My+Reflective+Statement

In reflecting upon how I would like to utilize my wiki space for next year, these are my thoughts:

Next year, my school will be transitioning to an online blended model, where our Aventa online program will be the core curriculum, and teachers at my school will be tasked to enrich the material with project based learning. This means that each and every day will start with students engaging in some type of computer-based activity.

With that being said, my ideal plan for my wiki would be for it to serve as a portal where students can go as soon as they come into class and log-into my wiki space using their own personal accounts. Once they are there, I would like to have my daily bell ringer, or a survey posted for them to do to get them focused at the beginning on class. I think that I could do all types of fun things to bring my students into the class and the wiki will be an excellent resource for this. It sates in chapter two of the Cummins (2007) text that "engaged readers are active and energized in reading and use their minds with an emphasis on either cognitive strategies or conceptual knowledge," (p 48). Since I will be teaching a reading course next year, I feel that using the wiki to begin to scaffold student knowledge will help me to engage them on a deeper level.

Additionally, I see my wiki space as somewhere that I can have students go in order to complete extension activities. Since the pace of the course will be differentiated, I am thinking that I can show students how to post or embed videos into their wiki posts and I can various topics for them to explore and comment on (like a standard discussion board.) I believe that this would address the transformative approach that was being referenced on page 45 of the Cummins text.

Finally, I view my wiki space as a place where my students can complete an "exit slip" type of assignment, and de-brief about what they have learned for the day. I think that this would be a great way for my students to express themselves and get their feelings out, and I can chose whether posts would be public or private, depending on the task at hand. For me this is what John Dewey was referring to when he suggested to “relate instructional content to students’ experience,” (Cummins, p 38).

Reference

Cummins, J., Brown, K., & Sayers, D. (2007). //Literacy, technology, and diversity: Teaching for success in changing times //. Boston: Pearson