Thing #3 Assignment

Thing #3 Blog

What is easy for you about teaching research?
Getting organized is easy for me. Breaking it down into smaller pieces for the students is something I've done enough now and fee comfortable with.

What are the challenges?
Motivating students to do the work. In our instant gratification society, they want the answer right away. Wikipedia comes to mind. After looking at some of links, on Factmonster, for example, it is obvious to my why students are so tempted to cut and paste. I think the challenge is what we have already discussed - how to create good "plagiarism proof" assignments, and how to teach students the skills so they don't feel like they need to cheat to accomplish the objectives.

How might the RPC Teacher Guide help you plan and manage research projects?
When I first saw this in Aug. I e-mailed it to every teacher I knew. It can be huge in helping kids stay on task, especially if it is a long term assignment.

How can you keep the planning, teaching and managing of research projects sane for you as a teacher?
By using tools such as Rubistar, it can keep the grading of it more manageable. A good rubric and solve many problems and create better products. It matters when kids know exactly what is expected of them.

What additional support or resources do you need to be successful in this area of information literacy?
More paid time to explore and create meaningful projects. More time to do this in teams, as projects created collaboratively are usually better.

Other Comments:

After looking at the various links given at Thing #3, I think it would be VERY helpful if District 112 would get organized and adopt a "Research Process", such as the one put out by RPC or the other organizations/universities listed. It would be helpful for students to hear the same message in their various grades/classes throughout their 6-12 education. Also - do BOTH middle schools teach and information technology class now? Is that going to continue? Where is Cathy Gallagher when we need her?

Databases

So tonight we looked at Databases. It was great to have time to actually search around. It was fun, but also frustrating - probably a good experience as we ask students to do things all the time w/o remembering being in their shoes. For example, I was looking for a specific political cartoon. It took me 30 min. to find it - yikes!

FDR's Fireside Chats replaced by Obama's Personal E-Mails

Since I'm behind on posting, I'm going to get another one here tonight.

I have to comment on the impressive and effective use of technology during the Obama campaign. The way they used and sent me personal e-mails, address just to me of course, gave me the impression that Obama was talking to ME. Remember what we say w/our students - perception is reality. I mean, how many times did he respectfully ask me to donate just $5, $10 or $15 more?

I think this strategy, along w/others of course, made a big difference in his win and has massive potential to make his Presidency more effective.

Think of the social capital he has now going forward - millions of e-mail addresses that he could potentially send messages to. Soon you are going to hear "Yes we Can!" around the nation and the world!

Further, think of all the funny e-mails you got that keep the propaganda going (palinforpresident.com was my favortie). Will.i.am's song on YouTube - the list goes on an on.

This election, this presidency, will break boundaries on so many different levels. Hopefully, the boundaries breaking will contiue to be only for the better.

The Online Reputation Game

OK - So I now realize I'm two weeks behind in blog. Since I haven't had anything to say and we were discouraged at the last mtg. not to blog unless it is something of substance, I haven't done it. But I did make it through the last two weeks of Term 1 and my grades were in on time, so I guess I'm making progress.

However, I do have something to write about tonight, so maybe this will make up for the past two weeks. Further, it is a Friday night at 10pm, and I definitely deserve extra credit for that.

The 10/6/08 issues of Time Magazine had an article entitled "Outsmart your Haters - How to Win the online reputation game". I don't know how many of you have googled your own name or have gone to the site "Rank Your Teacher". Many of you would be surprised to know you are on there. Students at my former HS, Wayzata, were notorious for going to the site. I have been at CHS since 2005 and no one has switched the commentary yet (which if fine, fortunately for me it was positive compared w/other colleagues), so I'm guessing not as many kids in our district know or care about it. However, it brings up some interesting points. As the author noted in the article "unbridled online attacks are wreaking havoc on people's reputations".

I love the story of one Professor who was criticized on RateMyProfessor for being a "rude, disrespectful, pretentious snob" and fought back w/a Web Video on Professors Fight Back. On it I guess he wrote "We're not there to babysit. We're there to train professionals. Grow up."

At our last class we discussed how certain websites get to the top of the google search. I still don't have that answer, however now I know I could go to an online reputation management firm, Reputation Hawk, and for $1,500/month, they can create Web pages that case me in a positive light. Since that fee would eat my entire paycheck, I think I'll pass on that.

However, this was the advice the Time author, Anita Hamilton gave: "Engage on your own - Attacks can lose their sting if you calmly respond to them..Post a reply, create your own site to correct the record or send an e-mail requesting a retraction." Good luck with that folks!