Should Students Use Wikipedia? (Episode 61)

      Today, we�re gonna discuss whether students should use Wikipedia and what teachers should do about it. Consider the can of worms opened...
       Watch the YouTube video here >>> https://youtu.be/3sfPCHcvrlY

       Just Google �Teachers + Wikipedia,� and you�ll find plenty of comical graphs showing how much teachers hate Wikipedia more than ...

• Bad behavior
• Sloppy handwriting
• Spelling errors
• Cheating
• Late work
• Tardiness
• People who don�t try

       Ask teachers, and you�ll hear reasons like ...

1. It�s unreliable.
2. Anybody can edit it.

       Ask students, and they�ll say teachers don�t like Wikipedia because ...

• It makes our work too easy.�

       So should teachers hate Wikipedia? And should students be allowed to use it? Or both? Or neither? Let�s dive in and talk about this juicy controversy.
       Wikipedia was founded in January of 2001 with the vision of being a completely crowd-created, collaborative encyclopedia. In in its first 15 years of existence, it has become the largest encyclopedia in world history, currently home to over 16 million articles in many languages. Currently the 6th most trafficked website on the Internet, it is one of the most successful crowd-sourcing projects in history. It has put many of the long-time encyclopedias out of business and has changed the world of learning.
       I don�t think the question is whether Wikipedia is large and making an impact � it�s whether students should use it. 
       So let�s tackle the big reasons teachers give.
(REASON #1) It�s unreliable.
       The claim is that while Wikipedia has good information on it, there is lots of incorrect info too. Which is true. Let�s start there. (List of Wikipedia hoaxes) It�s also no different than the alternative. Are we going to send students to the library to find accurate information in those 20 year old encyclopedia sets? Does our school have a paid subscription to a formal encyclopedia like Britannica?
       Isn�t this one of the reasons we complain about our textbooks: they�re too old and out-of-date? It�s kind of contradictory to then turn around and take a stance in favor of old encyclopedias, right?
       It�s a balancing act. Would we rather have students using a 20-year-old inaccurate encyclopedia or an up-to-date inaccurate one? 
       We�ve gotta remember the role of encyclopedias in research. They are a starting point. They are tertiary research. Whether using Britannica or Wikipedia, students are only supposed to start with them to know what to research further. And if that�s the role, then shouldn�t we use the one that has the most current research?

       Some examples: 
       At my last school, I had a comical feud going with a couple of teachers about Wikipedia. So during their research projects on diseases, I threw the gauntlet down. I found out one of their diseases from the list and decided to compare the research. My school library had 2 encyclopedia sets. I found the disease in each. Both had the same common info and 2 bibliography sources. On Wikipedia, I found a lot more information, much of it much more recent. And then at the bottom, I found 67 links to academic research articles. Many were recent, even in the past couple of weeks, and the 2 from the other encyclopedias were there in the list. So Wikipedia had everything the others did + 65 more academic links.

       When our daughter was born, she was diagnosed with a metabolic disorder that we�d never heard anything about -- Carnitine palmitoyltransferase II deficiency (CPT-II). There were only a few doctors in the U.S. who specialized in it, and one was in our Kaiser network. Besides talking with the doctor, Wikipedia was an amazing resource. 7 pages of scientific information with genetic graphs and 20 scientific study articles for us to start our research. No book in the world or encyclopedia anywhere would have had the information we needed.
       So is Wikipedia unreliable? VERDICT: Not any more than any other encyclopedia.(REASON #2) Anybody can edit it.
       This is also true. Read more by the BBC. 
       Just before filming this, I made an edit to the page on �Student.� And it�s still there. It�s a good edit that should probably stay included.
       Many ago, I made an edit to the page for the town of Ferndale, CA, because my grandma was a local painter who sold her paintings in that town. That edit was up for a week, then was removed, probably because it broke the self-promotion rule.
       Though, instead of it being viewed as a negative, Wikipedia holds that as its cornerstone value. This is what makes it so amazing. Instead of being limited to a few paid geek researchers whose research is out-of-date the moment they send it to their publishing editors for review, Wikipedia relies on a multitude of free geek editors who are avid about informational accuracy. Let�s be honest, if you�ve volunteered your time as a Wikipedia curator of any info area, then you care deeply and probably know your stuff. Sure, there are the occasional vandalizer adults or punk kids, and at any random moment in time you could access a page that has just been defaced.
       But let me quote Wikipedia here:

       Wikipedia's primary editorial control, that ensures the bulk of its quality, is simply the sheer volume of well-intentioned editors who regularly and constantly watch over its articles. At any given time, a large number of the thousands of active Wikipedians will be using, checking, or editing the articles held. Each of these has their own watchlist, a special page that lists changes to the articles they have worked on or are otherwise choosing to watch. Hundreds of Wikipedians use automated software tools (described below) to watch edits en masse. On average, only a few minutes lie between a blatantly bad or harmful edit, and some editor noticing and acting on it. Repeated edits tend to lead rapidly to escalation of the process, further safeguards and actions, and the involvement of others, including possible use of administrator powers or dispute resolution depending on the situation.

       The reality is that the Wikipedia leaders care deeply about the accuracy of the information found there, and so do all the volunteer geeks who curate their info kingdoms. (Wikipedia Editorial Oversight and Control article) 
       THE BIG QUESTION IS: �SHOULD STUDENTS BE ALLOWED TO USE IT?�
       Let�s start with what they should NOT DO.
NOT Quote from it in their papers. Not giant paragraphs. Not single sentences. No quoting. No copying.
       Again, encyclopedias are starting points. They should treated as such � hubs of information from which to do more research. And as far as hubs of information go � Wikipedia is, hands down and unquestionably, better than any print encyclopedia. 
NOT Use it in their Works Cited or Bibliographies. Because � you know � they shouldn�t be quoting from it in their papers. :)


So what SHOULD THEY USE it for?
Initial Learning
       If you don�t know anything about a topic or need a refresher, it�s a superb source to learn what you need to learn.
Research
       Unlike print encyclopedias, Wikipedia articles have hyperlinks embedded in the articles that allow you to do research on any term in the article that you don�t know what it means. This research method is how today�s students� brains work, and they�re way more likely to look something up that they don�t know.
Further Research
       At the bottom of each Wikipedia article, you�ll find a list of academic sources to do further research. Direct your students to use this list. These are the sources they should read, study, and cite in their essays. This are the gold mines of info. And other people collected them all in one spot for you. I�ve never heard a teacher give any reason why a student shouldn�t use this list.
       So should students be allowed to use Wikipedia? 
       VERDICT: We think � absolutely.
       But only if these things happen first:

• You stop being a fuddy duddy. For a long time, common teacher opinion has been to shun and ban Wikipedia, and your feelings are very wrapped up in this.
• You train your students how to use it. No wonder our students have been using it incorrectly, we�ve refused to train them. As with any powerful tool, users should be trained. So train them. Stop being afraid of it, and teach them how to use it. Teach them where it fits within the process of researching and learning. Include it in your discussions about how to find reputable sources online that you can trust.
• Inform them of the consequences for incorrect use of the site in their essays.
• Protect your reputation. We wouldn�t say this out loud, but for those of us who have been very vocal against Wikipedia, we probably need a game plan to save face. How do you shift over to using Wikipedia in front of your students if you�ve been against it for so long? It�s easy � you ready? � You admit you were wrong. Like any good learner, you did some more research into it, and you learned some things you didn�t know before, and now you�re going to teach them how to use it the right way. Tada!!! :)

Conversation of the Day: What other drawbacks do you see to teaching students to use Wikipedia?
       Hop on over to watch the video and share your thoughts in the conversation.

Stop Calling Them Rough Drafts! - Episode 21

        The 13th installment in our series: How to Leave on Time and NEVER Take Papers Home Again ... In which we're back to go deeper on a topic we mentioned in Episode 20: Rough Drafts. And we're here to share why we stopped calling them "Rough Drafts." Watch the YouTube video here >>> https://youtu.be/7UPeY1u72WY
        So how did calling them Rough Drafts become such a big deal for us?
        I noticed my students turning in their rough drafts with all kinds of obvious errors in them (obvious for them, I should clarify), and when I asked them about the errors, they would say, �Well, this is the ROUGH draft, right? We�ll just fix them later.�
        It started to bug me. They were almost trying to write drafts that were rough. They weren�t caring about polish and excellence.
        But it�s hard for some students to get their first draft done, right? They get sort of paralyzed if we put pressure on them to turn in polished work when they�re just getting their thoughts down. How do we help those kids?
        I take a page out of Anne Lamott�s essay, �Shitty First Drafts.� In class, I call them crappy first drafts. Her idea is that everybody�s first draft is crappy�she uses a different word. So the main goal of your first draft is to get your thoughts down on paper. Sure.
        So that helps take the pressure off?
        Yeah, our first drafts will all be crappy, one way or another. But then she makes a point of saying that we aren�t trying to make crappy drafts�they just are because they�re our first try. But with each draft, we should try to get our best crappy draft. Our best draft possible.
        This sounds like a contradiction.
        And it is. It's an amazingly helpful, sticky-idea contradiction. So I�ve changed my language from �Rough Draft� to �Best Draft.� When students ask, �When is our rough draft due?� I respond, �We don�t turn in rough drafts. Your best first draft is due on Tuesday.� It really ruffles their feathers, and they get the point. It takes repetition, but they really start to realize that just because it�s our first draft doesn�t mean is has to be rough. And just because they put in the effort to turn in their best first draft, doesn�t mean it�s going to be great. All first drafts require massive revision because they�re crap. But they�re great crap because they�re done! Getting a best draft done is a great success. They need to know both realities.
        I don�t want to sugar coat anything for them, but I want them to really grasp both realities.

1. First drafts are always crappy and always require massive revision. And 
2. Doing your best effort on the crappy draft gets you closer to an awesome draft later on.

        So I have outlawed the phrase �rough draft� from my classroom and replaced it with �Best First Draft.� I�m a firm believer that words are powerful, and what we call things really makes a difference. This isn�t just a switch in words. It�s a shift in mindset, and it�s yielded massive results with my writers.
        Conversation of the Day: How do you get your students to turn in their �best drafts� of their essays?
          Hop on over to watch the video and share your thoughts in the conversation.

Grade Essays 10x Faster & Improve Student Writing - Episode 20

        The 12th installment in our series: How to Leave on Time and NEVER Take Papers Home Again ... In which we show you how to grade student essays 10x faster and watch their writing quality skyrocket in the process. Watch the YouTube video here >>> https://youtu.be/6syYDbjNbGY
        So far in our series, we�ve been looking at our daily schedules and how to save time and focus in lots of different areas, so we have more time to plan and grade in the classroom. You�ve probably been aching for us to get to the never-ending pile of papers to grade. Ack! It really seems hopeless and eternal sometimes, doesn�t it?
        Many episodes ago, we talked about making the decision to not take papers home. How many of you made that decision? How many of you stuck to it? Seriously, you�ve taken no papers home? If you�ve stuck to your guns, awesome for you. Even though it brings a little (read �A LOT�) of anxiety at first, you�ve probably already started to figure out ways to grade them at work instead of at home. Which is the ultimate goal: NO MORE PAPERS AT HOME � EVER! It�s amazing the little nooks and crannies of time we find when we have to.
        Remember, Jonathan didn�t take a single paper home for 7 years of teaching middle school English, so it�s possible. Maybe you just need to be reminded that it�s possible. The only voices I ever heard were always telling me it was impossible, you�d always have papers at home. Not true. He did it for 7 years. 7!!!
        One of the big switches I made was an aha moment for me in how I was grading essays. I would assign an essay, teach them through the process, give them days in class to write paragraphs and ask me questions, then collect a rough draft. That started the dreaded paper grading cycle. I would use my grading rubric to fix all their errors in a timely fashion so I could get the essays back to them to edit for their final drafts.
        Here�s the problem I kept seeing: Students only really fixed the errors I found because I was the expert and if I didn�t find them why should they fix them?
        And that got you thinking, right? � No wonder they don�t know how to edit their essays, you were really the one doing all the editing! No wonder some of them would throw their essays in the trash right after they get them back�they only cared about the grade they got when they fixed your edits.
        So you had to find a way to flip things so they were doing the editing and you were doing the grading. Which are different! And the journey he headed down saved him so much time, and his students got sooooo much better at writing and revising.
        With the next batch of essays, I only wrote a letter grade at the top. No comments, no marks, nothing but a grade. Well, of course, my grading time got done way faster. I was spending under a minute grading each essay. I internalized my essay rubric that I was using before and only wrote a letter grade. Then I handed the rough drafts back and they looked for all the work they were used to me doing for them, which, of course, wasn�t there.
        �Why did I get this grade?� many asked.
        �Let�s figure it out,� I replied.
        So I walked them through how to grade their essays. I handed out my �Fix These in Your Essays Now� cheat sheet, and we got started. Here's the link for you to get it in our Teachers Pay Teachers store >>> https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Essay-Writing-Revision-Checklist-Rubric-402032. We highlighted hook/intro sections, thesis statements, topic sentences, quote proof and page numbers, transition sentences, thesis echo in the conclusion, and solid closing lines that resonate. They did it. Not me. Then they wrote notes in the margin if any of it was missing. They finished going through the Revision checklist. They made all the marks. They � They �. They. Not me. I already know how to grade essays. They�re the ones who need to learn. I hadn�t been teaching them how to grade their essays.
        Then I asked them if their letter grade matched their essay. If that grade was fair? They all saw why now. And the right person did all the editing.
        Then a surprising thing happened � looking back, it shouldn�t have been surprising: On their final drafts, they were a little more able to see things to fix. But where I really saw progress was on Essay #2, 3, 4. That year, I actually assigned 9 essays and didn�t grade a single one at home. And my students� writing skills skyrocketed!!!
        It�s gonna be difficult at first to not make any marks on the essays. It�s gonna be difficult to teach them what you see in your essays. It�s gonna be difficult to focus on the macro ideas and not the micro commas errors. It�s difficult, but we get difficult, we�re teachers. This is what we do. But for a long time I wasn�t doing the difficult thing when teaching writing, which really in the long run, ended up the easy thing. Not taking papers home.


        Conversation of the Day: If you tried to teach your students how to grade their own essays, what do you worry might happen?
          Hop on over to watch the video and share your thoughts in the conversation.

ROLL OF THUNDER, HEAR MY CRY Quickwrite Writing Prompts

        This week, my 7th grade English classes started reading the novel, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. We started with some background discussions and research on Jim Crow Laws and Brown vs. Board of Education. We looked at the Great Depression and unemployment at the time.
        After we had an idea of the world we were going to read about, we started reading. And in my class, that means we stop every other day or so to write about what we're reading. They have 5 minutes to write � a page. Full credit will be earned for � a page of serious thoughts on the subject. The goal is to just write, to write write write their thoughts on the topic and anything connected to the topic.
        I don't know about your students, but I've noticed my students have a hard time having something to say. They put down the exact thought, then can't explore the idea, pursue different angles, and talk about all the sides. So we spend time exploring our minds and writing it down. Then talking about it in group discussions. After a while, they're able to get more and more thoughts down. It's pretty awesome!
        Our Quickwrite Writing Prompts from today:

 Here are some action shots of my students writing their responses.

>>> Get the Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry QuickWrites Writing Prompts here
>>> Get the complete Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry teaching unit here.