Webinar: Google Classroom Refresh : An Educator's Guide for Back-to-School by CDW Education

Google Classroom Refresh : An Educator's Guide for Back-to-School

About

Google Classroom just received its biggest visual layout and feature refresh in years. To ensure these changes deepen student engagement and elevate your instructional delivery—rather than complicating your lesson design—this hands-on, 60-minute webinar is designed to help you purposefully integrate these updates while you build out your classes for the year.

We will dive directly into the new dashboard to show you exactly how to leverage these summer updates to transform daily instruction. You'll learn how to quickly create lessons and rubrics, set up interactive reading activities, and use new practice tools that give students extra help exactly where they need it.

Agenda

The New Layout Tour - A quick walk-through of the refreshed interface so you know exactly where your materials are and can navigate the new setup quickly on day one.
The Classroom Extension in Gemini - How to use Gemini directly inside Classroom to help you draft daily activities, build rubrics, and check on student progress based on assignments you’ve already created.
Read Along Integration - How to build interactive reading assignments, upload your own custom texts for students to practice aloud, and find your way around the new phonics data dashboards.
Guided Learning & Study Notebooks - A look at how to set up and assign these adaptive spaces so students get automated, targeted mini-lessons and quizzes in the specific areas where they are struggling.

Presenters

Tammy Lind

Senior Strategist at CDW Education

Tammy Lind is a Senior Strategist at CDW and a former Instructional Coach. With a 31 year background as a former special education teacher, Tammy is dedicated to incorporating innovative technologies to create inclusive and engaging learning environments for all students. As a Google Education Trainer and Certified Innovator, Tammy is recognized for her leadership in educational technology with her expertise showcasing her commitment to leveraging digital tools for enhanced educational experiences.In 2017, Tammy received the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) "Making IT Happen" award, acknowledging her contributions to education through thoughtful and intentional technology use.

Emily Frankoff

Emily Frankoff is a Google Workspace Specialist at CDW. She has a background in education with 9 years of classroom experience teaching 4th, 5th, and 6th grades, focusing heavily on science instruction in later years. She transitioned into corporate tech at CDW nearly four years ago and now supports our Google partnership with various initiatives.

Danielle Pinta

Danielle Pinta is a Regional Program Manager at Google for Education, where she's passionate about empowering K-12 districts through innovative technology solutions. With a focus on building strong relationships and driving impactful change, she works primarily with mid-sized school districts to enable effective technology usage. In 2025 Danielle earned her MBA from Northwestern University; Danielle’s goal in approaching her work is to bring a blend of strategic thinking and a collaborative spirit. Beyond the world of EdTech, Danielle lives in Chicago with her two dogs, Ellie and Willow, and enjoys exploring her creative side through improv at Second City and experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen.