As my teachers continue to work on 21st century skills, I will try to help them but at the same time keep it very simple. I was in an upper elementary class today and the students were working in pairs to give definitions and examples of some review vocabulary. They were collaborating and were clever to say the least. As they were called on to share, it dawned on me that using a collaborative document would have achieved the same results, only in half the time. Think about using your Henrico Google account for a document that all the groups could edit simultaneously. The time savings and the reactions from the students will be well worth it. On the TIP Chart (Teaching Innovation Progression) using a collaborative document would have it land in the developing category:
“Use digital tools to communicate to complete class assignments.”
or even the approaching category
“Use appropriate digital tools to facilitate collaboration”.
These small easy time saving changes would be a good example of when technology enhances the outcome.
Think about pre-unit KWL done in this manner. Keep it simple!
