"Wiki, wiki, wikis"

Wow, I really did not know what wikis were until taking this course. I have been to the wikipedia site before and to tell the truth I had no idea that it was constructed by everyday people. I thought it was the product of a publishing company of encyclopedias. For now on I will tread carefully in deciding to use the information from this site soley. This book has opened my eyes to more precautions we as educators need to take when helping students become better information searchers and information sorters. The Internet has an abundance of resources but not all of the resources are 100% reliable in providing accurate information. In reading this book as an educator, I witness myself becoming more and more web tool literate. Being web-tool literate will help me to better create, design, and implement blogs and wikis.

It was interesting to read about wikis and how educators can use wikis in the classroom for collaborative writing. I can see my students writing collaboratively about the health benefits of being physically active, or the health diseases and conditions associated with leading a non-activie lifestyle, or the 101 ways to be physically active..... the possibilities are endless. I can also see my students creating a wiki on activities and games of various cultures. They will do the research to learning about various cultures, engage in the activity or game, and post their research and play results on the wiki site.

Blog Idea

My students do an end of the quarter self-evaluation and unit self-assessments every nine weeks. I could have students keep a blog portfolio. It would cut down on the amount of paper used and save some trees. I think that it would be easier to log the grades into Gradequick. It would be the end of lugging papers back and forth b/w home and work and students can share with parents their evaluations and assessments. Has anyone ever used blogs with students for portfolios?

Using blog in the classroom

After reading the first three chapters learning about blogs and how educators use blogs in the classroom, it made me think of ways that I could use blogs in Health and Physical Education. The one thing that troubles me is how to possibly integrate blogs with my subject matter. I was thinking perhaps students could use the blogs to keep a record of their self-evaluations or a journal of what they experience in each new topic covered. What suggestions could you recommend to me that would help me think of more ways to use blog in Health and Physical Education?