Middle School Research Resources: April Updates

In my previous post, I discussed my initial plans for developing a Google Site as a hub for Middle (and potentially Elementary) students to access several resources and tutorials to help streamline the more technical aspects of the research/writing process, particularly related to creating "bibliographies/works" cited pages. My hope is that this site will be easily accessible to students and teachers alike and might help research skills become more integrated into all disciplines rather than just Language Arts.

I began attacking the project in broad strokes, and have since realized that it's best to keep steps small, practical and specific. I've decided to focus on a recorded lesson that students/teachers can access - students will be able to mimic the process to learn how to create a bibliography, format it, alphabetize it and even begin creating correctly-formatted citations for each entry. On April 17 I performed a lecture/presentation with my 7th graders in LA in which I demonstrated the use of parenthetical citations. I would like to write a rough transcript of the lesson and record it in a polished, streamlined video. With a new focus I have also come across a resource that is exciting in that I think I will be able to abandon the ad-cluttered Easybib.com and time-worn KnighCite for another sleek and simple citation. This will be explained further on in this entry.

Challenges

Research being a multi-faceted skill, it has been difficult to decide exactly where to begin in the project. After much time has gone by, it became too challenging to approach the site as a single project. Instead I will be tackling the project step-by-step, focusing intensely on each variable of research in time rather than rushing an all-encompassing but shallow final product. Likely this full site will take longer than a year to complete, especially while I am teaching full-time and in grad school.

Celebrations

A frustration has yielded a breakthrough. One of the most crucial tools for research-writing projects are services that allow students to build, edit, curate (etc) bibliographies in a correct format. While we do have analogue resources to do this, they are time consuming and realistically archaic, especially as they are resources that students will find less accessible in future academic settings, especially as more and more schools go digital.

The two tools I've used most frequently in the past are more problematic with each passing year. KnightCite seems to no longer be updated and will therefor not be able to provide any support for students using websites hosting online videos (eg: YouTube). Furthermore, KnightCite is far outshined by EasyBib, the site most readily advertised for this category of academics. However, over time EasyBib has turned into a product and has been heavily monetized, resulting in cumbersome operation and screens crawling with ads. This is no longer good for students, and it is inefficient anyway.

In my search for a solution I stumbled across a resource called ZoteroBib. This website is perhaps the simplest, sleekest citation website I have ever seen. It is updated enough to keep up with the updated trends of research, but simple enough to easily encourage students to use the "Manual Cite" option to help students more fully understand the "formula" used to generate a bibliography entry. An exciting bonus is that the website also automatically generates parenthetical citations for each entry entered into the bibliography - a concept that can take a long time for students to understand otherwise.

Support

I am hoping that it is understandable that I am choosing to narrow my focus, and that the Google Site itself will probably be a long time coming.

Disability Awareness/Empathy Unit

What challenges have you encountered? 

We found it challenging to find meaningful and effective applications that were free or affordable. We also found it difficult to complete all of the tasks in our class time. Finding connections to speakers who could share about various disabilities was an additional challenge for us.

What celebrations?

The students certainly have a heightened awareness and appreciation for people who live with disabilities. Another highlight was when Mr. Perry came in and shared about how he helped design the Mary Free Bed YMCA to be inclusive in all areas and to all people.

How has thinking changed on the original goals?

Originally, we thought that the students would formulate responses and videotape in some capacity; however, time did not along for that. Our goal was to publish responses using some form of technology.

What support do you need?

We could use support in finding connections to speakers, additional programs or tools that would be helpful for students with disabilities, and ways we could integrate this into other classes to allow for more time.

Update on Individualized Math Instruction...

Goal:  My original goal was to investigate different online resources and to see how they could help facilitate some individualized learning and enrichment.

Challenges:  My biggest challenges have been dealing with many of the questions that students have when they applying the instructional video to their homework.  After giving up time to have them watch some of these videos on their own, I feel that I have often ended up having to re-teach the lesson in my own voice to get them to understand.

Celebration:  Not sure that this is an intended celebration, but partly because of thinking through this idea, I have got in the habit of regularly making online videos on days when I'm absent and I have started posting all of my notes in class on my moodle page.  These have been well appreciated by the students so that days I'm gone go well and then if they are absent they know where to look to get some hints at what they missed.

Thinking Changed:  Well...still struggling I suppose with thinking through how to push some students and keeping the rest of the class on pace when giving up control.  This is still a work in progress and will continue next year as I'm switching math courses.

Raspberry Pi shelved and replaced by Scratch Coding

• What challenges have you encountered? I had originally considered working more closely with outdoor education to install sensors in the hoop house and greenhouse to have students collect data from the sensors for science lessons. I had hoped to do this with my after school Lego Programming Club, but the timeline of that group was too quick and directed by the competition to devote the time necessary to this project.
• What celebrations? I decided instead to focus on incorporating more coding across the curriculum in various projects. I have been able to use Scratch to create projects in 2nd, 4th and 5th grades. Being able to work closely with teachers on projects that make sense with the curriculum has been inspirational.
• How has thinking changed on the original goals? I would need time with Alan, Bill and a grade level teacher to plan a data collection project from beginning to end so that a timeline of technology installation and lessons could be rolled out and then implemented succinctly.
• Has a new focus emerged? The new focus has been on pre-planning for next year with a meeting with a self-selected classroom teacher in order to build lessons together that fit into an already established classroom goal.
• What support do you need? I need more conversations with Alan and Bill / Leah in order to write code for the raspberry pi's and to determine which data to track in the hoops house / greenhouse.

Overall, this experience was great for First grade!

We did run into a few challenges using PebbleGo. Due to the fact that we did it with two sections, we had limited headphones available. This kept some of our students from listening to the content and being able to comprehend the information. Our students are still working on basic tech skills like logging on and off, finding the correct browser, and clicking in the correct spot. We know that with time our kids will gain these skills. We now know how to better prep our students and different ways to utilize the space in the computer lab.

We LOVED the different facts and tidbits our kids learned about cultures around the World and the variety of information that was presented. Our students also loved being able to work together. We stayed on target with our original goals. We tried hard to keep our goals appropriate for the age and skill level of our students. We want to find other areas in our curriculum to utilize PebbleGo. We know that Jackie is always there to help as well as each other.

Smart Music Updates:
Challenges - TIME....and aspects of the interface that have not been resolved (they are working on it)

Celebrations - SM has 3 of our books!

Thinking - I think I will use it as a GT thing instead of a full grade thing

New Focus: use as a GT tool

Support - (can you create extra time in the day? :)) Haha.....I will get there, I will! :)

Reflection on Farm Stand Website

For my project this year, I decided to have students create websites to combine harvesting, the Farm Stand, writing, and technology.

Each student created a website on a vegetable that we grow in the hoop house. All of their websites were connected to the main Farm Stand website. We will (hopefully) soon share our website with the community! We would love to keep it updated with what we are specifically selling on Wednesdays and Thursdays, but I am not sure who would be in-charge of the regular updates.

I have a couple of "celebrations." My students are so much more techie than they use to me. I can't believe the growth. They also have much more ownership of the vegetable they researched. Leah mentioned overhearing them talk to each other with pride about "their" vegetable. I would love for students to feel more about more ownership when it comes to harvesting and selling.

Next year I would like to connect this unit with science. While we look  at "range of tolerance" in science or "optimal conditions," students can find find that information about their vegetable. Because I will most likely be full-time next year, I will be able to be part of the OE classes, harvesting, and the Farm Stand in a way I could not this year.