Listen to an audio version of this post:
You want your classroom to be organized, personalized and student-centered. The great news is that Hāpara provides you with tools and features to make this happen. Whether you teach elementary, middle or high school, you’ll learn about three Hāpara features that can help you create more effective and engaging learning experiences for your students.
Ms. Harris was feeling overwhelmed. Her sixth grade class had just tried to share a writing assignment through Google Drive, but half the class couldn’t find their files. A few learners had submitted the wrong versions, and several didn’t submit anything at all. During the class period, she tried to help individual learners while also redirecting others who were toggling between YouTube and online games.
Ms. Harris remembered that she could use the Google Drive button in Hāpara. And that completely changed the organization of her class.
Over the next couple of days, she worked with her class to organize files in the Hāpara class folders so her students had a consistent, organized place to find their work. Within days, Ms. Harris noticed her students were more independent, engaged and confident, and she was finally able to shift from putting out fires to guiding learning.
You can get the same results with just a few simple changes, whether you teach elementary, middle or high school.
Google Drive is used to store and manage student work, but files can easily become misplaced or lost. Hāpara’s Google Drive button solves this by giving educators access to all of their learners’ Google Drive content, including files not shared with them or those that have been mistakenly deleted. It’s a centralized way to view, manage and support student digital workspaces across folders and classes. Hāpara Google Drive Integration is a powerful classroom management solution that offers teachers direct visibility into learners’ Google Drives.
The Google Drive button simplifies locating lost, unshared or deleted files, saving educators time and supporting learners who might struggle to find their documents. It also enhances collaboration between teachers by allowing them to share access to files outside their class folders.
Additionally, the tool promotes digital citizenship by helping educators monitor student activity, enabling timely conversations about privacy, responsible sharing and online behavior.
To access the Google Drive button, select your class, choose Hāpara Teacher Dashboard or Hāpara Highlights and click the Drive button at the top.
From there, you can filter files using categories like All Documents, Public, External, Unshared or Deleted Docs. These filters help you find specific types of content. The Drive button provides a clear, organized view of student work.
Elementary school
Post daily bell ringer Google Slides warmups or weekly choice boards in the class folders learners can access through their Google Drive in Hāpara Student Dashboard. Your students will learn to independently access their work, even if they’re just beginning readers.
Middle school
Set up a recurring Guide Browsing session for your students to independently use Hāpara Student Dashboard for the first five minutes of every class to help your learners keep track of assignments across classes. You can model how to meet multiple deadlines and stay organized online.
High school
Students are beginning to take more ownership over their learning, and one powerful way to support this growth is by inviting them to create shared folders within their existing Hāpara folders. These shared folders can be used as dynamic, ongoing spaces for submitting work, receiving feedback, and collaborating with peers or teachers.
By creating their shared folders, students are practicing autonomy and responsibility. They begin to see their digital workspace as something they control — not just a place where they submit work, but a space where learning, reflection and improvement are always happening.
Ms. Harris had a plan for her eighth grade science class. Her learners were supposed to research the effects of plastic pollution using a shared Google Doc, a video and a data chart. However, the links in the learners’ browser tabs told a different story.
Some learners were watching videos or listening to music. Others were confused about which links to open and spent too much time opening and closing tabs. Ms. Harris was constantly redirecting learners and troubleshooting tech issues. She ended the class feeling frustrated and drained.
That afternoon, she remembered the Guide Browsing feature in Hāpara Highlights. She logged in, selected her class and clicked the Guide Browsing button. In minutes, she set up a Focus Session with just the three resources learners needed.
The next day, things felt different. Learners’ Chromebooks opened directly to the correct tabs. Ms. Harris could see what each learner had open and was able to leave encouraging feedback and redirection if necessary. The classroom felt calmer, and learners stayed on task.
Guide Browsing gave her the structure she needed and helped students build digital habits that support real learning. Instead of managing distractions, Ms. Harris could focus on teaching.
Guide Browsing allows you to manage learners’ online activity by customizing their access to websites, enabling you to create focused, personalized lessons and keep learners on task. You can limit browsing to specific sites for safe or targeted work, or block only a few sites while allowing broader access.
It also supports differentiated instruction by allowing you to set up sessions for individuals, groups or the entire class, and you can schedule sessions in advance to make the most of instructional time or simplify sub plans.
There are two types of sessions: Focus Sessions, which allow access only to selected websites, and Filter Sessions, which block specific sites while leaving others open.
Online learning offers valuable opportunities, but it also brings numerous distractions. Guide Browsing gives you the tools to keep students focused while still promoting independence and thoughtful decision-making. It supports the development of executive functioning skills that learners need both in school and beyond.
Log in to Hāpara and open Hāpara Highlights. Click the blue Guide Browsing button. From there, you can start a Focus or Filter session, schedule a session for later or create a reusable template to schedule in the future.
Elementary school
Begin your lesson with a Guide Browsing Focus Session that opens only the websites learners need for a read-aloud activity you want for your class.
For example, you might open a read-aloud video from YouTube and a Google Slides journal where learners respond to a series of journal prompts. This helps young learners follow directions, reduces confusion and builds consistent routines for using technology responsibly.
Middle school
Create a Guide Browsing Focus Session for your learners. Add a collaborative activity using a shared Google Doc, a virtual lab simulation and a discussion board on a website like Padlet.
While learners work together to solve a problem or complete a group task, Guide Browsing allows you to keep their attention on the shared resource. You can monitor their progress, support group dynamics and offer guidance when needed, all while encouraging them to take ownership of their contributions.
High school
With your high school students, you can create a Guide Browsing Filter Session and provide them with more flexibility on the internet.
Before you begin the Filter Session, co-create a list of distraction websites with the learners and agree that these websites will be avoided while working on the major assignment. The learners are aware that they have a major assignment to complete, and they understand both their task and its importance.
During this time, use Highlights to check in on their choices and have reflective conversations about how they use their online time. For example, you might ask students to evaluate how well they stayed focused, what strategies helped them avoid distractions or what they would do differently next time. This promotes metacognition and prepares them for the self-directed learning they will need in college or the workplace.
Ms. Harris was planning a lesson on quadratic functions for her grade 11 math class. Some learners had already mastered the basics and were ready for a challenge. Others were still unsure about factoring and needed more support. She wanted to give each learner what they needed, but keeping the class moving forward felt overwhelming.
That afternoon, she opened Hāpara Teacher Dashboard and clicked the Groups icon. She created three groups. One group received practice problems with step-by-step video support. Another group worked on real-world word problems involving parabolas. The third group began an extension task where they explored the connection between quadratics and projectile motion using a simulation.
The next day, learners began working with their assigned resources. Ms. Harris circulated between groups, helping those who needed it while also challenging learners who were ready to go deeper. She used the Class View tab to monitor progress and provided feedback using the Chat button as learners worked.
By the end of class, she noticed something different. Her learners were more engaged and confident. Instead of worrying about who was falling behind, she could focus on teaching. Hāpara made it easier to meet learners where they were and helped her make differentiation part of her daily routine.
With Hāpara, you can create flexible student groups for targeted instruction, interest-based activities or collaborative projects. Assign content, monitor progress and adjust groups over time all from one place.
Differentiation doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Hāpara’s grouping feature makes it easy to meet learning needs without juggling extra tools or spending hours prepping. Every classroom has a diverse group of learners. Some individuals require more support, while others are ready to move ahead, and many benefit from tasks tailored to their specific interests or learning needs.
With Hāpara, you can quickly create and manage student groups, assign group-specific tasks or resources and monitor their progress. This allows you to respond to learning needs in real time while keeping instruction organized and purposeful.
Grouping helps promote equity by giving each learner access to the right level of challenge and support. It also builds independence and confidence. Learners are more engaged when they work on tasks that feel meaningful, especially when they can collaborate with peers and track their own progress.
Hāpara makes differentiation manageable. You stay in control of the lesson flow while giving every learner a path to success.
Log in to Hāpara and open Hāpara Highlights or the Teacher Dashboard tab. Click the Groups icon located in the upper righthand corner of your screen. From there, you can create a new group, edit or sort groups.
Elementary school
In elementary classrooms, grouping is key to managing diverse learning needs. With Hāpara, you can easily create student groups based on reading level, learning needs or instructional goals.
For example, during a literacy session, group your readers by level and assign each group a different set of comprehension tasks through Google Slides. You might give one group a set of picture-based questions, another a short passage with vocabulary tasks and a third group a set of open-ended questions to discuss in pairs.
While groups work independently on their digital assignments, you can rotate through for guided reading sessions, providing targeted support without losing sight of what other learners are doing. Hāpara’s Class View tab lets you monitor group activity and adjust resources on the fly. This fosters independence in young learners while supporting differentiated instruction.
Middle school
Middle school students thrive when they are given more autonomy and responsibility. Hāpara allows you to form flexible groups for a range of classroom activities, such as science labs, research projects or literature circles.
For a science unit on ecosystems, for instance, you might assign different habitats to different lab groups. Each group can receive its own set of digital resources, such as articles, videos or data charts, through folders in Hāpara Teacher Dashboard.
As students conduct research or complete labs, you can use the Class View tab or the Activity Viewer in Hāpara Highlights to check in on individual and group progress, provide formative feedback or share reminders with Teacher Dashboard. With the grouping feature, you can follow up based on learning needs, making differentiation seamless without slowing down the whole class.
High school
High school learners benefit from deeper inquiry and choice. With Hāpara, you can support student-led learning by allowing them to form their own project groups based on shared interests.
For example, in a social studies class, learners might explore current global issues. Using Hāpara, you can assign each group a customized Teacher Dashboard folder with curated research materials, deadlines and checkpoints tailored to their topic.
You can embed guiding questions, create collaborative documents and even link to discussion forums within the folder. As learners move through the stages of their projects, Hāpara makes it easy for you to track progress, provide feedback and support time management. These grouping features help foster independence, collaboration and real-world research skills that prepare learners for postsecondary education and beyond.
When you use Hāpara features such as Google Drive integration, Guide Browsing and student groups in your day-to-day teaching, you’re doing more than streamlining classroom tasks. You’re helping your learners become more organized, more independent and more engaged.
You don’t need more tools — you just need the right strategies to get the most out of the ones you already have. Whether you’re new to Hāpara or ready to go deeper, start with these three features. They’ll help you design learning that works better for you and your students.
Hāpara offers two flexible training options tailored to your school’s needs.
