Mixing Pencil & Paper with Google Docs.

I was able to visit Dustin Curtis's 5th grade classroom last week at Bayyari Elementary in Springdale, Arkansas. When I walked in I noticed that students had their Chromebooks open, and a word problem was displayed for them in a Google Doc. The students were working diligently on a paper with a pen to complete the problem that was posed for them. After completing their task on paper, the students simply clicked on the insert tab to add a picture, and took a snapshot of their work. The work they had just completed was then a part of the document on their screen. Underneath the snapshot the students were then able to explain their thinking and problem solving process on the Google Doc.

This concept seems simple enough, but think of all of the benefits this truly brings:

• It still gives the students the opportunity to work with pencil in hand, something we never want to get away from as technology continues to progress.
• Student work getting lost or mysteriously landing in a random pile on the teacher’s desk is gone.
• The students having control over their work in their Google Drive file to share with teachers or parents, and eventually choosing pieces for a portfolio.

Those are just a few of the many benefits that could come from this. If anything, this could be a great first step for any classroom that is taking their first steps with 1:1 technology in their classrooms.