Standard 3: Information and Knowledge
3.3.2. Information Technology: Candidates model and facilitate the effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research, learning, creating, and communicating in a digital society.
Artifact:
Collaborative Lesson Plan (Internship)
Artifact Materials
Collaborative Lesson Plan Presentation PowerPoint
Videos of First Day Collaborative Lesson Instruction
Como profesora de íngles, son pocas las veces que me encuentro con el problema de buscar materiales escritos en español (As a teacher of English, rarely do I find myself faced with the issue of finding enough research materials written in Spanish). And yet, I recently had to modify my instruction because of just that problem. For my collaborative lesson plan, I joined forces with a Spanish teacher to develop a unit on famous Spanish and Latino artists. We ran into trouble, however, because the publications accessible through the FCPS subscribed databases are mostly in English, and the more contemporary artists on our list are not in many of these publications because most of the resources about them are found in Spanish language publications.
This snafu was one of many in the numerous collaborative lessons I have presented in the library, both as a teacher and an intern. Bethany Brown, a Spanish teacher at the school where I interned, offered to work with me for the collaborative lesson. The unit we created allowed us to model and facilitate the use of digital technology and encourage students to use a variety of information resources as they researched, learned, created, and communicated in our 21st century digital society. The project combined Spanish composition with in-depth research and incorporated a multimedia component with a class-wide presentation.
The project began with two diagnostic activities. We provided the students with an article about Edgar Degas from Smithsonian magazine. The article detailed the chronology of Degas’ life and his growth as an artist. The class discussed the article noting Degas’ numerous areas of influence. The students also completed a survey about their interest in and prior knowledge of visual art. For both activities, the students were intrigued. Often in foreign language classes, teachers bombard students with extensive vocabulary acquisition and writing instruction. The unstructured quality of these two opening activities peaked their interest.
Following these two diagnostic activities, we moved into the research instruction. Again, students in an upper-level language class know how to use available digital tools; the types of classes they take emphasize digital research. Nonetheless, I created a note sheet and demonstrated effective uses of the databases. I reviewed some Boolean search strategies and citation tools. For one artist, as I modeled the search strategies, I happened upon an article written by a Catholic Review reporter. This find prompted discussion about author point-of-view. I had initially instructed the students to use only one or two reference materials and spend more time examining criticism and editorial articles. By examining the Catholic Review article, the students grasped the concept of author’s point-of-view; they recognized the need to move beyond merely using a resource to analyzing and evaluating its effectiveness. While this discussion was indeed beneficial, it was impromptu; I had not found this article before the lesson. Seeing how rich our discussion was, however, I want to use an article such as this one during all of my research lessons – having a model with a skewed point-of-view enhanced student understanding of author’s purpose as they researched.
The students spent three days on research. As they researched, they devoted time to finding resources that did not merely give surface information. They read editorials on the artists. They read descriptions of the gallery exhibitions of the artists’ works. They examined comparison and contrast articles about two or more artists. Many (not all!) understood how valuable information is when it comes from a source not written merely for expository purposes. And while I was thrilled with the learning that happened for the majority of the students, others struggled with identifying important information in the database articles. Biography research using encyclopedias is easy. The information is right there. Students struggle when they are asked to look for information in sources not written for high school research projects. As I move into the role of school librarian and present more and more of these collaborative research lessons, I want to address the higher-level source searching during the diagnostic portions of the lessons. The Degas article at the start of this project was effective, but could be even more so when paired with an encyclopedia article. Taking the time to show how information can be extracted from two (or more) different sources enhances the research process for all students.
This snafu was one of many in the numerous collaborative lessons I have presented in the library, both as a teacher and an intern. Bethany Brown, a Spanish teacher at the school where I interned, offered to work with me for the collaborative lesson. The unit we created allowed us to model and facilitate the use of digital technology and encourage students to use a variety of information resources as they researched, learned, created, and communicated in our 21st century digital society. The project combined Spanish composition with in-depth research and incorporated a multimedia component with a class-wide presentation.
The project began with two diagnostic activities. We provided the students with an article about Edgar Degas from Smithsonian magazine. The article detailed the chronology of Degas’ life and his growth as an artist. The class discussed the article noting Degas’ numerous areas of influence. The students also completed a survey about their interest in and prior knowledge of visual art. For both activities, the students were intrigued. Often in foreign language classes, teachers bombard students with extensive vocabulary acquisition and writing instruction. The unstructured quality of these two opening activities peaked their interest.
Following these two diagnostic activities, we moved into the research instruction. Again, students in an upper-level language class know how to use available digital tools; the types of classes they take emphasize digital research. Nonetheless, I created a note sheet and demonstrated effective uses of the databases. I reviewed some Boolean search strategies and citation tools. For one artist, as I modeled the search strategies, I happened upon an article written by a Catholic Review reporter. This find prompted discussion about author point-of-view. I had initially instructed the students to use only one or two reference materials and spend more time examining criticism and editorial articles. By examining the Catholic Review article, the students grasped the concept of author’s point-of-view; they recognized the need to move beyond merely using a resource to analyzing and evaluating its effectiveness. While this discussion was indeed beneficial, it was impromptu; I had not found this article before the lesson. Seeing how rich our discussion was, however, I want to use an article such as this one during all of my research lessons – having a model with a skewed point-of-view enhanced student understanding of author’s purpose as they researched.
The students spent three days on research. As they researched, they devoted time to finding resources that did not merely give surface information. They read editorials on the artists. They read descriptions of the gallery exhibitions of the artists’ works. They examined comparison and contrast articles about two or more artists. Many (not all!) understood how valuable information is when it comes from a source not written merely for expository purposes. And while I was thrilled with the learning that happened for the majority of the students, others struggled with identifying important information in the database articles. Biography research using encyclopedias is easy. The information is right there. Students struggle when they are asked to look for information in sources not written for high school research projects. As I move into the role of school librarian and present more and more of these collaborative research lessons, I want to address the higher-level source searching during the diagnostic portions of the lessons. The Degas article at the start of this project was effective, but could be even more so when paired with an encyclopedia article. Taking the time to show how information can be extracted from two (or more) different sources enhances the research process for all students.
On the third day, Bethany and I introduced the multimedia project component. Other than the research, the other assessed pieces were an essay, visual, and presentation. Bethany maintained control of the essay because her goal was for the students to use new Spanish vocabulary pertaining to art and photography in their writing – it was best that I not partake in the grading of all Spanish writing. However, we also required the students to create a multimedia visual. They had many options of which Bethany and I reviewed: Glogsters, Photostory presentations, Prezi presentations, Moviemaker videos, Audacity podcasts, PowerPoints. Most students had used a number of these options, so we needed only to review the basics of the programs. Students also had the option to create works of art that emulated the artists’ style. On the final day of the project, students presented to the class – again, in Spanish. I took part by asking questions and grading the multimedia portions of the presentations.
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This unit was obviously collaborative; collaboration was the primary component of the internship assignment. Yet, because of the extent to which McDaniel asks us to collaborate throughout the program, I ran out of standards to fill with collaborative projects! The Spanish project, however, meets every facet of this indicator. Through direct instruction, Bethany and I modeled how to effectively use both the research and creation tools so that the students were capable of locating, analyzing, evaluating, and using said tools in order to learn by creating and communicating their research and creations to their classmates.
My collaborative lesson provided me with the opportunity to spend time fully examining the databases in Frederick County. The school librarian usually prepares the database presentations. As I adopted my new role for this project, I realized that I needed to spend extra time with the databases in order to adopt the role of expert. And, except for small presentations here and there, this was my first large-scale collaborative unit where I was not teaching English. While Bethany and I hit some hiccups along the way, the enthusiasm of the students combined with my energy and Bethany’s expertise made for an incredibly valuable experience, one that I hope to repeat, again and again.
My collaborative lesson provided me with the opportunity to spend time fully examining the databases in Frederick County. The school librarian usually prepares the database presentations. As I adopted my new role for this project, I realized that I needed to spend extra time with the databases in order to adopt the role of expert. And, except for small presentations here and there, this was my first large-scale collaborative unit where I was not teaching English. While Bethany and I hit some hiccups along the way, the enthusiasm of the students combined with my energy and Bethany’s expertise made for an incredibly valuable experience, one that I hope to repeat, again and again.