Hello, Readers!

Collaboration is one of technology’s strong suits. To highlight this, let’s see how Dylan worked with a teacher to have students build websites together.

Google Sites is what the Doctor Ordered!

By Dylan

As part of their body systems unit, Danielle’s students are creating websites for specialized medical clinics. Each clinic focuses on a particular body system and has information about how the clinic provides specialized care for and tips for taking care of their patients.

I spent about 20 mins leading the class through the elements of a website, and how to structure an effective website in Google Sites. As they worked in groups, there were discussions about who would take what element of the website:

• Page Layout and Design 🏗️
• Content writing ✍️
• Graphics 🖼️

A lot of progress happened in a small amount of time. And with each student working on their own Chromebooks, the groups could see their website coming together in real time.

I helped Danielle with this project last year and there was a noticeable difference in how students engaged with the project this year. It was evident that the digital projects they’ve been working on throughout the year have prepared them to learn a new platform like Google Sites, quickly and efficiently. Many of the skills they were working with were transferable from other apps like Canva, Slides and Docs.  I'm excited to see what they come up with! 👏

Projects like this remind us of Curricular Competencies in Career Education:

“I can set realistic short- and longer-term learning goals, define a path, and monitor progress.”

Here’s a project planning document your students can use to do exactly that!

🤔Questions to think about: Are you running collaborative projects in your class? How do you get your students organized into roles and communicate tasks needed to complete a project?

Until next week,

The Classmate Team

✏️ Have your kids ever wanted to bring their drawings to life? Well now they can, with the help of this website!

Have them draw a character or animal, then take a picture of it, upload, and voila! Their drawings will come to life! This is great for some end of year fun, or even to incorporate into a lesson plan about animal characteristics or traits.