Middle+School+Ideas+and+Successes


 * If you are a middle school teacher who is using a wiki or considering using one, please share some ideas for ways you can use a wiki and why you believe this use would be an effective learning tool. Remember that TeachersFirst's [|Wiki Walk-Through] has some ideas to get you started.**


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I use **wikis** for students to fill out class surveys using google docs to organize my data. I also embed google calendar for students to stay organized. Also try uploading videos from class! Check out my wiki for middle school science: http://bergmannscience.wikispaces.com also check out another great wiki at: http://bergmannvikings.wikispaces.com For my school environmental club: http://kinardcares.wikispaces.com

I teach grades 4&5 and have used wikis for... []my homeroom info to keep parents informed, share work, final group projects, learning posts, homework, time saver url collector for class work, student game site recommendations... [] to post a gr4 project (another option to a poster) [] to share home made musical insrument pics Two of us will be putting on a wiki session for a few teachers on April20th, so we've begun an elementary education how to wiki site for it: []

I am thinking about using this page to make a biographical research paper about the "Colaborators with our Culture" artists, composers, writers...each student will choose a personality to investigate, and they are expected to add to the work of the other student. Is my firt experience with wikis. I'm from Venezuela, please excuse my English.

I am thinking about using it as a way to have students think about and address the "Big Questions" in each unit. Things like whether or not there is life out there besides us on Earth when we study astronomy. The students would build an "argument" or series of them for or against.

Could wikis be used in cross cultural contexts where ideas regarding race relations are explored? Or is the written word too confronting where ideas have to be framed to make a point that may be loaded with racial stereotyping?

I would like to have students write a collaborative story.

As a music teacher, my brain hurts with all the possibilities, from building an infobase of music, literature, artists, genres, historic periods to vocab, student audio and video performances(?), sharing and aligning curriculum with other middle schools in my district, a place to post concert dates and a place for students to publicly review/critique their performances. It's endless! I'm excited.

I am a seventh grade science teacher. I am thinking of using a wiki site for vocab,conclusions on labs and as a unique approach to homework. My mind is spinning with ideas. I'll need to get all my ducks in a row before approaching administration.

I am a 7th and 8th grade Spanish teacher. This year I intend to implement [|Dr. Kathie Nunley's Layered Curriculum (R)], so the activities I design for each unit will progress thoughtfully and intentionally through the various levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. As students reach the culminating activities for each unit, the need to use higher order thinking skills will be greatly constrained by novice level Spanish language skills, leading to much frustration! So I want to create a space, separate from the classroom itself, where English will always be permitted. Hence the wiki! An English wiki will give my students the freedom to analyze/synthesize/evaluate things we've learned about the Spanish language and Hispanic culture at a much higher level than their Spanish skills alone will allow.Perhaps the comforting thought that English can be used freely in the wiki will also help minimize my students' attempts to use English in the classroom, where Spanish is preferred.

Some math teachers from grades 5-8 added an entire page of ideas here.

I am a middle school science teacher and have been using a wiki- here is my site http://tisscience.wikispaces.com I plan to add to each classes page and use this solely for instruction. I want to create resources for each chapter/unit. I plan to have student "go to" the wiki for instruction. Any suggestions are welcome!

I teach MS tech classes and there is little group discussion in my class. I think I'll use wikis when I begin my unit on copyright law and using Creative Commons and wikis in conjunction with one another

My teaching partner and I use a wiki format for our 7th grade Social Studies classes to create "wikipedia-like" entries on civilizations of the Americas. Students in groups are given specific cultures to research and then create an encyclopedia entry on various aspects of that culture. They research religious beliefs, every day life, geography and others. We make it a true colloboration by matching up groups from each of our classes so they must communicate with each other and share the work load of creating a wiki entry where everyone has responsibility for content. STudents really get excited when they can add hand drawn maps and illustrations to their entry. The sense of creation from beggining to end is evident in their work.

I have been using wikis with my Year 7 English students for novel studies on //Chinese Cinderella// by Adeline Yen Mah. First I set up a 'task' wiki http://chinesecinderellahy.wikispaces.com/ that listed tasks students were to undertake and also functioned as a model for my students. As students progressed with their reading of the novel, they were required to complete tasks and add to their own wikis. The project has been extremely successful in engaging students with the novel and with English in general. I have been impressed by the depth of student response, their enthusiasm and also the ease with which they have learned to navigate their way around wikispaces. In addition, the students have taught me a thing or two about digital presentation (for example, sparkling and animated page headings)!

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