 Seeing Stars at GaETC
Margaret Eves
Library Media Director
Atlanta Girls' School
Atlanta, GA
I’ve attended a few conferences in my lifetime, including some in my “past lives” as a public radio development director and an independent researcher. I remember the excitement of networking with people with similar interests, being inspired by presenters, and daydreaming on the trip home about the great new things I’d accomplish. But, usually, once back at work, the great ideas would slide by the wayside while other urgent needs took my time, and as my conference notes gathered dust in the respective association’s tote bag.
I decided that going to GaETC 2007 would be different. As a first year library media specialist at the Atlanta Girls’ School (AGS), a 6th-12th grade independent school, I desperately needed concrete, readily applicable ideas for my developing library media program. I needed to learn practices that would meet the needs of the students and faculty in our one-to-one laptop computer school. One of those needs included a curriculum for teaching research skills to our middle school students. So, I devised a game plan for the conference and the school year: attend sessions that met “readily applicable” criteria, plan DURING the conference how I could carry out my new ideas, and finally, assess during the year how well I was accomplishing my goals. The requirement of writing an article in order to earn PLU credits from the GaETC provided one instrument for assessing how well I was following my game plan.
An article in April’s Knowledge Quest, “Conference Goers Anonymous” (Johns and Pearle, 2007) offered many tips for a successful conference experience. As recommended, I scrutinized the concurrent sessions schedule during the week before GaETC. I printed out the schedule grid, highlighting the sessions I planned to attend, even choosing backup sessions in case a presenter cancelled or a session filled up before I could get there. I took advantage of the Georgia International Conference Center’s wireless network by bringing my laptop computer with me. During sessions I did not check my email or surf the web, except to find the presenter’s website. I did take notes, including the links to the presenter’s handouts or PowerPoint if offered. I also used my calendar software to schedule reminders to share my ideas with the faculty or plan a lesson using tips from a presenter. Occasionally during a session I emailed a presenter’s links to a faculty or staff member. So, even before I left the conference I was able to share something I learned with my school community! I attended ten sessions. Most were interesting and useful. For this article I will focus on one of the sessions that met my “concrete and readily applicable” criterion.
In the session called “Twenty-first Century Stars,” media specialist Gail Hendrix showed us how she integrates research skills into the curriculum at Mabry Middle School. Her program takes the Cobb County high school Research Guide and modifies it for middle school students. Gail noted her push to make research tools and information accessible online for students. Using technology as a research tool also plays a big part in Mabry’s information skills curriculum. The media center’s blog provides students with access to research tools and selected websites. She also uses RSS feeds to notify parents of blog changes – an excellent way to keep parents involved in their children’s learning and to raise awareness of the library media program. Students use Inspiration software to help create outlines. In addition to the traditional research paper, students can present their research in a variety of forms, including PowerPoint presentations, web pages, movies, web quests, digital posters, brochures, demonstrations or speeches.
While technology is important, Gail makes sure her students understand the fundamentals skills of research. Sixth graders build their citations “manually” before they are allowed to use online citation generators. Students must also know how to use the basic print sources: encyclopedia, dictionary, almanac and atlas. When using websites off a “selected” list, students must fill out an evaluation form that examines a site’s authority, accuracy, and currency. Gail’s program also covers copyright and plagiarism, using videos from TeacherTube to illustrate the concepts of intellectual property and information ethics.
While working on their research projects, Mabry students receive multiple grades and evaluations at various checkpoints to provide them with feedback on their progress. Feedback comes from a variety of viewpoints – teachers, peers and the students themselves.
Knowing I would be working with eighth graders on research for their science fair projects, I took careful note of Gail’s ideas. One that resonated with me was using PowerPoint as a tool for creating electronic note cards and keeping track of sources. Because each of our students has a laptop, keeping their note cards and source information on their computers fit right in with our school’s emphasis on using technology.
Upon my return to school, I immediately began adapting Gail’s techniques for our science curriculum. I created templates and examples of source note cards using APA format and adapted the note taking card examples slightly to dovetail with the source cards. Instead of using a number on the note card to match it to a numbered source card, the student would write the author name in the upper right corner of the source card. That would serve as a link to the appropriate source card in the same way an in-text citation links the reader to an entry on the References page.
AGS uses First Class Agora software as a communication portal where teachers can post homework to a class conference, hold online discussions and post announcements. I posted the PowerPoint note card examples to my library “class conference.” My eighth graders were scheduled to complete background research for their science fair project on Dec. 7th, so I met with them a week after GaETC in November, introduced the electronic note card tool and worked with them to find resources for their topics. I will continue to work with the 8th grade science teacher to evaluate how well the electronic note card method worked. The next step will include introducing the note card templates (including an MLA version) to other grades by collaborating with teachers in various departments. Each time I work with a different class or grade level I will reevaluate the virtual note cards and how well my presentation of them works with the students. In February I am collaborating with a 6th grade English teacher to help her students do background research on Israel and Palestine as part of their novel study on Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye. I will modify the source card template to meet MLA style and to make it appropriate for the sixth grade level.
So far, I’ve already reaped benefits from attending GaETC 2007. I added some research tools to my media center’s online resource page and I have a blueprint for collaborating with other faculty members to integrate information literacy skills into the curriculum. Getting the most out of my conference experience required setting specific goals and planning how to implement my newfound knowledge with deliberate scheduling and follow-up. Overall, GaETC 2007 offered a great value for my professional development time and budget.
References
Johns, S.K., & Pearl, L. (2007). Conference goers anonymous. Knowledge Quest, 39(4), 12-14.
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