Monday 27 January 2014
Reading Review: Part B
I think I just shot down the rabbit hole. Wonderland always seemed a tich exciting, a touch terrifying, and a lot bizarre. Searching through the networks of blogs and journals and teacher websites has left me wondering why I don't do this more often. Likely time is a factor. Everything is so colourful, so positive, so inspiring. You can tell I'm still grinning like the Cheshire Cat.
I'm very excited about some of the new ideas for teaching (guiding?) student research. I've been thinking a lot about how my approach is rather archaic and hum drum and now I'm coming across articles suggesting mind maps and social bookmarking as tools students can use to organise their resources. So obvious! Here I'm thinking, or teaching, we write notes or we print the page and highlight. We write our sites and books down on a little bibliography sheet I have. Yikes! We could be doing so much more! And so simply!
Apologies for all the exclamation marks. My thoughts are shouting.
So I've been cruising around the web dibbling in this and dabbling in that. I've compiled a list in a bookmarking site called Delicious.
Check it out.
I can't wait to try out some of these new ideas, particularly the use of new search engines and popular encyclopedias such as Wikipedia. I feel as though the options around research are opening up before me into a rich and vibrant animation. Unlike Alice, I don't plan on waking up anytime soon.
Tuesday 21 January 2014
Reading Review: Part A
Okay.
Here goes.
While this brainstorm feels rather vague and nebulous to me, I suppose catching and pinning down some of the few thoughts fluttering through my brain will result in an organised space of ideas which might well encourage further topics and categories.
For the past two and a half years, I've worked as the teacher librarian in middle schools (a different school for each year). Since Christmas, which has been two weeks plus two days, I've found myself in a elementary school, working as the teacher librarian and prep teacher. Honestly, this has been a big change for me. I find myself wondering how I will incorporate some of the web 2.0 ideas which seemed so pertinent in middle school into this elementary world. Trained as a high school teacher, I feel a little uncertain as to the expectations around teaching small people. I'm also still learning about their capabilities.
My new school is much more limited in tech availability. I do not have iPads at my disposal and have only three computers in the library. Furthermore, many students have limited or no access to tech at home. Nonetheless, it is important that they are given opportunities around technology and are able to experiment and learn more about this arena.
In addition, I will teach each class of students in grades 2-5 for forty five minutes each week. This time will allow me to explore topics of interest around Web 2.0. I feel as though I will need to start simply with my students based on what I know about their demographic and web experience. I think that navigation of the web and a basic understanding of web resources is really important for these students. How to find resources is critical. How to evaluate these resource is equally critical. What to do with the information that we find is, once again, just as critical.
I feel as though this list will likely shift a little as I become more certain of my school and my role in it. But for now, here lies some of my interest in list, brainstorm form:
https://bubbl.us/?h=1d333b/3ad41e/19gPunNduq.LI
Upon looking through our digital competencies, and paging through blogs and sites of more accomplished teacher librarians, I was able to distill some of my own key focus areas. As I arranged the words and areas of interest into my brainstorm, I found myself the most interested and engaged by the ideas of research and the potentials and pitfalls of online research. Hmmm. Likely this will be a focus of my study.
Here goes.
While this brainstorm feels rather vague and nebulous to me, I suppose catching and pinning down some of the few thoughts fluttering through my brain will result in an organised space of ideas which might well encourage further topics and categories.
For the past two and a half years, I've worked as the teacher librarian in middle schools (a different school for each year). Since Christmas, which has been two weeks plus two days, I've found myself in a elementary school, working as the teacher librarian and prep teacher. Honestly, this has been a big change for me. I find myself wondering how I will incorporate some of the web 2.0 ideas which seemed so pertinent in middle school into this elementary world. Trained as a high school teacher, I feel a little uncertain as to the expectations around teaching small people. I'm also still learning about their capabilities.
My new school is much more limited in tech availability. I do not have iPads at my disposal and have only three computers in the library. Furthermore, many students have limited or no access to tech at home. Nonetheless, it is important that they are given opportunities around technology and are able to experiment and learn more about this arena.
In addition, I will teach each class of students in grades 2-5 for forty five minutes each week. This time will allow me to explore topics of interest around Web 2.0. I feel as though I will need to start simply with my students based on what I know about their demographic and web experience. I think that navigation of the web and a basic understanding of web resources is really important for these students. How to find resources is critical. How to evaluate these resource is equally critical. What to do with the information that we find is, once again, just as critical.
I feel as though this list will likely shift a little as I become more certain of my school and my role in it. But for now, here lies some of my interest in list, brainstorm form:
https://bubbl.us/?h=1d333b/3ad41e/19gPunNduq.LI
Upon looking through our digital competencies, and paging through blogs and sites of more accomplished teacher librarians, I was able to distill some of my own key focus areas. As I arranged the words and areas of interest into my brainstorm, I found myself the most interested and engaged by the ideas of research and the potentials and pitfalls of online research. Hmmm. Likely this will be a focus of my study.
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