My "+ 1" Post
Though this experience has been at times difficult (e.g. frustration over new technology not working like I'd want, an extra meeting a month I had to make time for), it has ultimately been worth it without any question. Not only have I gotten some rad new equipment, but I also feel fairly strong in an area I was admittedly weak in before. Last year, I barely touched on research. This wasn't because I didn't want to teach it, nor because I felt uncomfortable about research itself, but I wasn't sure how to teach the skills that came pretty naturally to me to a bunch of students who couldn't fathom spending dozens of hours with microfiche trying to find an old news article. I was also concerned that my participation in MILI would find me with a regimented, rigid series of lesson plans with which to teach students research. Not at all. Instead, I found dozens, maybe hundreds, of tools to use and tailor to my own particular style. This has worked marvelously in my classroom so far and allowed me to create an extremely ambitious project for my students. These tools also aided in differentiation - though they have different assignments, both my intermediate and pre-AP students are getting sufficiently challenged, I think. I am extremely glad Ms. Mauritz duped me into joining the initiative :) as I surely would never have heard of it otherwise.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Thing Two
Thing Two - Create a Blog and Post About It
I'm pretty sure my other thirty-one blogs confirmed this one being completed, but jsut in case... Here it is! My personal experience with blogs isn't terribly extensive, but I do keep a personal one and have on and off for a few years now at least. It's a nice way to give periodic updates to friends. We all have each other's blogs set up on an RSS feed, so anytime anyone posts, we get it imeediately. A nice, undemanding way of staying in touch with each other.
I'm pretty sure my other thirty-one blogs confirmed this one being completed, but jsut in case... Here it is! My personal experience with blogs isn't terribly extensive, but I do keep a personal one and have on and off for a few years now at least. It's a nice way to give periodic updates to friends. We all have each other's blogs set up on an RSS feed, so anytime anyone posts, we get it imeediately. A nice, undemanding way of staying in touch with each other.
Thing Twenty-Nine
Thing Twenty-Nine – Online Learning
I actually have quite a bit of experience with online learning. I took a correspondence course through the University of Wisconsin that was primarily online (well, to be fair, it was primarily me reading about 70 books for adolescents and younger, but it had some online components). However, for my last part-time job, Best Buy, I was eligible for a rewards program through several of our vendors. The most memorable one was Microsoft.
Microsoft paid employees in points to complete online learning modules. These points could then be spent on anything Microsoft (including portable devices, Xbox, and many other products). What I found was that I was actually learning quite a bit from these modules that I would, at best, skim. Microsoft no doubt knew that people would generally do as little work as possible, so they made sure the questions at the end of each of these online training things were geared directly to what they wanted the test taker to take away from the test (say that ten times fast!). I found that, even though I spent very little time with these modules comparatively, I absorbed much of the knowledge they were trying to instill. I don’t really have any conclusions to draw past that, but it is interesting. I think there is definitely a place for online learning. I don’t know that that place is high school, but who knows? If it could be refined and made as thoroughly “skip-proof” as the Microsoft stuff was, perhaps it could be a very useful tool.
I actually have quite a bit of experience with online learning. I took a correspondence course through the University of Wisconsin that was primarily online (well, to be fair, it was primarily me reading about 70 books for adolescents and younger, but it had some online components). However, for my last part-time job, Best Buy, I was eligible for a rewards program through several of our vendors. The most memorable one was Microsoft.
Microsoft paid employees in points to complete online learning modules. These points could then be spent on anything Microsoft (including portable devices, Xbox, and many other products). What I found was that I was actually learning quite a bit from these modules that I would, at best, skim. Microsoft no doubt knew that people would generally do as little work as possible, so they made sure the questions at the end of each of these online training things were geared directly to what they wanted the test taker to take away from the test (say that ten times fast!). I found that, even though I spent very little time with these modules comparatively, I absorbed much of the knowledge they were trying to instill. I don’t really have any conclusions to draw past that, but it is interesting. I think there is definitely a place for online learning. I don’t know that that place is high school, but who knows? If it could be refined and made as thoroughly “skip-proof” as the Microsoft stuff was, perhaps it could be a very useful tool.
Thing Twenty-Six
Thing Twenty-Six – Digital Image Collections
After checking out some online art sites, specifically WebMuseum, I have thought about using artistic inspiration in the classroom. Perhaps spend a day where the students are able to browse these online art exhibits and select one or two paintings (or sculptures, drawings, etc.), and create a story or poem or something else inspired by the image. I can’t think of how I could fit it in this year, since we only have novels and research left, but perhaps for next year…
After checking out some online art sites, specifically WebMuseum, I have thought about using artistic inspiration in the classroom. Perhaps spend a day where the students are able to browse these online art exhibits and select one or two paintings (or sculptures, drawings, etc.), and create a story or poem or something else inspired by the image. I can’t think of how I could fit it in this year, since we only have novels and research left, but perhaps for next year…
Thing Twenty-Four
Thing Twenty-Four – Online Gaming
I was hoping to not have to admit this in a public forum, but I suppose it does let me check another “Thing” off of my list, but I have played online games for over a decade. I actually started casually back in college playing MUDs (Multiple User Domains) which were basically text-based role-playing games. I graduated to EverQuest in the late 90’s, which was like a dream come true at the time growing up a fantasy nerd like myself. It was still a very casual (play once a week, maybe, for an hour or two) until I turned my brother on to it as well. Since he and I weren’t particularly close at the time, this love of nerdy gaming was a great excuse for us to talk more often. This is actually a trend that continues today. We can’t play as often as we used to (at our height, I suppose we played ten to fifteen hours per week), but we still try to log on occasionally and game out a bit. It’s still a great excuse to keep in touch with him, and every time you log on, it’s a different experience, which never gets old either.
I was hoping to not have to admit this in a public forum, but I suppose it does let me check another “Thing” off of my list, but I have played online games for over a decade. I actually started casually back in college playing MUDs (Multiple User Domains) which were basically text-based role-playing games. I graduated to EverQuest in the late 90’s, which was like a dream come true at the time growing up a fantasy nerd like myself. It was still a very casual (play once a week, maybe, for an hour or two) until I turned my brother on to it as well. Since he and I weren’t particularly close at the time, this love of nerdy gaming was a great excuse for us to talk more often. This is actually a trend that continues today. We can’t play as often as we used to (at our height, I suppose we played ten to fifteen hours per week), but we still try to log on occasionally and game out a bit. It’s still a great excuse to keep in touch with him, and every time you log on, it’s a different experience, which never gets old either.
Thing Twenty-Two
Thing Twenty-Two – Ebooks and NetLibrary
I have actually been using EBooks for years now. I think the first time was, I hate to say it, downloading the Cliff Notes to Much Ado About Nothing, which I was in, back in 1995 or 96. I, of course, knew the play well, but needed help getting some of the finer points of comedy. Since then, I have downloaded dozens of EBooks. There are a few that, when I was doing a major research paper on Constantine the Great, were so rare that they were only available via scans. I spent quite a bit of time in front of computer screens translating old Latin. It would have been great to actually hold the books or manuscripts and work off of those, but I felt lucky to have any kind of access to some of the oldest texts in the world, all through download. Granted, those weren’t from some NetLibrary, they were essentially e-mailed directly to one of my professors, but I see it as nearly the same thing. I see both as a great tool, especially for hard to find or out of print books.
I have actually been using EBooks for years now. I think the first time was, I hate to say it, downloading the Cliff Notes to Much Ado About Nothing, which I was in, back in 1995 or 96. I, of course, knew the play well, but needed help getting some of the finer points of comedy. Since then, I have downloaded dozens of EBooks. There are a few that, when I was doing a major research paper on Constantine the Great, were so rare that they were only available via scans. I spent quite a bit of time in front of computer screens translating old Latin. It would have been great to actually hold the books or manuscripts and work off of those, but I felt lucky to have any kind of access to some of the oldest texts in the world, all through download. Granted, those weren’t from some NetLibrary, they were essentially e-mailed directly to one of my professors, but I see it as nearly the same thing. I see both as a great tool, especially for hard to find or out of print books.
Thing Seventeen
Thing Seventeen – One New Thing
I thought I was being revolutionary with my research paper meets memoir idea, but I came to find out that it’s been done many times before under the name “I-Search.” So, I had to come up with another new thing. I think my use of the sixteen plagiarism proofing ideas from Doug Johnson has been novel and new. I had the students rank their top five most important things from this list and ended up tailoring their assignment around the five that, after tallying, ended up being the highest rated. I think that this, my lofty expectations of self-discipline and self-motivation, and the students’ ability to select their own topics have made them more invested in this assignment than any other we have done this year. They are also considerably out of their comfort zone, but I personally see that as a good thing.
I thought I was being revolutionary with my research paper meets memoir idea, but I came to find out that it’s been done many times before under the name “I-Search.” So, I had to come up with another new thing. I think my use of the sixteen plagiarism proofing ideas from Doug Johnson has been novel and new. I had the students rank their top five most important things from this list and ended up tailoring their assignment around the five that, after tallying, ended up being the highest rated. I think that this, my lofty expectations of self-discipline and self-motivation, and the students’ ability to select their own topics have made them more invested in this assignment than any other we have done this year. They are also considerably out of their comfort zone, but I personally see that as a good thing.
Thing Fourteen
Thing Fourteen – Other Online Resources
I found the blog prompt questions interesting for this one. First, I introduced these (particularly CompletePlanet) just like I did any of the other subscription databases and explained the distinction between those databases, Google and these types of resources. It was also asked how students adjusted to not having quick, pre-packaged answers and I have two separate answers. First, oftentimes the students were able to find some remarkably straight-forward answers from these sites. But those that have had problems, I have tried to explain regularly that if they aren’t struggling at least somewhat to find their desired answers to their questions, then they aren’t doing real research. That frustrating feeling is a good sign that good work is being done. I also remind them on a regular basis that they are tackling difficult, possibly unanswerable, questions and that it will take a lot of work and ingenuity to be able to thoroughly answer them. If they try their hardest and there are still parts of their question that remain unanswered, that’s okay too. The students, particularly the higher-achieving students, aren’t entirely comfortable with this, but they are trying anyway, which is great to see.
I found the blog prompt questions interesting for this one. First, I introduced these (particularly CompletePlanet) just like I did any of the other subscription databases and explained the distinction between those databases, Google and these types of resources. It was also asked how students adjusted to not having quick, pre-packaged answers and I have two separate answers. First, oftentimes the students were able to find some remarkably straight-forward answers from these sites. But those that have had problems, I have tried to explain regularly that if they aren’t struggling at least somewhat to find their desired answers to their questions, then they aren’t doing real research. That frustrating feeling is a good sign that good work is being done. I also remind them on a regular basis that they are tackling difficult, possibly unanswerable, questions and that it will take a lot of work and ingenuity to be able to thoroughly answer them. If they try their hardest and there are still parts of their question that remain unanswered, that’s okay too. The students, particularly the higher-achieving students, aren’t entirely comfortable with this, but they are trying anyway, which is great to see.
Thing Twelve
Thing Twelve – Other Search Engines
Quite frankly, I am not sure how I would use a lot of these engines, but they are awfully cool. MusicPlasma and Kartoo in particular are very cool and I would like to explore them more. I spent about fifteen minutes on MusicPlasma just trying to get from Slayer to Simon and Garfunkel (success, by the way). I feel like there should be a use for these graphic organizers, but I can’t quite figure out what it would be yet.
Quite frankly, I am not sure how I would use a lot of these engines, but they are awfully cool. MusicPlasma and Kartoo in particular are very cool and I would like to explore them more. I spent about fifteen minutes on MusicPlasma just trying to get from Slayer to Simon and Garfunkel (success, by the way). I feel like there should be a use for these graphic organizers, but I can’t quite figure out what it would be yet.
Thing Eleven
Thing Eleven – All about Google
I realize that I am of the generation that grew up while computers were becoming a household item and that I am supposed to love all things technology, but I don’t “love” Google. I like it. It is useful in many cases and frustrating in others. I do not like the ability for web sites to buy their way up the search results ladder. I do like that Google keeps a cached version of each page as it was when it was first submitted. I do not like that Google has seemingly no filter about sites it will accommodate. I do like that I can do a quick search for nearly any restaurant I can think of, and in about five seconds, I am on their site.
In my personally life, I use Google frequently. It is nice to have all of that information at your fingertips. However, I almost never use it when I am doing any kind of academic research, as I cannot trust the results I get from Google. I also caution my students about using Google and only just allowed them to start using it (I had only allowed subscription databases to this point). To use it though, the have to fill out a sheet that asks them questions attempting to authenticate the found site for each site they use. Already, in two days, I have had four students find sites they thought were objective scientifically based only to find that they were actually run by a biased group with some kind of persuasive agenda. I am glad that this happened though, as they and their classmates realize that there are many sites that aren’t to be trusted.
I realize that I am of the generation that grew up while computers were becoming a household item and that I am supposed to love all things technology, but I don’t “love” Google. I like it. It is useful in many cases and frustrating in others. I do not like the ability for web sites to buy their way up the search results ladder. I do like that Google keeps a cached version of each page as it was when it was first submitted. I do not like that Google has seemingly no filter about sites it will accommodate. I do like that I can do a quick search for nearly any restaurant I can think of, and in about five seconds, I am on their site.
In my personally life, I use Google frequently. It is nice to have all of that information at your fingertips. However, I almost never use it when I am doing any kind of academic research, as I cannot trust the results I get from Google. I also caution my students about using Google and only just allowed them to start using it (I had only allowed subscription databases to this point). To use it though, the have to fill out a sheet that asks them questions attempting to authenticate the found site for each site they use. Already, in two days, I have had four students find sites they thought were objective scientifically based only to find that they were actually run by a biased group with some kind of persuasive agenda. I am glad that this happened though, as they and their classmates realize that there are many sites that aren’t to be trusted.
Thing Nine
Thing Nine – United Streaming
United Streaming has been frustrating for me. First, it has been more trouble than helpful. What I mean by this is that I have spent an exorbitant amount of time trying to find things that would be useful and helpful to a lesson. When I finally did find one (a pretty lame one on grammar, but I figured I’d give it a shot), I couldn’t actually get it to work in front of the class. Frustrating, to say the least. I’ll give it another go, I think, but I don’t’ know how useful it’s going to be to me. Navigating to find things that are useful seems like it should be much easier than it actually is.
United Streaming has been frustrating for me. First, it has been more trouble than helpful. What I mean by this is that I have spent an exorbitant amount of time trying to find things that would be useful and helpful to a lesson. When I finally did find one (a pretty lame one on grammar, but I figured I’d give it a shot), I couldn’t actually get it to work in front of the class. Frustrating, to say the least. I’ll give it another go, I think, but I don’t’ know how useful it’s going to be to me. Navigating to find things that are useful seems like it should be much easier than it actually is.
Thing Eight
Thing Eight – Dribbling Lessons for Information Literacy
Yesterday, we began our research unit and I used a number of “dribbling” lessons together to create a packet of material from which to jump off of. I ended up using the teacher guide to plagiarism proof assignments in a slightly different way. Since they were nearly all good ideas anyway, I read over all sixteen of them with my students and had them rank the top five most important to them if they were creating their own assignment. Overwhelmingly, number two was the top vote getter, telling me that students want choice and some control over what they are doing. One that surprised me by making the top five, at number four, was that they want to stress higher level thinking skills and creativity. They know that means more work for them, but they want that anyway. To say the least, I was pleasantly surprised by the results.
The rest of the dribbling exercises will be used throughout the week in an attempt to slowly come up with what Doug Johnson calls level three or four questions. For me and for the students, I explain them as being questions that make the subject personal (level three) or a matter of policy change (level four). Also, I decided to make this an I-search paper instead of traditional research. This is for multiple reasons. First, it will give the students the ownership and choice they asked for (They are also able to pick any topic they like as long as they can make a level three or four questions for it). Second, it will make it virtually impossible for them to effectively plagiarize. Third, it focuses more on the process than the product, which is the point, by my estimation. Personally, I am ready for this assignment to fail as I have never done anything like it before, though I think the level of investment I’ve seen in the students so far is promising that it may succeed. Perhaps, I just mean that I am not setting expectations as to how the final product will turn out.
Yesterday, we began our research unit and I used a number of “dribbling” lessons together to create a packet of material from which to jump off of. I ended up using the teacher guide to plagiarism proof assignments in a slightly different way. Since they were nearly all good ideas anyway, I read over all sixteen of them with my students and had them rank the top five most important to them if they were creating their own assignment. Overwhelmingly, number two was the top vote getter, telling me that students want choice and some control over what they are doing. One that surprised me by making the top five, at number four, was that they want to stress higher level thinking skills and creativity. They know that means more work for them, but they want that anyway. To say the least, I was pleasantly surprised by the results.
The rest of the dribbling exercises will be used throughout the week in an attempt to slowly come up with what Doug Johnson calls level three or four questions. For me and for the students, I explain them as being questions that make the subject personal (level three) or a matter of policy change (level four). Also, I decided to make this an I-search paper instead of traditional research. This is for multiple reasons. First, it will give the students the ownership and choice they asked for (They are also able to pick any topic they like as long as they can make a level three or four questions for it). Second, it will make it virtually impossible for them to effectively plagiarize. Third, it focuses more on the process than the product, which is the point, by my estimation. Personally, I am ready for this assignment to fail as I have never done anything like it before, though I think the level of investment I’ve seen in the students so far is promising that it may succeed. Perhaps, I just mean that I am not setting expectations as to how the final product will turn out.
Thing Seven
Thing Seven – Get to Know the Research Project Calculator (RPC)
About a month ago, I started a research project with the students. Yesterday, the day after Spring Break, I finally introduced the RPC to them. I gave them an extra three weeks to gather information. This was a judgment call based primarily on few of my students having done any sort of authentic research based assignment. I wanted to give them room to try, fail and try again as needed without rushing them with deadlines. To this end, I allowed them to select their own due date for their project (essay) within larger parameters that I set. There is some (minor) extra-credit incentive for turning the project in sooner rather than later, but I wanted the students to have time to do their authentic research.
Generally speaking, the RPC was a huge hit. The students love having the steps laid out for them, assistance at each step if I am unavailable for some reason and the e-mail reminders. As a whole, they felt as if any tool that can assist them in their organization is a good one. We were unable to get all e-mail accounts to work though, which was odd. Still, it was a small hitch in what was otherwise a very successful day.
About a month ago, I started a research project with the students. Yesterday, the day after Spring Break, I finally introduced the RPC to them. I gave them an extra three weeks to gather information. This was a judgment call based primarily on few of my students having done any sort of authentic research based assignment. I wanted to give them room to try, fail and try again as needed without rushing them with deadlines. To this end, I allowed them to select their own due date for their project (essay) within larger parameters that I set. There is some (minor) extra-credit incentive for turning the project in sooner rather than later, but I wanted the students to have time to do their authentic research.
Generally speaking, the RPC was a huge hit. The students love having the steps laid out for them, assistance at each step if I am unavailable for some reason and the e-mail reminders. As a whole, they felt as if any tool that can assist them in their organization is a good one. We were unable to get all e-mail accounts to work though, which was odd. Still, it was a small hitch in what was otherwise a very successful day.
Thing Two
Thing Four – Get to Know Your Public Library
I felt like something of a hypocrite asking the students to become acquainted with the public library when I didn’t even have a card myself. So, I went to both the Minneapolis and St. Paul libraries and signed up at each. Incidentally, the Central Library in downtown Minneapolis is absolutely breathtaking. You should all go if you haven’t yet.
I ended up checking out several books from the library. They were mostly plays I am considering directing at school in the future. It was great to have all of these plays at my fingertips compared to Barnes and Noble (what has basically become my library since there is coffee as well as comfortable chairs there – though, to be fair, the Central Library has both of these amenities as well).
I have found that my students fall into one of two categories: One. The have no idea what a library could be used for, are scared of it and feel like getting a library card must be the equivalent of climbing Everest using toothpicks. Two. Use it all the time and are savvy at all of the options that libraries give one. I ended up offering extra-credit to any student who could show me a library card, and I would say about 15 of my 120 students brought them in.
I felt like something of a hypocrite asking the students to become acquainted with the public library when I didn’t even have a card myself. So, I went to both the Minneapolis and St. Paul libraries and signed up at each. Incidentally, the Central Library in downtown Minneapolis is absolutely breathtaking. You should all go if you haven’t yet.
I ended up checking out several books from the library. They were mostly plays I am considering directing at school in the future. It was great to have all of these plays at my fingertips compared to Barnes and Noble (what has basically become my library since there is coffee as well as comfortable chairs there – though, to be fair, the Central Library has both of these amenities as well).
I have found that my students fall into one of two categories: One. The have no idea what a library could be used for, are scared of it and feel like getting a library card must be the equivalent of climbing Everest using toothpicks. Two. Use it all the time and are savvy at all of the options that libraries give one. I ended up offering extra-credit to any student who could show me a library card, and I would say about 15 of my 120 students brought them in.
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