Using Google Slides for Collaboration

Share a short slide show about yourself to your students. Make sure that it is short, simple, and contains both images and text on each slide. 

Model creating a new slide and adding your name with word art, an image from the camera, a web image, and text in a text box. Depending on student's age and experience with Google tools, you might introduce one component at at time and then give them time to work, or you might introduce them all and then give work time.

Allow students ample time to play with all the features in Google Slides while they work on adding their names, pictures, images, and text to their slide. The goal is to let them figure out all the features, so that next time you use this collaborative space, they can focus on an academic task without getting distracted. Students can and should work together to help each other with features that they are struggling with.

Introduce the comment feature and show how you can choose a slide and insert a comment. Tie this in to your social emotional learning standards or regular classroom or school behavior expectations. Make sure comments are positive and productive, and in complete sentences. Model adding a comment to a slide, and have a student reply. Give students time to add comments and reply, and monitor to make sure that all students are receiving comments equally.

Play complete slideshow for the class so that they can all view each other's slides on the big screen. Highlight creative features and engage the class in conversation about what they liked and disliked.