Any Class Interested in Sharing Student Writing Projects

[Brian Fleming]

Hey everyone!  I'm new to One Day on Earth, but I'd like to set up a collaboration with other teachers to share our student's writing samples with each other.  I teach a 7th grade English class and I want give my students the audience they deserve for their writings.  I hope there is some interest in this collaborative project.

[Amanda McIntosh]

Where are you located? I would be interested, but I am really looking to partner with someone outside the USA if possible. However, we would love to look at collaborating if you are interested.

[Brian Fleming]

Yes, I agree, outside of the United States would be nice too, but we both may have to settle for within the United States. I am located in Northridge, CA (about 40 minutes away from LA). How about you? I want my students to be able to present their written stories to other students. Would you be interested in something like that?

[Amanda McIntosh]

I would definitely be interested, and maybe we could set up a quick discussion soon. My kids will be writing a narrative essay revamping an old fairy tale starting at the end of this month, so it would be great to share.

Have you ever used Google Docs? We could have the kids share with a partner, and our kids could edit/revise/share the papers online. We can also grade them online as well. Then, we could skype and have the kids share the information.

How does that sound?

[Brian Fleming]

Wow, Amanda, great ideas! We should set up a discussion soon. What would be best for you, Skype or some kind of instant messaging? (either through this website, AIM, or yahoo). What state are you located in?

I think the idea of using Google Docs is very smart. Believe it or not, I'm going to have my students revamp a fairy tale too. They should be done with writing them by next Friday or the following Monday. I could have them put it on Google Documents for your students to see. Maybe the students can present to each other using Skype during the first or second week of November?

[Amanda McIntosh]

We would need til the end of the second week in Nov, if that is ok. We could have them revise together through Google Docs and present to a different group later on.

We are in Trussville, AL, which is outside of Birmingham.

Skype is probably the best way.

How many students do you have? What times are your periods? We could figure out how to give each kid a partner possibly to use throughout the rest of the year for things. What do you think? We could just assign kids a partner and only have them use the last name for protection purposes.

[Brian Fleming]

Okay, I don't think there would be a problem with the second week in November. I think being able to revise each other's papers would be cool. And yes, I think it is a good idea to keep this collaboration going at least through February (unfortunately, I change schools at the end of my student's semester in February, so it will be up to my master teacher if she would like to continue the collaboration).

I have 31 students (it may be 30 in a few weeks). I teach them English during 2nd period which is from 9:22-10:15 Monday, Tuesday, Wed., and Friday and from 9:05-9:52 on Thursday. How about you? After the narrative unit, what are your students going to do next? We are going to move into expository writing. That would be very interesting to do with your class. What is your class working on now through the second week in November?

[Brian Fleming]

As a side question, do you have a Facebook account? We can communicate through there as well.

[Amanda McIntosh]

I have 117 students all throughout the day. I wonder how to make that work...hmm...

We are working on the fairy tale starting the following week and should have it finished by the 2nd week of Nov. We then move to expository writing as well, but we really don't do that until January.

I am sure we can work something out. I know you are a different time zone. We are central time, so you must be two hours after us, right? So, if it is 9 AM here, then it is 11 AM your time...correct? I may have that wrong, but please don't think I am an idiot if I do.

[Brian Fleming]

Yes, this is definitely going to be interesting to figure out. Would it be unfair to your other classes if the class you have at 11ish gets to collaborate with my class? I could see how it would be. I wonder what will be the most fair and logistical for your students. Maybe volunteers?

I think the time periods for our fairy tales are pretty close to eachother as we are starting next week and can be finished by the second week of November. Which fairy tale are you using?

[Brian Fleming]

Also, I would love to do something collaborative with you for the expository unit (at least until the middle of January) if we can work that out later down the line.

[Brian Fleming]

Hey Amanda, let's set up a time, maybe on Friday or Saturday or Sunday to have a face-to-face chat on Skype to iron out all of these details. I think that will be the fastest way of getting our students connected to one another. Are you available this weekend to do that?

Thanks again for expressing interest in this project. I think when we are able to pull it off and connect our students, they will really gain a lot from the experience.

[Amanda McIntosh]

Brian,

I am so sorry about not responding about a time for this weekend, but I didn't see this email. I was having a surprise b-day party for my mother-in-law, so I was running around like a crazy woman. :) I would love to Skype and talk about how things can work. I was thinking of maybe partnering like this...you tell me what you think...

What if your students had 3-4 of my students as partners? They could read the essays and look for different things in each one. This could help you teach the different skills of revision. One time they could look for paragraph structure, then topic sentences, then word choice, and then something else. I know it would be four essays, but that might be a good thing. They could compare and find great ones and not-so-great ones within my students' work. What do you think?

I had a little complication with computer lab dates, but what if we Skyped with the classes one day...like Nov. 3 or 5 to discuss rough drafts. Then, I am having my kids write their essays in Google Docs on Nov. 10th. Your kids could edit that week, and then the next week we could Skype about what they found, etc. What do you think?

I am sorry that it isn't working quite as we had talked at first, but computer lab time is hard to get to right now. If this doesn't work, just let me know. I totally understand.