Melissa McDonald LBSC641 Selection and Analysis of Resources for Learning
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Pathfinder Analysis & Reflection
12/12/2011
Page |2 Describe and reflect on the process you went through to prepare your pathfinder. You will discuss how you selected your topic; the process that you used to identify the resources that you consulted to create your pathfinder; the sources that you found to be the most and least valuable and why; and the tools and process that you anticipate using in the future.
The process of this pathfinder actually started last spring, during LBSC640, when I observed Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. Middle School media center for my final project. Cheri Johnson, the school‟s media specialist for many years, was particularly proud of a collaborative project she had created with 7th grade World Studies teacher, Tara Mann. They had been working together for several years on this project, each year tweaking it a bit after they discussed the challenges that they had had in the previous year, and they worked to enhance the positive aspects of the project. Over the years, Cheri had helped Tara create a step-by-step research project. Each summer they reviewed the project, and careful planning allowed them to choose print and non-print resources, prepare the needed documents (i.e. rubric, note capture sheet, differentiated resources, etc), and set up the media center tables by society, so that the students could easily access research information. The first day of the project began in the classroom, the AGOPP(E) method was introduced. Note that even though the “official” MCPS method is “AGOPP”, Cheri had added the “E” because of the importance of evaluation. Cheri indicated that she always taught Information Literacy within the context of the content lesson. Days 2 and 3 found the classes in the media center, where the classroom teacher, media specialist, media assistant, and two parent volunteers floated around the students, assisting them where needed. In some cases it was directing them to the correct area in the book, helping them find another print resource on the center table (those print materials Melissa McDonald – Pathfinder Analysis & Reflection
Page |3 covering more than one society, country, or region, were set on the center table), or helping them paraphrase the information. The staff and volunteers also helped them access the online resources that Cheri had located for the project and had placed on a special resource section of the media center website. The student population of MLK MS consists of a wide spectrum of abilities, and the project had been differentiated to make the project goals attainable for all students. For the lower level students, the academic support included reading the text, helping them paraphrase, and scribing for them. Along the way Cheri participated in the evaluation portion of the AGOPP(E) model by checking bibliographic information, helping students with notes, and reading and editing rough drafts. This project is the closest one I have see to „true collaboration” as described by Gail Dickenson, when she discusses the 3Cs (coordination, cooperation, and collaboration) in terms of handshakes. Because they shared with me all of their documents, and their research process was based on the AGOPP(E) research model, I decided this would be a great project for which to create a pathfinder. I first contacted Tara in early September 2011, and asked her if she would like me to expand upon the project she and Cheri had created. I reviewed the documents, and requested the electronic versions from Tara. Since Cheri had retired in June, and Michael Warner, the new to MLKMS (but very experienced) Library Media Specialist had joined the ranks, I shared with him and his media assistant, Corinne Emanuel, what I planned to do. Corinne was a great help confirming the list of books used in previous years, and scanning the documents that which I only had hard copies. Once I showed them my nearly completed pathfinder, Michael gave me some very helpful information about resources that are available to all MCPS students, and the correct link on the MCPS website. Michael‟s comments are the reason why I added the MCPS online resources and Britannica Image Quest links under “Gather”:
“If I may make a
couple suggestions, it would be clearer if you made a link to MCPS Homework Resources http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/students/homework.aspx. These resources are purchased by the county for use in all schools. With this link you shouldn‟t need to use the link you‟re currently calling „MLKMS Media Center Databases‟, since that links to the Grade 7 Medieval Project. The MCPS Homework Resources page also contains a link to Image Quest (available to middle school students only). Melissa McDonald – Pathfinder Analysis & Reflection
Page |4 This is another Encyclopedia Britannica product that allows students to access more than two million rights-cleared images from over 50 of the best collections in the world. This is the first year that MCPS has had access to this product. You may want to add the direct link above to your Images section. Once you have this in its final form, I‟d like to either link to it to replace the current dead link on the media center page or post it to the MCPS website, giving you full credit, of course. Let me know if you need any further information.” Based on his recommendation, I decided to change the link title to “MLKMS 7th Grade Medieval Project Resources” from “MLK Media Center Databases” and add “MCPS Online Resources” because I felt that, until the school‟s media center page is updated, it would make more sense for the students to link into the school page than the MCPS page. Adding both links gives the more adventuresome student an opportunity to access a wider variety of resources than the student who is overwhelmed by the scope and variety of online resources. I also added a link to the Britannica Image Quest because of its very large database of rights-cleared images, and because it is new resource for middle school students in the county. Having reviewed some of these subscription resources for our evaluation assignment, I believe these are much better choices for the students than the websites included on the present pathfinder. Because of the wealth of subscription resources (and since they are available on the MLKMS media center website), I decided to delete the Social Studies for Kids and Annenberg Learner as separate resources on the “Gather” page. Lastly, MLKMS no longer subscribes to ABC-CLIO: World History Ancient and Medieval Areas online database, which was discouraging, so I had to remove that from my pathfinder as well. Therefore, these three resources would be the ones I consider the least valuable. I found several videos on YouTube that I thought may be useful, and these, in combination with the PowerPoint presentations, and the Britannica Academic Online tutorial, should be helpful to the more visual learners. Using Wix flash website builder for my pathfinder was a clear choice for me because I felt that the AGOPP(E) research method lended itself to using a tab per letter in the acronym, and I could easily Melissa McDonald – Pathfinder Analysis & Reflection
Page |5 divide the resources into those headings. In addition, I felt that Wix was more kid-friendly than the traditional LibGuide or WikiSpace. Wix has a nice variety of preset templates and a good variety of themes, gadgets, and other features that I felt would be attractive to the 7th graders. When I showed the Wix website to my own middle school age son, he commented that “I like it – there‟s lots of stuff on there… Can I make my own website?” Although Cheri had explained to me that she had created a simpler version of the citation worksheet for the students, I felt that it would be helpful for the above level students to have to cite their sources in proper form, while the lower level students could use the simplified version to help their understanding of the process. Therefore, after discussing it with Tara, I created the “Note and Citation Sheet – All Questions” to supplement the focus question note sheets and print and web resource citation sheets. I also created the Peer Research Project Rubric (based on the Teacher Research Rubric) so that as the students are presenting to their classmates, they will remain engaged and hopefully give helpful feedback. The NoodleTools online bibliography composer is also an option for the students, and alleviates the need for the handouts. I attempted to create the website so that the students would have everything they needed to research and create their projects, and have it available and accessible from home in addition to being available at school. With this in mind, I requested assistance on the MCPS Media listserv for AGOPP(E) and note taking PowerPoint presentations. I was given permission to share the three presentations, and in the case of the AGOPP(E) presentation, also given authorization to change it as needed (which I did). For future pathfinder projects, I would start in a similar way as Cheri – by sitting down with the classroom teacher and talking about the project- co-planning, co-teaching, and co-assessing the project, and, finally, reflecting together on what worked, and what did not, after each project has come to its conclusion.
Melissa McDonald – Pathfinder Analysis & Reflection
Page |6 Creating the World Studies pathfinder on Wix website builder took me more hours than I care to admit… not because the site was difficult to navigate, but because I am hypercritical of my own work. However, I think my attention to detail is apparent in my final project. Deciding what to include, what to exclude, and especially the layout of the pathfinder, took careful consideration. I could continue „tweaking‟ my pathfinder forever, if given the chance! However, this is true of everything we do (or at least everything I do). I have learned that sometimes we need to decide that our best is good enough, and make further updates at a later time, and only if needed. As Helen Keller said many years ago, “When we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another.” Hopefully, the effort I put into this pathfinder will help the students of MLKMS do their very best on their world studies projects.
Melissa McDonald – Pathfinder Analysis & Reflection
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References
Dickinson, Gail. (2006): "When Does Collaboration Start?" School Library Media Activities Monthly XXIII. Number 2. 56-58. Johnson, C (2011). Observation and interview with Cheri Johnson, School Library Media Specialist, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School, March 2011. Mann, T. (2011). Personal e-mails and telephone calls from Tara Mann, 7th Grade World Studies Teacher, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School, September-November, 2011. Warner, M. (2011). RE: Databases. Personal e-mail from Michael Warner, School Library Media Specialist, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School, November 2011. McDonald, M. (2011). Ancient African Societies pathfinder. http://www.wix.com/melissalewismcdonald/ancient-african-societies McDonald, M. (2011). Digital images of Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. Middle School Media Center.
Melissa McDonald – Pathfinder Analysis & Reflection