If I had to decide which pages of the Brighton book were the most valuable to me, I would say it was the very first chapter we read. I'm glad we didn't start out reading chapter one. Although it was very informative, chapter three explored the most complex topic concerning young teens, in my opinion. Reading about the hormonal changes that come with puberty wasn't "new" news, but it was something I needed to be reminded of. I have looooooooooooooong since passed that stage of growth and development and it was an eye-opener to recall my own past (horrible) experiences as a young teenage girl. I would never, ever, ever want to repeat those years of my life. I feel this chapter has equipped me with enough "ammo" to discuss with my students, if they ask, about how puberty doesn't last forever, and they WILL get through it. Like me, they may not have many fond memories of those days, but at least they will feel as if they survived. What I can't figure out about my reaction to that chapter is why I felt like I'd been refreshed on the topic, when I have a fifteen year old son in my house! It's probably because my son and I never had very many conversations about the changes that were taking place in his life. When it came to the physical part, my husband did all the talking, and not in my presence either, thank goodness! Don't get me wrong, I've dealt with attitude problems and his desire to be with other peers, instead of his family, but for the most part, things haven't been all that bad. My daughter, on the other hand.......she's only 7, but she's going on 17! I better keep Brighton's book in the cabinet for reference in a few years. I feel like I am going to need it.
Back to the assignment, as far as what pages of the Wiki I felt were the least valuable, I tend to think it was the section I was assigned on Piaget and Vygotsky (pg 4 and 5). The Intellectual chapter started out by discussing their theories of cognitive development. Although it was informative and well written, my mind just couldn't grasp some of the psychological terms and thought processes that explained how we learn. I had a hard time writing my summary on the wiki concerning those two theories. I was ok with the beginning explanation about how a dog is hairy and has four legs. But by the time we got to the duck-billed platypus, my head was spinning! I reread that section about three times before I felt like I could even put it into words. In my mind, it's enough to say we are introduced to new things, we learn more new things, and then we become smarter. That sounds a bit too elementary, I know.
One of the biggest obstacles I faced while working on this project was figuring out what in the world a wiki was in the first place, getting signed on, and learning how to navigate and format. Although it works like a word document, I had a hard time figuring out where I was when someone else was on the same page at the same time making changes and putting their entries in. The worst part was when my computer froze up and I lost about thirty minutes of work. The wiki said it saved the last draft, but tonight when I went back into my page, half of my work was gone. That was very frustrating.
I can gladly say that I've been able to overcome my "uncomfortableness" with the wiki assignment because I can maneuver through the pages just fine now.
I definitely agree that the wiki contributed to my understanding of the Brighton book. It's been great to read through the entries and see a summation of what I remember reading in the chapters. I also really enjoy editing text. (Don't look for any errors on this page. Ha!Ha!) It's just something that I've always felt like I had a knack for. With one job I had years ago, one of our vendors showed me a magazine ad they'd created to promote one of their skincare products. It was going to go to print soon. The ad had a typo! I'm a fanatic about errors on papers sent home from my daughter's school. Don't you think the educators who are communicating with the parents should proofread before sending something out? Anyway, the wiki assignment is a great idea. I would like to incorporate a project like this into my classroom,provided the school has a computer lab.
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