Task 7: Finally a Eureka Moment

So I wasn't seeing much in the wiki material that I didn't already know and wasn't feeling terribly inspired by it. I mean, I've started using my class wiki (a little bit) and I already knew that I wanted to do that more. Martha & Brian's great class wiki seems like a nice model of what I could do in the future -- a way to pull together all the things that are going on in a "homebase" class like theirs or mine. So yeah, I knew I wanted to do that, but it still didn't seem like much more than an electronic organizing tool. And though I looked at most of the sample wikis listed and liked them fine, none of them quite related to the kinds of things I teach, so they didn't set off any sparks for me personally. Inspiration was not striking.

But then I checked out the "Teachers First: Wiki Walkthrough" site that was suggested (http://www.teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/wikiideas1.cfm), and I don't know what it is about that particular list of ideas, but suddenly I started to realize some of the things I could do with this. Their lists of social studies, language arts, and miscellaneous wiki ideas really struck a chord. I ended up copying and pasting them into a document so that I could have them all listed in one place, and even as I did so I was typing in ideas and variations of my own. That was the spark I've been waiting for.

I also included in the same document a section from the "Wiki Wisdom: Lessons for Educators" document (http://jdorman.wikispaces.com/file/view/Wiki+Wisdom+Article.pdf) -- the section called "Ed. Wiki Tips" -- because it addressed a bunch of issues that I've thought about, especially that of monitoring class wikis so that kids can't just goof around on them.

But it was the ideas from that first site that felt like a turning point for me. I'll be consulting that list a lot for things I want to try, maybe as soon as the next few weeks (if I can find time to set something up), but certainly for next year.

Some of my favorite ideas (from their lists or from my variations).....

* A mock debate in Wiki form -- over some particular issue, or between two historical figures, or between opposite sides of the political spectrum, or between two famous philosophers.

* Wikis that collect examples of things discussed in class -- propaganda, advertising, cliches, slang, mythological or historical allusions, certain kinds of music or art or humor, etc.

* "Fan Club" wikis for, say, particular historical figures.

* A local history wiki for, say, Little 5 Points or Emory Village. Actually I'm thinking we should start one for Paideia, with a basic timeline as a framework, recording all the facts and milestones of the school's history, but with places for people (including alumni and alumni parents) to add anecdotes, memories, etc.

* A wiki with oral history and pictures that kids collect from various kinds of people they know -- war veterans, activists, grandparents, people in different careers, etc.

* A "What I Think Will Be on the Test" wiki -- a collaborative study guide that the kids could make before a test.

* Travelogue wikis, especially by kids who have missed school for some important trip (like the one a kid in my class is about to take to China).

* Actually the one above made me realize that a lot of the things my kids do for "indies" (independent credits) -- things like community service projects at church, artwork, building things, paging at the State Capital, etc. -- could be reported to everyone on the class website with pictures and everything, instead of just written about to me privately. Same with all the books and movies they write about every year. They could all be posted to the class website instead of just turned into me. (Though that's a ton of stuff -- will there be room for it all? Organizing it all could be tricky.)

* A "continuing story" vocabulary wiki in which the kids have to collaborate on a story by each adding a sentence that uses a vocab. word.

* An orientation wiki that collects tips and such for new kids on how to deal with junior high and our class.

* Wikis in which kids have to simulate some real-world challenge, like getting a job or buying a car or dealing with a terrible disease or disability, and have to write about what they learned and went through along the way.

Great stuff and, like I said, it's finally making me realize what some of the possibilities are for all this.