Millenials

Know your millenials so you can better teach them how to research. This will create amazing information literate beings who contribute to society by making it better.

Q. What's a millenial you ask?

Good question!

A. Anyone born between 1982 and 2001 give or take a year.

Managed Q

Check out the coolest new visual search application....it will forever change the way you search from this point on.....

I created a lesson to promote it as a research tool for teachers, but you can just go to http://www.managedq.com on your own and play around. There's a tutorial, a forum and an about to learn more about an awesome new application.

Don't forget to check out the cute guy who started it all!

Here's my lesson link. Fun looking at all the new tools I can share with my students and colleagues. It was difficult to choose just one.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/15778465/ManagedQword

For more great ways to use Web 2.0 tools and teach research, check out
Kids Search Tools

refdesk.com

elearners.com

web 2 point 0 for teachers

What does Information Literacy Look Like in a School Library?

Here is a great resource that will tell you all about it!

Riedling, A. M. (2004). Information literacy: What does it look like in the school library media center? Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited.

This is an all-inclusive practical guide book written for both practicing school library media specialists and for courses that prepare college/university students for undergraduate and graduate degrees in school library media, that discusses information literacy, research, independent learning, ethics and more. It is aimed specifically for school library media specialist's use. The overall goal is to teach what information literacy looks like in general, in school, in a classroom, in your mind and in life. It is a guide designed to lead SLMSs through the information literacy procedure. Because it is a practical guide it provides helpful scenarios to explain what information literacy looks like.

I love this book! I know it's 5 years old, but everything in it is relevant. I found another title I'm trying to get my hands on that looks like it will be extremely useful and it's only 2 years old: Information Literacy Cookbook. I'm still awaiting the Eisenberg book; sometimes CPL holds take longer than a week.

Role of Games in a School Library Media Program

Why not? It's an educational tool that engages students during learning experiences; probably more than any other tool.

I love that there is research about using gaming to teach and that I can use that when I make my budget pitch to my principal and Local School Council. I found the School Libraryland blog and the online toolkit for building gaming @ your library especially enlightening. Genesee Valley BOCES IS a trailblazer in this area. I look forward to sharing this information with my colleagues.

I have many games in my school library such as boggle, scrabble, connect four, Uno, and the like. I also have a chess club, which has grown into a very popular game at my school over the last two years. I've been teaching the faculty too. It's a lot of fun and the students LOVE to play against teachers. I teach reading and math via chess and it's probably been one of the greatest experiences in my career. If you don't have chess at your school, I would recommend starting up an afterschool program...it is amazing how engaged students can be and it doesn't involve anything electronic:) But it can, obviously, we play chess on the computers as well.

I have been using a scavenger hunt to teach students how to use the library and it's probably the lesson that they are most engaged in throughout the year. It's very effective for teaching them where resources are located as well as what info. the resource provides. The competitive aspect is fun because there are always prizes for the first few who complete it. Students also enjoy choosing their partners to work together. I typically don't include the Internet as a resource for this specific activity because we do so many other info. quest type activities with it throughout the year. We do use our computers to access gaming sites.

Is Blocking a site for their own good or is it Censorhip?

Can it be both?

What is the best way to keep students' learning environment safe and not infringe on their right to intellectual freedom?

We have an acceptable use policy (AUP) and consequences listed in our district's Uniform Discipline Code, but nothing specific at the school level. We have consistent problems with students accessing inappropriate content. I have taken away computer use privileges (which is what I inform the students and parents - that using the library and its resource is a PRIVILEGE that can be lost) from students who choose to do this. It does not, however, mean they lose access throughout the school. I would like to form a representative committee of my school community to include students, parents, staff as well as a CPL librarian to create an AUP that enforces and extends what the district has already laid out for us. This committee would also need to create a program for teaching students and parents about the dangers of Internet use and defining explicitly what acceptable use entails. Q & A is necessary for students and parents for these educational hot topics. Internet safety is not something that is addressed in my school. Hopefully I can change that this year. Again, the articles will really help me to put forth the message about how we have a duty and responsibility as educators to address this issue. I think I will be met with rigorous support.

While we have district filters, students are still able to type in a name in Google and get loads of images of women with large breasts, nice huh? We also have policies against MP3 players and cell phones, which are confiscated consistently and repeatedly. These are not working, so what's next?

I guess censorship, but is that right? Is there a happy medium? Protecting students and providing intellectual freedom per the first amendment....is it possible?

Do you use primary sources to teach? You should!

I have two great Web resources I like to access to teach using primary sources; an LCD projector is key if you can get one. If not, I have been using PSs successfully without one. I'm including an additional resource that I happened across because it looks like it's something useful for expanding our repertoires of online resources.

1.) ALA - Using Primary Sources on the Web

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/rusa/sections/history/resources/pubs/usingprimarysources/index.cfm

This info can obviously be accessed via ala.org, but the direct link to References and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of ALA , is noted above. They have a section on using primary sources on the Web. This includes the definition, finding, evaluating, and citing a primary source. All of which students should be taught when using primary sources to support curriculum content and for the purpose of research.

2.) Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/teachers/

This is probably one you already know about, but I have been using this site to develop lessons for over a year and it's proved to be extremely valuable. There are myriad primary sources available as well as lesson plans that incorporate what is available here. This is a resource that is valuable for more than just primary sources, but it has a great collection of sources you can use to support content areas, particularly in history/social science. Go to spotlight on teachers in the center of this page using above URL to access lessons on Learning Page, American Memory and more. You can even ask a librarian a question! It's awesome. One could spend hours on this site and I have!

3.) Primary Sources at Yale

http://www.yale.edu/collections_collaborative/primarysources/primarysources.html

Check out the overview of collections and tools for discovery! Awesome!

Are you a SLMS or a Wannabe?

Then you must know more about assessment and what it should look like in a SLMP=]

I found an article on the School Library Media Activities Monthly site.

School Library Media Activities Monthly/Volume XXIII, Number 3/November 2006
Building Evidence Folders for Learning through Library Media Centers
by Violet H. Harada

Copy and paste URL below to access this article.

http://www.schoollibrarymedia.com/articles/Harada2006v23n3p25.html

This article focuses on two important questions for creating more authentic library programs:
* How does your library media center support student learning?
* What compelling evidence do you have that students have achieved the learning targets?
An experiment using evidence folders was conducted to tackle the issue of assessment in Hawaii's school library media centers. Twenty-four K-12 library media specialists participated in a pilot project to develop evidence folders. These folders were intended as communication tools with key stakeholder groups in the school community. The data and information included in the folder center on the library media center's contribution to academic achievement. The core of the evidence folder is the synthesis and analysis of student learning that results from library instruction. SLMSs guided their practice using essential questions, reflection, and peer critiques. The critical message is that library media centers contribute directly to student achievement.

I'm also including 2 links to Web resources for assessment and evaluation of student media products. I use rubrics and checklists constantly.

Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/assess.html

MidLink Magazine - Rubrics and Evaluation Resources
http://ncsu.edu/midlink/ho.html

Assessment

SPRING 2009--TEACHING RESEARCH TO CHILDREN--ASSESSMENT CHECKLIST

Student researchers at ABC school should be able to exemplify the standards of information literacy, independent learning and social responsibility. The following is a list on the assessment tools that the library uses to ensure student research quality, consistency and reliability.

INFORMATION LITERACY
Students can identify and formulate a problem using subject-specific concepts;

Students can formulate the research question(s), hypotheses and expectations (if any);

INDEPENDENT LEARNING
Students can make and monitor the research plan: research design and time schedule;

Students can gather and select information/data;

Students can assess the value and utility of the data;

Students can analyze the data;

Students can draw conclusions;

Students can evaluate the research

Student have the confidence and know-how to accurately reflect on their own progress and achievement

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Students can develop and substantiate a personal point of view;

Students can report (describe) and present (communicate) the research;

Students can show an appreciation for literature and other creative expressions of information;

Students show an understanding of diverse sources, contexts, disciplines, and cultures

Students share knowledge and information with others

Students collaborate with others, both in person and through technologies, to design, develop, and evaluate information products
and solutions