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.