Have you forgotten something, Dr. Bloom?

I was reading Center for Media Literacy's Literacy for the 21st Century from the MediaLit Kit this evening (all in the name of my capstone!) when I was struck by the parallels between the media literacy processes and good ol' Bloom's Taxonomy (Revised, of course!). Now, never mind the knowledge dimension for just this bit. My brain just couldn't take that addition right now.

Demystifying Student Research: Part 2

I confess: I'm really excited about this series! I suppose I really could expand this series into, well, I guess a whole blog, huh? But I think a miniseries is good. (And this way I sort of look like I know what I'm talking about!)

If you want to know more than what I'll share here, find out what your local librarian takes in his/her coffee and stop by Starbuck's. Librarians and Media Specialists are the true experts when it comes to this stuff. Sadly, too few work in schools anymore. School libraries are being run by paraprofessionals and volunteers, and while that's well and good if all you need is someone to manage a book collection, we have lost a tremendous source of knowledge. This research stuff is tough to teach! 

Demystifying Student Research: Part 1

I love and hate the messiness of research. I don't mind messiness myself, but it is a matter of providing support to students so that they too can navigate messiness. I think that is the challenge and the reason why so many of my research activities have blown up in my face in the past. Without a doubt the biggest mistake I've made is trying to do too much at once. Giving the kids too much responsibility at once is the easiest way to have a research project fall apart.