My recent and limited experience with Google Classroom has been as a 'student' in a PD class in my district.  I have a caseload, not a class.  My students have modifications and accommodations for all assignments.  Has anyone used Google Classroom with their caseload or with their students with IEPs?  How have you used it?

I'm not a sped teacher but I am a tech fanatic and in the spirit of full disclosure, I LOVE everything Google. 

Using Google Classroom for your caseload of students is no different then if you were a classroom teacher. You just need to decide how you want your "classes" broken up. You can do by subject, by accommodation, by specific skill sets, by grade level. You could set up a classroom for each individual student and manage their differentiated assignments that way. If you assign by grade level or subject, you can have different versions of the same assignment. For example, color code the levels (blue, green, yellow) and then assign each student a color based on ability and/or accommodation. Then when they login to Classroom, they know to do their colored assignment. If you need to make adjustments throughout the year, just switch up the colors the students were given. 

Hope this helps! If you have any other questions, just ask.

mrsmathmagician - thanks so much for your reply - yes it helps.  I better set up what I need to implement your suggestion before school starts - because after that I won't have the time or focus!

I am a special ed teacher. I've been in a variety of "types" of classrooms. One of the ways we used classroom was giving students tests via forms. When I needed to set levels of various modifications I would use contact groups to email tests to ICS, BSI, or Gen Ed subgroups within the class. No one was the wiser they were receiving different tests.?

We can also set various groups in google groups - making the groups fluid so there is no stigma on who is in the "special ed group". Here, the "assignment" is posted within classroom, but the various groups are set to go to their differentiated assignments. ?

There are also various programs that you can assign differentiated tasks too. Check out Versal and edpuzzel both are great for the flipped classes or blended learning approach. Depending on how you set up your classes and the various permissions, you can post one link in classroom, and the students can get their individualized assignments.

Last updated: 8 years ago

Thanks Ms. Dispenza for your very informative post!  I will be looking into the tools that you use.  Also, I suspected that the best use of Google Classroom would be to differentiate.  I really appreciate your input.

These are really great ideas! I've been trying to implement the google classroom into my sped classes. I have a question though - what do you do with the students who are completely lost  with technology? Do you spend extra time teaching them how to use the classroom or so you just let them use paper if they are more comfortable that way?

I would collaborate with the computer lab facilitator and students who could help bridge the gap for the student(s) who need help.

I love this setup because the learner is not isolated. Thanks for sharing. :)

this is a very good topic. what about response to intervention?

Response to Intervention could work the same way as I mentioned above. It would totally depend on how your school has RTII set up. For us, individual homeroom teachers are responsible for managing their Tier 2 and 3 kids for academics. So, I set them up with assignments that fit their ability.