Dayna M's Blog

I think I’m done, and I’m kind of just beginning this whole thing!  I’ve started a new job as a teacher; I’m almost done with my degree: always something new!

Okay, so we already know I am using these ideas in the classroom.  Yet, to bring it to a standards level, I would like to look at projects for freshmen and junior using Indiana Language Arts Standards.

Freshmen

I have written so much about this process of inquiry, it’s kind of hard to remember what I did prior to this, but here goes!

Going back to my undergraduate days, I wrote a load of English papers on various authors and readings.  My process usually went like this:

1. Skim the various material from the semester. (Watching)

2. Figure out what texts intrigue me.

3. Explore thesis for a couple texts (Wondering)

4. Research information on databases and in books. (Webbing)

5. Decide on a “semi-final” thesis and analyze articles that support or question my thesis. (Wiggling)

6. Write up a paper, shifting my thesis if necessary, connecting the beginning and end of the paper, integrating primary and secondary sources. (Weaving/Wrapping)

7. Allow a friend to review, change what is needed, look over mechanics etc,  create title page, send to teacher (Wrapping, Waving)

8. Receive paper back, look over grade and response from professor, think about what I did well, what I might have changed (Wishing)

So, I guess I basically went through the steps of inquiry prior to this project, but I definitely did not think of them in an overt way.  I simply knew what worked for an effective paper.  However, there are a lot of students who do not.  I think my process of inquiry changed most in the fact that I learned to identify what I was doing!  This is a  great way to explain to students the inquiry process when they do not know how to effectively research.

I have some freshmen who can talk to each other just fine, but you ask them to speak in a professional manner and suddenly they whisper.  So, I’d like to integrate these inquiry skills in the Listening and Speaking section of the 9th grade standards:

9.7.19 Deliver descriptive presentations that:

•establish a clear point of view on the subject of the presentation.

•establish the presenter’s relationship with the subject of the presentation (whether the presentation is made as an uninvolved observer or by someone who is personally involved).

•contain effective, factual descriptions of appearance, concrete images, shifting perspectives, and sensory details.

I think a good lesson for starting the descriptive presentation process would be if I presented the research process briefly and then each student took one of the 8Ws to focus on.  Their job would be to explain in detail the W they were assigned, using examples from something they are interested in their life, using images and “sensory details.”

Juniors

So, I have not decided what I’d like my Juniors to research, but here is a standard where I could use this project.  Actually, I think I will!

11.5.9 Write academic essays, such as an analytical essay, a persuasive essay, a research report, a summary, an explanation, a description, or a literary analysis that:

•develops a thesis.

•creates an organizing structure appropriate to purpose, audience, and context.

•includes accurate information from primary and secondary sources and excludes extraneous information.

•makes valid inferences.

•supports judgments with relevant and substantial evidence and well-chosen details.

•uses technical terms and notations correctly.

•provides a coherent conclusion.

I think I will actually try blogging on the computer just like we did in this class.  It’s really important for blind students to access the technology and learn to work in the world the rest of us use all the time even if it takes extra effort on their part.  I think I’m going to ask them to blog their process of inquiry.  They are a class that enjoys writing, and this would be a good way to connect them to the online discussion world.

I did really enjoy my project.  It was a nice way to interact with my dad as I interviewed and shared my search process with him.  I felt like the strongest part of my project was my webbing phase, the discovery of factual information that correlated with family stories.  During my time at the Indiana State Library, I felt like I was placing a puzzle together.  The most challenging part of my project would be time and lack of information.  I have put in a lot of time for research, reflection, and product development, but I would really love to devote even more time to my genealogy in the future.  The other issue is lack of information.  I read that it’s quite difficult to find information on one’s history prior to 1850 if you’re black.  It’s not impossible, but with lack of last names, first name changes, families being split up etc., it is just a lot more difficult.  I suppose that could be a weakness; I would like to have more information, but it would take more searching than I currently have time for.  Even as I started to share my project with family, more stories began to develop!

I wouldn’t really call this a weakness of my project, but I did change a portion of my project from the way I initially anticipated it.  I originally intended to place Arkansas history in my product, but I found that with my family moving all over the country, from Mississippi to Arkansas to Missouri to Michigan and finally Indianapolis, it was more interesting to look at the larger picture of American history than state history.

I’ve mentioned this previously, but one of the teachers at my school created a senior project over the summer that is similar to my personal inquiry experience.  Consequently, I’ve had to opportunity to share my experiences with them.  They were of course in awe at how quickly my project was due  Another important aspect of this project was the connection with others. In Francis Jacobson Harris’s article “Building Learning Communities using Technology” she states that “individuals learn more in a community than they would on their own, without the benefit of the collective”  (172).   My students could definitely use blogs to discuss ideas with each other!  I have already seen this at work in a face to face way.  I designate  Fridays as Senior Project days.  Since my class only has six students in it, we can easily discuss projects with each other, learn who has connections to people in the community, and offer suggestions.

There are various ways my inquiry was similar to my students in the future.  First, I went through the inquiry process in a similar way they might.  I want to help them see the process of inquiry through discussion, handouts, and technology that helps them visualize it.  It would be pretty difficult for blind and vi students to use technology for graphic organization in the way I do, but the same steps can still be used.  I don’t think students are accustomed to recognizing all the steps of inquiry, and it’s quite possible they wouldn’t go as in depth in their writing as I did on a graduate level, but I still want them to appreciate the steps of inquiry.

I also think this project is significant for my evenings in the school library, although they can be different on an individual student level.  For example, I had a very low mental ability student learning to e-mail the other evening.  He and I went through the process of inquiry though he wasn’t aware of it.  I asked him what he wanted to do; asked him whom he wanted to e-mail; he went through the steps; we reflected on the process to see if he understood it.  Then, about 10 minutes later, he forgot…almost all of our discussion.  So, for him, the process of research did not stay with him, but it did show the non-linear aspect of inquiry!  The communal aspect of inquiry also really works in the library.  As a teacher-librarian and with other students, we all work together in the evenings as they do homework, find information, research etc.  I have a student who is great with technology and really helps other students even though he has a low reading ability and struggles in other areas.  I really think this project will help me reflect better on what is happening in the classroom, computer lab, and library as I research information with students.

Product Link: https://oncourse.iu.edu/access/content/user/dmcross/S574/timeline-1.xlsx

Here are the four technology elements I used:

Productivity tool: Digital camera, final product

Concept Map: Gliffy

Web-based 2.0 tool: Google Doc. spreadsheet

Electronic communication tool: expert e-mail response below:

Some databases of Arkansas information are available through Ancestry.com or the Arkansas History Commission.  Mississippi County & St. Francis County are areas where most of the information compiled is in book format.  If you have a specific name, we can search some of our holdings for you to see if information is available.  We charge a $10 service fee and fifty cents per page copied.  If it is a basic question like determining the existence of a name in a certain county, we can help with that at no charge.  If the question requires a time-consuming search, then we charge the $10 fee.

Rhonda Stewart
Genealogy & Local History Specialist
Central Arkansas Library System
Butler Center/Arkansas studies Institute
100 Rock Street
Little Rock, AR  72201

For my final product, I created a timeline that has my family history on the top half of the timeline with African-American/American history on the bottom.  On the family history portion of my timeline, I have shared facts/stories I learned, pictures I found with my father, and records from the State Library.   The pictures and records have been uploaded to the internet, and the small pictures serve as links to large pictures on the internet for users to see more clearly.

I really feel like this information can be used in so many ways!  In a professional sense, my students are creating a senior project with a final product.  I would like to use my project as an example.  Then I’ll be able to bounce ideas with them about other presentation options.  On a personal level, this is a product that can be sent to all of my family members via e-mail!  So, all my relatives have the opportunity to access  important records once only held by one family member in a box in the attic or something!  If my family does not have access to e-mail, they can go to the library or I can mail the the Excel file that I created to them on CD-ROM.  My grandmother and aunt are coming next weekend, so I’m looking forward to showing this project to them.   A classic pastime with my father and his family is sitting around the kitchen table and telling old stories; I’m excited to hear what stories are going to be coming from them when they see these old pictures and records.   Lastly, this is a great start to researching family history.  My mother has asked me to do the same thing for her family, and I will likely do it on my summer break from teaching.  Leslie Preddy discusses the importance of product dissemniation and offers a handout to consider presentation options. (Blue Book 256).  I feel like I personally went through these steps….figuring out my audience, deciding the best type of product and why it is the best type.  I will likely use a similar handout with my students later this school year.

I have started creating my final product for this project.  I analyzed the different information I obtained, combining historical and personal data and stories.  I discussed ideas for my product for my father but decided on the final product myself.  I also took notes on the different information I looked at at the State Library and decided what was worth integrating and what was informational but not neccessarily appropriate for this project.  For example, when I went to the State Library on Saturday, I paged through wedding records from counties in Arkanasas where my ancestors lived, but I found no record of their wedding.  I also found documentation that stated how many Black were left out of records.  The large amount was fascinating, but did not really connect with my genealogy.  I also paged through 40 or so volumes of the Journal of African American History and Genealogy.  I copeid some interesting facts, but I looked through the journals and the index and found nothing on Arkansas or the last names of Cross or Dobbs.

With the information that was worthwhile, I considered what I wanted to use in different places in my product. Since I am researching genealogy, I decided to organize my information chronologically.  I created a folder on my PC to hold all of my scans and digital records, so I could easily saw them.  I also uploaded them to OnCourse for quick access on different computers.  I am weaving my project together and looking forward to the final product!

So, I just came from an outdoor festival with a great band and great dancing!  Now I’m taking some time to reflect on my mental dancing or “wiggling.”

I spent my day at the Indiana State Library analyzing and sythensizing the information I have been gathering.

I have been synthesizing the information collected through personal strories, Arkansas history/geography and online databases with geneology records.   The validity and reliability of documents have been measured in different ways.  I also used my essential questions as a checklist to asssure that I had found the resources I intended to.  Callison notes that checklists or rubrics “focus on the essential criteria and performances” (518).  Checking to see that my information answered the questions I planned to answer helped me stay on focus when bombarded with so much information (databases, books, and the sundry of family members whose ancestry I could further investigate).

Personal stories:  These are stories passed down to my father and also verified by other relatives.  These stories also confirm information I found in PDF versions of census records accessed through Ancestry.com.  For example, my father told me my great-grandfather, Homer Cross, was adopted by the Cross family around 1890 in Arkansas.  Before that, his last name was Dobbs.  I found census records that show that a black, Homer Cross was adopted by Washington and Fannie Cross in 1890 in Richmond, AR!  The only one in the state!!

Arkansas History: Old books reprinted regarding Arkansas history confirmed with Arkansas.gov records

Arkansas Geography: Maps on front of old reprinted Arkansas history books confirmed with current Mapquest and Google maps.  Stories from families about Arkansas hometowns confirmed with census records on Ancestry.com.  For example, my father discussed our family coming from Blytheville and Forrest City, AR.  I located how far that was on the map in comparison to census records stating where my ancestor had come from.

Journals: Journal of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society confirms information about 19th century African-American culture that I have heard about before.  For example, I found a fascinating article where former slaves in Tennesse are searching for their family members after the Civil War in the local paper.  The families list their last names and the names of their former owners, and many of their names are the same.  I had heard that blacks had done this, but this article in the journal confirmed it.

I don’t want to post all the great PDFs I found at the State Library today, but at the bottom of the posting are some PDF screen shots from my work today!

Callison suggests using questions and statements as a basis for analysis and synthesis, offering questions like “Based on the analysis of your obvervations, what do youpredict witll happen next” and ” taking into account an analysis of the audience and other elements of the final presentation, plan the manner for most effectively and efficiently conveying the inteded message” (546).  After working through these questions/statements, I’m planning to create a timeline that shows my family over time with records and information.  I will be able to share this with class, but also in a way my extended family can easily open and understand if I send it to them via e-mail.

Okay, so I’m still creating my research web but doing a little wiggling of my information as I use data from one inquiry as a foundation to enlarge my web:

I received an e-mail response from Rhonda Stewart, Arkansas genealogy and local history specialist, at the Arkansas Studies Institute.  She offered me websites and researach ideas to continue my inquiry.  This evening I took my ancestor’s name James (Homer) Dobbs, who was adopted by the Cross family in the 1890s and looked the name up in the Ancestory.com census records.  It was so interesting; I had to call my dad at 10:30 pm to tell him some of the information I found.

At this point, while I’m not sure how much conclusive evidence I’ll find because of the shady information that comes from family stories, I’m enjoying the inquiry.  I feel confident about my search because I know the direction I am going in and each portion of my search seems to build.

Project Focus: use discussions with family members and research on general Southern history as a foundation of information to bring to the State Library to use in their databases of last names and family history

So, I’ve begun my “webbing.”  Because, if I were teaching this, I might have my students display their research, and because it helps me, I’ve attached an organizational web.  AASL standard 1.1.7 states that students need to “Make sense of information gathered from diverse sources by identifying misconceptions, main and supporting ideas, conflicting information, and point of view or bias.”  I think this is a helpful way to start organizing one’s initial information gathering.

I plan to complete more online research, but up to this point, I located information through discussions with family.  I interviewed my dad, and a family member had given him many old records because the family member thought my father more responsible.  J  So, my dad has a couple boxes of information that we paged through.  I used an online family tree creator, old funeral pamphlets, pictures with dates, and my father’s memories.

My search strategy thus far was to start with my father.  He is the primary connection I have because I don’t know a lot of his family around the country.  Fortunately, he has a lot of information.  I decided that I would base my continued searches on the foundational information he offered me.  Leslie Preddy encourages teachers to “intentionally allow students the opportunity to finalize and strategize research questions” (242 Blue Book).  Thus far, my questions seem like they’re working for me.  I have found out more about my last name; I am starting to research Arkansas history; I plan to go to the State Library.  My last question to begin researching is how slaves created their last names.

I have already acquired some primary sources through pictures, birth and death records, and interviews.  Next I will connect this information to secondary sources like effective, educational websites, online encyclopedias etc.  By combining primary and secondary sources, I should be able to create a well-rounded presentation based both on personal anecdotes and factual information.

Click on the link below and then click again when the next page opens:

Research Chart as of 9-8