Today, Google released a few updates to Google Classroom to help teachers get a jump on organization and parent communication for the new school year.

The first of these updates affects Posts.  Now when you post an announcement or assignment in Google Classroom, you’ll have the option of adding a Topic to your post.  This means that if you like to keep assignments organized by unit or chapter, you can do so by adding Topics.

The second update is a game changer in terms of parent communication.  For the longest time, teachers and parents were bothered by the fact that there was no way for parents to see announcements and student work in Google Classroom.  One tip I used to give teachers involved the use of the calendar in Google Classroom (see this post).  Now, teachers have the ability to invite parents by email, to receive a weekly update on student work and announcements.  Just go to the Students menu, click the switch Guardian Email Summaries, and then click Invite Guardians next to a child’s name.  

To see these updates, watch this quick tutorial.