Wikis are here--use them to go paperless!

Trust me, if I can set up this blog, you all can set up class wikis. To get a feel for all that you can do with a wiki, go to 43 folders, a wiki for Cornell notes. Then, go to the Teachers First tutorial on Wiki Ideas for the Classroom. This tutorial will walk you through setting up a wiki, and ideas for using it in the classroom, and what your students can gain from using wikis. I do think using wikis and blogs can help us save paper, increase student response to assignments, etc. For example, let's say you require your students to each read and respond to 4 health-related (or science, or civics) current events per semester. Instead of running off each current event, (sometimes with 2 to 3 sheets per event), you could set up a current events wiki or blog. Each student would be required to post a link to each article, (like I do here) then annotate that link (sort of what I do here, but better). Students could then respond to that post in comments. You will have to remember that links to current news events will go down quickly, as major news sources charge for archives. Instead of posting a link, the student could post the article in MLA format, with the link, then the annotation. Students, or you, could find the archived article in the magazine database at www.ncwiseowl.org. Remember, if Lucy and Ethel can blog and wiki, so can you.