For years I have suggested that you write the word COLLABORATION in very large letters at the top of your lesson plans. A key to collaborative activities are tools that allow multiple students to work together in the same space. FigJam by Figma is a great way to achieve this. You can see a way to have all the students together in the same space with the Gratitude Activity template.
FigJam is free for educators
Verify that you are an educator in figma.com/education to get access to all FigJam features.
Gratitude Activity Template
I am frequently checking figma.com/@education for templates. There are always new things to see!! You can find my templates at figma.com/@alicekeeler. While browsing through the new templates, I came across the In-Class Gratitude Activity. This is a great example of how to set up FigJam so that all students are on the same page.
24 Sections for 24 Students
The template has one section per student. Don’t worry if you have more than 24 students in a class. Click on one of the sections, or link and select multiple sections, and use Control D to duplicate the section. Adding more student sections is easy!
Move to project
By default, your FigJam files are “Draft”. Click the arrow next to the document title to “Move to Project.” This is actually just organizing it into a folder for you.
Share the template
Use the share button in the top right corner to share with your students.
Paste student email addresses into the sharing options OR click “Open Sign In” for a shareable link that gives editing access to anyone with the link.
Students change the name of their section
Assign a number to each student so they can quickly find their section and change the section title to their name.
Focus on me
After students have completed their gratitude section, share some with the class. In the upper right corner is the collaboration icon. Click on it to select “Feature Me.” This will make it easier for students to follow where the cursor is.
Turn 2
If you select a section, which is identified by the 4 corners of the section having a small rectangle, use Shift 2 to zoom in on that section. Shift 1 zooms out to the entire board.
FigJam is designed to meet
While you can use one FigJam per student, you’ll notice that FigJam is designed so that everyone is in the same space. This makes it easier to review student work, give feedback to peers, and be together! Enjoy!!
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Engage is Kognity’s online event that will bring together educators from schools and districts across the country for a day full of learning, networking, and collaboration. Attend for free using code ALICEKEELER100
Use this classroom gratitude template for FigJam to get your students to collaborate and think about what they are grateful for this season.
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Do you want to do an interactive lesson with your students? Use FigJam! Setting up a lesson in FigJam is easy. Here are some tips to get you started.
