A Wiki Exploration

I must confess, I just can’t get into the whole wiki thing. I’ve tried over the years. I’ve created wikis. I’ve joined wikis. Yet my experience remains the same. The wiki seems like a great idea in concept, but the ones I’ve engaged with don’t seem to gain traction, are useful as a one time resource  or my interest just seems to fizzle.

As a result of the Web 2.0 course I’m taking through the IEASC program, I have come across one wiki, I’m finding to be a gold mine. Check out Web Tools for the Classroom. While most wikis, admittedly, have lost my interest fairly quickly, I’ve bookmarked this one and shared it with several colleagues.

CoolCat Teacher, Vicki Davis, offers a great set of guidelines to follow when using wikis in the classroom. Her blog post on the topic is very informative. I’ve added this to my tool box of resources to share with other educators who are interested in increasing their knowledge about and use of Web 2.0 tools.

As part of the course, I did start a wiki - http://web20tools2share.wikispaces.com/. There isn’t much there yet, but I’m hoping the site will see visitors who contribute their tools and ideas for incorporating Web 2.0 tools into instruction and professional development.

*cross posted at pgilders.com

An IEASC Blog Post - Using Blogs to Support Student Learning

This blog post is a result of reflecting on assignments from a Web 2.0 course taken through the Innovative Advanced Studies Certificate program offered through Fresno Pacific and CUE. It has been an outstanding course of study which I can comfortably recommend to other educators interested in incorporating digital technologies and 21st Century tools into their instructional process.

As a part of the Web 2.0 course, students are given the opportunity to explore a variety of blogs, create one of their own and consider how they might use a blog to support instruction. It’s been a few years since I was in the classroom, but I found our classroom blog of book reviews to be a an engaging tool that allowed students to publish their writing online, share their work with a larger audience and to get feedback from their peers, parents and other teachers. The best part of the blog to me was the number of conversations about books it sparked amongst my students. They took each others recommendations seriously and their reading and writing gained a greater purpose than just turning in the assignment to their teachers. I’m saddened to have to confess that I’ve lost track of my username and password and am unable to embed a link in this post.

As an educator, I have taken to hosting a blog on Wordpress which can be found at pgilders.com. The posts don’t happen as regularly as I would like, but I do appreciate the moments when I have time to reflect on my ongoing learning process as an educator. This particular blog is hosted by blogger and was started years ago. My very busy life as full time educator, full time mom and perpetual student pulled me away from the initial vision, the link however remains active with the potential to grow. Time continues to be my greatest challenge to blogging. I have a life blessed with wonderful family, friends and work. I am grateful and wouldn’t trade all that we do for an active blog, but it does remain on my mind as something I think is worthwhile when I have some down time. Hosting a blog is also a great way to model many of the NETS standards for other educators and students. I’m conscientious of how a blog easily exemplifies Standard 1 Creativity and Innovation, Standard 2 Communication and Collaboration and Standard 5 Digital Citizenship.

Positive, Spontaneous, Charismatic, Idealistic, Empathetic

Positive, Spontaneous, Charismatic, Idealistic, Empathetic

I just finished taking the Kingdomality Vocational Personality Profile sponsored by Career Management International. My results – A Dreamer Minstrel. I was surprised at first to see “Dreamer” in the description, but as I read the personality description, I was very entertained as it described me to a T.

“You can alway see the ‘Silver Lining’ to every dark and dreary cloud.” – Yes, and this is not always well-received. I was once referred to as “pollyanna” in unkind terms by a colleague in my field. I’ve chosen to carry the reference with pride!

“Look at the bright side is your motto.” Yes, I believe everything happens for a reason. It’s not always clear why something happens at first reflection, particularly when the experience has not been positive or rewarding. Nevertheless, I do believe that with time, we gain awareness of why certain experiences have been a part of our lives and how we benefit from them.

“There is nothing so terrible that you can not find some good within it.” True. I’ve taking care of a lot of student discipline lately and a child who get’s sent to my office during 6th period, has made it successfully through 5/6 of his or her day. A student who comes to tears in my office is facing acceptance and is starting to heal. My son got a 50% on a quiz (darn kid is usually a straight A student); he mastered half the content before the quiz and the other 50% afterwards and learned a lesson in perseverance as well as a valuable life lesson as he continued the learning process even when the grade wouldn’t go up.

Positive, Spontaneous, Charismatic, Idealistic, Empathetic – yep, I like this!

*Cross posted at pgilders.com