Since the start of the school year, students in Lisa English's language arts classes have been using the school's laptop computers and working with Google Docs to write their papers.
Students' work is saved to the "cloud" so they can work on their papers anywhere they have Internet access, whether in class or from another site. They turn in their work electronically, without ever having to print it out.
By turning assignments in electronically, they save paper and the grading process is streamlined.
English has no papers to take home to grade, as all of the papers are neatly filed in the students' Google Docs electronic files that she can access from anywhere, she said.
English said she can check students' progress at any point in the process. "Before we started using Google Docs, I wouldn't know if a student was making progress on a paper until the due date," she said. "Now when they are working in class on their laptops I can see through a computer program who is working on what and where they are in the progress of the assignment."
English can do a quick edit of the uncompleted work, leave notes electronically, and make suggestions, if needed, as to how to help a student move the assignment along.
Mill Creek Middle School Principal Gus Harju said using Google Docs allows his teachers to "do wellness visits rather than autopsies" with their students' writing. "It's hard to help young writers when all you do is give an assignment and then wait for them to turn the paper in to be graded," Harju said. "Using Google Docs, the teacher can look at the work along the way so that there are no surprises when the assignment is submitted."
English said she can do a lot more formative assessments during the writing process as well, which allows her to see if the students have learned what was taught. "If I see several students making the same mistakes, I can have them stop writing and do a quick reteaching of what needs to be taught," she said.
Students, too, like the new writing process as it is easier for to do peer editing and to work with a writing group when the assignment calls for it.
Currently the Middle School has two carts of 30 laptop computers so teachers and students have to share during the school day. The district hopes to be able to provide each student with their own laptop in the near future so more work can be done electronically.