Last Class May 7th including Reflection Paper

Wednesday the 7th of May was the last class for the MILI group. It was a good time to reflect on what we had accomplished the last 8 months and to plan for the future. We had a good time talking with each other about the progress we made and heard some great ideas of have individuals planned to expand and continue to explore research tools for the 2008-2009 school year. I had the reflection paper finished, so I turned in a copy to Diane and to Ann. I will also post a copy here on the blog. Till next year enjoy the summer.

Kathleen Beaman
Patrick Henry High School
May 7, 2008

Metronet Information Literacy Initiative

This past year three Minneapolis High School Media Specialists and teachers from their individual schools had the opportunity to participate in a program to integrate technology, research and literacy skills into the classroom. This year only three high schools choose to participate, Henry, South, and Wellstone. Unfortunately in the end, only one staff member from Henry choose to participate, but fortunately for me, as I was able to concentrate my time with one individual teacher and her classes, not that it stopped me from using the skills with other teachers and students. We were required to begin the course with a three day, two hour training session in October. As the year progressed, we continued to meet once a month for a two-hour session during the months of November, January, February, March, April, and May for a total of 18 hours of classroom instruction. At each session MILI staff introduced at least one of the twenty-three Informational Literacy skills. Our responsibility was to complete 17 items considered Core skills to teaching literacy during the two-hour sessions and on our own to choose another six skills from the list. We were asked to blog on our individual pages what we covered in class, and what we learned on our own.

I entered this class thinking that it would be mainly a lot of review and “putting in my time.” How wrong could I be! During the first session we took post it notes and rated our selves on a scale for each of the 17 literacy skills. I was shocked at how little I truly knew about each of the skills. Although I knew something about most of the items, I could not honestly rate myself as an expert at any one item.

I would like to use this opportunity to talk about some of my favorite activities that I have experienced this past year. My number one favorite of all the activities was setting up a Del.icio.us account. A Del.icio.us account is basically a website designed to keep track of all the websites that you would like to access without having to constantly re-goggle every time you log on to a different computer. I really like this feature. In the past I would have to reset up the bookmarks on each of the computers I used. Very time consuming. This is definitely one activity skill that I will continue to use.

My next favorite activity was the opportunity to explore digital maps and image collections on line. I think my ultimate favorite site was the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Digital Library System. This web site contains a collection of still life photos from 10 U.S. Fish and Wildlife image libraries from around the country. As an example I put in a search on the subject Polar Bears that resulted in 29 records or images displayed for my use. When I selected an image the web site presented me with the image(s), its title, and library source. I could download the image to my computer if I desired. I especially liked the fact that it gave me all the information I needed to do a proper citation with out seeking the information. I also enjoyed visiting the NYPL Digital Gallery. This free website allows you to explore for images under the following categories: Arts and Literature, Cities and Buildings, Culture and Society, History and Geography, Industry and Technology, Nature and Science, Printing and Graphics. If you are not sure which category to search under, the website will search all categories for you if you select that option. It was a little confusing at first, but after exploring and trying a few different search entries it became quite simple. The older students shouldn’t have any problems using it, but younger students would need guidance. What these websites offer is an alternative to the usual image search of google that does not give the students the proper citation information for developing a proper bibliography.

Other skills that I foresee using in the future with students are:
1. The Research Project Calculator. This tool will assist students via a timeline, to keep students on track in the writing of a research paper.
2. Free websites designed to assist students in the writing of bibliographies. One of the best that I located and linked for students from my website is CitationMachine. This website was a snap to use. Some students have also use www.studentABC.com that students can use for either APA or MLA bibliographies.
3. Websites designed for educational games on line. I had a lot of fun with www.theproblemsite.com. The website contained several higher level thinking games for students to explore. I am participating in the game Treasure Hunt. I am still trying to solve the first clue. The game weaves this great story in which I have to figure out what does a turtle, the moon, a car and the human ear all have in common? I liked that it allowed the student to search for the answers without logging out of the game. Once you think you know the answer the game allows the user to enter temporarily the answer (not that you can't go back and change it) before heading on to the next clue. Once you have solved all the clues you enter your answers and if correct you can "win the Treasure". When exploring for websites, it seemed as if one could basically find a game to work on almost any skill you want on any grade level. It might not be exactly what you are hoping for but it sure is fun looking. It is surprising what one forgets when not required to regurgitate the skill on a daily basis. I might even be forced to look the monitor straight on and admit, " I'm not smarter than a Fifth Grader!"

One of the activities that I was extremely disappointed in was activity 28: Photos and Images, where the assignment was to explore the website Flickr. When I first logged on to the website and read it was a site where people share photos by accessing a map and attaching photos to that location. I thought neat, the students can access photos people took while on vacation and that would make these cities and towns more personalized. So imagine my shock when I put in Lancaster, PA and up came all these photos of a woman breast-feeding her child. Boy was I thankful that I explored before I showed a class. Sure pointed out the importance of exploring a website before using it with a class. I must admit that when I typed in my passion Christmas Ornaments, I was privilege to view some beautiful antique ornaments.

I invite you to visit my blog at henrypatriots.blogspot.com to read about the other Literacy skills covered during the last eight months.

Each Media Specialist was allotted a University Intern for a total of nine hours per week plus one hour for them to Blog on their experiences. This freed me up to work with the teacher participating in the program and to explore many of the tools we covered in class. I also had the time to step away from the desk and interact with the students as they came in to use the computers, look for a book, and work on homework assignments, or a staff member needing help without fear that the phone would ring, or a student would need to check out a book. I had a terrific Intern who worked well with the students and was not afraid to help me with many of the everyday tasks. If she saw a “chore” that needed to be done she jumped right in. She was willing to learn new skills and to follow through with the assign task till completed. I had no “fears” about leaving her in charge at the front desk. I would highly recommend her.

After all that we have learned this past year, I would recommend that this program should be open to include Minneapolis middle school teachers and media specialists. By the time students reach high school it would be nice if the basic research skills were covered and high school teachers could then concentrate on more advanced features. I understand that next year one of the requirements is that the research project be all year long. This requirement will be difficult for the high school teachers who may only see their classes for a semester.