1. This may sound odd but- I researched sexting because as a high school teacher, I feel this is a major issue that our schools, communities and judicial system must deal with. I found over 90 articles listed however, once I narrowed it to scholarly journals only one article remained. This is most likely due to the current newness of this topic that few research studies have been conducted completely and then are fully through the publication process. I really liked the tabs across the top which allow you to simply sort between magazines, newspapers, etc. for the type of resource needed. The articles are very current and provide great information about this current issue. I have had students use ProQuest some in the past however, I am going to require it much more often. We need kids using scholarly information and this an excellent resource for them to start good researching habits.
2. I checked close to 10 other blogs from our cohorts involved in this challenge. I was relieved to find out I'm not the only one who was a little behind on all of this. Thankfully, today is a snow day for me so I'm able to catch up on this. I tried to comment on BookBlogr's site however, blogger won't recognize my email and won't let me comment annonomously. So, sorry about that but hope this works in place of that.
3. For the publications tab... I scrolled through to find the Journal of Comparative Family Studies. I teach a class I like to call Family Sociology and feel that this journal would offer great text for this class. The article I read was full article including many statistics and comparison between family statistics throughout this past century. I find this information fascinating and could definitely use this for course content. These type of articles make for great discussions about the degree of which families really have or haven't changed. I back up all information with statistics so this would be very valuable. I'll be using this more!
Monday, February 7, 2011
Lesson 3
SIRS Discover
1. I searched for resources about an octopus. At first, I was slightly disappointed because the news articles did not include pictures and looked somewhat un-interesting for elementary students who like bright colors, pictures, etc. However, then I realized that there was a picture tab which had 25 pictures of interesting looking octopuses including the zebra striped ones, blue-dotted ones and lots more. I think young learners would definitely enjoy this. It was nice being able to pick from a variety of magazine articles without filtering through a pile of wiki-space sources and random things found on google. The reading level would not be functional for early elementary however by the middle grades, most students should be able to find that most resources are within their ability in my opinion. However, with very little training, students will be able to pick up on what color they should look for in order to match up with their reading level. This is an excellent 'tool' in making this resources more efficient for teachers and learners. This feature makes this resource even more user friendly.
2. When I went to the Country Facts link I was suprised at how many relatively unknown countries were listed. For the fun of it, I looked up Nauru- a country I had never heard of before. Because I had no idea where it was, I went back to the Maps link and learned that it is a tiny island just over 3 miles long, with an air strip and a phosphate mine on a little plateau in the center of the island. 13,000 people live there and they have a GDP of $5,000 per person. Their president Marcus Stephens leads the country. Although this is an unknown country, this resource still had a very complete set of information irregardless of its lack of presence on the world stage so to speak.
Lastly, I used the biography feature to do some searching. I realize that this is not a complete list however, what is available and what isn't available was interesting to me. My husband recently read a book on William Wilberforce- a great man who worked for 15 years to end the African slave ship trade. This was a major social, cultural and racial accomplishment. He played a very key role in transforming society. He does not have a biography listed. I looked up Billy Graham- nothing listed. I looked up Martin Luther- nothing listed. I looked up Pope Benedict- biography listed, I looked up Jesus- nothing listed, I looked up Buddha- info listed. Martin Luther King- much listed. I guess, I found it very interesting as to what was included in this datebase and what wasn't. From the standpoint of a very quick assessment, it appears that there are some irregularities in what content is included and what isn't. Because of its incompleteness, I think I will utilize other resources than this biography feature unfortunately. If a student was assigned to write a paper on his/her hero- it appears that some valid biographies are missing from this database.
SIRS Researcher
I researched the topic of adoption. I found many articles related to a variety of topics and factors related to adoption. Many of them focused on the changes in international adoption regarding regulations, corruption and Hague Accredidation. The timeline is very useful- this provides a very broad perspective of the content in a very quick and efficient way. I really liked the graphs/charts that come up along the top- it makes it very quick and handy to find and use. These would be wonderful for power point presentations or as discussion starters for my Child Development and/or Family Sociology classes. I will be pointing my students here the next time they do an Illustrated Talk on a social issue related to families. I also think that many kids would like the 'visual browse' feature in which they can float through their research in a very fun way. The Curriculum Pathfinder feature has a very large selection. I clicked on the health tab and then the nutrition heading. I was pleased to find many magazine articles and much information there. These would be very useful for independent reading time at the beginnig of a class hour or after taking a test when time-fillers are needed. These articles could also be used for discussion and/or debate starting points.
1. I searched for resources about an octopus. At first, I was slightly disappointed because the news articles did not include pictures and looked somewhat un-interesting for elementary students who like bright colors, pictures, etc. However, then I realized that there was a picture tab which had 25 pictures of interesting looking octopuses including the zebra striped ones, blue-dotted ones and lots more. I think young learners would definitely enjoy this. It was nice being able to pick from a variety of magazine articles without filtering through a pile of wiki-space sources and random things found on google. The reading level would not be functional for early elementary however by the middle grades, most students should be able to find that most resources are within their ability in my opinion. However, with very little training, students will be able to pick up on what color they should look for in order to match up with their reading level. This is an excellent 'tool' in making this resources more efficient for teachers and learners. This feature makes this resource even more user friendly.
2. When I went to the Country Facts link I was suprised at how many relatively unknown countries were listed. For the fun of it, I looked up Nauru- a country I had never heard of before. Because I had no idea where it was, I went back to the Maps link and learned that it is a tiny island just over 3 miles long, with an air strip and a phosphate mine on a little plateau in the center of the island. 13,000 people live there and they have a GDP of $5,000 per person. Their president Marcus Stephens leads the country. Although this is an unknown country, this resource still had a very complete set of information irregardless of its lack of presence on the world stage so to speak.
Lastly, I used the biography feature to do some searching. I realize that this is not a complete list however, what is available and what isn't available was interesting to me. My husband recently read a book on William Wilberforce- a great man who worked for 15 years to end the African slave ship trade. This was a major social, cultural and racial accomplishment. He played a very key role in transforming society. He does not have a biography listed. I looked up Billy Graham- nothing listed. I looked up Martin Luther- nothing listed. I looked up Pope Benedict- biography listed, I looked up Jesus- nothing listed, I looked up Buddha- info listed. Martin Luther King- much listed. I guess, I found it very interesting as to what was included in this datebase and what wasn't. From the standpoint of a very quick assessment, it appears that there are some irregularities in what content is included and what isn't. Because of its incompleteness, I think I will utilize other resources than this biography feature unfortunately. If a student was assigned to write a paper on his/her hero- it appears that some valid biographies are missing from this database.
SIRS Researcher
I researched the topic of adoption. I found many articles related to a variety of topics and factors related to adoption. Many of them focused on the changes in international adoption regarding regulations, corruption and Hague Accredidation. The timeline is very useful- this provides a very broad perspective of the content in a very quick and efficient way. I really liked the graphs/charts that come up along the top- it makes it very quick and handy to find and use. These would be wonderful for power point presentations or as discussion starters for my Child Development and/or Family Sociology classes. I will be pointing my students here the next time they do an Illustrated Talk on a social issue related to families. I also think that many kids would like the 'visual browse' feature in which they can float through their research in a very fun way. The Curriculum Pathfinder feature has a very large selection. I clicked on the health tab and then the nutrition heading. I was pleased to find many magazine articles and much information there. These would be very useful for independent reading time at the beginnig of a class hour or after taking a test when time-fillers are needed. These articles could also be used for discussion and/or debate starting points.
Lesson 2
1. I set up my Learning Express Account and was very pleased to find so many useful resources. I feel this resource would be especially useful for our guidance counselor as well. I like how they have each section divided up according to the audience looking for a practice test. I did not realize there was a central location for practice tests such as this.
2. I took part of the reading comprehension test because I have a 'project student' that I'm trying help regarding her ability to comprehend what she reads. The test is very much what I remember of a standardized test. I believe this would be very helpful in providing students with some practice tests leading up to our spring tests. I also looked at the spelling/vocabulary tests as well. I was expecting them to be more introductory and to help struggling students. However, I found them to be at a quite advanced level.
3. I teach life skills concepts such as building resumes and interviews. I looked through some of the downloadable books and found them to be very informative. I can really see these being very helpful for indepedent study students and as a regular classroom resource. These are great!
4. The first term I typed in was 'Food Safety' in hopes that sample Serve Safe tests would be available. However, it didn't appear that there were any unless I just missed them. I was glad to see that there are sample realtor tests, postal worker tests, electrician tests, etc. I think these would be great tools when kids have an interest in these occupations. They can take a look at the test to see what type of knowledge and ability would be required to pass a test of that caliber. Sometimes, students have lofty ideas of their career dreams without considering their natural talents, abilities and willingness to acquire the required training.
Overall, this is a great resource. Our administration continually asks us how we will help prepare our students for the state tests. I will be setting aside some time to utilize these tests. Even though they're not super closely related to my content area, if kids improve their reading comprehension and critical thinking skills- they will do better in all content areas. Thanks for sharing this resource- I really look forward to utilizing it! I'll also be passing this along to our guidance counselor and administration.
2. I took part of the reading comprehension test because I have a 'project student' that I'm trying help regarding her ability to comprehend what she reads. The test is very much what I remember of a standardized test. I believe this would be very helpful in providing students with some practice tests leading up to our spring tests. I also looked at the spelling/vocabulary tests as well. I was expecting them to be more introductory and to help struggling students. However, I found them to be at a quite advanced level.
3. I teach life skills concepts such as building resumes and interviews. I looked through some of the downloadable books and found them to be very informative. I can really see these being very helpful for indepedent study students and as a regular classroom resource. These are great!
4. The first term I typed in was 'Food Safety' in hopes that sample Serve Safe tests would be available. However, it didn't appear that there were any unless I just missed them. I was glad to see that there are sample realtor tests, postal worker tests, electrician tests, etc. I think these would be great tools when kids have an interest in these occupations. They can take a look at the test to see what type of knowledge and ability would be required to pass a test of that caliber. Sometimes, students have lofty ideas of their career dreams without considering their natural talents, abilities and willingness to acquire the required training.
Overall, this is a great resource. Our administration continually asks us how we will help prepare our students for the state tests. I will be setting aside some time to utilize these tests. Even though they're not super closely related to my content area, if kids improve their reading comprehension and critical thinking skills- they will do better in all content areas. Thanks for sharing this resource- I really look forward to utilizing it! I'll also be passing this along to our guidance counselor and administration.
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