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Another conversation between Tom Harrison , from Delaware, and I as he embarks on using wikis in the classroom.  You can follow all of the "letters" in this conversation by going to the Tag for " Tom Harrison " on this blog. " Vicki, Thanks again for the prompt and remarkedly thorough response to my questions.  Had I taken the time (or thought of it!) I could have looked into the "members" section under "Manage Space" and seen that I am set up as administrator and the rest of my students are just members.  One worry resolved.  I also found a Wikispace warranty (permission slip) somewhere on the web that I have modified and printed out.  Tough punishment for first offenders will send a message. Hey, I'd love the link for the permission slip to share with others.  And yes, whether you can use  a wiki long term is determined on the FIRST day.  Mom always said, you can never be tougher than you are on the first day of class, and the sa...

Another installment the ongoing conversations between Tom Harrison, 7th grade teacher in Delaware, and me. In Email Letter 1 , we talked about wikis, Letter 2 was a follow up on wikis and blogs, in Letter 3 we talk about wiki text, diigo and bookmark sharing, and staying motivated when other teachers seem not to care about what we're doing and in this letter we talk about privacy letters, wiki wars, and plaigarism. I am in blue on this email: "Vicki, I was talking to my student teacher today about our wikis and how I hope they will be used in this upcoming unit.  In our discussions several things came up that I have some questions about. 1.  I created the wikispace for each class.  Each student in each class has a username and password to that class wikispace.  If I post a list of assignments on that space, how do I prevent that page from being edited by a student?  I know I can lock a page, but it seems that all that is necessary is to select the page...

Another installment in the email correspondence between Tom Harrison, 7th grade teacher in Delaware and me.  In Email Letter 1 , we talked about wikis, Letter 2 was a follow up on wikis and blogs, and in this letter we talk about wiki text, diigo and bookmark sharing, and staying motivated when other teachers seem not to care about what we're doing. Thank you, Tom, for your transparency and willingness to let us share our conversations openly.  In this letter, Tom is in blue and I am in black -- following are the two emails we shared yesterday. Vicki, Feel free to continue sharing.  I have a reputation as being transparent and saying what I think.  Sometimes that gets me in trouble, but how I feel and what I think is just the way I perceive things and that's that.  Around here I go by the "handle" of Biogeek (tells you something about me, doesn't it), but Tom Cat is really cute (never thought I would say that to ANYTHING related to me!).  Feel free...

Tom Harrison has sent me another email.  (See our first email conversation about wikis .)  We laughed about nicknames -- I thought it was ironic that his name is tom and I'm "cool cat."  (i.e. TomCat - he is called "biogeek" where is from - sounds like he named his blog already!) Something about the way he asks questions and shares what he is doing gets me to writing, and so I'm sharing the next in our series of "letters."  To me, Tom represents all that is good in a veteran teacher who is beginning to learn to use these tools.  he's open, thorough, works on it on the weekends, and asks questions of others.  He teaches and he's teachable and ultimately he makes the best decision for his classes based upon what he knows. I hope top will start blogging soon... oh actually, I realize, he already has.  See our letters below - my remarks are in blue: " Vicki, Thanks for the follow-up.  I have been working hard and you have helped tr...

I got permission to print this recent email conversation for those of you getting started with Wikis this year.  Tom's questions are pretty common so I thought that the time he and I spent exchanging information might be beneficial for some of you -- add your questions below and I'll answer them as well. My answers are in blue! Hi, Tom -- OK, my wiki is at http://westwood.wikispaces.com - you can see how I'm doing it this year. On Thu, Sep 4, 2008 at 1:40 PM, Harrison Thomas wrote: Dear Vicki, My name is Tom Harrison and I am a 7th grade science teacher in Middletown, DE.  This past summer I had the pleasure of attending NECC08 in San Antonio.  My first session at the conference on Monday was the one you did with Adam Frey on how you use wikis in your classroom.  I first learned about wikis the previous summer and set up one for my team and a couple for me to use with my students.  However, your talk about how you used them in your teaching inspired me...