AVID & Cumulative Writing Folders (Collins Writing)

 In AVID, we use the Collins Writing Program for our formal writings.  Part of the program is using a Cumulative Writing Folder to track Type 3 and Type 4 writing.  It also helps to monitor the FCAs that are used in class.  I really enjoy teaching with Collins and the FCAs make it easy to give feedback on the assignments.


What I don't like is little boxes.  I've written about lesson planning in the past and how the little boxes in the Teacher Planning Boxes don't work for me.  I can't squeeze everything into those boxes.  I feel the same way for the students trying to fill in the little boxes in the Cumulative Writing Folder. Students with big writing feel the failure of the boxes.  Students with small writing try to add too much. They write in pencil and we keep the folders for a while.  The pencil starts to fade.

In my AVID classes, we use Google Docs for our Cumulative Writing Folders.  I recreated the folder as a table in a document.  The table has a title box, a box for FCAs, and a reflection box.  The title is a link to the Google Doc where we did the actual writing (shared with a link).  They copy the FCAs from the assignment page to the writing folder.  I give them a couple of reflective questions to add to the folder too.  They can type without worrying about space.

You can find my Cumulative Writing Folder template in Google Drive by searching public templates for "Cumulative Writing Folder."

The writing folder is linked on the students Weebly page. I maintain a list of Weebly pages for the classes so that I have access to their work (password protected).

The benefits are that I don't have to carry notebooks to and from school.  Students don't have to worry about a paper folder.  It is permanent and they can come back to it years later.  This is better than having a stack of folders that they don't care about right now but might in a couple of years.  When I need to share student work, I just give someone a link and they can access it all.  In addition to all that, no one has to pay to purchase the folders.

How are you managing digital writing in your classroom?

Comments