What is Google Assistant?
I love using my Google Assistant to help me do everything. In fact, I even recently got one of those fancy Google Homes for my house! While I'm working I like to be able to just say "OK, Google, text my hubby I'll be home in 30 minutes." And she says "OK! Sending text!" Over time I have learned even more things that the assistant can help me do. She adds items to my grocery list, reminds me to do things, sets alarms, starts timers, plays music, turns on my lights, makes calls,
Recently I started thinking about how I could use this more than just for my work productivity but actually in the classroom... And now I'm extremely excited. What makes these great is that you are not searching for a ton of different apps or having to gather material. It also is great to know about for those awkward little in-between moments (like a guest speaker running late) that you need something to do with the kids but don't want to start an actual activity. If you're like me, you always have your phone on you.
Most of these activities are "Talk to [name of activity]."
Practicing Mindfulness and Yoga Master
Practice Mindfulness-This is the command that started this whole post. My teacher friends that have been doing all of the mindfulness training will love this. If you say, "OK Google, practice mindfulness," a two-minute mindfulness clip plays. As a support teacher, this is PERFECT for starting the classes. They come in all wild and rambunctious so a little quiet breathing and mindfulness time is great to get us ready for the class.
Another great thing is that it is exactly two minutes. Since playing with it I found that if I send a student away to get it together for a minute, I can start this and set it next to them. It helps the students consciously get their bodies and brains back in control and it also gives them a guide to when to come back. When the clip is done and says "Enjoy the rest of your day," the student returns to their computer and gets to work. Classroom teachers that use a safe seat or "calming corner" could really find this useful.
I like that I can get it going with a simple command (no set up) and it is quiet enough that the student can sit in the corner and go through it.
Yoga Master-If you say "Ok Google. Talk to Yoga Master" it starts your yoga session. You can choose to "Start Lesson" or "start meditation". The meditation option just plays nature sounds for you. The lesson goes through some yoga poses with you. It describes the poses and shows a picture.
Vent it out- Another option for students who are needing to separate themselves to get calm. For students who need to vent, but don't want to talk to a teacher about it, they can vent to Google. Help them feel like they have a place to vent even when they don't want to talk to you.
Brain Breaks and Ice Breakers
Google Assistant has a lot of interactive games that are meant to use with your kids with the Google Home. I found that a lot of these are great for in the classroom-especially if you have younger grades.
Freeze Dance-Ask the assistant to play Freeze Dance and it plays fun music and pauses at different times. It even has a winter edition right now! Since Google Assistant is in control, the teacher gets to play with the students! It also calls out ways to dance like "wave your arms like ribbons while you dance"
Musical Chairs-Similar to freeze dance, the assistant is in charge of starting and stopping the music. At the beginning of the game, she asks how many are playing.
Sound Pet-You and your class can have a virtual class pet! Once you find your pet with the first game, you name it. You can visit the sound pet with the command "Play sound pet" to take it on a walk, feed it, and check in on it.
Susie Says-"Talk to Susie Says" starts a Google version of Simon says.
Never Have I Ever-Great for older kids, this is the classic icebreaker game that helps people get to know each other a bit!
You can also find trivia games, jokes, and other fun things!
Math
Multiplication Tables-Exactly what it sounds like. This game asks different multiplication facts. The command is "Talk to Multiplication tables"
1-2-3 Math- "Talk to 1-2-3 Math" has 3 difficulty levels of word problems.
Language Arts
Vocab Geek-Practice new vocabulary words. This game has 3 difficulty levels and gives the player 3 hints and two choices. Great for a Word Work option.
This is just one of MANY vocabulary options for Google Assistant.
Mad Libs-Mad libs have always been a great way to practice parts of speech. "Play Mad Libs" starts the game. She asks for different types of words and the student can answer. After she gathers all of the words, she reads the silly story to them. I like this, for students that you want to practice parts of speech, but write slowly or get caught up on spelling. This allows them to practice the actual objective of parts of speech.
Read a Story-Great for Listening to Reading for Daily 5. The Google Assistant can access MULTIPLE storytelling apps to read a story to you. If you simply say "Read me a story," to your phone's Google Assistant she sort of gives a joke story. You have to specify where to get the story. Google Home has more option but there are some for your phone.
Story Tree ("Ask Story Tree for a Story"-interactive stories (like choose your own adventure). The con of this one is that it is robotic sounding, but the pro is that the students are interacting with the story.
Study.com-Covers multiple subjects and ask questions for the player to answer. An easy English question that I had was "What does a sentence need to have to be complete?"
