Eighth Post

I haven't posted in a bit, mainly due to the insanely busy schedule I've been keeping what with the end of the trimester, the other four extra-curriculars I am a part of or in charge of, and the whole restructuring-of-our-school-thing. Hopefully, I will be back on a regular scedule of posting now.

I really don't have much new to report. I covered the majority of our first mini-research project last post, and now we're into a critical thinking unit. Granted, this unit will play heavily into teaching the students what is valid information and what is not when we get around to the research unit, it does not, in and of itself, have much to do with what we're doing through MILI. I am, however, very much looking forward to tomorrow's meeting as it will hopefully shed plenty of light on how I will structure my research unit. I may still try to squeeze the research unit in this trimester after winter break. We'll see, but that seems ideal.

Post- First Research Attempt

Things went right and not so right with this first research assignment. I suppose this is to be expected, but I thought I had put a fair amount of time into figuring out all of the different angles to cover so things would run smoothly. For the most part, I think I did okay, but there are certainly a few things I would change for next time.

First, the things I wish would have gone better. Students had a hard time discerning from the materials available (Groliers primarily; also ProSearch and the New York Times; a few even used Ebsco and Gale Group) what were "interesting accomplishments" (part of the grading criteria). The major accomplishments seemed to blend in with the minor ones in the Groliers articles. I need to figure a way to help direct the students sift through articles once they find them. Also, and on a less-MILI significant subject, the students had trouble with the self-directed nature of the assignment. But that is not significant to this initiative.

On the other hand, the students understood clearly what a reliable vs. unreliable resource is. They also understood clearly why certain things like Google can be unreliable (Wiki was an easy sell, Google a much harder one; in general, it seems the students want to believe everything they read). They seemed almost excited and relieved to get access to sites they knew for a fact are authentic. During the discussion on reliable resources, students expressed frustration at doing research in the past. The top reason for this is that they did not know where to look for information. Also, the citations link on every page is a real help for my students. So far, of the students that have done their presentations (the end result of the poet assignment), they have all turned in an accurate works cited page, including the books they initially pulled their poem from. This alone made me happy and feel like this is actually a productive assignment for my students to be doing for several reasons. First, it fits well into the MCA II prep that I do. Second, it serves as a nice prequel to the actual research unit I will be doing with my 10th graders. Third, by showing the students four reliable websites that can be easily accessed from the district's website, they will have access to those for any other classes in which they will be doing research projects.

I'll report back more after all of the students have delivered their presentations.

First Research Attempt

My students have been working on a poetry unit and I decided to throw a research component in the mix. The students were to select a poet, which was done last Friday. I have been assisted and supported greatly by our Library and Media Specialist, Marilyn Mauritz, in this endeavor. With very little notice, she was able to pull a great number of poetry books from which the students selected their poets. The idea was that the students would spend some time browsing several poets they had never heard of, and they would end up selecting something they liked. Starting tomorrow, the students will analyze one - two poems by their poet, but also do some research for biographical information of their poet. The overall question they are trying to answer with this assignment is, "Why is this poet important?" All aspects of the assignment should point toward answering that question, including the biographical information. I have assembled a reliable resources cheat sheet for them, so they will be able to access a few reliable sites from on- or off-campus. We'll see how it goes!

Edit: A couple of grammar fixes. I was feverish with the flu when I wrote this originally, so I'm sorry to anyone that read it and thought, "What the?!?"

5th Entry

A bit of a frustrating setback. As the library has been signed out by other teachers (it is on a first-come-first-serve basis, so it's my fault for not getting in there sooner), I am going to have to alter my initial "mini" research project. I have yet to determine exactly how that will happen, as the plan was to incorporate both print texts as well as internet-based research. It would make it easier if my students each had a jump drive, but that is unrealistic. I'll get back to you all when I have an idea of how to get around this obstacle.

Pre-Poetry Entry

Finally, I am going to be able to use some of the research resources provided to me. I will be doing a miniature research project with my students as a part of their poetry unit. They will not be starting this for a week and a half (assuming all goes as planned), but I am excited about setting things up for them. I will be putting together a list of reliable sites for them to work from and will be covering the basics of how to search for valid information.
This past week, four more students were able to augment projects they were working on by using the projector and laptop. One of the students even used his own animation, which was not only extremely cool, but the way he used it added a lot to his presentation. Good stuff, and hopefully more of that to come as the other students were interested in how they could do something like that as well.

3rd Entry

Having the equipment has made a huge difference in my classroom. While I haven't even come close to realizing its potential, the equipment has served me and my class well. Some of my students have taken the opportunity to put together powerpoint presentations instead of traditional visual aides. Also, I have been able to have a few of my students that either have physical impairments that make it difficult to write or are traditionally hard to engage use the laptop in class to complete their writing. Plus, on a personal note, my home PC decided to die about a week ago, so it has been terrific having the laptop around to take its place at least to some degree.

2nd Entry

I was able to administer the pre-test to my students this week and found some interesting results. They were a bit upset that Humboldt was not one of the options, but I explained that we joined MILI after the tests were already made. The students were confused by much of the pre-test, which I suppose is a good thing, as they have a lot to learn. On one hand, I see the opportunity to teach a large set of skills to them, and on the other, I see the possibility of them being overwhelmed. I know that some of my students are already quite a ways behind grade level in reading (either vocabulary, comprehension or both), and I will be interested to see if research skills will stick if they still struggle with understanding what it is that they will be researching. Not to give the impression that I have a negative outlook, quite the contrary. I am looking forward to utilizing the tools and strategies provided by MILI. I am also constantly concerned with my students' growth. Time will tell, I suppose.

First Posting

This is my inaugural blog entry for the Metronet Information Literacy Initiative. It is the first of many to come...