Thing 7

I've heard the term wikis before in training but never really saw or played around with them. The first one I went to was a 5th Grade Class' called The Thousand Project. Basically it's a 5th grade from Duluth, Minnesota and they want people to log into their wiki and edit a giant list of what you plan on doing. I hope seeing more people from different parts of the world adding to their list makes them happy.

The second one I went to was the Holocaust Wiki Project. It took forever to load and at first I was getting really peeved about it. Then when I started clicking around I realized that it's like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book from my youth. You can click on 2 options, such as comply with Nazis or obtain false papers. What a great way to teach students about a subject that many don't feel is important. (I died twice but managed to get into Switzerland once)

The third wiki I went to was Go West. It's a 3rd grade wiki and looks like it. However, it DOES contain a vast amount of information and I'm sure that it's a great way to introduce kids to the Oregon Trail AND basic computer editing.

Can I use this in my classroom? To be totally honest I'm not sure. For the most part, my students do not have the internet at home. Now this in itself is not a big problem, but I DO have several students who only see the internet as a place to play games or watch videos. Now I COULD use a classroom wiki to try and show them that the "internets" are not just for fun and games, but I'll be honest, at this time I don't feel confidant enough with wikis to take the helm so to speak. Also, I have a very fluid classroom make-up. We have had to re-group our students here several times in the last 2 months for behavioral issues.

However, I DO feel that a classroom wiki would be a great way to display projects. The one aspect of the Holocaust Wiki Project is that it was VERY apparent that each group of students was entirely responsible for creating their own pages. I think that this is a step that I can move to for next year.

Why Thing 4 Part 2 Angers Me

I tried using Google's blog search beta and boy did it get my dander up. Most of what it showed me weren't "blogs" at all. They were one shot articles that would not have feeds updating them, unless you call a random comment by someone a worthy update.

Thing 3

I'm an astronomy fan plain and simple. I like looking at stars and learning about space. I even like being confused about things like red shift and dark matter. Needless to say that yesterday's astronomy events (for those of you that don't know we're off the fix the Hubble for the last time) are of interest to me.

When it comes to my students the gap between what I like and what they like is becoming greater by the second. I understand that one day I will look at my classroom and see a sea of alien beings and barely be able to understand what they are talking about; but not NOW. I mean I'm 34, I know what the "Stanky Leg" is (BTW I can't do it) but I'll take any help in keeping abreast of current teen fads. One Riot happens to be a good way to keep on top of the internet and maybe be able to not be so confused by a conversation you overhear in your classroom.