Thing 21

I knew what Wikipedia was and I was familiar with the concept of others changing and adding things, but I don't think I ever really understood it until now.  The little video about collaborating on the camping trip was excellent, it very clearly described how to utilize a wiki.  So when I began exploring some, I was surprised by the sophistication and the complexity.  I like simple, and for me a wiki will need to be pretty straightforward and not try to do too much.  I liked HanaleeBookWiki, it was really quite fabulous and would that all LA classes shared books this way.  When I went on the educational Wikis and scrolled down, I clicked on Lord of the Flies, another wonderful book sharing place.  I would be inspired to start a wiki that had to do with a small group of students collaborating on a project.  I guess I envision a wiki like the camping example, and I think this is the best use of one.  Hurdles would be students who did not have internet access, and it would take convincing them to go to the library or a friend or relatives to work outside of school.  Worth the fight?  Yes, I think being able to work together on something with a wiki would be worth telling parents and administration that even though a student did not have internet access at home, this way of collaborating is important enough to work outside of school, somewhere!
Rosemary

I just checked to see the time and it says this was posted at 3:41, however it is 6:43.  I don't know why the posted time does not match the real time.  The time on my computer is the correct time.

Thing 9

Well I was in my comfort zone with Thing 9, because I know YouTube.  I think there are probably as many uses for the videos on YouTube as there are videos, and the more creative the teacher, the more uses there are.  The videos could be used to supply background knowledge before starting a lesson, to fill in missing gaps of info during a lesson, to expand, to offer another viewpoint, to clarify, or to offer the opportunity to formulate questions.  I like the fact that most of the YouTube videos are short so using them in the classroom would be like interjecting quick sidebars to a lesson, and it would certainly keep students engaged.  I do think we need to use more technology everyday in classrooms, this is our students' life, it really is how they learn and it is time we accepted that instead of wishing they would learn the way we have been teaching.
Rosemary

Thing 3

I am a Teacher Consultant, so I don't teach content in a classroom.  I have a caseload of special education high school students who need minimal support.  I would love to have a blog to connect them.  My students do not have a time in the day when they can come together to discuss what makes school difficult and what helps, and I can see a blog fulfilling this need.  I have some very bright students  who have developed wonderful ways to learn despite their deficits, and to share this with their peers would just be fantastic.  Since I have students in 9th through 12th grade I also see a blog serving as a mentoring vehicle, (wow what a great idea!). 
In my job, I do a lot of  "consulting" again a blog would pass information along so much more efficiently, and allow for dialoguing among all of the parties.  Finally, what a way for parents to connect with other parents.  I just love the idea of parents being able to share frustrations and successes.  This is what I took out of Thing 3, there are so many uses for a blog and so many ways for it to look.
rose