Have you ever been to one of those Brazilian restaurants where they bring out tons of meat? They have these things on the table that help the servers know whether or not to bring out meat. The idea is, green means go, bring it on. Red means stop, leave us alone. If you put it down on its side, bring me a check. This is a great way to tell the well-meaning servers, "now isn't a great time for the bacon-wrapped garlic sirloin. Come back after I've finished this grilled pineapple." Without having to actually say it.
I needed a similar system to find out when my kids needed support in their writing, and when they just needed to be left alone to write.
So I created a system using Google Drive. When students create a document, the last word of the document corresponds with how much help they need. If they're drafting, and need to be left alone, the last word would be "Drafting." If they need a peer to edit their document, the last word would be "peer edit," or "editing." This way at a glance I can see what students need. No problem.
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| Looks like Billy could use some feedback |
In less than 15 minutes I can scan through my students' documents and leave meaningful comments specific to what each student needs. I also only conference with students that are ready and need feedback. With analog conferencing I conferenced with students according to my schedule. I had no idea where a student was in the project when I called them back. With this system, I have a decent idea where just about every student is at any time.
Now I'm not the annoying restaurant worker constantly interrupting the conversation, but I'm the tactful server that arrives just at the right time.
Oh, how do they get the documents to me in the first place? More on that later.
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