Wild, wild, wiki!

I created a wiki that my students worked on this year, but by the time that web sites were unblocked and my students created accounts, we really didn't have the time to finish it. That drives me nuts. I hate leaving projects unfinished, but in the classroom, the clock drives instruction, right?

I also have a personal wiki that Gregg and I use for our wedding. Since we are organizing an overseas wedding, it is really helpful in organizing our plans with all people involved.

You can easily use wikis in the classroom - it's pretty good for editing purposes. In fact, I created a page in the wiki tonight where we can brainstorm and generate ideas.

I love working with Google Documents - I just wish that it was unblocked at school. I find that most of my lesson planning that involves technology is done at home. I just have more technology (and freedom) at my disposal at home. When I work on something at home, I have to figure out how to get it to school. Now, I normally have Blue, my trusty external hardrive, but he's not failproof. I have left my harddrive at school before. I have had hardrives crash before (now THAT'S a tear-inducing experience). This just seems to be a an easy and free resource that the schools can utilize. I can't see how this can be a security issue since students can already share files.

For wikis, I like PB Wiki the best. In Wikispaces, if you want to monitor your student accounts, you'll have to spend money. In PB Wikis, I can create accounts that can edit only. The district won't allow a student to create his/her own wikis - I am the one who creates accounts. This really works well for me.