When I first heard the word wiki I laughed. It rhymes with icky, sticky, picky, tricky, and Vicky (my sister). I laugh when I say most of those words. And wiki is the silliest of the group. When I learned more about wikis by creating one and exploring on my own, I was still laughing. I wasn’t laughing at the word, now I was laughing at how much fun this would be. I was raising an adopted Wiki! I didn’t name him or really give birth to him, but Wiki was mine and if he was going to grow up, I had to feed him, clothe him, and make him do his homework. God knows if I was passing out names, I would choose anything but Wiki.

Since I take parenting seriously, I decided to help Wiki adjust to life as a school teacher’s child. Of course, I filled him full of important information. And if his little brain couldn’t hold all of the lessons I had for him, I made a note for him of where to find it. I taught him to make friends easily and initiate conversations with his new friends. We spent lots of late nights looking around the world for the most stylish clothes and popular possessions. (It’s important for kids to feel like they fit in. They need to know that others think they are cool. Wiki’s friends think he is pretty cool.) Somehow, Wiki and I have successfully made it through adolescence. He was completely unorganized, lacked focus and direction, and seemed to be in a permanent state of rebellion. Miraculously, he has grown into a fairly mature young man. Don’t get me wrong, Wiki looks like a strapping young lad on the outside, but has lots of growing up left to do!

Wiki is growing up so fast and has changed so much since I adopted him. He’s so popular with his friends that I’m seeing some changes in him. He doesn’t stick so close to mom anymore; he wants to go out on his own. Wiki is always bugging me to get him the most flashy videos, the newest music, and the coolest gadgets (he calls them widgets…kids!) He tells me that his friends have actually started expecting him to have the best stuff. I guess Wiki doesn’t want to disappoint his friends. And I don’t want to see Wiki fail to realize his potential. Just like with Jackson and John David, I am willing to make some sacrifices to make sure Wiki is raised with plenty of attention, genuine affection, and thoughtful guidance.

This parenting adventure has been such an unexpected pleasure. It’s a real rush that my husband and I are parents to two great kids and that I’m a single parent to a precious adopted child. I have a serious desire to raise my actual children with a desire to impact this world. I hope I am raising my virtual child with the same hopes. When I agreed to adopt Wiki I didn’t think I could get used to his name. Since he’s a pretty cool kid, it turns out that I don’t mind saying his name every day at all!

Visit my adopted child at FHS Wolves Den

My uncle George spent 90 years joyfully searching for people to whom he could delegate a task. He found me along the way as well as hundreds more. George had a mysterious gift for telling folks what they were going to do. And, as far as I know, everybody did it. That’s pretty cool, but not the best part. Speaking at his memorial, his son-in-law mentioned how George was known for asking others to take on responsibility for this or that. Probably every one of the several hundred people present could raise their hand if asked if George had ever asked for a favor. But the next question his son-in-law asked was the best thing I’ve heard in a long time. He paused, then asked, “When George asked for your help, did he ever ask you to do something for him personally?” That was a “wow” moment. Of course, the answer was no. He never asked for himself.

George’s mission was to make the world aware that Childersburg is the best place in the universe. The superior status of his hometown was not up for debate. You learned this the way he did – by working for it. He did all the things great citizen leaders do – he saw a need and met it. Whether it was launching a chamber of commerce, rebuilding and refurbishing historical sites, or establishing commissions and societies to promote the town’s interests, George made it happen. But, he’d be the first to tell you that he did not do it alone. He was 90 years old when he died. Most likely Uncle George wasn’t up on the 21st Century skills we are so busy promoting these days in education. We fill our computer screens with words like collaboration, cooperation, sharing, teamwork, flexibility, innovation, and problem-solving. We focus on these so-called 21st Century skills because we think they are the keys to our future. Aren’t we silly? Those actions have been around a very long time. Examples are all around us if we are willing to open our eyes.

Some day I want to be on someone’s “wow, what a life” list. I have to be willing to be like George. In the end no one minds your passion, eagerness, and urgency in working to make the world better. When you make the sacrifices, keep the long hours, and do yeoman’s labor day in and day out, you’ll be remembered by countless smiling faces. Hopefully, I will have asked each one of them to do something to make our world better.

Enter the new digital age.  Quizlet is a vocabulary learning web tool created by a kid.  When a high school student struggled learning animal names in french, he created a web program to solve his problem.  I am so glad he struggled.  Now my students don’t have to.

Quizlet is free, easy, and user friendly.  To get the most out of quizlet, a teacher should create a group and require students to join their group.  When the teacher or a student creates a set of terms, they share them with the entire group.  Then everyone can easily find them for practice.  Quizlet boasts games, flashcards, term lists, and quizzes among many other fantastic features of this web service. 

Quizlet works.  Try it for yourself and watch our digital natives (our students) soar with this simple program.  They will immediately see its usefulness and begin to apply it to other classes.  Who knows?  Maybe learning vocabulary will become the most fun part of any lesson!

Click on the link at the right.  (Web Tool – Vocabulary)