Google Classroom "Upcoming & To Review/To Do": What is it??

Perhaps you haven't paid it any attention, but there is a relatively new feature visible in the Google Classroom Stream. Off to the left, you will see a small section that says "Upcoming." At a glance, it shows you what assignments are due soon. It appears the same from both teacher and student perspective, but it will operate differently in each. 

I use this feature weekly when I attempt to keep up with student work. This saves me time of having to look through and open each assignment in Classwork. In addition, I can categorize assignments as "reviewed" and only see ones that still need my attention. On the student side, they are able to see their assignments as Assigned, Missing or Done. This simple tool can be very valuable for both teachers and students when managing time and workflow.

Below is a series of screenshots that shows you how to get started using Google Classroom's "Upcoming & To Review" features.

Teacher

When you open a Google Classroom, on the Stream tab, you will see small box titled Upcoming. In this box, there will be displayed some assignments that are due soon. If you click on any of the assignments in the box, it will take directly to the assignment to evaluate student work. If you click "View all", you'll be taken to the "To Review" page for that particular Google Classroom.

On the To review page, you will see your assignments with how many have turned it in, still assigned and graded. At the top, it shows which class you are viewing. If you click that button, you can switch to other classes.

Next to each assignment, on the right, click the three dots and you can mark an assignment as reviewed. This is a great tool for organizing assignments, on the teacher end. When you mark an assignment as reviewed, It will "disappear" from To review and placed in the Reviewed tab at the top. This is a great tool for categorizing assignments for which you are no longer accepting late work. This will not show up on the student end though. That feature is yet to come from Google. 

Student

On the student side of Google Classroom, when they click Upcoming, they will see three categories: Assigned, Missing, Done. Assigned are assignments in which they have not completed, but the due date has not yet passed. Missing are assignments in which have not completed and the due date has already passed. Done refers to assignments in which they have already submitted. This is a great tool for students to monitor their work.

If you have any questions and would like a follow up, contact me via Gmail or Hangouts at ajuarez@techcoachjuarez.com. 

My book, The Complete EdTech Coach: An Organic Approach to Digital Learning, co-authored with my wife Katherine Goyette is now available on Amazon. Click here to purchase. It is published by Dave Burgess Publishing. Be sure to follow the hashtag #OrganicEdTech and #CVTechTalk for updates.