Turning a Wikispace Discussion Area into a Classroom Journal/Blog Tool

Wikispaces is a very popular wiki tool used for collaborative writing, classroom projects, and more, but it can also be an online journaling spot for your classes. A Wikispace set up as a blog or journal could be used as a place to respond to writing prompts; record reading reflections; post daily journal entries; share book reviews; document lab findings, and much more.
You can use the Discussion Area, which is available on each Wikispaces page, as a common area for blog or journaling posts. If you are already familiar with creating a wiki in Wikispaces, you can use the following directions to create your journaling/blogging area.

Here's how to set it up:

1. Create a new wiki, or open the existing wiki where you want to add a journaling/blogging area.

2. From the home page, create a NEW PAGE for each class period. A link for the class page will now appear in the Navigation Bar. Click on the class page link to open it.
3. On the class period page, click on the Discussion Tab.
4. Once on the Discussion Page, Click NEW POST.
5. Make the title of the new post a student’s name.
6. Type or paste any instructions, prompts, or suggestions that you want to be viewed by the student.This is something that remains on that student’s page. For example, you might type, “Please make sure your journal entry is free of spelling errors and is at least two paragraphs long.” The student will see these directions every time he is on his page.
7. Click POST when done.
8. Repeat steps 4-7 for each student in the class.


When a student makes a journal/blog entry:


1. The student types in the URL for the class wiki to navigate to the wikispace page, and then signs in with the username and password created by the teacher.
2. From the wiki home page, the student clicks on the link in the Navigation Bar for his class period (Class Page).
3. From the Class Page, the student will click on the Discussion tab at the top of the wiki page.
4. The student will locate his name in the list of student names and click on it.
5. The student will be taken to his individual journaling/blogging page. He should scroll to the bottom of his page, until the REPLY text box is in view. Each journal/blog entry will be typed in the REPLY box. A student should never create a NEW POST from the Main Discussion Page, because that will add his entry to the list of student names.
6. If a title is needed for the entry, the student can erase the “re: Andrew Smith (it will be his name)” that is present by default and type in a title for the post, or, if being used with a writing prompt, the student can type the writing prompt in the title text box.
7. The student types his journal/blog entry into the text box. When done, he should click on POST.
8. The new entry will now appear under the last entry on the student’s page. The entry will be stamped with the date and time the entry was created.

Reviewing/Assessing Entries:

1. Open the wiki.
2. Click on the class period link (Class Page) in the Navigation Bar area.
3. From the Class Page, click on the Discussions tab.
4. Click on the student name to view/read the posts.
5. You can use the REPLY text box to add a comment to the student’s page.
6. Click on Back to the Discussion Forum to return to the list of student names.

Sample Student Journaling/Blogging Page

It's important to review any policies in place in your district or classroom related to wiki use, and to remind students of their responsibilities while working online.

You can monitor journal entries anywhere you have an Internet connection, and view any change history on each student's page.

Below are two pre-made rubrics for scoring reading response and journaling blogs.

Reading Response

posted online by Audrey Fine

Blog Rubric for Book Responses

Journaling Blog Rubric
posted online by Andrew Churches
Blogging+Rubric for Journal Ing

Easy Writing Prompts with Discovery Education Streaming

The emphasis on cross-curricular writing has many non-language arts teachers scratching their heads to come up with authentic writing assignments that tie into classroom instruction. Discovery Education Streaming (formerly United Streaming), a subscription-based multimedia database, has a great writing tool to help any subject teacher tie writing into classroom activities. It's the Writing Prompt Builder - one of the My Builder Tools found on the database.

The Writing Prompt Builder enables a teacher to design a writing prompt around DE Streaming media, such as a video clip, still image, or audio clip, post it electronically for students to access and complete, and return the results to the teacher electronically for viewing and assessment. A Writing Prompt Builder assignment is completed in five steps:


Step 1 - General Information Name the writing prompt and select the type of writing you want students to use. The choices are: analysis, descriptive, expository, narrative, and persuasive. Select where you want to save the writing prompt assignment (the My Contents folder is the default); select the subject area and grade level. Multiple grade levels can be selected. Click Save/Continue.


Step 2 - Select Media Select the media you wish to use as your writing prompt. You can choose a short video clip or a still image from the DE Streaming collection. The students will view the clip/image, and respond to it according to the directions you provide. If you found a video clip or image while searching the database, it can be added automatically as a writing prompt by checking the box next to the media, and selecting Writing Prompt from the drop-down menu next to Add Selected Items To: , then clicking ADD. Click on Save/Continue to proceed to the next step.




Step Three - Customize Text Create a title for the writing prompt. You can modify the font, style, size and color of the title text. A preview of the title will appear in the Preview Title box. Now, compose the writing prompt activity itself in the text box. For instance, after asking students to watch a video clip on the September 11th terrorist attacks and its influence on the Patriot Act, you may type - "Do you think the Patriot Act supports or interferes with civil liberties? Support your response with three reasons why." The text in the body of the assignment can also be edited using the text editing tools above the text box. You can use these features to liven up the appearance of the text, or to make it more visible to visually impaired students. Click on Save/Continue to proceed to the next step.

Step Four - Preview Review your spelling, etc., and make sure the video segment/still image loaded correctly and, if it's a video, launches correctly when you click on the screen image.
Click on Save/Continue to proceed to the next step.


Step Five - Assign This step provides the teacher with the information students need to access and complete the writing assignment online. Most teachers will provide access to their students by using the Assign By Code or URL feature, because no previous data entry of student/class information is needed for this method. Click on the tab labeled for it to see the information for both methods you can use to have your students access and complete the assignment.
You can provide access to the assignment by: 1.) providing the Assignment Code for the assignment and the URL for the assignment site. An example would be - "WHB4E-68T3: Assignment Code, http://assignments.discoveryeducation.com/"; or 2.) providing the Assignment URL, which includes the code and does not require students to enter it to begin the assignment. An example of this would be: http://assignments.discoveryeducation.com/?cdPasscode=WHB4E-68T3.


Once each student completes the writing prompt assignment, the results will automatically be forwarded to your My Contents folder on the Discovery Education Streaming site. If you prefer not to read them electronically, students can print a hard copy of the assignment once it is completed to hand in.

Students complete the assignment through the Student Assignment and Assessment Access site provided by DE Streaming. They log onto http://assignments.discoveryeducation.com/, enter the Assignment Code provided for the assignment, type in a first and last name, then click Go.

The Discovery Education Streaming database houses over 10,000 full-length educational videos, broken into tens of thousands of short video segments, and over 20,000 still images to use. They are searchable by subject area, grade level, and state standards, which makes them an ideal resource as a writing prompt!

Posterize Your Wiki With Glogster

Okay, you've created a wiki, and picked a template that fits your style, but you'd like to make it stand out from the all the other wikis. Well, with a little time and effort, and the Web tool, Glogster, you can create a unique and memorable wiki home page. Glogster lets you create a digital poster using their graphics and/or your own. You can place hyperlinks to the pages in your wiki in your poster so wiki visitors can click on the poster to open up your wiki pages, or they can use the traditional navigation bar. To view an example of what an embedded Glogster poster looks like as a wiki home page, visit my tech integration wiki at http://butlertech.wikispaces.com. Try it, and wake up you wiki home page and make it truly your own.


Here's how you can personalize your home page using Glogster:

1. Create your wiki first, because you'll need the wiki page links when creating your interactive Glogster home page. If you add pages later, you can link to them and update your Glogster creation to include the new links.
2. Go to the Glogster link above (this is the educational Glogster site) and create a glog. If you want to include links to other wiki pages on the Glogster poster, you will want to have your wiki opened and minimized so you can open it quickly to copy and paste the URL for each page into the glog. I used text links, such as "Google Docs" and linked each one so the link opens that specific wiki page.
3. Once you've finished your glog, click Save and Publish from the Glogster options. Select Classic Glog. Choose the categories that suit your glog, select Public, and then click Save.
4. When the next dialog box opens, select View this Glog. Once your glog opens to view, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the link to Embed to Web Page. You will need to copy the code from the bottom box. This is the code you will embed on your wiki home page.
5. Open your wiki home page, and embed the code according to your wiki instructions. In Wikispaces, go to your home page and select Edit this Page. Select the icon in the Editor Toolbox for Embed Widget. Select Other HTML. Paste the code from your Glogster page into the dialog box, and click Save.
6. If you use an image or background pattern for your personalized glog and you want the frame of your wiki to match the background of the embedded glog on your wiki home page (like I used), visit http://gettingtrickywithwikis.wikispaces.com/ and follow the directions for Adding a Background Image for Frame.

If you add another page to you wiki at a later date, you can still include a link to it on the embedded glog home page by opening up your glog in Glogster, editing it to include the link, then saving the edited glog. Your wiki page will include the new link the next time you open the wiki or when you refresh it if it's already opened.

For a video tutorial of the above instructions, view this You Tube video: