As many of us now know, transitioning from a brick and mortar classroom to an online classroom takes a lot of work. There are many programs to learn and new processes to figure out. I have been teaching for over 20 years now with the past 10 being spent in an online classroom. Let me tell you, it has been an exciting journey. Part of that journey has been a trial and error method of figuring out how best to train my students. Training them to use the technology that we have in our online classes, like Google Classroom. The idea of a scavenger hunt came to me a few years back and since then I have worked to refine this activity. It is one I have my students complete at the beginning of each school year; my Google Classroom Scavenger Hunt.
The week before school starts, I receive a list of my students for the year complete with contact information. I have a series of emails that welcome families to my junior high. In it, I share information on what they can expect. One of the last emails in the series discusses Google Classroom and provides access for the students to a junior high homeroom class. This is where I post the beginning of the year Google Classroom Scavenger Hunt.
Setting Up My Homeroom Google Classroom
I use my Junior High Homeroom as my student’s first introduction to Google Classroom for the school year. It is also a place to train them in proper class procedures and expectations. Additionally, it is the Google Classroom that I will use to post updates and announcements that are not subject-specific and pertain to all my students.
I will include the following topics:
- 🎒 Getting Started 🎒
- 👋🏻 Junior High Welcome Package 👋🏻
- 👀 Google Classroom Scavenger Hunt 👀
Under these topics, I will include important information like schedules, online classroom links, and class getting-to-know-you activities. Now, with that background information in place, let’s take a look at the details of the scavenger hunt.
Google Classroom Scavenger Hunt
The Google Classroom Scavenger Hunt missions include tasks that make sure students know where to access important information. It also ensures they are able to complete tasks using Google tools such as Classroom, Slides, and Gmail. None of the tasks are extremely difficult. However, I have structured the progress so that they begin with something very easy and progress to more challenging tasks. The point values I assign to each task correlate to the “difficulty” of the task as well as the importance of students completing it.
I begin by posting a Google Classroom Scavenger Hunt Introduction video for the students to watch. I title the post, “Your Mission, If You Choose To Accept it. . .”. Then I provide a description of the task that is reminiscent of a Mission Impossible message.
Example Post:
An example of the introduction video from last year can be viewed below:
In total, my Google Classroom Scavenger Hunt this past school year had 16 different posts (or missions) for the students to complete. This activity is fully customizable to whatever it is that you would like students to practice. For those who are just getting started with Google Classroom, it might feel overwhelming to try and create this from scratch. I have gone ahead and put together a 20-page guide to share all my posts (titles, descriptions, links, and settings) with you so you can easily recreate it in your own Google Classroom. Click the “Download Now” button below to get access.
Additionally, each person who downloads my Google Classroom Scavenger Hunt Guide will get access to my Google Classroom that has this scavenger hunt set up. You can see each activity from a student perspective, ask questions, and share ideas. I look forward to seeing you there!
