I have no idea why I have continued with the sports analogies for my blog postings, but they seem to work, so bear with me for one more. I feel like a player on a team (any team, as I don’t get into athletics too much) who has gone out because of the cute uniforms, and is now sitting on the bench due to a lack of skill. I must confess to little progress this week. I have great intentions and high expectations…but progress did not progress too much.
One way I am working to meet my first goal of creating digital-age learning experiences and assessments that are technology-enriched is by coming up with a universal design for learning that will be specifically geared toward a select group of students. These students need extra help, more time, direction, smaller group settings, etc., and I will be working with them every day for approximately thirty minutes. I will be doing this in a computer lab and am looking at reading comprehension and critical thinking skills for the focus. I did re-read the chapters of our text that focused on the universal designs for learning and I can say that I have a better understanding than I did last week. There was a little progress! My desire is to come up with a good place to start with these students. This will be entirely up to me, and can go in any direction I think would benefit these students, but I am just not sure where to start. To give me a little understanding of where to head, I looked at the weaknesses these students share and know that the reading comprehension and critical thinking skills are common for all of them. Would I be crazy to try and have them work on a wiki? I have never done one with my students and I am honestly scared to death of them…but if we did something like this, I would also be working on my second goal of modeling digital-age work as I would grow in fluency of technologies. Two birds with one stone…my kind of pursuit and progress!
Okay, I need suggestions on using a wiki, what to use it for, and where to begin. If you have done one with students who have not experienced a lot of success in a traditional classroom setting, I would love to hear how it went. These kids are driven to learn and have so much motivation, perhaps if we start, they can teach me!
Over the holidays, I am going to play with this a little more. Get a little more comfortable. If I start one just for fun and practice, you wanna join me???
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Hi.
ReplyDeleteA wiki would be a great idea! You would have pretty much 100% engagement! Look at this way. Basically, they are making a "book" but it is published online. Too cool. I will be having my students make a wiki this year, too. I can't wait. It is overwhelming, but how fun, too!
Possible topics: grammar, an abc book with each page covering a letter, an historical event, a particular person, a sport. Ask your kids. You give the kids choice as to what they covered, but have them meet specific criteria that each wiki should have no matter what.
I'm excited for you! Let me know how it goes.
Digs
I think a wiki would be a great idea. It is worth a try anyway. If it doesn't work, try something else. I would love to do a practice wiki with you.
ReplyDeleteI haven't even posted my blog for this week. I have been too busy dealing with the stomach flu making its way through our family one member at a time. Our uniforms are often-changed pajamas and sweatpants this week! Too bad there isn't an app for laundry.
April
I also think a wiki is a great idea. I feel very much the same as you as far as being inexperienced with this technology. I decided to use the concept of a wiki in the classroom first to see how it went and model what I was hoping to achieve through the use of a wiki. I asked the class to explain how the leading coefficient affects the graph of a quadratic equation. The first student responded with only a partial response. From there each student went to the board and revised the answer. After each student added their own addition or revision we were able to come together as a class and review the process as well as understand what is meant by a thourough and complete exemplary response. The whole class was engaged because each student knew they were going to contribute and those that had already contributed were interested to see why their response or if their response needed editing. It was pretty interesting. Perhaps you could try something similiar before you do the actual wiki. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteJane,
ReplyDeleteLast year, I had my students work on wikis. Though there were bumps along the way, I would say that our overall experience was beneficial and positive. I used wikispaces.com because it is fairly easy to arrange free student accounts. I separated my class of 30 into groups of five (and might mention along the way, that this is NOT the time to let students choose their own groups). I also personally recruited a leader for each group and made it quite clear that the leaders would be the spokespersons for their groups. This established a work structure of sorts that I think empowered my groups and was needed for our wiki projects.
When it comes to wikis, I love the ease with which we can keep up with what each student contributes and monitor all students' work. I did have one group of boys who began some cyber bullying. It was within the first couple of days once we got started; perhaps they didn't believe that I can track who writes what. In any case, true to our technology use agreement, all the boys were immediately pulled off of the computers and out of their group formation. Each had to complete the project on his own and through more traditional means. Everyone else took note and all went well after that. ;)
It was an absolute kick to see students who don't normally speak out become more "vocal." In other cases, it was a true thrill to watch team "cheerleaders" emerge, encouraging their classmates to stay on task, edit a page or add a needed citation. Positive group pressure was everywhere.
It is the collaborative nature of wikis and my ability to closely track student contributions that makes me sure that, at least for now, I will choose wikis over blogs for my students' use every time.
A few suggestions: Formally check in with each group at least once or twice each class period and consult individual group members as either academic or behavioral needs arise. Adjust your Wikispaces settings to send you emails when changes are made to wikis. It is tremendous fun to see which students spend their time at home willingly working on school work because it doesn't feel like work at all. I even had a couple students add to their wikis this past summer. Who would have thought?
I think that you'll find your work with wikis both challenging and enjoyable. :0)
Trina
Jane
ReplyDeleteDon't despair-it was a short week. Probably not many of us had a lot of success in the two days we had to work. What is important is that you are still thinking about things you can do when you get back in the "game" (hehehe).
As for your wiki question. Honestly, no, I have not done a wiki with my students, but, in an effort to work on a node, have you spoken to your librarian/media specialist? I am particularly lucky because my librarian is young (well, actually we graduated together, but younger than most librarians I have worked with) and really into learning all she can about technology in education. She and I are working out a plan for my students to create wikis for a research project they will do on Elizabethan England after the new year. I recommend you see if there is anyone on campus that can help you with this project. Perhaps you can even work out a team teaching experience or a wiki workshop for your students. I think one thing I will do over the holidays is create a wiki on my own from scratch and search for other teachers who have built them with their students online. Often you can find requirements and rubrics for this type of project. Good luck! I'll let you know if I find anything great!
Cathi
I really appreciate all of the encouragement sent from each of you! While I get nervous just thinking about starting a wiki with my students, I know I have got to just jump in with both feet. This time next year I will be such an old pro at this...right?
ReplyDeleteOkay, so I am going to start a wiki with this select group of students. At this point, I am going to start researching a specific lesson that can be done online, perhaps some type of reading and research, that will promote critical thinking. From there, I will group my students and let them build wikis based on whatever the lesson is centered around.
I have spent the holidays traveling, grading papers, starting wedding plans with my daughter, and now that I am home, decorating the house. Tomorrow...I begin the search for the perfect wiki lesson!
I'll keep you posted...Jane