Week 6 -- Book Clubs and Socratic Seminars

Class
Despite the fact that we were all punchy due to lack of sleep and paper overload, class was decent this past week (though I will admit that it got hard to stay awake and pay attention around the 6:45 mark). I especially enjoyed our group discussion about the bloggers we follow and the issues that they cover. Even though I knew that we would have overlap between the blogs that we follow, it was still neat to have those connection moments (“You read the Bubble Room? Me too!” “You hate the Daring Librarian? You’re not alone there!”)
I know I brought this up briefly in our group, but we didn’t have much time for a response. I’m curious about people’s views on the ethics of librarians’ personal facebooks. What do you do when a patron (who you only know through the library) requests to be your friend? If you are friends with library patrons, what obligations do you have (if any) regarding what you do and do not post?

Hoffert
As someone who loves reading, I always find it exciting to learn about interest in book clubs. It was neat to read about videoconferencing with authors, and I hope that it’s something that happens even more often than the article suggested it does (given the increased popularity of Skype, I bet it does). I was intrigued by the idea of book club meetings that focus on a theme, rather than a particular book that everyone reads. Though I recognize that this is a great way to bring together people interested in reading different types/genres of books, I’m curious as to how discussion of these would work out. Does it end up being various people summarizing the books they read, or can discussion of bigger issues emerge? Additionally, I’m someone resistant to all kinds of spoilers-- I don’t know that I would want to participate in a book discussion where people are talking a lot about books I haven’t read.

Metzger and Tredway (but, to be honest, mostly Metzger)
I had never heard of these Socratic seminars, and boy are they an exciting way to foster learning in high school English classrooms. After finishing Metzger’s article, I found myself wishing my English classes had done some of these seminars.
Metzger’s point that mediocre readers get ignored in the classroom was something I’d never thought of, but I realized how true it can be; the poor readers get extra help and attention, the great readers speak up more and/or get advanced reading classes, what happens to the middle group?
Though I’m still a little fuzzy on what the outside circle does during these seminars (how exactly do they interpret the inner circle’s thoughts?), I like the idea of an environment that fosters a “non-competitive” discussion.
I noticed that the examples of Socratic Seminars that Metzger gave were all incredibly short works or passages. Would the seminars work when discussing a larger piece, or would it be necessary to give directions to focus on a particular passage?

Week 5 -- Transfer of Learning

Class

I quite enjoyed class this past week. Like Kristen acknowledged, it can be difficult to remain attentive in the 5-8 time-slot, and so our variety of interactive activities were a relief. It's funny, as class was happening, I was just grateful that we were moving around and shifting our focus. It wasn't until a few days later that I realized that the situation itself was a lesson for us: when teaching long lessons, split the learning into a variety of activities to hold attention. Watching the TED talk was exciting (who knew video games could save the world?), and, I'll admit I love anytime the Comedy Central news-team is mentioned... (and in a plug I'm a little ashamed to be making, my other blog is all about items promoted on the Daily Show, so I'm always glad to see connections with the show made).

Readings

Unlike previous weeks, this week's readings didn't seem to present too many new ideas (or, to say it in a more positive way, they built off of many of our previous readings and class discussions). However, within these readings, I was able to make many connections to teaching/learning in my daily life. Two days a week, I tutor at 826michigan (which is always looking for more volunteers...) and help students with their homework. Much of what was discussed in Ch. 3 of How People Learn resonated with my 826 experience, particularly what the chapter said about fractions. HPL mentioned that students knowledge of things like addition and subtraction do not accurately transfer to the process of working with fractions. I saw this firsthand when working with a 4th grader last week. She just was not getting most of the problems. However, the worksheets the student was completing had a variety of types of fraction problems that, while similar, required different processes to complete. She totally understood how to complete one of these problem types, and we were able to use that knowledge to figure out how to solve the others. HPL does suggest giving a variety of problem types, not just because students learn in different ways, but also because it encourages the transfer of knowledge between the related problems.

Both HPL and "Put Understanding First" emphasize the importance of developing knowledge, rather than learning facts, and the three types of teaching for meaning and transfer within "Put Understanding First" are a great way to approach this knowledge development. While I'm still uncertain how I'll be able to apply this directly to much of my public library work (as you can only do so much in one-shot workshops), it does help to get an idea of how people learn.

Learning Environments & Assessment -- Week 4 Post

Class

Somehow, I didn't realize that we needed to post about class each week on this blog. (Seriously, though, I have no idea how I missed it. It's written on the syllabus each week, and, now that I think of it, I remember Kristen telling us we needed to.) So sorry to have missed that for the past couple weeks!

For me, the most useful part of our last class was developing new definitions of information literacy without using the word use. The former English major in me loved the word challenge, and the vocabulary limitations forced me to spend more time thinking about what the phrase actually meant. It was also neat to see the similarities and differences in each group's definition. It made me want to combine them all to make a giant Frankenstein definition.

How People Learn, Ch. 6

It was exciting, given our conversations on information literacy (and literacy in general), to read the information in Box 6.1, sharing how the definition of literacy has changed over time, and how much of that change was due to WWI. It made a natural transition from last week's discussion to this week's readings.

As you all know (since, in theory, you read this chapter as well), Chapter 6 covered various learning environments: learner-centered, knowledge-centered, assessment-centered, and community-centered. I thought the discussion of the need to combine learner and knowledge centered environments was particularly interesting, especially with regards to math and science. The book pointed out in science, it is important to emphasize "doing science" and exploring rather than just memorizing facts, and that in math, it was important for students to understand concepts in addition to developing computation skills.

The section on the community-centered environment also got my attention because I had never really thought about the importance that a strong community environment has in learning. However, when I thought about my own schooling in the Chelsea School District, I realized that the emphasis on community made it easier for me to latch onto what I was learning. Parents were brought into the classroom to help with a number of projects, which not only helped the teacher allow us to do more complicated lessons (like dissecting cow lungs), but also involved parents in their children's learning. There were tons of after-school and weekend clubs that promoted learning outside of the classroom, and since we had the basically the same classmates from kindergarten on, the classroom was a comfortable place filled with people we knew. Though much of my great schooling can be attributed to things outside of the community environment (like great teachers and good budget for classroom materials), certainly community was responsible for some of my great experience.

Sadler

This article focuses on the assessment and evaluation of classroom learning. Though I was glad to get some more specific background on forms this assessment can take, it seemed to be much more geared to the academic environment. However, it got me wondering about the forms assessment can take in a public library.

Certainly PLs are interested in promoting learning, particularly in the programs they offer, but since many of these programs are the one-shot workshops, how do we provide assessment that the learners can use? Nothing is turned into the librarians teaching, and we don't give back graded or commented material. Other than watching learners work and providing verbal comments, how can librarians assess (and report assessments about) what patrons are learning? What about the learning that takes place outside of a class-setting? Do patrons want feedback from the librarian, or will they be angry if the librarian suggests ways they can improve their searches (or whatever it is that they are working on)?

Reading over that mess of questions, they don't seem particularly clear, probably because my brain is still jumbled over the idea. But if you can decipher them and have some thoughts about potential answers, I'd love to hear them.