Week 7, #17

Reading the suggestions and ideas on the California Curriculum Connections wiki demonstrated the wealth of talent and ideas participants in this program possess. I looked at several areas and will revisit them when I have more time to follow up on some intriguing ideas. Several contributors on the wiki section mentioned having book discussion groups for teachers and students, which is an idea I want to institute in my high school.
I got another idea while reading the list. During the last week, I had students interview me for a class project, wanting to know about events that have happened at our school in the 12 years I've worked there. While I have witnessed some major events, we have staff members and teachers who graduated from our school and came back later to work there, who would have the perspective of both students and staff. In addition, in the last 10 years many teachers who have taught at our school for 25-30+ years have retired. Creating a school history wiki would capture the personal memories of teachers, other staff and current and former students in a public forum that is accessible to all interested parties. Making it a wiki, rather than in print, allows us to enlist the participation of retired teachers and others who are no longer on campus regularly or who have moved out of the area. I can see this wiki becoming a rich source of school history that expands and enriches the annual school yearbook.

Week 7, #16

Having a passing acquaintance with wikis, I was glad to have the time and resources to learn about them more in depth. While the Library success wiki is for all types of libraries, I did not find as much as I had hoped that would be relevant for schools. I found the sample school wiki much more interesting, since it included classes, announcements, etc. Joyce Valenza's teacherlibrarian wiki, like all her work, has useful and direct applications for my job. I found the Very Cool Ideas and the Booklists especially useful. In addition, the organization scheme makes sense to me. I can see using and contributing to this wiki as a valuable supporting tool, so much so that I emailed Joyce that I would like to contribute to it.
The Book Lovers wiki is what I have had in mind for my school. Having the book covers on the screen with the comments adds a nice touch. I have had a goal of connecting students who like reading particular genres. Before the internet, one vehicle was to have written reviews in binders in the library, sorted by genre. Having computer applications that replace this provides more opportunities for interaction among the students, even though they may not know each other in person or have time to participate in a face to face library/book club. As a method of encouraging and supporting reading, wikis meet students online, where their comfort level may be an important factor in enticing them to contribute.