Day 1

Two classes were introduced to the Smartest Generation Project today. Both classes listened to and read (think-aloud) the Overview and General Directions. Not a peep. No boo's, but also no signs of interest. I had put on the board 8 large pieces of poster paper, numbered 1-8. "When you have an idea," I said, "write it on a piece of poster paper and sign your name." I allowed 15 minutes for this.

The clock ticked in silence. Finally, one brave soul stood up and wrote an idea on the board. Another followed. By the end of the class, there were three good ideas, the first boy and erased his idea and joined the 2nd idea, and three girls decided to work together on the 3rd topic.

In the next class, I met the same silence, but it did not last as long. I added to my intro the teacher-step of offering to work through a possible topic orally - from general, to specific, to problem statement, to possible solutions. This was quickly done (drunk driving by underage drivers in Maine). Within 10 minutes there were three more good ideas on the board, two ideas added to the online Topic Ideas list, and several active discussions about what makes a good group, possible topics, and how it would be to work entirely within a wiki.

My students are intrigued, but also a little scared. It is interesting to me that:

1. They are interested (it helped that I could hold up The Dumbest Generation, with a promise to read most of it this weekend);
2. They are somewhat distrustful of the process, especially the thought of working outside of their own Core class;
3. Their first impulse was not to find a good topic, but to gather 'round a strong group of friends (we talked about this);
4. Several students surprised me with their instant understanding of the process - quiet kids and not the top students. What are they bringing to this learning strategy that other students lack? I will be watching these guys.
   

Not a bad start. I did make some teacher-level decisions:

1. Went back over the directions and tried to clarify the steps, the timeline, and the goals at each step. This is more than I wanted to do, but today is the 1st practice for most of these kids.
2. I told the kids that I would not require a full bibliography, just links in parenthesis - ARGH! it hurts the Librarian in me, but I think it is more wikish.
   

By the end of Day 2, we should be seeing some groups well into the decision-making process.

Oh, and in the classrooms, I will sitting group members as far apart as possible... Why? Read the directions.

Smartest Generation

I have gone back and forth about the upcoming last weeks of class. Students want to do something "not boring." Often, I do a visual literacy unit that ends up with a sound-supported iMovie and/or a wall of great photos of the school environment. This year, social studies has decided to do a sound-supported iMovie (research based), and our color printer is off-limits due to the budget crunch (I also would have to buy all of the batteries myself). As for me, I would really not like to correct another set of 82 essays.

So, I have decided to extend our work on wiki construction to create a very quick collaboration in response to The Dumbest Generation (see my previous post).

My kids don't want to be labeled dumb - so now they can take a step in the direction of proving it. And get a better handle on learning about the wiki environment.

A quick review of what we have been doing:

• We have been reading for relaxation (CPPR: choice of public or private reading) all year
• The librarian wanted kids to contribute reviews to share reading preferences
• The school got a new Apple server in February and configured it to host wikis (not great, but OK) and blogs
  
• We tried out blogging, with short creative challenges, and learned how to blog and to comment
  
• We expanded commenting to VoiceThread projects
  
• We wrote serious book reviews, then moved them into a Book Review Wiki
• Students made book, author, and genre pages, linking them all together
• Students will edit and add to each other's reviews

(All of these projects can be accessed by links on my homepage.) Though this process, students have learned how to get around the wiki tool. I have learned, by the way, that this is intuitive for MySpace users, who have also been learning some html code to spice up their pages (imagine how much fun could have with a Grade 8 Ning!).

Time to turn the wiki into collaborative fun, but remember what Papert liked to say - "Learning is hard fun."

So, I have created a section of the Literacy 8 wiki called Smartest Generation Project. Beginning tomorrow, students will be challenged to group themselves into topic interests, to find a "problem" within the topic, to explore solutions, and to reach consensus on one solution to the problem. All via the wiki environment. I will start the group building on poster paper in the classroom, but after that I will step back and watch. Great way to end the year!
I will be recording the journey here. You can follow it yourself at the Smartest Generation Project.