More on the Facebook Project

As much technology as I have in my classroom, sometimes logistics get the better of me. I've been struggling with how to manage saving 15 ppt files, 5 per class, when groups are finished working at the end of the class period. I have two personal USB drives, but I'd rather not save student work on my USB drives. Most of my students do not have USB drives, and even if they did, I'm not sure that's a route I'd take either. There are often issues in group work that spans multiple days with students and absence. I had a group today tell me that a member of their group (who was gone for a track meet) took their project with her to finish instead of leaving it in the group's folder, which I keep and hand out at the beginning of each period.

And then I had a "eureka" moment.

I'm toggling between two email addresses: my own, and one I created for my 2nd hour students, so they could use the gmail+ method to create logins for our class ning. And then I realized: a class google login means they have access to Google Docs. If I save versions of the same template with names corresponding to book title and class period, that eliminates the need for USB drives. Additionally, I have access to their project and can monitor progress without having to worry about students shutting down the computer before saving on my flash drive, or losing their own flash drive or not being present in class for either of the work days or the presentation day. Downloading a copy onto my desktop isn't an issue, as a just-in-case precaution. And saving on my flash drive is a last resort. 

I'm feeling better and better about this project all the time.