How will you use Wallwisher?

I'm going to use wallwisher for brainstorming ideas in expository writing. Then I will capture the individual ideas and place them into a smartboard document where we can move the comments under topic headings.

I will invite students to share responses to a take-home reading through Wallwisher. This way students can respond to the reading AND their classmates' responses while still at home. Then, in class, we will review the postings as discussion starters. I am, however, very interested in screening these posts before display.

I would like students to suggest a writing topic and post it to Wallwisher.

I will use the wall wisher to have the students review books that they have read. I think it could support homework efforts with students giving suggestions for solving problems or clarifying questions.

I think it would be great to use the wall when focusing on inquiry projects. For example, students can focus on a theme/topic and write what they know as a prior knowledge activity and as the unit continues they can add new information gained and share what they want to know; as an interactive KWL chart or web

I could possibly use wallwisher with my kindergartners by giving them certain letters and having them attach a picture with that letter.
Zoraida

I put out a monthly news letter called Gage's Pages and I need a common area to post input from parents, kids and teachers. I was actually using a white board with post it notes, and fine point markers so anyone could add…the post-its fall off and sometimes the marker would get erased! This is great!
Ilyse

I'd like to use Wallwisher to get my students to comment
on the theme of our summer reading challenge, How does the main character or character meet the challenges they
face and what did they learn?

I had an idea for middle school / high school, that in place of reading check quizzes which so often proceed the assignment of a chapter / chapters in a novel, instead, an open ended question could be posed that relates to the reading. Students could have a deadline by which to answer the question–or, using classroom computers, could answer the question at the start of class. If this was being graded, they could get extra “points” for responding to / building off of other students' responses with post-it notes, and attaching further post-its to back up or contradict ideas by using evidence. These comments could then be used to fuel class discussion, and, consequently, writing in response to the text. Example: after the first chapter of The Scarlet Letter, the teacher could ask, “What sort of person is Hester Prynne in this chapter?” Student responses could be displayed in class the next day, debated, enhanced, clarified; the teacher could use Smartboard /LCD projector and computer to move around the post-its and organize them according to ideas. In the second half of class, students could write in response to the same question, then share their answers with a partner, then write more using what they gained from their paired discussion. And so on and so forth.

Wallwisher could be used as a staff development tool. For example, at the beginning of a workshop, I could ask teachers to post one of their favorite writing assignments. This will give me immediate information about participants while also providing a collaborative platform. Similarly, Wallwisher can be used for short, reflective writing prompts and exit tickets. Presto.

I really like using the wall wisher as this is a great way to incorporate different ideas, especially with primary students. It's a way to engage them with technology in the classroom. They can add new information and share what they want to know, certain examples, KWL, charting, diagrams, web, etc. They all will really benefit from using this!

I like what Pat had us do. I think that it would be fun to have students keep a running tab of what books they are reading. To pull from Jen's idea, there could be a post-it note for each of the various genres and students could add their post-its below the genre that their book belongs to. That way if students have an interest in reading a specific genre, they can look specifically at the post-its in that list.

My students are young, but I could use wallwisher by asking the students “How are you like…? (then name a character from the story)” so they can relate to the story/character. They would also be able to see how their classmates relate to the characters in similar/different ways.

I would like to use Wallwisher for my students to write a 10 word summary about the books they are reading. Perhaps they could create a want ad for a character from the book as well

That's the great thing about Wall Wisher. You have the option of approving the responses before they are posted!

I'd love to use Wallwisher in American Studies to get students to post and respond to current events articles. It gets difficult to incorporate current events, especially as the year goes on and things get more hectic. This would be a nice way to get students to think about current events and interact with each other from home.

One thing that I will use it for is to have the students write questions they have about a novel we are reading. This will give them an opportunity to ask all the questions we may not have time for in class.

I will use wallwisher for discussion questions and to talk about reading assignments. Students could also use it to answer questions from peers when we aren't in class. It's easy, so I think they will like it!

I will use wallwisher in my Essay class and my Enriched Written class. I will also ask the teachers that teach the same class to have their classes use it as well, so our classes can share information.

Tamara, I love your way of thinking. Can't wait to learn more from you.

As an ICT teacher I've mainly used wallwisher in starter activities – I have embedded walls into my wiki and invited students to brainstorm a topic or leave a note explaining one technique we used last week or even one way of showing evidence in our coursework reports. It worked very well and students were responsive. I gave my year 11 students the chance to all leave me and the rest of the class a message in their last lesson. There were a few smart kids who promptly set up their own walls to have a chat but they were brought back to task swiftly. Then it got blocked for being “social networking”. Shame really I was finding it a very useful tool.