Thing #14

That "yellow brick road" was like Hwy 43 in the foothills of the Ozarks! It was also strictly my own doing because when I got to any one location I would wander forever through their links. This adventure really did make me feel like I've stayed in the cave these last 5 to 6 years. I really had my bubble popped (thinking I had done a good job as a sixth grade teacher) when I found out just how very far behind and out of date I was! Whew. Room 15 Wiki had moved its location because Mr. Lindsay's school district had bought into their teachers having their own blogs and wikis. If you disregarded the sidebar you found his initial page divided into 3 sections with colorful images in each of those sections. I did note that he was the tech facilitator for his campus, but I still feel like I've been in the 'dark ages' with my technology knowledge.

In 1001 Flat World Tales I was intrigued because it spans the world, and also because it gives me the clock for our youngest son's vicinity (Thailand). I kept 'pinging' on all of the possibilities that were found in these different wikis. It seemed closely related to the Flat Classroom Project which also had the clocks showing the locations of the participating schools. Since this one was dated 2007 I was wondering if they had continued it. In one of the wikis for younger ages I saw first names mentioned. I definitely like the idea of pseudonyms. Then the students can provide that information to the friends and family they want to have access to their writings, podcasts, or videos.

While all of these sites had something to say I became interested in the Thousands Project. It was interesting to note that more than one of the examples provided came from our neighbor to the north, Canada. As I scanned the above project I noticed that they had responses from students in Joplin, Mo., an area that I'll be passing through in less than 2 weeks. It seems like a powerful tool to motivate our students to meaningful learning and collaboration.

The other one I looked at a bit more closer was Turn Homeward Hannalee; one reason was I have never read this book even though I had it in my classroom library (the cover also had a face lift), and the other reason was because our fifth grade finished out the year with a Civil War research unit. I was thinking about how the end products might have been different and how that same product could travel outside the classroom into the homes of their families anywhere that had Internet access.

Vicki Davis' blog post from 4 years ago was inspiring. She certainly managed to get the attention of her students and it spread like a virus, even to other teachers. Yes, I do think there is a demand for a wiki in my future. There may be times that I'll be calling for help, but wikis definitely have a place in our learning environment.

Because grade level planning is a part of the expectations at our schools I am pondering how a wiki could be used to facilitate some of those issues. Some teachers divide the subjects up and this would allow them to post their ideas and then the collective ideas would be available at any time, from home, or even in different locations within the school. I definitely plan to put it to use in the library when we switch to flexible scheduling this year.