Clemmer,+Irene

= = =Learning Activity 7-D-1: **Irene's Lesson Plan**=

//__OBJECTIVE__//

Students will work in groups and as a class to produce a wiki to provide course content information for Finite Math X (Accelerated Level). The wiki will give students an introduction to each unit (to be read before the first day of class for each unit), supplemental materials and links to helps, and a place to ask questions and give feedback on what was most useful to them.

__//BEHAVIORAL EXPECTATIONS//__

- Each student in the group will contribute written introductory content or a link to supplemental material pertinent their groups unit - Group members will use the discussion pages to communicate with one another for dividing up work and giving constructive feedback to one another - The introductory material for each unit must be available for the class to access by the morning of the last day of the previous unit. (Teacher handles Unit 1.) - All students in the class will be expected to post feedback or ask questions on at least 5 other group's units other than their group's unit. Courteous language and tone should be used at all times on the wiki - the same sort of speech that one would use in the classroom. - No one will delete or alter any classmate's content without discussing it on the discussion board and gaining permission to do so. - Students will contact the teacher as soon as they notice any inappropriate content or alterations on the wiki, and leave it to her to handle. - All students will come to the first day of each unit (beginning with Unit 2), having read the introductory material posted on the wiki, prepared for some sort of short assessment to be given in class to check that this has been done.

//__STEPS__//

1. Teacher will set up a class wiki, and introductory material for Unit 1. 2. Teacher will sign up for computer lab or laptop cart for 2 days at beginning of course. 3. Day 1 - Students will learn how to sign on to the wiki, edit text, and insert images, files, and links. Permission letter will be sent home to be signed and returned on Day 2. 4. Day 2 - Groups and units will be assigned and students will be given time to add to the Unit 1 material and begin work on their unit. Permission letters should be returned with both student and parent signatures. Rubrics for the wiki project will be passed out and discussed. 5. Throughout the course, the group responsible for each unit will let Teacher know when their introductory material is ready and on the wiki, and she will let the whole class know they can look at it before they come to class on the first day of the new unit. 6. Teacher will monitor the wiki all semester, and each group will monitor the wiki for their unit - to help with questions posted and read other feedback. 7. Any student in the course can make contributions to any unit, but they must communicate to the group in charge of the unit via the discussion page and get permission to do so from the group in charge. 8. At the end of each unit, the group members responsible for that unit will submit a self-assessment (according to the rubric we have used) and receive a grade. 9. Additional assignments involving the wiki will be given during the course. Teacher will clearly explain these for all students.

//__ADDRESSING INAPPROPRIATE CONTENT__//

On the first day of class, the teacher and students will discuss appropriate language, and content for the classroom and the wiki. Students will read the permission letter and may ask questions and get clarification if needed. A "ticket out" will serve to give additional opportunities for questions and to make sure students have read the letter carefully. The teacher will call the home of any student who does not turn in a permission letter signed by both student and parent on the second day of class.

//__RESOURCES__//

help@wikispaces.com Check out tutorials and other helps

[] - "Wikis in Plain English" by Lee LeFevre

Richardson, W. (2006). //Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms.// Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. (Chapter 4 - Wikis:Easy Collaboration for All)

[|Netsmartz Safety Presentations] This link will allow you to download powerpoint presentations on Web 2.Safety guidelines for students, parents, and teachers.

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Here is a link the the letter I plan to use. In copying and pasting below,some of the font got changed and I don't know how to fix it.

= = __ Wiki Permission Letter __ __ Finite Math X – Mrs. Clemmer __ Parents and Guardians,

During the course of this semester in Finite Math X, we will be working on a class “wiki”. This may be a new term for many of you, but perhaps you have heard of Wikipedia, the on-line encyclopedia stored on the world wide web. If so, you probably know that the validity or reliability of information found via Wikipedia is sometimes called into question because the articles there can be edited and updated by anyone who knows how to do so via their computer and the internet. You may also have heard that educators and librarians are growing in their appreciation of Wikipedia, and in their advocacy of students using it as part of their research assignments. Steps have been taken to monitor and maintain reliable information on Wikipedia, and it is generally suggested that one should use Wikipedia as a starting point, from which to further investigate more traditional research sources. My reason for bringing it up here is to help you understand that our class’ wiki project will be one in which each student will have a part in adding information, as well as editing and updating it to create a collaborative source of information for our class and future classes who study the topics of Finite Math. Your students will be learning how to use a wiki as well as other Web 2.0 tools to facilitate their study of Sequences and Series, Permutation and Combinations, Probability, Statistics, Matrices, Linear Regression, Radicals, Factoring Polynomials, and Right Triangle Trigonometry, the units we cover in this course. As more and more information is available for consumption and publication on the web, we expect that our students will need to be able to use tools like wikis, blogs, and podcasts (and others as well). So the purpose of this class project to give them practice learning and creating with the wiki tool. The project will continue throughout the whole semester. At some points every class member will be responsible to contribute, and at other times, only a portion of the class will be taking their turn adding to the wiki. As each new unit begins, a group of students will be responsible to get that unit started and to monitor the collaboration efforts of the whole class. More specifics will come later, and I will include a rubric for grading then as well. We will be using “wikispaces.com” as our host. On the pages where students add and edit information, there is a place for those working on the wiki to discuss the changes they are making, and a way to keep track of the history of the page (who has added or changed what content and when). This will serve to help me keep track of each student’s contributions to the page, and to help the groups work together well. If you have questions or concerns about this wiki project, I would be happy to talk with you by phone or email. You could also come to school and we can look at the wiki together, so I can show you how it works. I plan to do this briefly at our Open House in late September – I hope you can attend! Here is a website where you can download powerpoint presentations on internet safety if you wish - http://www.netsmartz.org/Presentations/.

Permission Before your child may start working on the wiki, we are asking for you and your child to discuss and sign the following form. Please return the form to Mrs. Clemmer. Wiki Terms and Conditions 1. Students working on the class wiki are expected to act safely by keeping personal information out of their contributions. You agree to not post or give out your family name, password, user name, email address, home address, school name, city, country or other information that could help someone locate or contact you in person. You may share your interests, ideas and preferences. 2. Students working on the wiki agree not to share their user name or password with anyone besides their teachers and parents. You agree to never log in as another student or try to alter the history of the wiki in any way. 3. Students working on the wiki are expected to understand it is a part of our class’ community and act as you would in our classroom. Speech that is inappropriate for class is not appropriate for our wiki. When communicating with classmates on the discussion pages, be kind, and make only constructive criticisms. Encourage one another’s efforts there, as well. 4. Our class wiki is to be a place where students can contribute their ideas creatively, and can provide links to relevant information they have discovered on the web. It is first and foremost a tool for learning about Finite Math. While we encourage you to “think outside the box”, we also expect that you will act responsibly, and stick to the course and unit content in what you write and what you link to the wiki. 5. The class wiki is to be a vehicle for sharing student writing with real audiences. We understand that we are primarily creating this wiki for our own class’ use. But there will likely be other visitors to our wiki from outside of our school or from future Finite Math classes in our school. Remember that your contribution represents not only yourself, but our class, and our school. 6. If you find something inappropriate on our wiki when you go to make an addition, contact Mrs. Clemmer, and she will follow up and make changes as needed. 7. Students who do not abide by these terms and conditions may lose their opportunity to take part in this wiki project. We will schedule a conference with the student, parents, and teacher to discuss the situation and consequences, including grading and possible discipline.

Sincerely, Irene Clemmer _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I have read and understood the terms and conditions for participation in the Finite Math class wiki. I agree to follow them.

Student’s signature:_ date: _ __Parent’s signature:__ date: