The Final Countdown!

I'm a music teacher, what can I say I think of everything in song titles. Hence, this song keeps running through my mind as I think of all of you hurriedly writing your inquiry papers. With that in mind, I'll try to keep this short and sweet.

A few reminders as you write...

1. Your paper must be in APA format. Check out www.Purdueowl.com for helpful hints.
2. Keep the rubric near you as you write. It will help guide your thinking for each section. Keep it to the 25-50-25 ratio (i.e. 10 pages = 2.5pgs. section 1 + 5pgs. section 2 + 2.5pgs. section 3)
3. Don't shortchange the third and final section. You've done all of this fabulous research, tell the reader where it will take you next. What ramifications do your findings hold?
4. The paper is due NO LATER than FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10! You may mail it, deliver it to Nancy @ Penn State Lehigh Valley, or send it to Nancy electronically. If you decide to use e-mail, make sure your appendix pages are scanned clearly.
5. Last but not least, this is a paper telling of your research. Make sure you write in the narrative mode. Add your personal voice and style. Make your student's voices heard. This is not your typical research paper.

Enjoy the process of finishing. You have traveled a distance through your inquiry process. Revel in the joy of putting it all on paper for an audience to read. Also, please feel free to e-mail or call if you need anything. I'm available to read portions or drafts of your work. I'm happy to do so...that's why I'm here (not just to blog you all reminders).

Happy writing!

Digging for Treasure

Our LVWP site team has just returned from NWP's Annual Meeting and we are JAZZED! We return renewed and re-energized with ideas, action plans, and ways to re-vision.

I thought about all of you often as you are heading towards the finish line of your inquiry process and getting ready to publish. One of my sessions, Inquiry as a Political Act, offered a quote from Renee Moore author of Going Public with Our Teaching. She likens the process of inquiry to "digging for buried treasure in our own back yard." Consider this. You are diving in, dusting off years of prior sediment, gathering treasure right in your own classroom.

Hopefully you have uncovered several fabulous nuggets and, perhaps, inquiry paper writing has begun. Maybe you are setting some time aside during the upcoming holiday weekend to sift through some of your findings and start compiling your treasure map that has lead you to this point. Regardless, it is time for action!

Your due date is upcoming and it will sneak up behind you if you don't take purposeful steps towards completing your inquiry paper. Take time to look at the rubric so you are able to start/continue thinking within those three categories. Sift through your data and, certainly, begin to WRITE!

I would like to offer a time(s) to meet so you are able to write and confer with each other. This time could also be used to troubleshoot and work through the process and proportioning of your paper (25/50/25). Although it is not necessary that I am present, I would love to be with you through this time. I am available in the evenings and on Saturdays (mornings are better). Please let me know if the Lehigh Valley Mall area or the Center Valley Promenade Shops would be a better meeting place. This time is available to one or many. (I will have to plan ahead for childcare, so the sooner I know the better...just in case.)

This is not mandatory. It is offered to help block out time to write and work as a team. Just think, digging for treasure is rarely accomplished without a team effort!

Fall Follow Up

Hello to you all!

I have added your addresses to the blog post. As a team, we are truly hoping you use this "spot" to contact one another and post questions, dilemmas, and possible impromptu meetings. We realize you all are being pulled in many directions. However, we want to do everything possible to support you in the final months of your inquiry.

Speaking of support...

Don't forget to gather your goodies for the Fall Follow-up Meeting. We look forward to seeing each of you bright and early (8:30 - 11:30) on Saturday morning. You'll have time to talk, share, listen, and problem solve together to launch you into the next steps of your project.

Have a great week's end! See you Saturday!

September is nigh

It seems hard to believe but we are now halfway through August and the excitement for back-to-school is growing. I know I'm feeling it as I prepare my upcoming syllabus and look through old assignments thinking about new techniques that will freshen up and breath new life into my course. Then there is the inquiry...

Have I made an adjustment to my course requirements to include blogging? Yes. Have I researched different blog techniques to make it more interactive? No. Have I contacted the Tech department at KU to gain their support and make sure I can connect at home or in the classroom? Nope! The time is NIGH!!

As the school year approaches, it becomes important to tidy up some odds and ends of the inquiry process while time may still be more of a luxury rather than a tornado of to-do lists and lesson plans.

• Take some time to do a bit more research and sure up your process.
• Talk to your principal now, before the school year takes up his/her time.
• Talk to your team/department during the opening day meetings. You may even want to share your experience with your faculty at a meeting. You never know who will be an advocate to your process...this opens the door.
• Revise your proposal so it is ready for an audience. Give it to your principal(s), team, etc.
• Create any survey, letters home, or release forms that you may need. You can always go back and tweak them if necessary, but at least they will be mostly complete.
• Make sure to schedule in "study time" during the week. It should be like an appointment that can't be missed! This will help you stay on track and keep you from getting overwhelmed.

Enjoy the last few days of summer. Go out for ice cream...go for a hike...enjoy a beverage in a comfortable chair on a lazy afternoon...then get ready to get down to business! See you in September...

A Sincere Thanks and a BIG TIP

I wanted to be sure to thank all of you for a fabulous Summer Institute experience. I look forward to working with you throughout the fall and seeing how each of your questions reveal themselves and progress.

Don't forget to keep doing some research and planning as August moves forward. Also, take a look a the flow chart that Jan Gebhart (Inquiry panelist) gave you. It has tons of fantastic advice to keep you honest and make things easier.

BIG TIP: As you research, keep an MLA list of each of your resources AND keep the MLA listing as a heading to your notes from this resource specifically. List all page numbers with direct quotes for easy credit when you write your paper. Actually, I keep page numbers with each bullet in my notes so I can find it easily later.

Boil, Boil, Toil, and Trouble!

I have to admit, I love watching "process" at work. Today we worked at boiling our wonderings and ideas down to a more workable, sweet question. Although my work is not on the gallery walk, I boiled with Nancy during our afternoon session. Exhaustion left me searching for all the right words, but as is most often the case talking things out allowed us to get to a more workable question.

Here we go...
What impact will blogging have on student engagement with course material and resources?
(oh so sweet and yummy!)

Of course my husband put a tiny fly in the...well... syrup by suggesting this type of blog might not work as well for my purposes as another tool...Google Wave. Any thoughts?

Please feel free to "sticky" me in this forum as well as add your own questions...toils and troubles.

Commence boiling!

Framing my own question...

Here we are ready to start the final week of the Summer Institute. Much time has been spent learning about the process, callibrating, and digging deeper. Yet, we are only at the beginning of the inquiry process. Illuminating a "problem", strength, or passion. Wondering. Narrowing. Finally, we must frame these what-ifs within a question. What better way to start this process then in an open forum for all to see and wonder with me?

Illuminating my problem...
I feel increasingly behind as technology revs up and pulls away from my understanding. I am behind my contemporaries (at best) and not even in the same universe as my students. It is time to catch up. Beyond this issue, the use of traditional journaling in my college course is waning. My students reflect little and write even less. More and more I am seeing a replay of the same few students write, reflect, and respond during classtime. Although others are writing, it is certainly not expansive. What to do?

Wonderings...
Technology is its own literacy, full of writing components. Through this, my students may connect more with in-class learning, extend ideas, and be more willing to question. They may also be more willing to work with traditional literacies (in-class reading and writing) if technology is part of the mix. Also, this will help validate tools for other educators to use in their own classrooms.

Narrowing...
Podcasts. Digital stories. Blogging. And I am quite sure that is only the beginning. So much to use and so little knowledge on my part. Blogs seem to be the most accessible place for me to start and also have my students interface with me. E-mail worked well last year, but did not allow for the rest of the class to read and respond. A blog will open up the forum.

Question???...
How will weekly blogging increase student response and reflection in a college arts class?

Reflection...
Not perfect, but it's a start. This blog is my first bit of research. Is it manageable? Will people respond/question/reflect? Is it even a viable teaching tool? We'll see.

Please join me in my inquiry wanderings. Feel free to post your own work and thought process on your question. Ask for help. Bounce ideas. Share some of your own research, frustrations, and "AH HA!" moments. We will continue this into the fall as a follow-up forum to extend the institute as well as support all of our wanderings. Thank you for being my ginny pigs! :)