Wiki+TS

//Members: Jennifer Jones/Andrea Divijak and Jennifer Callahan

What curriculum would most easily lend itself to the use of wikis?

Wiki Ideas (http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/wikiideas1.cfm) proves that all areas of the curriculum can be enhanced with wikis. What follows is a list of ideas from this site.// Often times primary teachers feel wikis won't work with their students. As you will see, Wiki Ideas proves otherwise. > An elementary class “encyclopedia” on a special topic, such as explorers or state history – to be continued and added to each year! > A wiki “fan club” for you favorite author(s). > How can Wikis be used in schools by teachers and students? > An Elementary News paper- Students would decide on the articles and contribute ideas to the different articles. Meeting times would be used to have students work as editors on a particular article Plans:
 * Study guides made by student groups for themselves and peers: each group prepares the guide for one aspect of the unit or responsibility rotates: one unit guide per semester.
 * Vocabulary lists and examples of the words in use, contributed by students (ongoing throughout the year).
 * The wiki as the organizational and intellectual epicenter of your class (see the **Aristotle experiment**)- Wiki all assignments, projects, collaboration, rubrics, etc.
 * Products of research projects, especially collaborative group projects: civil war battles, artistic movements, the American electoral process, diseases and prevention, etc. Remember that the products do not have to be simply writing. They can include computer files, images, videos, etc. Creating an organizational structure for the content is an important part if the project.
 * An annotated collection of EXAMPLES from the non-school world for anything: supply/demand, capitalism, entrepreneurship, triangles, alliterations, vertebrates or invertebrates, etc. Include illustrations wherever possible.
 * What I Think Will Be on the Test wiki: a place to log review information for important concepts throughout the year, prior to taking the “high stakes” test, AP test, or final exam. Students add to it throughout the year and even from year to year.
 * An “everything I needed to know I learned in Ms.Teachername’s class” wiki where students add their own observations of ways the class knowledge has spilled over into the “real world.” For example, a student might write about actually using a simple algebraic equation to figure out dimensions for cutting lumber or foamcore for a display or write about ways that her friend shows tragic hubris and is heading toward a fall.
 * A travelogue from a field trip or NON-field trip that the class would have liked to take as a culmination of a unit of study: Our (non) trip to the Capital and what we (wish) we saw.
 * Articles by students who miss school for family trips, written about their travels on the class wiki, relating what they see to concepts learned before they left: mammals I saw on the way to Disney, geometric shapes in the Magic Kingdom, the most cost-effective lunches while traveling, etc. Remember: hotels usually have Internet access. Make the world a part of your classroom!
 * An FAQ (or NSFAQ- Not So Frequently Asked Questions) wiki on your current unit topic. Have students post KWL entries and continue adding questions that occur to them as the unit progresses. As other students add their “answers,” the wiki will evolve into a student-created guide to the topic. Example: Civil War FAQ or Biomes FAQ. You may find that the FAQ process can entirely supplant traditional classroom activities, especially if you seed a few questions as the teacher. This would also depend on whether you have consistent computer access on a daily basis, a luxury many schools do not have.
 * Wiki ideas for language arts:**
 * A continuing story in which your class adds sentence suing new vocabulary words and writes and adventure story in collaboration with the entire class. They will NEVER forget the meaning of the words as they read and re-read their story each time they visit to add. The story can be a single version or branch off into multiple versions and endings.
 * A collection of mythological allusions found in “real life” while studying Greek/Roman mythology: Ex. Mercury cars- why are they so named?
 * An online writer’s workshop or poetry workshop with suggested revisions from classmates. Start with drafts and collaborate. Make sure students use the notes tab to explain why they make changes.
 * Summary and discussion of a scene of a play, a poem, or even chapter by chapter of a novel, with groups taking responsibility for different portions
 * Literary analysis of actual text on the wiki- with links to explanations of literary devices, a glossary to explain vocabulary, etc. Try it with a scene from Shakespeare or a sonnet! Each student or group could be responsible for a portion, then ALL can edit and revise to improve the collaborative project. You will be amazed how much they will find and argue.
 * Collaborative book reviews or author studies
 * Creative projects, such as a script for a Shakespeare scene reset in the 21st century
 * A travel brochure wiki- use wikis to “advertise” for different literary, historical, or cultural locations and time periods: Dickens’ London, fourteenth century in Italy in Verona and Mantua ( Romeo and Juliet), The Oklahoma Territory, The Yukon during the Gold Rush, Ex-patriot Paris in the Twenties, etc.
 * Character resume wiki: have literature classes create a resume wikis for characters in a novel or play you are reading. Both creativity and documented evidence from the literature are required (use notes to indicate the evidence from the text).
 * Wiki ideas for other subjects:**
 * A virtual art gallery with ongoing criticism and responses regarding artwork. found online or originals from your art classroom (a cwitiqwiki).
 * A catalog of musical styles or musical instruments.
 * Collections of recipes for a home ec class.
 * A collaborative project with speakers of a foreign language and in another location: A day in the life of an American/Japanese/French/German/Mexican family. (This one would require finding contacts in other locations, of course).
 * A movie review wiki for teens hoping to find the best date flick? (a Flickr?).
 * A humor study wiki for gifted students trying to learn the fine art of spoof and satire, including visual as well as verbal.
 * Collections/montages of examples of an abstract concept, such as “surrealism”- why do you can this surrealist?- explain/refute.
 * An orientation wiki for the next students to come to your middle or high school (Everything you Need to Knowiki).
 * Make a nutrition wiki with ideas for ways to eat healthy at local restaurants (a nutwition wiki?).
 * A careers wiki. Have students interview people about their jobs and write up descriptions of different career paths. Invite the workers to add their own input and pictures, as well. Keep this wiki as part of an alumni project for your high school students investigating school-to-work options.
 * Buy a Car wiki- interest, financing, car dealer info, car model reviews, etc (in driver ed, math, or business class).
 * Consumer wiki- student articles on consumer issues and warnings, including the local mall, area businesses, even cell phone plans. This is great for middle schoolers learning about consumer rights.
 * Get a Job wiki- share info on good/bad places to work and why.
 * Let students create a “study hall” wiki for their assignments and prep for upcoming tests in your class and others(credit to the students of Vicki A. Davis-- [|**Cool Cat Teacher**] --Westwood for this one).
 * Wonderstudent Wiki: As preparation for college or job applications, have groups of students create a fictitious student-resume wiki, demonstrating good skills at “selling” one’s talents and accomplishments. Invite potential employers or college admissions officers to respond to the wikis, if possible.
 * A space for ESL/ELL students to tell stories of their experiences learning a new culture. Their writing skills will be the winners, and they can edit and help each other to improve. One possibility: write it like an Amelia Bedelia story (the character to takes every idiom literally, cutting up sponges to make sponge cake, etc.
 * An annotated virtual library: listings and commentary on independent reading students have done throughout the year
 * collaborative book reviews or author studies
 * A virtual tour of your school as you study “our community” in elementary grades
 * A travelogue from a field trip or NON- field trip that the class would have liked to take as A culmination of a unit of study: Our (non) trip to the Capital and what we (wish) we saw.
 * Detailed and illustrated descriptions of scientific or governmental processes: how a bill becomes a law, how mountains form, etc.
 * Family Twaditionwiki- elementary students share their family’s ways of preparing Thanksgiving dinner or celebrating birthdays (anonymously, of course) and compare them to practices in other cultures they read and learn about.
 * A //Where is Wanda// wiki: a wiki version of the ever-favorite Flat Stanley project. Have each Wanda host post on the wiki, including the picture they take with Wanda during her visit. Even better: keep an ongoing Google Earth placemarker file to add geographic visuals to Wanda’s wonderful wanderings as a link in the wiki. WOW! Where in the world IS Wiki Wanda?

--Collaborate with staff and share ideas learned --Collect ideas before next meeting from staff on implementation

Next Meeting: --Gather additional information and share ideas --Begin creating first idea to implement

11/28/07: Reviewed ideas from last meeting and began creating wikis for implemetation with students and adult learners

Next Steps: -Practice using wiki format with intended participants -Next meeting share what we learned

All day meeting - February -Are their "private" wikis that would be appropriate for us to use with students/adults?

[|Netcipia] - A free site that includes a wiki and a blog all in one. This site is ok as far as being user friendly, but may be useful for the dual purposes of a wiki and blog. wikidot.com, clearwiki.com- More free wiki sites that we are exploring and evaluating to potentially use as teacher collaboration sites

[|Tiddly Spot] - Also a free site for public/private wikis. This site is not as user friendly as some of the other sites visited.

[|Wet Paint] - Our personal favorite!!! This one is easy to navigate and can be a public or private wiki. There are a variety of backgrounds that can be used as well as pre-formated pages that you can use for set up. There are even video segments to help you with formating your site. There is even a spell check feature.

March 26 update Jennifer has her wikis posted on her website and in the fine arts class, it is the only way she is now accepting assignments. For the Art Class Wiki she has just been introducing the class to using Wet Paint. On Wet Paint, Jennifer is able to lock some pages so students can't change the content on those specific pages. Other pages are not locked and students can make comments, etc. She looks forward to continued use of wikis, especially with Wet Paint.

April 23rd, 2008 update Overall, this year went really well. Jennifer felt like she was able to find, learn about, and utilize resources for learning about and creating wikis that were new to her but that she was able to incorporate into her school curriculum. The Art Class as well as the Fine Arts Independent Study group both now have wikis that are up and running and the Fine Arts wiki is used regularly by students. The Fine Arts wiki will be incorporated into the Art class curriculum during the second half of 4th quarter. She was successfully able to get ads removed from the Art Class wiki and the Independent Study Fine Art students seem to enjoy the new wiki-based format for their submissions. Students post their artwork in progress and seem very comfortable with logging in, creating their posts, and uploading their picture files. The next step is to figure out how to include student music writing projects through the use of audio files and to figure out how to arrange and catalogue the growing number of student pages on the wiki.