Objective+6

=Objective 6: =  =__Wiki Resource Site__ =

//I will use my knowledge of wiki’s to help to develop an internet resource collection that is student safe. This Wiki will be used in conjunction with the current classes that the Media Specialist is responsible for teaching. FEAP: 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12//

One of the coolest things that I learned during my Master's program was how to set up a wiki and then utilize it in a classroom setting. When I met with Teresa to discuss my objectives, I had mentioned my wiki's and she was not so familiar with them. So we chose for one of my objectives to not only set up a basic wiki but to teach Teresa how to do it so she can develop them herself.

We chose to do this job during the teacher work day so that we could actually sit down together and go through the basic steps in setting up an account for her and then going through the basic motions. It had been a few months since I had last been in a wiki site and it was actually really good for me to go back to the basics and show her how to get things started. I know that my strength is to learn by actually doing and now I had to spit it back out so that she could follow. Since Teresa has the responsibility of working with higher achieving fourth and fifth grade students every day she wanted to develop a site that they could go to in order to assist them in their research. It was perfect timing as for we were just transitioning into a poetry research unit for the fourth graders. I began the development of my Florida site and she began her poetry site.

As we went through the motions of how to add text, attach links, and upload pictures, I made sure to show Teresa to save A LOT. I also showed her how to go back to previous edits and to bring them back in the event of loss (hey - wikispaces.com is a free program and the elements they have are really good for free!). I took her through how to change the backgrounds and took her to other wiki pages to get some ideas.

During my last few days of my internship, Teresa asked me to teach the class and to introduce the wiki site and give the students some background information as to wiki's, wikipedia, and some other Web 2.0 products. The students were SO receptive and wanted to see more...unfortunately I only had 30 minutes with them. On the last day of my internship, I actually got to see the students go into the wiki poetry page and see them use it to help guide their research. Teresa even stated that during this process if a student finds a good site to add to the wiki, she will add it and give the student credit (the students do not have the accessibility to update this wiki).

I honestly think that this was my favorite objective because as an educator, especially in the world of technology, you are always learning about new products. So while I was the student, I was given the chance to play teacher to both my mentor and to the students. My biggest shocker still in the world of education is the willingness of one to share ideas with another and I felt more honored to be able to share what I have learned through this process with so many people. And it is FREE!! (an educator's favorite word!!!)