Thing #8 - What in the world is a wiki?

Wiki's seem very fun and useful for teachers and students! The majority of them seemed the same, but one feature I really liked was the fact that you could put your lesson plans and PowerPoints online for students to view, especially absent students. On the Dr. Reich's Chemistry Wiki, he had all his lesson plans and Powerpoints available. This resource could really eliminate the excuse of being absent or "I lost my notes."

One thing I have learned throughout the last few years of teaching is that kids LOVE to see their work exhibited regardless of their age! On the Salute to Seuss wiki there was an abundance of student work shown and there was even a link called "student gallery." This could be a wonderful way to encourage students to do their best because their work would be published for hundreds of people to see!

The Room 15 Wiki was by far the coolest wiki listed!! This wiki is pretty much A-MAZING! If I were to ever make a wiki this is how I would want mine to be! I am such a neat-freak and love lists and organization, and this wiki is very organized and simple to maneuver through. I think my favorite part of this wiki was the "student blogs." It's always interesting to see what students are writing about - they are so funny and some are really good writers! I mean this wiki is full of tools! I only wonder how long it took this teacher to do this and how much time is spent updating it? And where in the world does this teacher get the time to do it?? I mean this wiki is freakin' awesome, but there is no way I would have the time for it! I guess I could always start small and add a little each six weeks...or maybe have one project every six weeks that requires my students to add to the wiki. It would be a work in progress, but I could definitely see it being incorporated to my classroom.