How can I Collaborate with Other Classrooms?

CLASS GROUPS OVERVIEW

CLASS GROUPS OVERVIEW

Class Groups are pages that organize specific students and content in a private community.

• Differentiate writing topics and mentor writing
• Help students find Ideas and Posts for their class work
• Bring together multiple classrooms for a private collaboration

FAQ: What's the difference between a "Class" and a "Group"

• CLASS- Is a privacy layer for content. Every student registered under your account has access to you (and to each) other through that privacy layer. When they publish a Post to the "Class" layer, they will also have the option to share it to any Groups they are a part of.  
  
  
• GROUP-Is a community space and organization filter. You can have an entire class in a Group or a subset of students. Students from multiple classes and teachers can be in a Class group together for a private collaboration.

FAQ: Can I Co-Teach students with another teacher using a Group?

• Yes, multiple teachers can be Administrators in a Group so the content and students can be managed.

• The first step is to FOLLOW the collaborating teacher, so search them by name from writeabout.com/classrooms

• Participating teachers using individual Classroom accounts will be able share writing starters (IDEAS) and writing (POSTS) but will only have access to published work from the other class using the Group page.

• Teachers who are connected to a School account can Share Students to directly have access to all student work, manage student account settings, moderate work and leave private feedback (in or out of the Group).

• Learn more about Write About for Schools

HOW TO COMBINE MULTIPLE CLASSROOMS IN A GROUP FOR WRITING COLLABORATION

• Collaborating teachers start by searching each other by name from writeabout.com/classrooms

• Use the FOLLOW CLASS button so that you are connected to that teacher.

• Follow the Create Group steps to create a group identity that will be meaningful for your students - in this case choosing "Collaborate privately with other class(es)"

Customize the name and description of your group with a Group Name and Group Description.

  

 Customize the avatar with a picture of your Class(es) or something relevant to what you'll be writing about!

ADD STUDENTS INTO YOUR COLLABORATIVE GROUP

You are able to add students and other classrooms to your collaborative Group by selecting all of your students, selecting school colleagues and their students, or by adding teachers you follow.

 

Or you can add them manually once the Group has been created.

Or let students join the group themselves by creating a simple Join Password during the Create Group process or at any time from the Group Settings.

Students can then search the group name, click join, and enter the password to add themselves.

POPULATE YOUR COLLABORATIVE GROUP WITH IDEAS

• Provide curated Idea choices or specific assignment topics for students in the Group Ideas area.

COLLABORATIVE GROUP POSTS

• Share writing from the various classes/collaborative project OR share mentor writing from outside your class to share with students so they can read and comment.

PUBLISHING TO COLLABORATIVE CLASS GROUPS

• Students and teacher can Publish and Share their Posts directly to Groups they are a member of. 
• Teachers should model and instruct students how how to purposefully share writing to a desired audience based on the class or project.
• If Moderation is turned on for the student in order to Publish Publicly, the post will be held for approval before it is shared to the Group.

SHARING TO COLLABORATIVE CLASS GROUPS

• All IDEAS and POSTS across Write About can be Shared to Groups by Students and Teachers to help build the community
• Teachers should model and instruct students how how to purposefully share content that the Class or Project can benefit from.

Share Ideas to Groups by hovering or tapping on an Idea preview:

Or, share Ideas or Posts to Groups using the Share to Group button on an Idea or Post page:

 

Find the Share To Group button in the Footer (bottom) of a Post page:

FEATURE IDEAS IN GROUPS

• Using the "Featured Ideas" tool will let you keep specific Ideas on the first page so students see them immediately on the Group page. For example, FEATURED Ideas might be 'assigned' and the remaining Ideas (no limit to how many can be added) might be choices for further writing.

FEATURE POSTS IN GROUPS

• Using the "Featured Posts" tool allows teachers to display mentor writing for their students at the top of the Group Posts feed. This could be a Post written by you, a student, or even a student from the Write About community in general.
  
  
• Teachers also use Featured Posts to celebrate specific pieces of writing and specific student authors. TIP: 'Feature' different student Posts each week to help those students build confidence, gain more comments and use them as a peer mentor!

Have fun building your collaborative writing communities!

--

Related

Manage Publishing and Sharing

Guide to Student Commenting