After digging around a bit, I came to understand that the Fire tablets are Android devices that have been "de-Googled." In other words, the devices themselves can run Google Apps, but the Amazon environment tries to make that as difficult as possible.
If you decide you want to explore adding Googleapps to your device, here's how you could do it.
***Note: This is not a foolproof system. I have seen it work many times, but your own experience may differ. Additionally, I know that glitches can arise and you are better off looking elsewhere for tips on how to solve them.
1. Set up a dummy Gmail account for your classroom devices. You'll need this later
-username: Room209ipads@gmail.com
-password: nothing fancy
2. On each Kindle, visit this website:
goo.gl/Sa82d8
3. After installing each of the provided files, open the Google Play app on your Kindle. Use the Gmail account you created earlier to log into the Google play store.4. Begin browsing and installing apps.
This information is culled from a few areas, but mainly here.
