Wikis

Wikis are an increadible tool and orgainize information the way today's students like to use information.

According to Max Valiquetee one of Canada's foremost expert on youth culture and President of Youthography - today's youth search by keyword ... they are not interested in classifying information like previous genenerations (From OLA SuperConference 2007). Today's youth use services like gmail which allows a google search of all their email. Wikis take advantage of this searching paridigm.

Imagine that every student is required to create their own personal wiki when they enter high school in grade 9. Assignment, research links, RSS feeds and students reflections are then posted to the Wiki. This should be a private Wiki where only the student and teachers have access. Nothing is lost, students learn technical skills. Over the students high school career, teachers will be able to see the students progress.

Free wiki is available from pbwiki.com.

Why do middle and high schools not carry Manga.

A good friend of mine who is responsible for purchasing reading material for his grade 7,8 school refuses to buy any Manga.

I think this is a big mistake. Manga (you have to be careful of content) has many of the main attrinbutes that research shows reluctant readers (especially male) will read.
In my school library Manga is by far the most popular genre. Some titles have been taken out over 30 times in 2 months.

If you do not have Manga in your school ... get it. Some good titles are Bleach, Kingdom in Hearts and One Piece.

check
http://boysread.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manga