Thing 14

http://bookleads.wikispaces.com/

This wiki is designed to promote reading.  Too often, I find that students are not excited about reading.  This wiki is aimed for slightly younger students, but is age appropriate enough to use with my ninth graders.  I believe this wiki is designed for students grade 6-8.

But, what I do love about this wiki is that it has various links for students.  Students can connect to young author's blogs, book blogs, author's websites, podcasts, and an e-book portal.  The e-book portal allows students to access free books online.  I love that podcasts are offered because some students need to hear literature read aloud.  I especially love that you can connect to the author's blogs and websites.  Students often wonder why the author would write a certain thing or develop a character a certain way.  This allows them to learn more about their motivation for writing and could answer some of the pending questions that they may have.

http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/

I also really enjoyed this wiki.  It is designed to assit teachers in using web 2.0 features within their classrooms.  I think that many teachers would use more technologies if they knew they existed and how user friendly they actually are.  Like many teachers I often think that I just don't have enough time.  Some of these tools can actually cut time from assignments.  I think this could be used as an instructional tool to educate myself and my students on different features.  I also think that students would be very engaged in using or developing a wiki.  It gives them a sense of ownership over their work which can be shared with others.

If for anything else, a wiki can be used for professional development opportunities.  Being able to collaborate with teachers from all over can really impact on our effectivness in the classroom.