Adult Proofread from Germany

When I ask my students to get an adult to proofread their writing, the adults are never mom or dad. I work on a residential campus for foster youth. Translation: my students have all been taken away from their families or abandoned, so they now live at a group home/boarding school. Since transitioning to a paperless classroom, I have modified my writing process to include an online adult proofread. Before I could even suggest it, one of my sophomores exceeded my expectations by having a family member edit her writing online.

Normally, my students ask their house parents, tutors, staff, or other teachers to proofread their work. Before I changed the paper proofreading handout to a Google form, I required my students to get an adult signature. Now, the adults can view the paper in a shared Google Doc or on a house computer, follow a Google form guide, and verify their work by providing the time and location of the proofread.

Chanda took it one step further. Since her supportive older sister’s husband is stationed in Germany, Chanda publishes her writing on her blog, adds her sister as a writer, and allows her to make corrections. She figured this out on her own. I am impressed and can’t wait to see what will happen when Chanda teacher her sister to use a shared Google Doc. (Please read and comment on Chanda's essay on her blog.)

My classroom walls are falling down.
My students are one-step ahead of me.
It’s working.