Wiki

I am a huge fan of the adaptability of our wiki.

When I first arrived in the district, I confiscated hundreds of notebook paper notes being passed under desks to friends during discussions or transitions between subjects. Eventually the class preference for this type of interaction went to yellow sticky-notes (because of the color, ease of concealment, and availability). In all cases, there was really no way for me to monitor what was being said without catching the person in the act and discussing the content of the note with them during the next lunch recess.

Here is what we've done together on the wiki during the past few weeks:

-Each student has added scientific data in a table on their own page
-Students have responded to images of student-created math challenges online via the discussion tab and discussed other posted answers with their peers
-Posted responses for a writing contest online for feedback ("I'm tired today because I stayed up all night making sure it was no more than 250 words. I typed it on Word, then copied and pasted it into the wiki discussion for feedback.")
-Created a new live blog page instead of posting it exclusively on this publicly-viewed blog. This adds another layer of protection from public view.
-Student-posted notes/quotes actually taken live during an author's visit for others to discuss
-Posted and played a PowerPoint-based tic tac toe game with a partner that reviewed learning goals and vocabulary from our plant structures investigations
-Posting names of favorite authors on the reading page to refer other students toward their favorite books
-Tracking election results in real-time

The students seem to find the academic focus of the wiki fine, but what clearly motivates them is the idea that they can collaborate together in a new forum by using wikimail or the discussion tabs.

I can't remember the last time that I had to intercept a note during class.