Friday, August 24, 2012

Preparing for September: Creating a Home Base

I hope I'm not alone when I say this.

My Back to School nightmares have begun!!!!!!  As usual they consist of children swinging from unswingable lights, boisterous students insisting on sharpening their pencils mid-lesson, and worst of all, soda spilling on my iPad!  Say it ain't so!

To relieve my Back to School worries, I like to nest like an expecting mother.  I go to the place I'll be spending the most time this year.  A place I like to call Home Base.


Similar to baseball players who routinely head to home plate at the start of their turn, students need a place to routinely head at the start of class.  And for my students, that place is Wikispaces.

For those of my readers that are unfamiliar with wikis, please watch the video below!

In my class, our wiki is key!  The wiki allows students to be co-contributors to the site; they create as we create!  The students can post helpful links, share ideas, comment on each other's work, and also show off what they've been working on in class!

Whether it be embedding a Glog, a podcast, or simply a text-based story, Wikispaces is the container for all things Ms. Spiezio English.  Hence, it is the first thing I create for the new school year.

In September, the wiki is pretty blank.  (See my latest wiki here!)  But by the end of the year, it is OVERFLOWING with student work!!!  (See last year's site!)

So, before starting the school year, decide for yourself.... what platform will be your HOME BASE?


More Suggestions for Home Base!

PB Wiki (Another wiki platform!)
Blogger
Edublogs
Edmodo
Schoology

WIKIS IN PLAIN ENGLISH!

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