Plan the GIFT Collaboratively with Wipebook!

  

Floor to ceiling whiteboard walls are luxury most educators do not have. I am one of the fortunate educators whose learning space has floor to ceiling, magnetic whiteboard walls. They make teaching students and leading professional learning sessions a blast. But what about the times when I am not in my learning space where I don't have this amazing luxury? In those instances, Wipebook the rescue!

The Cardinal Innovation Center in Orosi, CA

When I teach and or present in spaces other than my own, Wipebook allows me to design lessons as if I was still in the friendly confines of the Cardinal Innovation Center. Pinning up Wipebook pages around the room allows me to quickly and easily increase my dry erase, writable space to give students and teachers the ability to get up and make their thinking visible. With their ideas up, on the walls, on Wipebook pages, the ease and opportunities for feedback increase tremendously. In addition, this is conducive to fostering collaboration. 

In my book, The Complete EdTech Coach: An Organic Approach to Supporting Digital Learning, my co-author Katherine Goyette and I promote a 4 C's lesson design style. We begin with a learning target/goal/standard and use a simple 4 square diagram to map out how students will engage with each of the 4 C's as a way of reaching the learning target/goal/standard. As we like to say, "When you plan with the 4 C's in mind, the tech takes care of itself."

Wipebook is great for departments and PLCs to collaboratively design 4 C's-infused lessons and learning experiences. They are lightweight, flexible, easy to transport and fit well on a tabletop. This allows all colleagues to easily gather around, brainstorm and plan. Simply gathering around a Wipebook page to design a lesson is like a family gathering to share a meal. In this instance, colleagues are sharing some edu-fellowship and fostering a culture of collaboration.

Start by writing your learning target/goal/standard at the top and drawing a basic 4 square diagram. Each of the 4 C's (communication, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking) will go in one of the 4 squares. From here, the conversation begins on how students will meet the learning target/goal/standards via each of the C's. If you download, the Wipeboard Scan app, you can easily keep a record of your planning with you and reuse the Wipebook. One of the simple, yet brilliant things about Wipebook is that they are reusable. Try doing that with chart paper! 

Below is a sample from a "Causes of WWI" lesson my colleagues and I designed with Wipebook. 

My wife (co-author) and I use Wipebook when we lead 4 C's lesson design workshops. As mentioned, they are lightweight, flexible and easy to transport. In most instances, the spaces in which we lead workshops and professional development have little to no dry erase whiteboard space. With Wipebook, we are covered.

My wife Katherine and I right before our 4 C's Lesson Design session at 2019 NSTC Conference in Palm Springs. This was the first time we used Wipebook to facilitate this session.

Below are some action shots of our first session using Wipebook. In each image, you can see how the versatility of Wipebook made it easy to facilitate collaboration. 

You can see some teams collaborating on the Wipebook while at the same time using devices to research strategies and standards. This provides a healthy balance of tech and non-tech in the lesson design process. 

As my colleague and good friend Joe Marquez says, "Teaching is a collaborative sport." Wipebook is a simple, yet powerful tool for fostering collaboration amongst educators. Many of us have fond memories of sharing family meals and the great conversations shared. Wipebook can bring a similar feel to the lesson design process. Oftentimes, lesson design can feel like a chore, and it becomes dreaded, but what if it felt more like sharing a family meal? I can't imagine much dread in that. Let Wipebook help you set the table.