Google Docs as Writing Portfolios

Google docs is part of the Google Apps  for Education  and it has been on the market for a while. Lately it has been through a lot of improvements. As an educator, I have used a lot of tools for writing. Blogs or blogging portals are very useful for this task. However, sometimes we do have some problems with these platforms because they require an e-mail. Young learners do have e-mails, but they never use it for nothing other than logging into social networks. The problem is that their passwords are attached to their home pcs or devices and they never remember it. Besides that, they also do not have the habit of checking e-mails.

A solution for solving this problem is getting rid of e-mails. Google docs is just the tool to allow you to do that. So, what I have been doing in some of my groups of young learners is to create docs for each individual student. I make these docs editable by anyone with the link. Next, I use bit.ly to shorten and customize the url. Once I am done with that process, I give them the url and teach then how to work in the document. The final result is a portfolio in which I can keep all their paragraphs for the whole semester. It is paperless, it is free of the hassle of losing first drafts, and gets the correction phase smoother. Finally, you add colors to the docs and kids love wrting on such neat digital stationary. Here is sample document from a project I am working on. Click here  to browse it.

E-Teacher Journal - A Draft

E- Teacher Scholarship Journal

I am just trying to use Blogsy on my iPad and posted an entire version of two previous posts by copying and pasting straight from pages.

 

When I arrived in my room I found a beautiful wine notebook on my desk. I opened it and it suggested that I wrote a journal about my days here at UMBC. I asked myself "Where is my pen?" Then I thought, why using pen and paper if I have a bag full of gadgets (iPad, iPhone, netbook, camera). I had already taken two photos. So I just opened my iPad on pages and started writing. As I wrote, I jus copied and pasted the photos.

Let's see what happens. I already love the idea.

 

UMBC - Day 01

 

 

Today is the 20th of July. After about ten hours of flight I finally arrived at the UMBC Campus. I really caught myself biting my nails all the way till I got here. I was a bit impatient with the taxi driver. Although I had a map and everything, I was still a bit afraid to get lost and not make it. First I went to the wrong entrance of the building. One of the staff showed me where I had to go. While walking to the next entrance, I realized that on the rush to find the right place I had left my taxi receipt behind. When I turning around to fetch the forgotten paper, I saw the lady that had given me directions walking behind me with the receipt on her hand. Then again, I entered the wrong building. Finally, with help of a second person, I made it to the right place. It was a relief when Rebecca welcomed me, gave me key and took me to my room. I was really happy to find this beautiful bag filled with treats. Now I am headed for lunch. Just cannot wait to meet the other scholars later tonight.

 

Lunch was fine. There was a big variety of things to choose from and this made me feel home. I usually eat in a restaurant that has a wide choice of vegetables. So, I stuck with vegetables, some pasta, and bread. For dessert, I just couldn't help eating some cookies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While BBQ time did not come, I took the usual after lunch nap. I slept for about an hour and then took a walk around the campus. I was dying to get some coffee. So I went to the bookstore building The Commons. However, as I checked the possible coffee place it seemed to be a bit after hours. So, I decided to check the bookstore.

 

The BBQ

Barbecue time was fun. We finally met Teresa Valais who has been chaperoning us in this voyage. Joan and Adriana also joined us. We had a great evening and while we savored the food we talked a bit about our experiences and the present state of education in our countries. Scholars arrived little by little, and as they arrived they joined the conversation. I know I should try to name everyone, but I am terrible with names. The food in the pictured is wrapped because we were always waiting for someone else o arrive. Chaouki, who is going to be my roommate, had not arrived till I wrote this post. I really tried to wait as much as I could, but tiredness got the best of me and I had to come to my room. However, before going to bed, I decided to write this post.

 

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