Reflection

 Reflective Statement  I am so excited about my new wiki! Before I started this class I would have thought that the terms wiki, ning, and web 2.0 were made up! Now that I am becoming more comfortable with the makeup and use of these tools I see that they are not make believe terms, contrastly they are very useful tools. While I am still gaining my sea legs in the creation and use of a wiki I am beginning to understand the importance of using a wiki as a support element in my classroom. I agree with Jim Cummins in his book __Literacy, Technology, and Diversity__ when he states that student-teacher interaction aids in building the confidence level of students by making them feel as though their teacher is really interested in them as an individual. By creating this wiki I am hoping to open the door to teacher-student interaction and leave a lasting positive effect on my students' lives and learning. As a fourth grade teacher I am constantly searching for new strategies to utilize in my classroom learning environment. This wiki will not only add a whole new technological dimension to the learning that takes place in my classroom, it will actually provide more learning opportunities. I plan on sharing information with other teachers on my wiki and that is why I created the Literacy Centers page. On the Literacy Centers page there is a link to a website that I have found to be very useful for my students. I hope that other teachers find this space useful and are encouraged to share their tips and tricks as well. The second use I of my wiki will be to track Flat Stanley as he travels the globe. In fourth grade my students study the regions of the United States. An integral part of this central unit on regions is the Flat Stanley project. Students spend time listening to the story of Flat Stanley, creating their own Flat Stanley, and writing letters to family members or friends across the country. Once their projects are complete the studetns send them off in the hopes of their Flat Stanley returning to share information about his trip. My hope is that as these Flat Stanley packages return my students can share the information they have learned about their Flat Stanley's vacation location. On the Flat Stanley page students will post information and comment on eachothers observations. Through this interactive process, students will begin to take ownership of their newfound knowledge and gain confidence in their understanding of the United States and its diverse regions. In the vignette section of Jim Cummins' __Literacy, Technology, and Diversity__ //Student-Generated Databases Using Knowledge Forum in the Eastern Arctic//, Sandy McAuley states, "the goal is the creation of a community of learners in which students actively and collaboratively build knowledge about curriculum topics." I agree with that statement because by builing a community of learners students will gain confidence in their knowledge and understanding of the world as a whole.