Wikipedia

The online encyclopedia site Wikipedia is a database where anyone can write on a topic or change what is already written about it. A grad student named Virgil Griffith created a system to scan Wikipedia and find out who makes changes to some articles. He found that many companies were going in and changing information about themselves in order to look better. His Wikipedia Scanner can tell who change information by obtaining the IP address of their computer then tracing it back to find out who did it.

In school I have always been told by teachers that Wikipedia is not a reliable source for papers or projects because anyone can write anything on a topic. This is not surprising to me that people would go in and change information to look better. Wikipedia is fast and easy to use but cannot be used as a valid source. If you are looking for a basic idea on a topic or maybe quick facts then Wikipedia is perfect. But when looking up detailed information from a valid site you might want to look elsewhere. It is a great tool but should not be used as a source or encouraged to be used by students.

What I've Learned This Year

In this blog post by a teacher Mr. McClung, he describes his experience and growth in teaching. He recalls lessons he has learned over the past year which have made him a better teacher and shares them to help others. Some of his majors points include: be flexible, communicate, be reasonable, don't be afraid of technology, listen to your students and never stop learning. The things Mr. McClung shares are very insightful and helpful for me to understand students and teaching better. I can see where it would be easy to get caught up in over thinking your specific teaching style and not focusing on whether the students understood or not. Teachers have to be patient because not everyone learns at the same pace which is what he meant by be flexible. Another interesting point was be reasonable. With this he discussed how most teachers' expectations are too high for students. When this occurs it can be both frustrating for the teacher and student. You have to remember that these are kids! I think the most important topic he talks about is listening to your students. You don't know what your kids may be going through and it is a teacher's responsibility to take time with them and be patient. A teacher may be the only person they have in their life that listens to them. This is the part that i felt the most strongly about. Teachers have a lot of power and it is up to them to use it to better their students.

Comments for Kids

This week for kids comments I had to comment on students from a year 5 class in England. The post was entitled "Bitten!" and it was by Dionne and Callum. They wrote a short post about a boy getting bit by spider. They used really descriptive words and other techniques to put emphasis in certain parts of the story. For nine year olds I am extremely impressed with their use of computers and with their writing abilities. I think it is important for kids to start learning about technology such as blogs at this age because it helps familiarize them with computers and improves their writing.