Final Project: New class Wiki Page

For my final project, I chose to create a class wiki page for science and social studies activities. Our district alternates teaching those subjects weekly so I wanted to create something that the kids could use on their off week. I have up a front page and four weeks worth of work so far. I haven't decided whether I should keep going now, or wait and see how it goes the first couple weeks. I'm a little nervous about the time frame- have I given enough time for students to complete assignments or am I expecting too much? I guess I'll find out! I think I would like to bring up the wiki page on the smartboard every Monday at first and review the assignments together, possibly even modeling how to complete them. Eventually I would love to include more of the programs we used on here like Glogster and Prezi, but again, I don't want to put too much into a week at first. The second week I did use Google Earth, but didn't do all the cool things I know you can do with Google Earth. I didn't want to overwhelm the kids in their second week using too much technology too fast into the year. My other concern is that in the past, we have gotten very frustrated with the speed at which our 4th graders type. When we've had them type up their writing papers it takes a ridiculously long time, so I am a little nervous about them typing up their comments. I want this to be practical for use in the classroom for small periods at a time, like before school, at recess, or during our small group/center time which is twenty minutes per group.

The nice thing about the wiki is how easy it is to change and edit. I was surprised at how easy it was to make one and once I got the hang of it, how easy it was to even add a page or two. So even if after the first week I realize I need to make dramatic changes, it won't be too hard to do. I do really like how easy it is because it means I'll stay up with this activity. If it was too cumbersome, I know I would have dropped it after a few weeks. I'm very glad I did this and am excited at everything I could add to it. I just can't wait to see it in action and figure out where I can take it. Any comments and suggestions appreciated!