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.