Thing #14 Wikis

"Wiki" is Hawaiian for quick. Love it. Makes me think of grass skirts and leis on hula dancers checking the computer between dances at a luau. The explanation in Thing #14 shed some light for me on Wikipedia. I never thought about it being a community resource. I will be checking the Discussion and History pages for articles I use from now on.

Wikis are adaptable, flexible, user-friendly, and collaborative. I like the phrase "knowledge construction." Wikis are an evolving work in progress. The changes tracking feature is valuable in following the wiki through its cycles of evolution.

It has been enlightening to read Vicki Davis' article Wiki Wiki Teaching. I learned some new ideas for using Wikis in the classroom. I have used them for personal use, but never consciously considered classroom usage. I still need to give it more thought before using in my primary grade classrooms.

Code Blue is an awesome site created by sixth graders as a culmination presentation piece of a health unit. What a great way to end a project. A teacher willing to do this would have no problem at all keeping kids on task. The wiki is well organized with good links and complete in content. I enjoyed reading what the kids learned and picked up some new knowledge myself along the way. I was impressed at the level of research that went into choosing links for further study. The only things I would add to the site are clip art and graphics. But, that's just the primary teacher in me... go for cute.

School In The Past was very enjoyable reading. It is a wiki set up for a first grade research project. I liked seeing something by lower grade students. Judging from the writing style and grammar, the wiki was actually written by the first grade students. I had been wondering how primary grade students would handle a wiki, since I work primarily with Kinder, 1st and 2nd. This Wiki shows me that younger students can do it as well as upper grade students. I liked the aspect off having students interview parents and grandparents and report their findings. I thought about more editing skills being taught, but changed my mind. This is the way the kids wrote it and how it should be. I had to turn off the perfectionist in me and see the value in the Wiki itself. If I were to add anything, it would be further instruction in formatting a wiki and perhaps more pictures.

Kindergarten Counting Book is a Wetpaint Wiki. It was my first experience with a wiki outside of wikispacesl This wiki game me total access to all students, no matter of age, grade level, or computer competence. I enjoyed reading what first graders wrote. That gives me hope that my primary students can do it also.

I'm contemplating having a Wiki near year and trying to get my Co-Teching partners and try it out.