Module 3: Developmental theories and children's literature

In helping children with selections, can you explain why age alone is an inadequate guide?

Students maybe at different developmental stages within the same age group, their abilities and interests will be different. For example, Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences tells us that students have different ways to learn and areas of interest. The child’s background and experiences can affect their desire to read and/or which books to read. The biopsychosocial interactions are different for each student thus age cannot be a standalone thing in selecting a book. I think reading ability and comprehension can develop at different stages. My nephew is in prep and he can read books that some grade 6 & 7’s would struggle with. However this does not mean that comprehends the social meanings in the text was understood, similarly I had a student in year 7 reading 1984, and while he could read and understand the words he was confused about the plot and themes.

Can you give specific examples of the match between goodness-of-fit and appropriate literature?

Goodness-of-fit is the match between the child’s development level and appropriate literature (Travers, p.9). This is about knowing the student. In the example of how Erik Erikson’s developmental theory we see how theory can be matched to books: Carry Me, Momma (Devine, 2002) is suggested as a book that you would read to a child who is just starting to demonstrate independence in walking and exploring.

How does knowledge about a psychosocial perspective of development help an adult in advising book selection for a particular child?

By understanding the psychosocial perspective of development we can better understand issues related to that developmental level that maybe represented in the literature. TL’s can then assist children to understand their own experiences that they have or will encounter in their own lives with the selection of an appropriate book. We can help children understand what is going on in their own lives.

Devine, M. (2002). Carry Me, Momma. New York: Stoddard.

Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of Mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic Books

Travers, B. E., & Travers, J. F. (2008). Children, literature and development: Interactions and insights. In Children's literature: A developmental perspective, (pp. 2-17). Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons.

ETL402 Pleasure in literature

As a child I loved being read to but hated reading, I was in reading recovery and it was a traumatic and agonising experience. Then one day late in primary school something clicked inside of me and reading became awesome. I went to the library most weekends to get new books, or visit the library at lunch times to find the next book to devour.  

I have many motives for reading, vicarious experience or escapism is one. My reading goes through genre cycles. I enjoy fantasy/ sci-fi novels such as Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy, Lord of the Rings, and A Song of Ice and Fire. I love reading dystopian fiction such as Brave New World and 1984. I also enjoy learning more about history through biographies and stories set in the past. Once I find a topic of interest I tend to go for months reading similar novels on that theme- I remember year nine was Chinese history and culture started off with Chinese Cinderella. I think often my passion for reading is from a desire to learn more.

I find beautifully illustrated picture books hard to walk past, one of my favourite writer/ illustrators is Shaun Tan; his works are amazing.

I love that books when written well can be so remarkable moving that it can make evoke a physical reaction, crying in public for example. Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables had me blubbering on the train to work. 

http://www.shauntan.net/

ETL402 Introduction

Hi All, 

This trimester marks my half way point in the Masters of Education(TL) and I am really excited about this one. My background is in teaching senior school science so I have not had the chance to consider children's literature much in my teaching. I have always loved children's books and have been slowly compiling a range that I want to share with my future children. My earliest book I can remember loving: Katy's Curls (Cocky's Circle Little Books - early reader style book) Those curls 'would't stay straight and they would't lie down.' Did anyone else come across this book?
I still have mine it is over 20 years old, a bit tattered and drawn on in places. 

EER500 Introduction

Hello everyone,

This subject is my halfway point in the Master of Education (Teacher Librarianship) program.

I initially trained as a chemistry teacher, but have had many roles across the education system over the last couple of years – laboratory technician, teacher aide, boarding house supervisor just to name a few. I am currently teaching science and VCE geography at a small rural school. I have found in small schools you may be called on to be a teacher of nearly any subject even if you have no background in it. I have taught history, geography, business management and science from grade 6 up. I have even made it into the kindergarten classroom for a day or two, wow I admire those teachers out there who can hang out with 4-5 year olds every day. I have seen the need for a professionally trained teacher librarian in our school, which is one of my reasons for taking on this course.

I am currently in the middle of an exam marking and report writing time at school, so aside from the usual teaching load the addition of studying makes for one very busy life. But I love the challenge. 

ETL501 Critical Reflection

For many people the go-to place for information is Google or Wikipedia. Students often see this as the single source of information when doing assignments (Kuntz, 2004). A pathfinder is a ‘map’ of alternative information resources, offering a variety of media formats and sources (Thibault, 1997-2013).  My pathfinder’s target audience was grade 6; students aged 11-12, studying a geology unit. The pathfinder helped me to consider the younger students’ learning needs and was a practical item I could use with my class rather than just a theoretical piece of assessment. Throughout the process I have developed my understanding of resource evaluation tools, enhancing information literacy skills and the role of a teacher librarian (TL). 

The curriculum context for the unit was taken from the year 6 science curriculum; the focus was the ‘Science Understanding: Earth and Space Science’ content descriptor (ACARA, 2013a). This pathfinder will be used to support a research assignment carried out by the students. The information gained from the pathfinder should help students investigate geological events, recognise patterns, and consider possible prevention or management strategies.  The general capabilities addressed were literacy, critical and creative thinking, and ICT capabilities. The purpose of pathfinders is to teach ICT skills, promote and guide reading of different types of media and to provide access to information resources and services (Kuntz, 2003).   My major focus was on investigating with ICT at level 4. By the end of the unit with the scaffolding of the pathfinder students should have developed their ability to plan information searches, locate, select and use suitable information (ACARA, 2013b). I was also able to introduce the cross-curriculum priority of Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia by linking recent earthquake and tsunami disasters.

Selection of Resources

To find a suitable search engine I used Noodle Tools linked to in module 4 (CSU, 2013). This provided quick explanations of a variety of search engines and I explored the ones which had been suggested for kids. This list was compared against the table provided by Lindberg which suggested that KidsClick! and Ask Jeeves Kids both suited my target age. AJ Kids used natural language searches while KidsClick use subject categories maintained by TLs, I chose the latter (Lindberg, 2006).

Digital resources were found using: the search engines suggested by Noodle, the key words I had identified for my students and my prior use of website for related topics.  Initially I had more than the required number of digital resources and spent time culling ones which did not have the same quality of information or were text heavy. I considered for each site the purpose, authority, workability, and currency. I wanted the sites to be searchable and interactive so that students would want to use them.

For the print material I went to our school library catalogue to search for relevant books. I was disheartened to find a scarcity of books on my topic.  Books found were ten to twenty years old, visibly wearing and should be weeded to improve the collection (Dillon, 2001). If I did not want to use them why would my students? I settled on items that covered the content well, were the most recent and well maintained. 

Creation of Pathfinder

While I agree with the ease of creation and collaboration case for using a wiki as a pathfinder explained by Valenza, I have chosen to use Weebly rather than Wikispaces (Valenza, 2013). I have previously created and used wikis so wanted to extend myself by using a new tool. The design of the pathfinder and the information included on it has been based on the principals described by Herring (2011) and ideas suggested by Lamb & Johnson (2006-2012). I have tried to ensure that my information has been presented in a logical way. I have embedded short videos as how to guides to improve students’ navigation and use of these items. Information literacy questions based on the Big 6 were included based on recommendations made in my ELT401 assignment.

The readability of my pathfinder varies depending on which tab you are in, my target audience was grade 6 students heading into year 7. The average page is between grade 6 and 7 according to read-able.com and readability-score.com. The home page is inevitably much higher due to the inclusion of the Australian curriculum outcomes.

Role of TL

I am currently working within a school that doesn’t have a TL. Creating this pathfinder has helped me to consider what I would want from a TL to support my current needs as a teacher. Since taking on this subject and the development of the pathfinder I have had discussions with teachers and principals about the role of the TL in implementing the Australian curriculum in our school. We recently had focused PDs relating to cross-curriculum capabilities and found teachers were struggling to understand how to implement these. The prospect of using a collaborative pathfinder was presented as a way to address some of these issues. The role of the teacher librarian in making pathfinders is as a cross-curriculum expert, researcher, administrator, and collaborator.

This course and assignment have taught me to look beyond the resources I regularly rely on. I have tested and presented to students and teachers many digital tools that prior to this semester I did not know existed.

Link to my pathfinder

References

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) (2013a). Science Curriculum. From Australian Curriculum v5.1 Retrieved September 30, 2013 from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/Science/Curriculum/F-10#level6

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) (2013b). Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capability. From Australian Curriculum v5.1 Retrieved  September 30, 2013 from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/Information-and-Communication-Technology-capability/Continuum#page=6

Charles Sturt University (CSU). (2013). Module 4: Effective search strategies. ETL501 Retrieved October 9, 2013, from Charles Sturt University website: http://interact.csu.edu.au/portal/site/ETL501_201360_W_D/page/576a3d7b-1d65-4491-80aa-7df0522fea51 

Dillon, K. (2001). Maintaining collection viability. In K. Dillon, J. Henri & J. McGregor (Eds.), Providing more with less: Collection management for school libraries (2^nd ed.) (pp.241-254). Wagga Wagga, NSW: Centre for Information Studies, Charles Sturt University

Herring, J. (2011). Improving students’ web use and information literacy. London: Facet Publishing 

Kuntz, K. (2004). Pathfinders: Helping students find paths to information. The Online educator. Retrieved October 4, 2013 from http://www.infotoday.com/mmschools/may03/kuntz.shtml

 

Lamb, A, & Johnson, L. (2006-2011). Pathfinders: Pathfinders creation and collections. Electronic Materials for Children and Young Adults. Retrieved October 2, 2013 from http://eduscapes.com/earth/informational/path3.html

 

Lindberg, G. (2006). Comparison chart. Evaluating search engines for and with K-12 students. Retrieved October 9, 2013 from http://plaza.ufl.edu/ginger71/chart.html

 

Valenza, J. (2013). Ten reasons why your next pathfinder should be a wiki. Retrieved October 9, 2013 from http://informationfluency.wikispaces.com/Ten+reasons+why+your+next+pathfinder+should+be+a+wiki

 

ETL 505

When reading through the course material I found the term Boolean appearing with out an explanation. Having a not heard of that term before I searched online and found a quick explanation. 

Boolean searches allow you to combine words and phrases using the words AND, OR, NOT (known as Boolean operators) to limit, broaden, or define your search. A good researcher should know how to do a Boolean Search.

"AND" logic

AND : Using AND narrows a search by combining terms.

"OR" logic

OR : Using OR broadens a search to include results that contain either of the words you're looking for.

"NOT" logic

NOT : Using NOT will narrow a search by exclusion. (Some search engines, like Google, recognize the minus (-) symbol, instead of the word NOT).

http://www.nypl.org/blog/2011/02/22/what-boolean-search

ETL501 Web 2.0

I thought I would share a recent success from my own teaching using web tools- Google Docs

I have VCE classes with a max of 15 students so this activity worked well, however larger groups may not work as well as this did. 

I set up a basic template for a PowerPoint using Google Docs, this allows students to edit a PowerPoint presentation simultaneously. The initial few slide were questions for students to answer individually, each question has been assigned to a student. Academically weaker students were given more structured reading comprehension questions which could be located in the textbook. This was to allow for participation in the activity and to boost confidence in answering questions publicly. Stronger students were given questions requiring an analysis of ideas which could be shared with the rest of the class. I then introduced a new element of collaboration by assigning pairs of students to questions, these questions needed more in depth responses. Finally, I set up a page for the whole class to edit. This section could be edited by anyone in the class as we are doing the activity. 

Issues: 
There were issues with students tampering with other students work, however after the first 5 minutes the novelty of this wore off and they stuck to their own pages. When pages were edited by groups of people, or the whole class, students had to add their own textboxes otherwise the programme became very slow to respond and students struggled to work out who was writing where. 

To combat this: 
Providing students with clear expectations of behaviour online and when collaborating with others. There needs to be consequences if students are not participating in a way that the supports the learning of others.

It was good to see students negotiate which sections they would contribute with their partner. This was a quick verbal exchange and they got on with the activity.

ETL501 Topic 1 Information Resource

Information Resource

A new and inexperienced geography teacher has arrived in your school and has been given the task of teaching a year 7 class on rainforests as part of the Global Environments Focus Area. List 3 key types of information this teacher might need and suggest a source of information

• Location and Size of Rainforests- Google Earth mapping activity
• Characteristics of rainforest ecosystem- Earth Observatory (NASA) Biome, Global Maps
• Australian Rainforests & Wildlife- Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry www.daff.gov.au Australian forest profiles. www.arf.net.au. www.rainforest.org.au
• Comparison of Local and Global Rainforest

Comment From Barbra:

Think carefully about readability of your websites, remembering that you will have some students in Year 7 who may still be classed as developing readers. 

Readability tools
http://www.read-able.com/
http://juicystudio.com/services/readability.php
http://www.readability-score.com/

I think I was looking at the latter three sites as resources for the teacher to use as starting points for their knowledge and to structure activities off rather than send students directly there. I tend to use government sites like the forestry website with my VCE geography students.

ETL501 Topic 3: Evaluation of Websites

Cyberguide Ratings

http://www.cyberbee.com/content.pdf

I thought the evaluation sheet provided was quite clear and could be easily filled in. Areas of authority and reliability were well addressed as was currency. This evaluation sheet focused on the content of the site rather than the technical aspects.  Criteria that were not included which might add or subtract from a websites rating could be:

-easy of assess

-the website is advertisement supported

-login requirements

-aesthetics and design

-supported format (e.g. flash)

-support from site

Evaluating an ‘evaluating website’ website

http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/tbarcalow/490NET/Evaluation.htm

Looking through the CARS Checklist website I found that it was failing in many of the checklist areas Schrock had mentioned. The authors name was there, but not his credentials or contact details. Many of the links were broken or did not lead to where they were meant to. Further the website was last updated was in 2003 which in internet terms is very out-dated. 

ETL501 Module 1

Resource Provision and Information Resources Activities

Resource Provision

Objective	Question	Resource/Web 2.0 tool
Knowledge	What is an ecosystem?	Dictionary – print or online or basic textbook
Knowledge	Define an ecosystem and list the varieties that are found in South Australia.	Text Reading-Year 7 science textbook print or ebook. Text Reading- Parks Australia Website or pamphlet
Comprehension	List the different parts of the ecosystem and explain what they do.	Photograph annotoation-  Skitch (Android/iPad) Gimp
Comprehension	Compare a marine ecosystem with one from another area of our state.	Venn Diagram- http://www.readwritethink.org/
Application	using a diagram, show how the water cycle operates in an ecosystem	Simulation- Animation Creator HD (iPad) Drawing Cartoons (Android/Google)
Application	Demonstrate what happens when humans interfere with the water cycle.	Simulation- Animation Creator HD (iPad) Drawing Cartoons (Android/Google) Cartoon- online cartoon maker, chogger.com Photograph and share local pictures.
Analysis	Contrast the natural water cycle with that used by our community	Venn Diagram- http://www.readwritethink.org/
Analysis	Examine an ecosystem that has been damaged by human interference. Avoided how?	Questionnaire-Survey Monkey Graph- Excel
Synthesis	Identify an unspoilt ecosystem and design a way of preserving it.	Galapagos documentary- David Attenborough galapaogos.org Google Earth/Maps Design a set of rules/standards for conservation
Synthesis	How would preserving our local ecosystems enhance our environment?	Hypothesis- Mind mapping- Inspration Maps Lite (iPad)
Evaluation	Is it reasonable that people pollute our waterways? Defend your answer	Suvey/ Group discussion,/Debate- Skype, Class Blog Pros & Cons (android)
Evaluation	Assess the impact of pollution in our local waterways.	Editorial- Videocasting/Podcasting

 

ETL401 Assignment 2 Critical Reflection

Entering into this course I was looking for a change of career. I thought teacher librarianship (TL) would be less stressful than the classroom management issues I faced previously. I thought TL would be a quiet job where I would manage a collection and that was about as far as that went, a 'traditional library' setting. I now see that the role of the teacher librarian goes far beyond simply stacking shelves.

I  have now discovered that there is a large depth and scope to the role of the TL. A few of the roles to be fulfilled by the TL include leader, teacher, collaborator, manager, critic, advocator, creator, information specialist, explorer, tester, challenger, administrator, evaluator, and facilitator (MacMeekin, 2013, & Obst, 2013a).

Pulling apart a couple of these:

• The TL is to be an explorer and tester of new technologies, resources and programmes.
• The TL is a creator of library websites, library blogs, how to videos or podcasts, and much more (Valenza, 2010). I am, inspired by library collection Pinterest sites like Saint Mary’s College Library and Kansas City Public Library  where the librarian is also a collection curator and book critic.
• The TL is a challenger of school community, aiming to change preconceptions of the library and the role it plays (Obst, 2013b). The TL will challenge the school to try new programmes and challenge a reader to give a new book a try.

The word cloud, below, captures a picture of my blog posts so far. From this I see two roles which I have discussed the most; to be a teacher of skills needed for information literacy and to be a collaborator.  I feel the five most important reasons for collaboration are for; student achievement, higher expected learning, quality of teaching, consistency of teaching and to better meet individual learning needs (Obst, 2013c). With the support of collaboration the TL is to act as programme facilitator of guided inquiry and information literacy models and to be a teacher of the generic and information use skills needed to produce information literate students (Obst, 2013d) .

While I had hoped for a less stressful job it became obvious from the onset that this was an naïve ambition. Through the readings I found there was a need for the TL to be a leader and to 'prove their worth' to the school. There is little room for quiet hard work in the background.  Without the support of the principal and the school community the TL would not function to their fullest. In 'blog task 1' I looked at the roles the principal needs to play to support the TL implementing collaboration initiatives. These roles are supervisor, model, manager and mentor (Obst, 2013b). With all the possible roles a TL can fulfil I feel now that the principal is even more critical as they are required to enable the TL to carry out those roles and then expect and ensure the TL carries out the roles. I feel a lazy principal can create a lazy TL.

Personal Reflection on Assignement 2

My understanding of what information literacy is has changed during this course. One of the most helpful modules was Module 4. In this module I was able to mindmap ideas and definitions from the readings to get a clearer picture of information literacy (Obst, 2013e). Unfortunately this came after assignment 1 had been submitted. It was clear I did not have a full understanding of information literacy and library skills at this point. During the final essay task I felt the ‘feelings’ Kuhlthau (2013) described during the Information Search Process. I felt uncertainty, confusion and anxiety. Having not been a librarian or English teacher prior to coming into the course I found understanding some of the terms quite difficult.  I felt a sense of hopelessness and frustration as I approached the task and questioned why I was even doing it. I felt the dip Kuhlthau described and it was not until I was well into the research assignment that I felt I was making headway. I had to teach my husband about the ISP and Big6 models so that I could have a grasp of them. Reflection on this process has helped me to better understand constructivist learning theory and the ISP model which allowed me to build on my understanding from blog task 2 (Obst, 2013f).

In my forum introduction to the ETL401 class I mentioned that I wanted to work in a specialist library, preferably in a university science faculty library ( Obst, 2013g). While I feel there is a long way to go in my learning journey this is still a goal.  In the meantime I hope to make a positive impact on my local school, which does not have a teacher librarian, to change the perceptions on what the TL does and offer practical advice received from this subject and course. 

References

Kuhlthau, C. (2013). Information Search Process. Retrieved May 9, 2013 from http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/~kuhlthau/information_search_process.htm

MacMeekin, M. (2013). 27 things your teacher librarian does, retrieved from An Ethical Island blog, May 20, 2013, http://anethicalisland.wordpress.com/2013/04/12/27-things-your-teacher-librarian-does/

Obst, H. (2013a, March, 7). ETL401 mod 2.1 [Blog post] Retrieved May 9, 2013 from http://hannahobst.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/elt401-mod-21.html

Obst, H. (2013b, March, 19). ETL401 Blog task 1: Principal Support [Blog post] Retrieved May 9, 2013 from 

http://hannahobst.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/elt401-blog-task-1-principal-support.html

Obst, H. (2013c, May, 6). ETL401 Mod 5 [Blog post] Retrieved May 9, 2013 from http://hannahobst.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/elt401-mod5.html

Obst, H. (2013d, May, 7). ETL401 Blog task 3 [Blog post] Retrieved May 9, 2013 from http://hannahobst.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/elt401-blog-task-3.html

Obst, H. (2013e, April, 17). ETL401 Mod 4 [Blog post] Retrieved May 9, 2013 from http://hannahobst.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/elt401-mod-4.html

Obst, H. (2013f, April, 24). ETL401 Blog task 2 [Blog post] Retrieved May 9, 2013 from http://hannahobst.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/elt401-blog-task-2.html

Obst, H. (2013g, Feburary 28). Introduction [ETL401 Student Cafe] Retrieved May 9, 2013 from Charles Sturt University Website http://interact.csu.edu.au/portal/site/ETL401_201330_W_D/page/5280d584-59ce-4587-00c6-9c8f32a9a667

Valenza, J. (2010). Manifesto for 21st Century Librarians, School Library Journal Blog. Retrieved May 20, 2013 from http://blogs.slj.com/neverendingsearch/2010/12/03/a-revised-manifesto/