Posted by Justine Tiu, Google Classroom User Experience Designer

Matthew Agrall teaches fifth grade at South Elementary School in Des Plaines, Illinois. He juggles teaching all core subjects, leading before-school tutoring, managing fifth grade patrol, participating in student council and playing volleyball in his “free time.”

This is why we created Google Classroom—to help busy teachers like Matt spend less time on logistics and more time on teaching, tutoring and student council-ing. Since we launched Classroom two years ago, we’ve added more than 50 updates to make it easier to manage assignments, communicate with students and stay organized.

Today, on National Teacher Appreciation Day, to show our thanks for the millions of hardworking teachers like Matthew, we’re making it even easier to stay organized and save time with Classroom.

Schedule ahead, post later 

Starting today, teachers can plan ahead by scheduling announcements, assignments and questions to post at a later date or a specific time (great for the early birds who want to get a head start on school planning during the summer ;). Just look for the scheduling option when posting new assignments, questions and announcements. You can find scheduled and draft posts in the “Saved posts” section of your class stream, and you’ll get email and mobile notifications when your scheduled posts go live.

We’re also adding new updates to Classroom over the next week—all designed to help teachers save time and stay organized. Look out for easier-to-read email notifications and updates to our iOS and Android apps.

Coming this fall: keeping parents and guardians in the loop 

We know parents and guardians are instrumental to student success at school. And to the school leaders and teachers who’ve told us they need an easy way to keep guardians updated with what’s happening in Classroom—we hear you! Later this year, we’ll launch email notifications for guardians so they can stay involved and help to motivate their students.

Guardians will be able to sign-up to receive daily or weekly email digests of their student’s progress, upcoming work and class announcements. Administrators will be able to invite guardians directly and set domain-wide policies for guardian linking and notifications.

To teachers like Matthew who are fueling the future—we thank you. Here’s hoping you get all the appreciation you deserve this week . . . and for the rest of the school year.

Posted by Michael de la Cruz, Google for Education

Editor's note: This post is part of our series for U.S. Teacher Appreciation Week. Look for more content on our blog and social media throughout the week. Don’t forget to add to the conversation using #ThankATeacher.

I’m in awe of Mrs. Zazulak, my daughter’s 5th grade teacher. She is constantly finding new ways to engage students with her inquiry based learning approach. She inspires her student’s creative writing with “Who would win Wednesdays?” and asks them to write any story about what would happen if King Kong faced off against Godzilla. This week is Teacher Appreciation Week in the United States, so we’d like to honor teachers like Mrs. Zazulak and the millions of others who put their talents and passion into educating our children. Below are a few more examples of teachers using creative methods to engage students and teach valuable skills for the future.

Majoring in leadership 

Teachers are dedicated to building the next generation of leaders. Teachers like Lou Ann McKibben at Jackson Preparatory School in Jackson, Mississippi are fostering leadership skills and giving students opportunities to experiment with the kinds of projects and tools they’ll encounter in the workplace. For example, Ms. McKibben, an economics teacher, hosts an annual “Shark Tank” day where students pitch their ideas to local business leaders. She’s giving the students a fun way to guide their own learning, while preparing them to share ideas and drive projects in the workplace.

Mrs. McKibben with one of her graduating students

Classroom commerce

In addition to developing crucial skills for the future, teachers are empowering students to dream big. Matt Martin, a chemistry teacher at High Tech High in San Diego, California, gave his students a crash course in entrepreneurship that led them to create the Wicked Soap Company, a student-run ecommerce business. Students are involved in every aspect of the company, from creating the soap to reporting on the business to their classmates. From day one, Mr. Martin has encouraged his students to experiment — the idea for Wicked Soap came from one student’s science project — and to follow their instincts. Mr. Martin’s class uses the revenue from the business to fund field trips, reinvest and organize a scholarship for fellow students. By rallying the class around a complex project, Mr. Martin created an experience that inspired students to try new things, work together and believe in their ability to run a business.

Mr. Martin, chemistry teacher at High Tech High

Encouraging innovation 

Teachers are also redefining traditional notions of the classroom and challenging students to do the same. Stacy Dang, who teaches at Cornwall Terrace Elementary in Pennsylvania, created a virtual classroom that supports inquiry-based learning, a method for prompting students to solve problems themselves. In one instance, Ms. Dang created a shared classroom with second graders from Pennsylvania and seventh graders in neighboring New Jersey. Second graders submitted science questions using online forms for the seventh graders to research and answer with presentations. She also encourages students to teach one another in the virtual classroom through “live lessons.” Teachers like Ms. Dang are encouraging young people to learn from themselves and from one another — skills that will help them to think critically, embrace curiosity and see the world in new ways.

To the millions of teachers, including Mrs. Zazulak, Ms. McKibben, Mr. Martin and Ms. Dang, who create dynamic learning experiences that prepare and inspire our children to lead: thank you for the work you do every day. We’ll be posting more on Google for Education Twitter channel and here on this blog throughout the week. It’s a great time to thank teachers for the difference they make — share what you’re thankful for by joining the conversation: #ThankATeacher.

Posted by Soledad O’Brien

(Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog.)

Editor's note: Soledad O’Brien is a broadcast journalist and founder of Starfish Media Group. She is also CEO of the Starfish Foundation, which provides financial assistance and mentoring to help kids go to college. Recently, the Starfish Foundation launched virtual career tours using Google Expeditions, about which O’Brien joins us to talk about today. To become part of the Expeditions Pioneer beta program, sign up via this form. -Ed.

Kids dream about what they want to be when they grow up, but these dreams are often limited—built around the few professional people they know. What if children don’t know a veterinarian, an airplane pilot, a paleontologist, or someone in dozens of other careers? What if they lack access to internships or mentors? Can they ever dream big? I know from watching my own kids visit me at work, and from the scholars I mentor, that exposure to all kinds of professionals is the key to inspiring young people. When I first found out about Expeditions, I saw its potential for broadening the horizons of the student scholars we help at Starfish Foundation. I envisioned creating virtual reality Expeditions that let kids step into someone’s work day, simply by using phones and Google Cardboard viewers. So that’s what we did.

Soledad O'Brien with scholars from the Starfish Foundation.

Working with the Google Expeditions team, we created virtual reality tours that show kids the ins and out of careers they might not ever learn about otherwise. From flying an airplane to testing fossil samples, kids can see with their own eyes exactly what people do in many different scenarios. They can watch Carolyn Brown, director of surgery for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, perform a procedure on a cat. Or join Mark Norell, a paleontology professor with the American Museum of Natural History, as he examines a velociraptor specimen up close. And today, schools participating in the Google Expeditions Pioneer Program and Expeditions beta will be able to go on an Expedition of the Google Mountain View campus to see what it’s like to work at Google.

A career Expedition on American Airlines Pilot, Pam Torell. The view is from the cockpit of one of her scheduled flights.

These Expeditions reveal what professionals like about their jobs, what they studied in school, and how they apply their knowledge to their work. Regular field trips are logistically challenging, and they don’t usually focus on careers. But with Expeditions, teachers can share an experience with students right in the classroom. You can’t fit 30 students in the cockpit of a plane, but you can get a virtual reality tour of one using Expeditions. And today, on “Take Your Kids to Work Day,” there’s no better time to get creative about exposing students to different types of jobs and workplace environments.

Children won’t know what jobs are possible if they don’t know the careers exist. Rather than just telling them, teachers can actually show them. With these career Expeditions, students can travel outside the classroom walls and be exposed to more ideas, places and opportunities than ever before.

Posted by Matt Ward, Software Engineer

In August 2015 we launched YouTube Settings in Google Apps to give schools and other organizations a way to manage the YouTube experience for users logged in to their domains and on networks they manage. Today we’re happy to announce a number of new features to make these more flexible and easier to use.

Channel whitelisting 
Administrators and designated approvers can now whitelist entire channels, not just individual videos. For example, if you want to ensure that all current and future videos uploaded to your organization or school’s channel are watchable by your users, you can now simply add the entire channel to your approved list. Learn how to designate approvers.

Using YouTube settings in Google Apps for Education already gives your users access to all the videos on educational YouTube channels like Veritasium, but now your domain's video approvers can add other channels as well, like your school's YouTube channel.

More flexible options for administrators 
Administrators have new capabilities to help them manage YouTube to meet the needs of their organization.

• Administrators can now choose between two levels of Restricted Mode restrictions -- strict or moderate -- for their logged-in users.

Admins can select between a strict and moderate level of restriction for YouTube.

• Network managers can now use an HTTP header to enforce either strict or moderate restricted mode on managed devices. 
•  Network managers can also use this new DNS configuration if they want to enforce moderate restricted mode on wifi networks they manage. 
• Coming soon, logged-out users on YouTube’s mobile apps on restricted networks will also get a restricted experience. 
• And since we know this can be tricky to set up, network managers can visit this page to ensure their network restrictions have been configured correctly.

YouTube for Schools 
In August we announced that we would no longer be maintaining YouTube for Schools (YT4S). As of July 1, 2016, YT4S will no longer be available. View the YouTube Settings in Google Apps Help Center for additional details.

More information 
Learn how to enable YouTube settings for your Google Apps domain and join the discussion in the product forum.

Posted by Maggie Johnson, Director of Education and University Relations

Computer science education is a pathway to innovation, to creativity, and to exciting career prospects. No longer considered an optional skill, CS is quickly becoming a “new basic”, foundational for learning. In order for our students to be equipped for the world of tomorrow, we need to provide them with access to computer science education today.

At Google, we believe that all students deserve these opportunities. Today we join some of America’s leading companies, governors, and educators to support an open letter to Congress, asking for funding to provide every student in every school the opportunity to learn computer science. Google has long been committed to developing programs, resources, tools and community partnerships that make computer science engaging and accessible for all students.

We are strengthening that commitment today by announcing an additional investment of $10 million towards computer science education for 2017, along with the $23.5 million that we have allocated for 2016. This funding will allow us to build more resources, scale our programs, and provide additional support to our partners, with a goal of reaching an additional 5 million students.

With Congress’ help, we can ensure that every child has access to computer science education. Please join us by signing our online petition at www.change.org/computerscience.

Posted by Melissa Horwitz, Product Marketing Manager

Editor's note: To celebrate Earth Day, we’re sharing how schools are using technology to be more environmentally friendly.

It’s a tradition in many parts of the world to plant a tree on April 22nd in honor of Earth Day, but some schools are going even further by reducing their use of paper and going digital. Here’s how environmentalism is coming to life in the classroom.

Going paperless 

When Chagrin Falls Exempted Village Schools in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, introduced Google for Education tools in 2014, they started down the path to becoming paperless. Today, students access handouts, work on assignments and turn them in using Google Classroom, decreasing the amount of printed pages by 100,000 sheets per year and reducing printing by 20 percent. This spring, teachers told Mike Daugherty, director of technology and information systems at Chagrin Schools, they haven’t been to the copier since the start of the school year.

“The traditional model of printing a worksheet for every student is wasteful and outdated,” says Daugherty. “Now printing is an afterthought for most classes.”

Similarly, with more than 900 students and 40 teachers, Westlake Charter Schools in Sacramento, California, used a lot of paper in the classroom and for administrative tasks. Since introducing Google for Education tools a year ago, the schools have reduced their paper use by a third, saving them thousands of dollars. For example, the board of directors stopped printing dozens of paper meeting agendas and policies, and now share Google Docs on a password-protected website. “Before, our schools went through 120 cases of paper a year on average — that’s over a million pieces of paper,” says John Eick, executive director at Westlake Charter Schools.

Students at Westlake Charter Schools use Chromebooks to access resources and turn in assignments, reducing their paper consumption.

Turning paper-based books into digital books

Tennessee’s Tullahoma City Schools took a creative earth-friendly approach by integrating interactive content into the classroom: they created digital textbooks using Google Docs. These open-source textbooks are accessible on any device and can be edited to include timely information, reducing the number of paper textbooks purchased. “Since our district is 1:1 in grades 3 through 12, we have the capability to deliver digital content electronically. However, those districts who are not 1:1 can still use open-source textbooks since hard copies can be generated and printed for students’ use at a fraction of the cost in comparison to paying a publisher $80 for a textbook,” says Dan Lawson, superintendent at Tullahoma City Schools.

The schools have transitioned to digital social studies and math content, and plan to have digital textbooks for all core subjects in the 2017-2018 school year. They’re also helping other schools create digital textbooks and take a green approach when introducing new technology.

Tullahoma City Schools is reducing the number of paper textbooks in the classroom by creating digital textbooks.

Building awareness about recycling 

Many green programs are spearheaded by schools and teachers, but at Bronx Community Charter School in New York, fifth graders Amma Nkatiaah and Julia Malyzsko led the environmental initiative. Nkatiaah says, “We wanted our classmates to realize how much waste they’re producing.”

The students emailed Google asking them to bring the Expeditions Pioneer Program, a virtual reality program in which students use Android phones and Google Cardboard to go on virtual field trips, to their school and teach their peers the importance of being environmentally friendly. Their wish was granted: the Google for Education team and our partner Subaru brought Expeditions to Bronx Community Charter School, and fifth graders went on virtual field trips to the local sanitation facility and recycling plant to see where their waste goes. Students were immediately inspired to start identifying ways to cut back on their waste.

 “Since we started this big idea, there can be many other students that can follow in our footsteps, or many other people try and maybe get different ideas,” Malyzsko says. “I think it’s really amazing that we get to take the first step and be the root of all of this.”

Bronx Community Charter School students going on an Expedition to a local recycling plant to learn more about being environmentally friendly

These schools are pushing the boundaries on how they use educational technology by adopting a paperless mindset and finding 21st century solutions to use less paper. Here are four ways to make your school more green:

1. Replace paper-based resources with digital ones
2. Choose technology with low-energy consumption and long battery life 
3. Encourage students to find new ways to introduce digital tools 
4. Start a classroom recycling program for paper and used electronics 

How is your school reducing its environmental footprint using technology? We want to hear from you — share your story below or on Twitter and tag us (@GoogleEdu) or include the #GoogleEdu hashtag.

Posted by Mario Anima, Product Manager

(Cross-posted on the Google Docs Blog.)

How many times have you found yourself with a great idea, but no easy way to jot it down for later? Or maybe you’ve got lots of notes scattered around, without no central spot to find them. Having a single place to capture what’s on your mind and save your ideas and to-do lists is what Google Keep is all about, and today's updates give you a few new ways to collect and manage the information that's important to you.

Keep is ready when you are
The next time you’re on a website that you want to remember or reference later on, use the new Keep Chrome extension to add it—or any part of it—to a note in Keep. Just click the Keep badge to add a site’s link to a note, or select some text or an image and create a new note from the right-click menu.

Same goes for Android—you can now create a note while you’re browsing or tapping away in other apps—without having to open Keep. Just open the “Share via” window and choose Keep to create a new note.

Organize your thoughts with #Labels One of your top asks has been for a way to organize and categorize notes, and now it’s as easy as using a #hashtag. This should help you keep track of to-do lists for a #trip or a collect your favorite #recipes, for example.

You’ll also notice that some of the menus have been moved around to group similar options together, as pictured below.

So whether you’re researching a project at work, putting together details for your Science Fair submission, or collecting inspiration for your upcoming home renovation, give these updates a try on the web, or with the Keep app on Android and for iPhone & iPad.