Peer Evaluations With Google Forms + docAppender

In-class presentations.

I love them. I love to see the students take their turn as "teacher" while they share and showcase their hard work and all they've learned.

The students however... not so much, and I understand why. With all the social pressures of being a teen or pre-teen, getting up in front of all your peers to give a speech is understandably intimidating.

Which is why I think it is incredibly important to make sure the students are an engaged audience for each other, providing helpful and kind feedback. (The only thing as bad as a mean audience, is one that isn't listening to you.)

One solution is to give the students a copy of the rubric, and ask them to provide feedback for each of their classmates as they present. The students are then:

1. Crystal clear on the speech expectations

2. They have to pay close attention during each presentation in order to score it accurately

3. They have a greater sense of accountability and agency in the grading process

4. They have the opportunity to get a wide range of feedback on their presentation

The only problem with this method is at the end of a class period I would end up with a logistical nightmare of getting the endless paper copies of feedback to the correct students (not to mention trying to make sure each student was giving quality advice for each presentation).

Then I learned about a Google Forms add-on called DocAppender.

What DocAppender does, is it takes all the information from a Google Form and places it on a Google Doc. Better yet, you can choose between several Docs to send the information to.

I loved the potential of the App, but it took me a couple of weeks to figure out that peer evaluations for these presentations would be the perfect application for it.

All the class has to do is select the presenter’s name from a class list, give their feedback, and once they click 'submit' all that feedback gets sent to the person who was presenting (who can see review their feedback as soon as they get back to their seat! As can I!)

It does take a minute to set up, but once you do, you’ll be set for life.

*Disclaimer, these instructions assume you already have a Google account and basic understanding of the GSuite.

Step-by-step Instructions

Step 1: Create an assignment in Google Class with a blank Google Doc attached.

-Make sure to select “Create a Copy for each Student”

Step 2: Create your Peer Evaluation on Google Forms

-Make sure there is a multiple choice NAME section (but do not enter any names)

Step 3: Select the Add On button on Forms and connect DocAppender

Step 4: Under “Select Target” find the folder for the assignment you’ve just created in your Drive

Step 5: Click “Refresh List” (This is a glitch in the app, you just have to do it)

Step 6: Select the “Name” question that you’ve set up on your Google Form (and click Next)

Step 7: Select the questions you want to populate on the evaluation

- You’ll probably select all the questions EXCEPT for the NAME question (the student already knows their name)

Step 8: Select the style you want the feedback to show up as (I usually choose horizontal rows)

Step 9: Click Enable

Step 10: You should now be ready to DocAppend! Do a test run to make sure it works. On the day of the presentations, make sure the students know who is presenting so they know whose name to select.