On Being an Old New Learner

I have been working on a project with both the grade seven and eight students using the comiqs site. What a great site and for those students who completed the activity it was great.

1) I realised that I have a higher need to control the learning environment when I am unsure of my skills and understanding of the project. I don't find it easy just to roll with the situation. I want to type out the steps of the project rather than allowing students to "play" with the site. I also found that as my stress transfers to the students.

2) After several periods of working on the project I realised that there was something wrong with our school's ability to upload to the site. I had just assumed I was doing something wrong and had not instructed the students correctly. It find it frustrating to want to try new things with students and find that the system is not supportive of that learning.

3) It was easier for the second group of students who worked with the site. We worked in smaller groups, they seemed better able to work through the steps. And oh yes, Donna came out to help us!

4) Students need to have an email account for so many projects which can be done online.

5) Students whose parents have not said there pictures can be on the internet quickly phone home when they want to use photos of themselves and their friends.

So, as an older learner, I am going to need to be sure of the site I am using, ask questions of the tech department when I have questions, and trust that it will work.

I'm Back!

I have been back for a while, but this is my first post. Well...

1) In January I introduced the students to the reading comprehension strategy, making connections, as outlined in Reading is our Business written by Sharon Grimes. The students loved using the sticky notes. And I enjoyed hearing their comments and connections. Some students made the most incredible and meaningful connections. I have to say I was most impressed with a grade three student who made the connection between the illustrations in Owl Moon with a local artist, Allen Sapp. The older students found it the most difficult to make connections, or enjoyed the process the least.

2) I worked on a small unit introducing students to author's purpose. Which has gone well. I used a much simpler format than the one on making connections, and I felt it was more successful. I am mulling this over and looking at how I plan my next units. I want students to enjoy their time in the library and I want it to be a meaningful learning experience.

3) Today is the birthday of Dr. Seuss and I am excited about the unit I am going to introduce to students on Tuesday. It is amazing how many ideas and web sites are on the net for teachers to use. My website is small, but I am pleased with the links I found.

4) I continue to work on helping students to find books they will enjoy reading. We are putting out more buckets of books and hope to rotate these so there is always an easy way to find a book. I am developing genre author lists which we will post. As much as I want students to use these they are useful for me as well. I don't know the collection as well as I would like to. I also want to have a web page on the library web page which always have a list of the new books with a bit of a summary.

What Do Students Know About the Internet?

I am using the web site Welcome to the Web with students in grades seven and eight. This web site leads students through 5 main topics: 1) the internet, 2) guestbooks, 3) web browsers, 4) searching the net, and 5) researching on the net.The information is presented at a very elementary level. I find the graphics used to be very child like, for example one of the graphics used is a clown.After working though the first section I find that students need to be slowed down to read the information on the page, there is a lot of print on the pages. It seems that they are not used to reading all the print, but just want to find the link that leads them to the next page. As I listened to the students talk, they used each other to support their learning, as not all students knew what a hyperlink was.At the present time I think students know how to use parts of the internet but may not understand its structure and format. Then again, do I?

Success

I am on a medical leave right now recovering from surgery, but the last blog session with the grade sevens was our best. It was the best writing that we had produced and I believe it was because the students did their writing in a document program and then pasted it into the blog entry form. Students wrote with capitals and used better punctuation. Best of all we could spell check their work. I would certainly recommend this method of blogging.

Blogging With Students

I am blogging with grade seven students during a library class. It has been a slow and painful process, but today it felt like it was getting easier. I will find out tonight when I approve the students' comments.Techno question: Why has it been so painful?Answer is:1) I didn't provide good enough instruction into the process. I had not considered some of the problems we ran into. Students writing in a text message style. Students not having a book to write about. ( I may have rushed into a process without understanding it adequately.)2) I think students want to play with the computers and don't see the computer or my time with them as serious work. Students are keen to change their desktop, knowing it will disappear when they log out, and they want to play games.Reg Block told me yesterday at our meeting that students don't like to blog. He also said to persevere. And so I will.Today I had students use a rubric to evaluate 4 blog posts I had found on the internet and put together on a web page. I was pleased with those students I talked to, who saw what good writing looked like. We also reviewed what the purpose of blogging is.Tomorrow we learn to put an image into out blogs. Should be fun.

Away For A Time

I am at home recovering from hip surgery and am away from the school and the library. Before I left I needed to plan some activities to take the substitute teacher into November and December.

1) Our Flat Stanley letters had just started returning when I left. I think I may have been more excited than some of the students when the letters and pictures arrived. All the responses were excellent, from the pictures to the letters and gifts that people sent to the students. I can not thank these people enough for their hard work and for the parents who picked family members and friends who would take the time to respond to these student letters.

2) I pulled together a variety of books written by Patricia Polacco and some online resources, to be used by the substitute teacher with students from grades one to five. I love Patricia's books and hope that students will enjoy their introduction to her work and the reading comprehension strategies.

I am hoping to do some reading and ordering for the library while I am off. So far I have only got to the reading part. I am particularly wanting to explore young adult literature as I feel this is section of the library we need to build up. I just finished Sherman Alexie's book The Diary of a Part Time Indian. I was moved and touched by this extraordinary book! Wow! I can hardly wait to share it with teachers and students.

What's the definition of success?

I saw glimpses of what I want to have happen in the library this week and it was wonderful. The hard work and planning are paying off. I can see us building on the work of one week in the next and see where we could go in the future. (It would be easier with a scope and sequence or continuum of skills. I have found several examples from other school and need to do some work in this area.)
1) Students were excited about this last batch of books that arrived. Some students are bringing me the names of books they would like me to order.
2) All the students from grades 1 to 3 are participating in my first planned unit on Flat Stanley.
3) I felt some small success with the grade sevens and their blogs and am confident enough to try it with the grade eights.
4) In some classes I am seeing students choose to take out the books which I introduced to them two weeks ago. As one student brings in one of these book another student signs it out. Students are excited and tell me about reading them at home.
5) There are several students who are making more appropriate reading selections for their ability and age. In one case a young boy is choosing to take out books rather than magazines which are to hard for him to read. I hope I have been a using a light touch in encouraging and presenting books and magazines to him which meet the criteria of "the right book". It has been a pleasure to see students sign out books which have more depth than the ones they first signed out this year. I am pleased with the number of books the younger students are signing out and returning. However, not all students at the older grades are signing out books.
6) As I learn the names of students and clarify the expectations for the library it becomes easier to "teach". I so want students to see the value of what we do in the library.
Is this the library program I hope to develop? No, but I can start to see the possibilities and for today that is my definition of success.