Wicked Wikis (Thing 7)

Wikis are wicked (if you are from the Northeast, you know that “wicked” is meant to imply totally cool and awesome, at least that’s what we used to say growing up!) It was fun and informative to explore some of the wiki links provided. Since I’m a Kindergarten teacher, most of the wikis I visited were from primary classrooms, although the Online Clinic was really neat. You can click on any system or body part to get info. It was easy to explore this wiki.

I liked the Kindergarten Counting Book so much, that my math group contributed to this wiki today! We had so much fun! I gathered the kids around my computer, showed them the wiki, and then we scrolled down the list to find out what numbers were still available. We paid attention to the objects that had been used so that we could try to come up with different materials to photograph and upload. I was amazed how quickly the kids caught on and just went for it! The only thing that would be a bit more helpful on this wiki is maybe an introduction that explains what to do and that lists the numbers that still need to be done, however, we figured this out fairly quickly!

The Primary Math wiki is a great resource for teachers. The sign of a really good teacher is one who is willing to share their great ideas with others in the hopes that they will use them too. I am always looking for innovative ways to teach math. This wiki is one that I will be using to see how other teachers teach kids math, and my goal will be to contribute to it before the school year ends. I’ll think of it as my own personal stretch task!

The Schools in the Past wiki is a great example of simplicity. You don’t have to have bells and whistles to put a good wiki together. This wiki reminded me of Jose and Sarah’s class, where they have their kids interview their grandparents in anticipation of Grandparent’s Day at school. What a neat way to share that info and make it a global project.

As I think about how I might use a wiki, sharing classroom activities and teaching ideas immediately comes to mind, although I’m not quite sure of the format. I think that I’d probably want to separate wikis, one primarily for teachers, and one for kids and parents. I also imagine setting up a wiki for a creative writing space. I’m going to spend some time exploring what’s out there and contributing to existing wikis. As I begin to learn more by “doing”, I will uncover what wikis want to be created by me!

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