Efficient Documentation in Guided Groups with Google Forms & Tab Resize & Tab Glue

I was having a great conversation with Jennifer Cronk (@JenniferACronk) at this past week’s #CAGTI17 about efficient workflows and when I shared this one with her, she was really excited. I promised I’d blog about it as soon as possible.

Imagine you have a group of 6 students sitting around you for a guided reading or writing or even math group. You need some way to document their progress. You could use post-its or write by hand or even jot down notes in a Google Doc. The challenge is that none of this documentation of observations and conversations can be easily and quickly sorted.

Try this workflow out and see if it solves the problem.

Step 1: The Google Form

• Create a Google Form to track the observations and conversations from a guided group
• Question 1: Student (Drop Down & Required)
• Question 2: Subject (Drop Down & Required)
• Question 3: Focus (Text)
• Question 4: (Notes)

Step 2: The Chrome Extensions

• Visit the Chrome Web Store
• Download Tab Resize
• Open Tab Resize
• Accept its permissions
• Click the + sign
• 2 rows & 3 colums
• Go back to the Chrome Web Store
• Download Tab Glue

Step 3: Getting Ready

• Open the live Google Form
• Duplicate the tab 5 times 
• Go to the first tab on the left with the Google Form
• Click the Tab Resize extension and select the 2x3 option
• Watch as all your tabs automatically split around your screen

Step 4: Documentation

• Imagine you the line in between two of the boxes is you
• Each form box represents a student sitting around you
• As they share and ask questions in the guided group, fill out the form for each student
• Press submit when the guided group has finished
• All data will be pushed to a Google Sheet

TIP: Because you fill out the student’s name at the top and then won’t be able to see it once you scroll down, write it again in the comments box so it’s visible. You can always delete it right before you press submit.

Step 5: Data Analysis

• Open the Google Sheet to see all of the data collected
• Sort and/or filter the data for each student 

Please share if you find this workflow useful.