Reflection: Primary Sources and Me and You

I've been taking a course,"Digital Classroom: Teaching Information Literacy
Using Primary Sources" and already I'm a convert. At one point our instructor asked us to evaluate our use of primary sources in the classroom. I was more than a bit anxious when I realized, after looking at the chart describing levels of Information Literacy Skills and the use of primary sources, that I more often than not remain at Level 1: "When asking students to do research, I expect them to only use secondary resources like books, magazines, or reference materials." Of course,use of online or digital resources are also expected (if not the ONLY requirement by their content area teachers!). I want to more actively engage students in the use of primary sources, especially because today it is vital that students learn to critically evaluate the plethora of self-published work on the Internet.

I also was also intrigued by an excerpt from The Indispensable teacher's Guide to Computer Skills by Doug Johnson, as it relates to the use of primary sources. "The genuine voices of another culture's students of a similar age speak louder than any text or reference book." 2 years ago I worked with our ESL teacher on a project that required her students to evaluate primary source material (photographs, interviews, first-person narratives) that was being sent to us from similarly aged students from the Galapagos Islands. Our students had to construct a narrative about a child whose father was a fishing boat captain based upon the primary sources mentioned above. It was exciting to see our students eager to put together this narrative, waiting to see how accurate their "story" was.

Wikis in Plain English

Week #9, Thing #23

WOW, what a wonderful trip it's been. It is hard to select just one exercise as the most rewarding; all of them had merit and added so much to my repertoire of web utilities. I thought I knew a lot, but realized I know so little of what's happening on the web. I truly want to keep abreast of the innovations in technology that teens and young adults are so good at discovering and using. But, without a course like this I can hardly imagine being able to keep up (and barely, at that!) And, keeping up is imperative if we librarians, particularly young-adult librarians, want to add to our credibility. If nothing else, my desire to keep on learning has been re-affirmed by completing these "23 things". I commit to learning as much as I can and as quickly as I can. I fear that I will never be able to catch up with the innovations that seemingly appear overnight, but I will try my best.

I suppose if I had to summarize my experience with the "23 Things", it would be "ENLIGHTENMENT". Please, please do this again. If I hadn't participated this summer, I would have been forever floundering around in Craig's List looking for all manner of unnecessary stuff!!!

Pat Kuhn

Week #9, Thing #22

I'm hooked on listening to audio books and enjoyed discovering resources on the web for acquiring new ones during this latest "Thing". I just downloaded The Call of the Wild from the website "Librivox". Downloading to my ITunes account was so easy. From there I'll put it on my IPod, playing it through the IPod Nano or in my car. Love the fact it is such easy access. I wonder, though, about e-books. I've been debating for the last several months about e-books in my middle school library. I just don't know how popular or effective they will be. I know I have to investigate this medium to make a final decision about purchasing some for our collection. I myself have never used an e-book, but seems like now is the right time. I have to admit, though, for me....there is nothing like the feel of a book in your hands, pulling the covers over a weary body, looking forward to a good 20 minutes of reading before sleep steals consciousness. BTW, loved the British Online Gallery. What an amazing site. Enjoyed looking at the historic maps. Nothing like it that I can tell.