Wiki-wha?

Wikis.  It's an interesting topic.  I never ever considered using a wiki in my classroom (honestly) until, well, a couple weeks ago.  Why would I want to take on that challenge?  It sounds too difficult.  What would be the benefit to my students anyway???

Well.... as it turns out, I guess there could be a lot of benefits.  I'm not sure how on Earth I'll be able to swing it this year, so I may have to forgo the idea temporarily, while the hectic evaluation schtuff and interesting classroom behaviors are getting crazier, BUT I definitely want to try it next year.  Who knows... maybe I can even try it with one guided reading group and they can do it on their own time, or during one of their centers, after they meet with me.

Students can write about a book that is assigned to them, at their independent reading level.  If they are all reading the same book, they can then log on to the wiki and respond to prompts or questions.  They can respond together (independently, together, that is.... they can use each other's responses and work off of each other's responses to continue their own response) or they can edit and revise each other's entries if they feel that more or less is needed.  I imagine there would be some banter back and forth about what is accurate and what is inaccurate, but a little "healthy" debate is good and we can have a chat about what is an acceptable amount of debate.  [And on top of it, I have an anecdotal record of their participation that I didn't have to do any work for.]

Using wikis in the classroom could be a multi-fold lesson on yet another internet-savvy (2.0) aspect, but also respect, common courtesy, responsibility, and working your fair share (among many other lessons that could come from this).

Maybe I'll try it - one group at a time.  It probably can't hurt, right?