any directions, and “Post!”
I hope this helps save you some valuable time in creating Google Classroom assignments!
If you’re looking for digital math activities that you can use with Google Classroom (such as the Better Buy activity I used in these pictures) check out the 60+ Google Slides activities for middle school math in my TpT store!
You can also try out TWO FREE digital math activities by entering your name and email address in the box below!
16 Comments
Chenoa
I am excited to see if I am able to implement this into my classroom.
Michelle
This is great, thank you!
Timber
I am so excited to try this! I do have a question though. If you are getting your files/slides/etc from a shared drive, would you need to make a copy first before adding to classroom? Thank you!!!
Math With Meaning
That’s a great question! I just tried it out, and it seemed to let me use a file from a shared drive without making my own copy first. If it doesn’t work for you, try making your own copy of the file first, but it looks like it works without doing that!
Monica
So if I am understanding this correctly, it won’t let me pre-plan an assignment for multiple classes? That is the one thing I would like to be able to do. Currently I create one and copy instructions to move to the next class. This option is okay but if I could do it all at once that would make me so happy
Math With Meaning
Hi Monica – sorry for not replying earlier. No, it won’t let you schedule an assignment in advance for multiple classes (this is also the case if you try to create an assignment in Google Classroom). What I usually do is choose the “Save Post” option, and then when I’m ready for the post to go live I can go in to Classroom and click on the post I already created and actually “Assign” it. I wish they would make it an option, too, but for now this works for me.
Amber
This is just what I needed, thank you!!!
becky
I was so excited to be able to use this extension but the Classroom Help page says that this Chrome extension is being deprecated on August 15, 2020. Do you know whether there will be an alternative?
Math With Meaning
Oh no! I hadn’t heard that! I don’t know of any alternatives at the moment, but I will look into this some more and update the post if I learn anything! My hope is that they’re going to release an update to Google Classroom that will feature this option – they often do an update around this time of year!
Melinda O
I was wondering if you have a quick tip for grading assignments when they are all being created by co teachers. We are creating assignments in google forms and placing in all four teacher classes. Grading is a nightmare
Math With Meaning
Hi Melinda! Are the Google Forms assignments being set up to self-grade? That would be my biggest suggestion! If you set them up as a quiz and assign point values and set the correct answers, it can grade the assignments for you!
Rebecca S
I am unable to locate this extension. Am I doing something wrong?
Math With Meaning
Hi Rebecca! Unfortunately and inexplicably, Google has recently discontinued this extension. I don’t know why!
ELUMBAUGH0578
Thank you!!1
Amanda
Are you able to add multiple documents to one assignment? I create assignments for the days and might have 2 different google slides activities in there for them to complete.
Math With Meaning
Hi Amanda! Unfortunately and inexplicably, Google has recently discontinued this extension. I don’t know why!