Collaborating with Google Presentations

Sixth grade students in Ms. Bridgers' science classes at New Century Middle School used Google Presentations to collaboratively create a presentation about selected Biomes. One student created the presentation and shared it with the other group members. Each group member could then work on his/her part of the presentation.

Good Classroom Practice: Appoint one person on each team as the project manager. The project manager should be the one that creates the beginning project and shares it with all team members. The project manager ensures that the design is coherent and all requirements of the project have been included in the final product. I always like to stress that the project manager is not the one that does all the work.

I had the opportunity to visit this classroom during some of the presentations. Ms. Bridgers had her students present to the class. Students should be given time to present because it encourages them to develop their speaking skills which is important for any career path. Ms. Bridgers also facilitated active listening skills by sharing a note template through Google Drive. 

Good Classroom Practice: Encourage active listening by creating a template in Google Drive and sharing it with all students. Students can use this template to take notes as student groups are presenting. Don't forget to remind your students to make of copy of your template before taking notes.