It's time to wake this sleeping dog, er, blog! We seem to have abandoned this tool after our book study last fall, but it's time for a revival. I'll start...start thinking about what your post will be.
You all know Kathy Schrock is a guru in our world. She has been at the forefront of the push for integration of technology in the classroom and can be linked to almost anything relating to information literacy. I have followed Kathy for many years now, but just recently became a member of her "PD in Action" community through edWeb.net.
If you are not already a member of edWeb.net I would strongly encourage you to join. This is a great professional social network for educators. You can join existing communities or create your own. Each community is like a focus group. I joined her PD in Action because I wanted to take part in some of the free monthly webinars hosted by edWeb. We can't always take part in many webinars because they fall in the middle of our day or are too costly. EdWeb posts webinars in the respective community after-the-fact so you can still benefit from the content, you just miss out on the live chat piece that takes place during the actual webinar. One of benefits of viewing the recording is your ability to move freely throughout the slides of the presentation and pause/restart as needed. You can even download the slides and take a quiz when you have finished.
I just watched the recording of "Resources for Information Literacy" in the PD in Action community. The webinar provided a closer look at ALA's information literacy standards for student learning. Schrock included a section of how to formulate questions to guide research and inquiry, as well as a closer look at Google advanced search.
There are several communities relating to library media programs, technology, and student learning. Follett Software Company is sponsoring some of the webinars in order that they be provided to us free. These webinars are a great place to expand your personal learning networks! Okay, who's got next? I hope you will take some time to liven this blog up. I look forward to your comments and posts.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Digital Citizenship & Social Media
I was recently reading a blog posted by Andrew Marcinek in Edutopia about digital citizenship and social media. His analogy from the movie Hoosiers about players needing to first learn fundamentals and defense really struck me. The coach in me has always known this, but with all of social media available to our students I see how important those tools are to our students. You can view Andrew's blog at http://www.edutopia.org/blog/social-digital-media-citizenship
In the past schools, administrators and teachers have been beating students over the head with lessons about the "inappropriate" nature of things on the Internet. Lets face it, we're getting older by the minute and our students are racing ahead into the world of the connectivity lacking the fundamentals they need to be successful and responsible users of digital media.
How do we get started? For those who have your students using http://www.kidblog.org/ you are on the way! Students need to practice those fundamentals in order to get better. Use blogging as a paperless tool that allows students to reflect and respond. Kidblog was recently picked as one of the top 25 sites of 2010 by Tech Learning magazine. I'm reading alot about a http://www.edmodo.com/ , a kid-friendly site allowing students to learn and practice those fundamental social skills.
Here are some opportunities to reflect on our current practices and consider what they NEED to be:
"Should Your School Be Using Social Media" http://tinyurl.com/48wgh4v
"Social Media In Education: The Power of Facebook" http://tinyurl.com/36y6vje
"The Case for Social Media in Schools" http://preview.tinyurl.com/2alpsgr
"Harness the Power of Social Networkingin Your Classroom" http://tinyurl.com/y73gggk
Will YOU be the one to step out into the social network and teach your students to become responsible digital citizens?
In the past schools, administrators and teachers have been beating students over the head with lessons about the "inappropriate" nature of things on the Internet. Lets face it, we're getting older by the minute and our students are racing ahead into the world of the connectivity lacking the fundamentals they need to be successful and responsible users of digital media.
How do we get started? For those who have your students using http://www.kidblog.org/ you are on the way! Students need to practice those fundamentals in order to get better. Use blogging as a paperless tool that allows students to reflect and respond. Kidblog was recently picked as one of the top 25 sites of 2010 by Tech Learning magazine. I'm reading alot about a http://www.edmodo.com/ , a kid-friendly site allowing students to learn and practice those fundamental social skills.
Here are some opportunities to reflect on our current practices and consider what they NEED to be:
"Should Your School Be Using Social Media" http://tinyurl.com/48wgh4v
"Social Media In Education: The Power of Facebook" http://tinyurl.com/36y6vje
"The Case for Social Media in Schools" http://preview.tinyurl.com/2alpsgr
"Harness the Power of Social Networkingin Your Classroom" http://tinyurl.com/y73gggk
Will YOU be the one to step out into the social network and teach your students to become responsible digital citizens?
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
S.O.S. for Information Literacy
In case you haven't stumbled across this website yet, http://www.informationliteracy.org/ S.O.S. for Information Literacy provides us with some great resources--even a "build your own" feature which allows students to actively take part in the lesson. The resource is free and it does require you to create an account if you wish to customize the site, but you don't need to do that if you just want to access the resources of the website. The site bills itself as the "Virtual Idea Factory for Teaching Information Skills" and is recognized as one of the "Top 25 Best Websites for Teaching and Learning" by AASL.
The site was created as part of a research grant designed to improve the way information literacy skills were being taught. Now for the kicker--the grant is funded by the Dept. of Education so it may be impacted by the downturn in the economy. It came online in 2006 so I'm crossing my fingers that it's going to be around for awhile.
The site's help feature is disguised under "Resources - Training" and some of the links and Spotlight (periodical) are dead and/or dated. However, the lessons on the site align to the Standards for the 21st Century Learner and for the most part are pretty solid. The search function is pretty easy to use and the advanced search allows you to search by standards and assessments. The only little glitch I found was there is not direct "home" link. Instead, if you click on the SOS banner at the top of the page it will get you back to the home page.
I have created an account and hope to begin building and customizing the site with my lessons, resources, and activities blended with those found on the site. I hope somebody else will forge this trail with me. Don't forget, this blog is a great tool for us to use to collaborate. I look forward to your comments and posts!
The site was created as part of a research grant designed to improve the way information literacy skills were being taught. Now for the kicker--the grant is funded by the Dept. of Education so it may be impacted by the downturn in the economy. It came online in 2006 so I'm crossing my fingers that it's going to be around for awhile.
The site's help feature is disguised under "Resources - Training" and some of the links and Spotlight (periodical) are dead and/or dated. However, the lessons on the site align to the Standards for the 21st Century Learner and for the most part are pretty solid. The search function is pretty easy to use and the advanced search allows you to search by standards and assessments. The only little glitch I found was there is not direct "home" link. Instead, if you click on the SOS banner at the top of the page it will get you back to the home page.
I have created an account and hope to begin building and customizing the site with my lessons, resources, and activities blended with those found on the site. I hope somebody else will forge this trail with me. Don't forget, this blog is a great tool for us to use to collaborate. I look forward to your comments and posts!
Friday, November 5, 2010
Whew--Almost Done!
Many of you are probably beginning to sigh in relief--hopefully not in frustration. As we discussed before, this was WAY more than the standard book study. Most of you are to the point of posting your lessons and glogs. Even if you have not put the finishing touches on these items, please post them so we know that you are having success in using the technology itself. Also, please go back through the blog and make sure you have posted to all discussion questions.
Just a reminder, that when you "link" your glogs to the website, put them on the Technology Matters page, under Web 2.0 Tools. Choose "edit page" to get started, then put in the text you want to show (as a separate bullet point) and highlight that text before selecting "link". Once you do this, select "web address" and paste in your URL address to your glog. Select "ok" and you should be linked!
The lessons can be attached to the Lesson Ideas page and they are actually attachments. You should see this at the bottom of your page and it works similarly to an attachment to an e-mail. Don't forget about using Google docs from time to time as this is an open format that allows for us to collaboratively create lessons and documents.
Despite some glitches and hitches I think the value of what you learned will outweigh the pain it took to get there. If you have any questions about getting things posted or wrapping up loose ends, let me know. We hope to continue to use these tools in the future to collaborate and share. Thanks to all of you for working so hard to continue growing professionally. See you all the 19th!
Just a reminder, that when you "link" your glogs to the website, put them on the Technology Matters page, under Web 2.0 Tools. Choose "edit page" to get started, then put in the text you want to show (as a separate bullet point) and highlight that text before selecting "link". Once you do this, select "web address" and paste in your URL address to your glog. Select "ok" and you should be linked!
The lessons can be attached to the Lesson Ideas page and they are actually attachments. You should see this at the bottom of your page and it works similarly to an attachment to an e-mail. Don't forget about using Google docs from time to time as this is an open format that allows for us to collaboratively create lessons and documents.
Despite some glitches and hitches I think the value of what you learned will outweigh the pain it took to get there. If you have any questions about getting things posted or wrapping up loose ends, let me know. We hope to continue to use these tools in the future to collaborate and share. Thanks to all of you for working so hard to continue growing professionally. See you all the 19th!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Week 8 - Big 6 Rocks!
Now that we have unraveled the Big 6 from all sides, I hope you are all a little more comfortable finding ways to plug it into your curriculum. As library media specialists we have the luxury of finding ways to connect the Big 6 to all content areas and help our students learn how to solve the problems. After teaching this problem solving process my students all agree that having a strategy they can use to break down a task into more managable pieces helps them successfully tackle problems. The six-step process provides them with a goal, a plan and focus to help them reach the goal, and a more satisfying conclusion knowing they have greater control of the outcome. In a nutshell, most students belief the Big 6 is EASY.
There are many problem solving processes available to us, but Needham points out some clear advantages of using the Big 6 in Ch. 20.
There are no discussion questions this week, but please post your own parting thoughts as comments. Remember, we will have our final face-to-face meeting Mon., Nov. 1, to share lessons developed over the past weeks and take a closer look at the things your have posted on the website. The "blended" format of this book study is definitely a work in progress and needs your thoughts on ways to improve the process as a way to collaborate regularly. Please check your syllabus to make sure you have completed all of the assigned tasks for the book study. See you tomorrow!
There are many problem solving processes available to us, but Needham points out some clear advantages of using the Big 6 in Ch. 20.
- Other processes assume students already know the best sources of information and where to find them, while the Big 6 helps students identify both instead of leaving this important piece to chance. Most of our students make the automatic jump to online research, which is not all bad if we teach them how to evaluate resources to identify the "best" resources for the task and not just Google.
- The vocabulary used in the Big 6 can be applied to many type of problems. Students sometimes don't realize that they have problems to solve outside of school. The "How Much is That Doggy In The Window" presentation we referenced earlier in our book study is a great way to show students how application of the Big 6 is useful outside of school.
- Finally, use of the Big 6 process supports many other research-based strategies proven to support how students learn.
There are no discussion questions this week, but please post your own parting thoughts as comments. Remember, we will have our final face-to-face meeting Mon., Nov. 1, to share lessons developed over the past weeks and take a closer look at the things your have posted on the website. The "blended" format of this book study is definitely a work in progress and needs your thoughts on ways to improve the process as a way to collaborate regularly. Please check your syllabus to make sure you have completed all of the assigned tasks for the book study. See you tomorrow!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Week 7 - Big 6 in the Content Areas
In reading chapters 16-19, you probably had some of the same ah-ha moments I did about integrating the Big 6 into content areas. Prior to reading this book and taking part in Needham's workshop I had not considered how the Big 6 tied to classroom management or math. Science and social studies were more likely to tie in because of the research opportunities with both of those content areas. The sample lesson forms in figures 17.1-17.3 made the use of the Big 6 in math make more sense to me. The framework of the Big 6 helps make "solving the problem" in math a no-brainer. Math truly provides students a first-hand opportunity to see how problem solving without Big 6 versus problem solving with Big 6. Math is difficult for me, but using the Big 6 actually makes math make sense--kind of... The bottom line is use of the Big 6 in content areas lead to a deeper understanding of not only problem solving, but content as well. Assuming the problems are authentic, students essentially are killing two birds with one stone--learning content and how to solve problems.
You know I can't go without saying that as we develop our lessons we need to consider how to integrate technology into the picture. Berger has given us some valuable Web 2.0 tools to use, all we have to do is challenge ourselves to learn more about them and allow students to extend their learning beyond the walls of their schools.
The final discussion question is:
1. Now that the book study nears its end, identify some of the things we were unable to cover but which you would like to know more about.
REMINDER: Post your search engine chart, if you have not already done so. Also, check the "Lessons" page of the website as Corliss will be posting a sample Revolutionary War lesson. Finally, put the finishing touches on your lesson to share with others. Please have it posted by next Monday so that everyone can access it at our face-to-face meeting.
You know I can't go without saying that as we develop our lessons we need to consider how to integrate technology into the picture. Berger has given us some valuable Web 2.0 tools to use, all we have to do is challenge ourselves to learn more about them and allow students to extend their learning beyond the walls of their schools.
The final discussion question is:
1. Now that the book study nears its end, identify some of the things we were unable to cover but which you would like to know more about.
REMINDER: Post your search engine chart, if you have not already done so. Also, check the "Lessons" page of the website as Corliss will be posting a sample Revolutionary War lesson. Finally, put the finishing touches on your lesson to share with others. Please have it posted by next Monday so that everyone can access it at our face-to-face meeting.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Week 6 Plugging in the Big6
Up to this point in class we have been exploring the six steps of the Big6. We've learned that each step has required its own skill set and hopefully you have seen the importance of giving the students plenty of opportunities and time to learn them. Remember incredible things can be built once a solid foundation is in place. Now it is time for you to develop an open-ended problem where your students, with your support, can practice using the Big6 problem-solving model. Chapter 13 has some great examples if you are still struggling.
Ideally, the students will quickly identify exactly what their task is and be able to come up with ideas for resources and how to access them. Steps 1-3 should really be done before they ever get on a computer. Step 4 is still going to be a struggle for many of them. Chapter 14 goes into how to help students stay focused when searching for information. Success in this area really comes once students understand good note taking strategies. I will send out a Trash & Treasure Template that was created by a SPED teacher in our district. We found that her students could really identify the "nuggets of treasure" when given this template. Organization is VERY IMPORTANT at this step as well. (A two-pocket, three-pronged folder works well!) Synthesis and Evalution can be completed much more efficiently if your students really "get" how to use information.
Your students may get a little frustrated with the Big6 in the beginning because you are slowing them down and walking them through each step pretty slowly and they just want to jump in and start getting information. I can honestly say that once they understand the process of the Big6 they will see how the problem-sovling method works for so many tasks. It is not always a long drawn out process, sometimes it is a quick check-list. Chapter 15 shows us how to help students apply the Big6 in other areas. This is a chapter I think a lot of core content teachers would appreciate.
Discussion Topics:
1) Needham provides sample lessons in Chapter 13. Select one and discuss some of the strengths and weaknesses of that lesson.
2) After reviewing the Trash and Treasure template I sent to each of you, share your ideas for a note-taking device that would be helpful for your students.
Ideally, the students will quickly identify exactly what their task is and be able to come up with ideas for resources and how to access them. Steps 1-3 should really be done before they ever get on a computer. Step 4 is still going to be a struggle for many of them. Chapter 14 goes into how to help students stay focused when searching for information. Success in this area really comes once students understand good note taking strategies. I will send out a Trash & Treasure Template that was created by a SPED teacher in our district. We found that her students could really identify the "nuggets of treasure" when given this template. Organization is VERY IMPORTANT at this step as well. (A two-pocket, three-pronged folder works well!) Synthesis and Evalution can be completed much more efficiently if your students really "get" how to use information.
Your students may get a little frustrated with the Big6 in the beginning because you are slowing them down and walking them through each step pretty slowly and they just want to jump in and start getting information. I can honestly say that once they understand the process of the Big6 they will see how the problem-sovling method works for so many tasks. It is not always a long drawn out process, sometimes it is a quick check-list. Chapter 15 shows us how to help students apply the Big6 in other areas. This is a chapter I think a lot of core content teachers would appreciate.
Discussion Topics:
1) Needham provides sample lessons in Chapter 13. Select one and discuss some of the strengths and weaknesses of that lesson.
2) After reviewing the Trash and Treasure template I sent to each of you, share your ideas for a note-taking device that would be helpful for your students.
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