User:Trawat/ELPA 845

School Level Leadership is a three-credit graduate course designed to introduce students to the central practices necessary for leaders to improve the conditions for learning in K-12 schools. School leaders are responsible for improving teaching and learning.

This course addresses how leaders improve the core practices of instructional leadership. In this view of school leadership, management and leadership form a complementary relation in schools – management is necessary to create and promote stable conditions for teaching and learning, and leadership is necessary to envision and guide a school toward new frontiers of teaching and learning. The course is designed to introduce students to both the strategies and tactics of K-12 school-level leadership.

This will be a semester-long assignment, with milestones at various times to help ensure that progress is being made.

Students will work individually to edit one Wikipedia article, and will act as a peer reviewer for two other articles. The goal of the assignment is to make a substantive contribution to a Wikipedia article on a topic of School Leadership. Pick an article that is central to the topic of School Level Leadership (Response to Intervention, PBIS, Blended Learning, Loose Coupling, Social Justice Leadership etc), that way we can have the maximum impact to improve the quality of information available online for School Level Leadership.

Students should, as much as possible, help each other out with questions about how to do things on Wikipedia. You should communicate the Wikipedia way -- on user talk pages, and article talk pages. If you still have a question or a problem, don't hesitate to contact our Content Expert.

Week 3: Wikipedia essentials

 * Overview of the Wiki Project
 * Introduction to how Wikipedia will be used in the course
 * Suggested further reading: Editing Wikipedia (available in print or online from the Wiki Education Foundation)

The following must be completed before next class
 * Create an account and then complete the online training for students. During this training, you will make edits in a sandbox and learn the basic rules of Wikipedia.


 * To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself on the user talk page of one of your classmates, who should also be enrolled in the table at the bottom of the page.


 * Explore topics related to your topic area to get a feel for how Wikipedia is organized. What areas seem to be missing? As you explore, make a mental note of articles that seem like good candidates for improvement.

Week 4: Wikipedia User pages
The following must be completed before next class
 * Create a User page, and then click the "enroll" button on the top left of this course page.


 * To create a User page you can simply copy paste this text into your userpage and add in your username in the placeholders of username. I am editing Wikipedia as a part of ELPA 845 class assignment on School Level Leadership from the University of Wisconsin- Madison.
 * Suggested activity: For extra practice on editing in Wikipedia, you can try to create your sandbox with a pretend article. Practice using brief edit summaries for each edit. Make a first sentence with bold letters, like Wikipedia articles. Add references and citations.


 * Suggested Read: Using Talk Pages handout and Evaluating Wikipedia brochure

 The following must be completed before today's class
 * All students Wikipedia user accounts and are listed on the course page and have completed the student training.

Week 5: Exploring and selecting the topics

 * Selection of final topics that students will work on creating Wikipedia entries.
 *  Suggested Read: Choosing an article

Week 6: Copy Editing basics
The following must be completed before next class
 * Review pages 4-7 of the Evaluating Wikipedia brochure. This will give you a good, brief overview of what to look for in other articles, and what other people will look for in your own.


 * Choose one article, identify ways in which you can improve and correct its language and grammar, and make the appropriate changes. (You do not need to alter the article's content.)


 * For your main project, look at the talk page for existing topics for a sense of who else is working on it and what they're doing. Describe your choices to your instructor for feedback.


 * For next week
 * Instructor evaluates student's article selections, by next week.

Week 7: Using sources and choosing articles
Read before class
 * Handouts: Citing sources on Wikipedia and Avoiding plagiarism on Wikipedia.
 * Be prepared to explain close paraphrasing, plagiarism, and copyright violations on Wikipedia.

The following must be completed before next class
 * If you are editing an article: By the start of our next class, mark the article's talk page with a banner to let other editors know you're working on it. To add the banner, add this code in the top section of the talk page:


 * Compile a bibliography of relevant, reliable sources and post it to the class talk page of the article you are working on.
 * Find 4-6 main sources, build sentence outline of your article. Post the outline on the class talk page

Week 8 (2015-03-09):Drafting starter articles: Sources and Outline
The following must be completed before today's class
 * Students would have done preliminary research and have a structured outline of their articles.


 * Continue research in preparation for writing the body of the article.

Week 9:  Building articles, Creating first draft

 * Add your articles to the list at the bottom of this page.'''

 The following must be completed before next class
 * Create a sandbox for your article. Paste the outline of your article in the sandbox
 * Expand your article into an initial draft.

Week 10: Getting and giving feedback
The following must be completed before next class
 * Select two classmates’ articles that you will peer review. On the table at the bottom of this course page, add your username next to the articles you will peer review.
 * Peer review two of your classmates’ articles. Leave suggestions on the article talk pages.
 * Guidelines for peer-reviewing:A few questions to consider (don't feel limited to these):
 * Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference?
 * Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
 * Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * Check a few citations. Do the links work? Is there any close paraphrasing or plagiarism in the article?
 * Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?


 * Make edits to your article based on peers’ feedback. If you disagree with a suggestion, use talk pages to politely discuss and come to a consensus on your edit.
 * Do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article, based on your classmates' suggestions and any additional areas for improvement you can identify.

Week 11: Giving, Getting and Incorporating feedback
The following must be completed before next class
 * Select two classmates’ articles that you will peer review. On the table at the bottom of this course page, add your username next to the articles you will peer review.
 * Peer review two of your classmates’ articles. Leave suggestions on the article talk pages.
 * Guidelines for peer-reviewing:A few questions to consider (don't feel limited to these):
 * Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference?
 * Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?
 * Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * Check a few citations. Do the links work? Is there any close paraphrasing or plagiarism in the article?
 * Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?

Please save a copy of your article in MS Word or Google Doc before next class.
 * Make edits to your article based on peers’ feedback. If you disagree with a suggestion, use talk pages to politely discuss and come to a consensus on your edit.
 * Do additional research and writing to make further improvements to your article, based on your classmates' suggestions and any additional areas for improvement you can identify.
 * Check if your articles follows the policies of Neutral Point of View, Verifiability, and No original research.

Week 12: Moving articles to the main space
The following must be completed before today's class
 * Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.
 * Feedback from peers will be integrated into the second draft of articles.

Please save a copy of your article in MS Word or Google Doc before moving it to main space.
 * We'll discuss moving your article out of your sandboxes and into Wikipedia's main space.
 * Suggested read before class: Moving out of your sandbox


 * A general reminder: Don't panic if your contribution disappears, and don't try to force it back in.
 * Check to see if there is an explanation of the edit on the article's talk page. If not, (politely) ask why it was removed.
 * Contact your instructor or Wikipedia Content Expert and let them know.


 * Open discussion of the concepts of neutrality, media literacy, and the impact and limits of Wikipedia.

The following must be completed before next class. Please save a copy of your article in MS Word or Google Doc before moving it to main space.
 * Move your sandbox articles into main space.
 * If you are expanding an existing article, copy your edit into the article. If you are making many small edits, save after each edit before you make the next one. Do NOT paste over the entire existing article, or large sections of the existing article.
 * If you are creating a new article, do NOT copy and paste your text, or there will be no record of your work history. Follow these instructions on how to move your work.

Week 13: Continuing to improve articles
The following must be completed before today's class
 * Articles moved to Main space in Wikipedia.
 * Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.

The following must be completed before next class
 * Incorporate the feedback from Wiki editors and other users of Wikipedia on your article.

Week 14: Buffer week
The following must be completed before next class
 * Include feedback from other users into your article. If there is a disagreement, use talk pages to resolve it.
 * Use this reference guide to polish your articles.

Week 15 (2015-05-04): Finishing touches
This must be completed before today's class.
 * Students have incorporated most of the feedback on their articles.

Reflection Paper Details:
Task: Students will write a four page maximum, double spaced reflection paper, sharing their experience with creating the Wikipedia entries. Use APA style.

The following can be used as the guiding questions:
 * 1) Thinking from the start of the class, how was your overall experience with Wikipedia assignment ?
 * 2) What did you learn from this experience?
 * 3) If we did the same assignment next year, what would you like to do differently?
 * 4) How do you envision using this tool in your life outside the university?

The following must be completed before next class.
 * Add final touches to your Wikipedia article.
 * Work on your Reflection essay for Wikipedia.

Week 16: Due Date
The following must be completed before Thursday end of day.
 * Students have final articles posted on Wikipedia.
 * Students have submitted the reflection paper by email to Rich and Tanu.