CI 553 Reflections - Week 1

The Standards
I think that it is important that all teachers know about and incorporate information literacy and library media standards in their classroom. Students come to us as consumers of media - they have (and frequently use) computers, TVs, cell phones, the internet, magazines, video games, ipods, ipads and a plethora of other technology that is designed to get information to consumers... FAST! It is absolutely essential that we, as educators, teach students to be discriminating consumers of media and information. The information literacy/library media standards are designed to ensure that our students become critical thinkers who can ask authentic questions with skills to plan strategies for inquiry, locate information and communicate their new-found knowledge to others.
the state of Montana.

As classroom teachers, we often require students to do research. The library media standards provide the framework for those research skills, and ensure that educators across subject areas and grade levels are teaching and requiring the same things from the students. The IL/LM standards offer us a way to ensure the vertical and horizontal alignment of research skills within the state of Montana.

The Big6
I was so excited to come across the Big6. This is definitely something that I will put to use in my classroom. As an English teacher, we do a lot of researching in my class. My juniors give informative and persuasive speeches, as well do a more formal Inquiry Based Research Project. To be honest, I have always been at a loss when it comes to teaching the research skills. The Big6 seems so simple and straight forward, I can't wait to try it! Next year, I am thinking that we will do several smaller research papers, rather than one huge one. This will allow students to research topics related to the things we are studying in class, and share their findings. Ultimately, I think this is a more relevant and realistic way to conduct research than just some big project that is not really linked to any of the issues we have been studying. I think that I will introduce the ideas right at the beginning of the year. This will give me a basis for reference throughout our time together and establish the fact that I want to students to provide resources and references to back up their ideas.
Poster Credit: The "Big6™" is copyright © (1987) Michael B. Eisenberg and Robert E. Berkowitz. As long as credit is given, they have many free items to share! For more information, visit: www.big6.com

The Future
With the upcoming election in the fall, there is the chance that we will see a significant change in our elected officials. Regardless of this possibility, I believe the standards based movement will continue. Recently, Montana has done so much work to revise our standards, I think that there would be an uproar if we abandoned it now. Additionally, pre-service teachers are being taught that they must teach to the standards, and it is OPI's job to see that these standards are revised and updated so there is the possibility of horizontal alignment across the state. I know that we aren't there yet, but the writing ad publishing the standards is a necessary first step. Additionally, with the advent of the National Common Core Standards, the standards movement has taken a front and center position within the educational world as well as the media.