Google Drive Tools for Teachers: Doctopus and Goobric

If you are a teacher that has students complete assignments in Google Docs, take a look at these tools.

Doctopus

Doctopus is a Google Apps script that lets you handout, organize, and grade assignments.  The script runs in a Google Spreadsheet.

Here's a nice video by Katie Grassel that walks through how to use it:

There are quite a few steps, but if you do this a few times, you'll get pretty quick at it...  :)

1. Create a folder in your Drive that will contain your student assignments.
2. Create (or upload) your original assignment document in your Drive (this file will act like a template, and Doctopus will make copies of this file for each of your students).
3. Create a spreadsheet that has your class roster, with student names and email addresses in columns.
4. In that spreadsheet, go to Insert > Script.  Find and install the Doctopus script.
5. A new "Doctopus" menu will be created in your spreadsheet.  Click on it, and launch the installation.
6. Go through the Doctopus setup wizard:
1. You'll choose whether you would like students to work individually or in groups, and if you would like the whole class to see each student's work.
2. You select the folder that contains your assignment, then select your assignment.
3. You can set up the way the files are named, such as putting the student's last name at the beginning of the assignment's name.  You can also have the script send each student an email notifying the students of the assignment.
4. When you click the Run copy and share button, the script will make copies of the assignment for each of the students in the spreadsheet.  The script will also put links to each student's document in the spreadsheet, and tell you when the last time they edited their assignment.

The Doctopus script is, by itself, an awesome timesaver (and paper saver!).  But look at what you can do when you attach a Goobric...

Goobric

You can attach a Google rubric, or a "Goobric," to your spreadsheet.  Here's a good video by Jay Atwood:

1. Make sure you install the Goobric Chrome Extension so that you can grade the assignments as you view them.
2. Create a separate Google Spreadsheet for your rubric, as shown in the video.  If you need ideas for your rubric, check out the RubiStar rubric generator.
3. In the assignment spreadsheet (the one you created above, with Doctopus), select Doctopus > Attach Goobric and find your rubric spreadsheet (that you created in step 2).
4. Now, open one of your student's assignments.  Click on the little Goobric icon in the omnibox, and you can type the scores (and comments) into the rubric.  Click the "Submit and paste to doc" button, and it will save your work, paste the rubric into the document, and send the student an email.  The grade will also appear in the Doctopus spreadsheet.

Lots of steps, I know.  But these are some great tools for paperless assessment.