Caroline blogged this week about a trip that she and a couple of others took to the school where they'll be teaching, and she wrote about meeting an inspiring media specialist. I was thinking about this as I listened to a presentation done by a woman named Joyce Valenza from the Philadelphia area (more details in a minute). Her presentation was about what she calls information fluency--helping kids to thoughtfully engage with and utilize information AND to be more sophisticated learners and creators of content. She touched on a couple of ideas that I thought might interest you. First, she speaks of a dimension that we'd not yet addressed...the idea of using blogs as sources. She presented with a teacher from her building who encouraged kids to do this, but who also wanted to scaffold their engagement with this task. They shared a template they had created for evaluating blogs, which can be found here. While you're there, I'd encourage you to have a look at what Joyce calls curricular pathfinders. These are sets of pointers to online resources organized thematically. They point to some databases that schools must subscribe to, so you'll be a bit constrained, but there's a lot that you *will* be able to see and the idea itself is a most interesting one. It also suggests a good question to add to your list of questions when you do the "tech at my school" assignment (or anytime!) Which research databases does my school subscribe to? There's lots of cool stuff being put out there, some of which costs a bit of $$, and if your library is subscribed to some of these databases you media specialist will likely only be too happy to see it being used.
Oh. The presentation that I spoke of took place at the NECC Conference in Atlanta earlier this month. I heard Joyce's presentation (and was turned on to a treasure trove of resources that she shared) here (via Apple Learning Exchange) or on itunes by subscribing to "conference Connections."
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i haven't actually read caroline's blog about the trip, but i am working with her... and it was quite interesting to see ms. grimes first of all be completely volunteer-basis (but there like 60 hours a week), but also to make sure that the students are going to gain a competancy in the DEWEY DECIMAL SYSTEM (which i love, being a library geek). her view of technology was as a support system, but not replacing the basic skills of being able to look something up in an encyclopedia. she has a love for books that i share, and i am destined to find a way to connect the love for books, with a love for technology. they are not diametrically opposed, they are both great tools for learning, you know?
i'm also really excited about making an organic connection with a teacher in houston whom i'm trying to get a dialogue started with (as well as help him with the logistics of setting up a classroom blog. he wants me to participate in it, too, as an outside correspondent). i need to email you about some logistics, but am quite excited to interact in this way with another classroom in the fall.
Lauren, the posting you responded to was erased so I don't have the full context for your comments, alas. Just keep me posted about the connection with the teacher in Houston, though. It sounds exciting and I'd be delighted to see this grow into an Ed 504 fall internship...we're very open to the possibility of your being a blog mentor/collaborator.
Wow! Thanks so much for wiki links, Jeff. They were very, very helpful. I hadn't been thinking outside the realm of what I use Wikipedia for, but now I can see all the possibilities.
The AP World History review wiki is a great idea. Not only do students participate in creating an entry, but they can all then use the entire wiki to study for their exam. It might be neat to have on-going exam wikis throughout the year so students can help each other study and have their resources in one place.
Some other ideas I liked were an FAQ site and a Document Consensus wiki. Both could work well in a Social Studies setting (my content area). I just like the idea of students taking pride in a collective website that is actually a helpful part of their education. Thanks for pointing me towards all these great ideas!
Marissa, you write that "(you) just like the idea of students taking pride in a collective website that is actually a helpful part of their education" I think this is very well said, and illuminates a powerful idea. I don't mean to be cynical, but I fear that too often we're not thinking about giving kids opportunities to take real ownership over their learning and to feel a sense a pride in something they've done in school...especially in class. Athletes, actors and artists may have such feelings connected to work done in school, but the enthusiasm that fires extra-curricular activities is often missing in academic classes and if we can capture some genuine enthusiasm for our classes that would represent a HUGE step.
Keep on thinking and exploring, Marissa.
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