Truth: You love Google. Your students love Google. It’s often our first stop in the research process, and there’s nothing wrong with that—as long as you’re choosing the right Websites as sources.
Not all Websites are current, accurate, and relevant, and not all of the best content conveniently floats to the top of your search (read this article about Google’s algorithms, for example). Finding the right Websites to cite in research is a process in and of itself. That’s why Barb and I put together this five-step infographic to help your students navigate through the good and the bad on the Web. Consider making it a poster for your classroom!
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A few English teachers invited me into their classrooms a couple of weeks ago to talk to their students about interviewing. I began my presentation the way I always do, with a few anecdotes about my heydays as a journalist for the Daily Iowan, the University of Iowa’s daily student newspaper. I explained to the classes how I learned so much about the art of interviewing by talking to attorneys and university officials and everyday people about crime and city policy and life stories.
Conducting three interviews is a requirement for the I-Search, but by the time students get to English IV – Composition class, most have never conducted a single interview. Just like anything, interviewing takes practice. Below are a few tips I picked up along the way. Please feel free to share these with your classes, and please encourage them to find interview sources for your research assignments. The earlier we expose them to gathering information this way, the more prepared they will be by senior year. “Who can dispute the value of a good story? Though students may initially view them as dull, biographies are the stuff that great classroom activities are made of—history, honesty, and heroism.” – Education World
As teachers, we are always looking for ways to connect students to the notable people in our content areas: Sir Isaac Newton, Edgar Allen Poe, Vincent Van Gogh, Thomas Jefferson, etc. But how do we engage students in meaningful ways to discover the real story behind a person? I remember going to the Learning Center when I was in elementary, middle, and high school. I remember the librarians teaching us how to use the card catalog and how to use the index in the back of a book. I remember a sixth grade social studies project, when I had to research Australia and put together a flipbook about the continent, complete with pictures and my original writing. You probably have similar memories from your school days.
Today is different. I’m reading this book right now for a librarian class called Reference and Instructional Services for Information Literacy Skills in School Libraries. Chapter One quotes Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, as saying, “[these days] we create as much information every two days as was created from the beginning of human history to 2003.” That’s a lot of stuff, and our students need to receive instruction on how to effectively navigate through it all in school and in life. Barb Mason and I are attempting the seemingly impossible this summer: We’re going to find a way to make research instruction easier for teachers and more fun for students.
Together with lead teachers of freshman core classes—English I, Global Studies, Physics, and Health—we plan to develop an information literacy curriculum that will be integrated into these classes. Have you ever had students say they forgot their assignment at home or they didn’t know how to access our school resources? Do you have any upcoming projects that utilize a variety of print, database or online resources?
If you can answer yes to either of these questions, you’re going to love what aLibGuide can do for you and your students! As Antioch enters its centennial year, we have cause to reflect on how things were done in the past, present and future. Over the years, we have been able to build up our collection to over 20,000 items. While impressive for a school our size, the real question is whether or not the collection meets our current curricular needs.
A couple of years ago, I received an email from Jim McKay to locate some education articles for an upcoming meeting he was having—in two hours!! Of course, I promptly stopped what I was doing to locate his articles. I thought to myself, how hard could it be?? I knew that our student databases wouldn’t provide the articles he needed. Yet, I also knew I had the ERIC database up my sleeve. As I started to search, I discovered I could not have been more wrong….
If there is one thing that all of us appreciate in life, it’s free stuff. Okay, so everything in life isn’t free and there is a catch…
Other than the now defunct Google Reader, I had never heard of a blog reader service until a couple of weeks ago when my School Librarianship instructor at Illinois State University required me to sign up for one. I’ve been introduced to a whole new world!
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