Collaborative Writing

Here's what:
As I was looking though Pt England School blogs, to keep up to date with what other schools are doing with their blogs. I came across their teacher learning space and the following presentation that caught my attention:
Using Google docs as a modelling book for writing


So What:
I was excited to learn about Etherpad a web-based programme that can be used for collaborative writing in the classroom. A highlight for me was that Jill was able to "provide step by step guidance about what to write and how to make it impact on the reader" while at the same time she was able to model at each step.

http://www.vln.school.nz/pages/view/705815/recipe-for-writing-with-etherpad




Etherpad

Now what:
I would like to try using Etherpad for writing this term in the classroom.  It might work better if I started with a smaller group of 4 - 5 students before moving onto a bigger group/whole class.
In addition a programme like Etherpad could be used in staff meetings, or to work collaboratively with colleagues.