Research Redux

In our last few blog postings, Mrs. Hamilton and I have discussed the research projects that we've been doing with both the sixth and seventh grade classes. I've spent a lot of my class time with seventh grade students, discussing, practicing (is "Googleing" a word?), and engaging in research. While we do meet just once a week, much time and energy has been devoted to the practice of research in those classes. I've really been hoping that the concept of authenticating resources (a.k.a. checking sources) was solidifying in their minds. However, much to my dismay, one of the three sections of classes had that look of confusion on their faces when I was reviewing the requirements of their I-Search project and mentioned authenticated resources.

As a teacher, I wondered what went wrong. I used the same agendas, rubric, and models for all three sections. I utilized a constructivist approach so that each student had to create a list of characteristics of a valid research site. Doesn't this mean that by creating their understanding, they should remember it better? Was this class just more honest than the others? And lastly, how will these students survive in our world of information overload? So I did what I could -
continued to discuss authenticated resources seemingly ad nauseam in class (and probably in this blog, too) and engaged in deep breathing exercises.

I am fairly certain that I am not the only teacher who has experienced this, and we will move on to a new topic in class soon. If the true indication of students' understanding is their ability to use their knowledge flexibly, then I can know only if I succeeded from the results of future projects and from the experiences of colleagues who ask these students to research. Please let me know what happens.

Keyboarding

Keyboarding is a skill I liken to knowing math facts. Students sometimes question why they need to be fluent (and not use just index fingers to type or calculate 8 x 9 on paper). I recently worked with 8th grade students using Excel in math - and it was painful to watch some students enter data. That experience brought keyboarding back to the forefront of my attention.

Just like math facts, keyboarding can be laborious to practice; our school keyboarding program, UltraKey, isn't all that fun. From a teaching standpoint, it does, however, track the keys that students have learned and show progress. We use it regularly in 4th grade. Many kids should continue to practice their fluency - and it hasn't been included it in the curriculum in following grades. Maybe we should... let me know your thoughts.

I have found some good web sites where students can practice their keyboarding skills at school and at home. If you know about other fun sites, please share them. We often provide lists of practice web sites to parents when we think students would benefit from extra practice - especially those students who struggle with handwriting.

Here are those sites:
Computer Circus
Room 108 Typing Tutor Game
Dance Mat Typing
Typer Shark

In an upcoming blog, I'll share web sites which might make students want to practice their math facts.