Make the Most of Google or Microsoft Forms

Great tech tools abound, but keeping up with all the options can be challenging for teachers and students alike. For teachers, the time it takes to test and set up new tools can be a deterrent from trying something new; for students, it means new things to master, which may impede content mastery.

A fix? Tap into time-tested tools that are easy to integrate, highly adaptable, and so universal that students are comfortable using them. Flex your teacher tech muscles with old standards Google or Microsoft Forms.

Why use Forms

Here’s my why: Forms are ubiquitous. They’re easy to access, set up, and share, taking as little as a few minutes to create. Forms integrate into nearly everything, allowing you to quickly link and embed them. And, most important, since students (and teachers) already know how to use Forms, technical know-how limits won’t hamper content or skill assessment.

Whether you’re a Microsoft user or a Google user, Forms function similarly. Before I share my Forms how-to, take a beat to reflect on how you already use Forms—both as a creator or collector of responses and as a respondee.

How to Flex Forms

Quickly compile and create word clouds with Microsoft Forms. Yes, other tools will make word clouds for you, but in an age of so many tech tools, I appreciate using comfortable, familiar favorites to accomplish new feats.

Microsoft Forms allows you to turn any open-response question into a word cloud. Post a link or use their live presentation feature to do real-time word clouds. To launch a futures thinking unit, I asked senior composition students to list three adjectives that describe how they feel about their future.

The survey link was embedded in Schoology and our unit PowerPoint deck. One click and students’ responses were in word cloud form, launching our discussion about the future and how much influence students have over the future they want to see.

While Google Forms and Sheets don’t have a built-in word cloud tool, each has extensions you can get via the Add-Ons menu. For me, however, these particular add-ons wanted more access to my Forms than I was willing to grant. Still, you can quickly copy one column of open responses and paste them into an online word cloud generator. For me, the convenience of having all the responses in one place with other data is worth the copy-and-paste step.

Create reading guides and quizzes. As with the word cloud generators, you can use a separate tool (like Edpuzzle) to make video quizzes, but building guided reading quizzes right in Forms streamlines the process. Plus, you can set up multiple reading guides and quizzes to feed into one Sheet for easy tracking and feedback. (FYI: To collate multiple Forms into one Sheet, at the top of your Form click on “responses.” Then, when asked to “Link to Sheets,” you can select an existing Sheet. Each Form will be added as a new tab, allowing you to flip through data quickly.)

For example, I created reading guides for Hamlet and embedded videos and a few questions for students to consider and discuss. While certainly an option for independent study, the Forms reading guide is great for small groups. Students work through the tasks together while you circulate, allowing you to see where people get stuck and what resonates with different students. Add a one-word-reaction open response, and pull those responses for a word cloud to start a whole-class discussion.

How-to or what-to checklist. Create a Form for a project or another purpose that guides students, guardians, or others through a series of steps. This could include pictures showing where to go or how to access information, or it could simply be a checklist of steps to complete. Instruct respondents to check only the boxes of tasks they were able to complete. Then, include a short-answer “question” where participants can note where they need help or what’s not clicking. 

For example, this How-to Checklist for PBS Learning Media (Forms are seen here in PDF format) includes links to the website I want my students (in this case, teachers in a professional development program) to explore, a checklist of things I want them to find on that website, and finally, a series of open-ended questions for reflection.

Creating a how-to checklist also allows students in the classroom to tackle one task at a time while you circulate to monitor progress. Once they submit the Form, any unchecked items raise a red flag, allowing you to check in with individuals or providing fodder for a mini-lesson to start the following day’s session.

Get to Know You Quiz or Interview. To start each year, my seventh- to 12th-grade students completed a “quiz” about themselves. This survey included basic questions like their name and preferred name and favorite snack, but it also asked things like these:

• What do you do well in English?
• What aspects of English cause you frustration?
• What activities, tasks, or responsibilities do you have after school?
• Do these activities, tasks, and responsibilities make it harder to complete homework?
• Do you have access to Wi-Fi and a computer at home?
• What’s one strength you bring to the class?

This questionnaire, part of our back-to-school first days orientation to my classroom, provided a quick glance at students’ strengths and weaknesses while giving me a jump-start to building relationships. Their responses informed questions I asked when I greeted them at the door before class; they helped me ask better questions when a student was stuck or didn’t turn in an assignment. 

Those students then created questionnaires for a class project. Students had to interview an adult in a career or field of interest to them and use Forms to draft interview questions. We then practiced writing and sending formal emails to the adults. Once the adult agreed to the interview, students shared their questionnaires. By using Forms, students could easily share both their draft questions and the responses with me for review. And the simplicity of Forms made it easy for those adults to respond.

Sharing with forms

Use a Form to simultaneously gather and share information—for a professional development (PD) activity, for example. This Sample Intake Form walks participants through what they have to do to be ready for an in-person meeting, providing links to all resources and pre-workshop tasks. In addition, the same Form gathers all the logistics I need to successfully coordinate and execute the workshop. One link does all the work.

Resource roundup. Create a Form in which all the questions gather links, resources, ideas, and quotes. Then give everyone a mission, and have them link what they find in their research right in the Form. All the answers feed into one sheet, which you can then share with the group.

For example, after completing the PBS LearningMedia how-to checklist (see “How-to or what-to checklist” above), participants in a PD activity were asked to hunt for resources. This task helped individual educators find resources they could use with students. The shared responses Sheet was then distributed to all teachers in the course, helping crowdsource the best resources.

Similarly, this Staff Inspiration Inventory can work as a tool to gather resources and inspiration. As teachers attend trainings, read books and blogs, or listen to podcasts, they can share the resources that resonate and inspire them. The response Sheet can, again, be shared with everyone, sparking inspiration and connections among the staff.

Forms are a fast, familiar, and flexible old friend. While other tools do similar tasks—perhaps with a few more bells and whistles—I appreciate the simple convenience of Forms and the knowledge that it’s easy for me and my students to use.