Week 2 - Wiki Project

I found two wikis that I thought were very well done.  Even though both of these wikis are from elementary classrooms, I think with some adjustments, they could give me some ideas for my high school students.  Mr. Webb’s wiki is used as a class website with some of the pages directly related to reading and writing.  His one page of Creative Writing seems to be a great way for students to practice their writing skills and publish their work.  By selecting a “winner” each week, students are able to be recognized.  This page gives an explanation of Haiku and then the students posted their original Haiku.  His Reading page explains the required reading logs students must complete.  I thought the Current Events Reports page combines both the reading and writing components by having students find the event, read about it and then be able to process and explain their reading.  I really enjoyed viewing this site and could see that he put a lot of effort into making this a usable tool for his students.

While Mr. Webb’s site was set up for long term use, the second site I found was for a specific writing project.  Terry the Tennis Ball was designed for students to participate in a collaborative Choose Your Own Adventure style of story writing.   The teacher provided the initial prompt and then students chose the direction they wanted to take the story.  This project could be used for a very short term project or something that students could add to over a longer period of time by adding to others’ contributions to the story.  I would think students would really enjoy this type of assignment.  It did not require a lot of writing but creativity and thought in moving the story along.

By reviewing these two different sites that each had different goals, I thought they both provided good examples of a long term and short term use of wikis in the classroom.

Resources:
http://mrwebbsclass.wikifoundry.com/page/Reading  
http://terrythetennisball.wikispaces.com/

Week 2 Readings - revised

The readings this week did make me think more about trying to incorporate wikis into my classes.  I thought the components of an effective wiki given by Vicki Davis were very good.  I think these would be a great introduction to wikis for students.  They were given in a very specific way that students should find easy to follow and give them some direction in starting their wiki experience. 

One way I could incorporate using wikis in class would be have a wiki as an option of presentation of a group report.  In Accounting 2 students research and present information on a current accounting topic that we do not specifically cover in class.  Using a wiki could be a way for group to work together to present the information to the whole class.  This project adds to the content for my advanced accounting students to prepare them for the college accounting programs.  To assess the effectiveness of using the wiki, students are always held accountable for information from each of the topics presented.  Whether the information is presented in text, graphics, audio or video, students should be able to learn about the various topics by viewing the wikis of their classmates.

Some of the information in the text seemed a little dated because technology is changing so quickly.  I also had to review the assignments listed in a different way.  They were directed to the elementary age class so I had to think of how I would adjust them to a high school setting.  An example would be the lesson given of writing a story in PowerPoint.  The lesson was for Grades 1-3 and very basic - appropriate for that age group.  The stories I have assigned for my students include animated graphics, they run continuously and are narrated.  I guess with all of the information we read about and study in this program will have to be fine tuned to fit within our age level and various curriculums but at least we are encouraged to look ahead and see how we can continue to grow as educators.

Week 1 Readings

The titles of our textbooks interest me.  I would really like to add more writing components to my class and encourage students to do more reading outside of a textbook.  I have never felt comfortable or confident in writing so I think that is why I am hesitant to assign writing projects.  I am hoping that this course will give me the boost I need to add these components to my classes.  The "take-away" I got from the Solution Tree reading was the tools that were included in the chart.  I reviewed which tools I already knew how to use or had heard of and thought about how the chart categorized how those tools could be used.  I found this article that related to the section of how technology is moving into the Core Curriculum and the Common Core Standards.  Several ideas of incorporating technology are discussed.

Intro Post

As I begin this course, I am wondering how I completed the  22 hours of credit during the past year.  When I started last August, my parents were moving into assisted living (mom has Alzheimer's) and a week later Dad had a heart attack.  They went back home in January.  This morning I received a phone call that mom was taken to the hospital and they readmitted her to the nursing home because dad can't take care of her any more.  They are 87.  So I am starting the year off in a hectic way again.  Heading out tomorrow to help with the situation for a few days.
This week has been interesting at school.  Our first full week of being an iPad school.  Lots of learning going on but not always a subject but just learning to use the new technology.  I think students and teachers alike were overwhelmed.  I was proud of myself for being able to upload an assignment, the kids opened it from their iPads, completed it, turned it in, I graded it and returned it - all with no paper!  Not everything went smoothly but we are learning.  I'll let you know how it progresses.