Wishing

Well I must say that I am happy with the end product. There were challenges in the beginning. Once I decided what I wanted to do I sat at my desk for a while dumbfounded. Then, I dove in head first pulling website after website up. Big mistake. You can see from my initial postings that I was including websites in my posts without explaining why I chose them. Then, I had to backtrack and include that. I guess you can't read my mind over cyberspace anymore than you could if we were face to face. I would imagine that students make the same critical mistake. They fail to evaluate the website based on the five criteria for analyzing websites:
accuracy, authority, currency, objectivity, coverage...

So, needless to say, the pre-planning stages were shakey.

Since most of us graduated before the big bang of the Internet we are used to the traditional form of research. According to Callison and Preddy that high school students should be able to follow specific steps through the inquiry process. (The Blue Book, p. 90)

Regarding Evaluation and Selection, Callison and Preddy argue a high school student:

a. understands and is familiar with documents that have different purpose,scope,perspective,bias
b. is tolerant ofreview of information that does not immediately fit his or her personal perspective and seeks evidence from all perspectives before drawing a conclusion
c. can discriminate between important and less important questions and resources
d. explores information widely, and brings focus to the central porblem based on background readings, personal experiences and interests, and indentified the need for further research

(The Blue Book, pg. 90)

So, I suppose if I were the teacher / media specialist working with students on an inquiry project, I would emphasize how to analyze resources before getting started. Creating a checklist that would serve to determine the best resources before the research begins would be helpful especially for students new to the inquiry process.

My Photos of the shrubs I chose

The left photo is the Holly bush. If you look closely you can see the berries! In the winter these are gorgeous! These will line the back of both areas. The boxwoods are to the right. They can be trimmed to form a nice hedge and stay a light green all-year round. They are hardy and both do well in the morning and afternoon sun.

My Photographs

To the left are the red day lilies that

will adorn the far right side. To the right is the Black-Eyed Susan. This is at the end of their season so they don't look great right now but they sure pop during the summer!

In the center is the coreopsis. They stay yellow from late spring to the fall. They are a round perennial that sit low to the ground. They are hardy and they LOVE the sun.

To the right is the other day lily that will be used on the far right and left side. They provide a subtle pink to soften up the color.

Technology Requirements

Digital Camera (My photos of the flowers and shrubs I took will be attached to tonight's blog entry)

Webspiration - Concept Map

Smart Draw 2010: Communicate Visually (free 7 day trial was used to draw my landscape plan. You can view this through Oncourse)

Web Links: I used the social bookmarking tool through Delicious.

Curriculum Connection

Curriculum Connection

The applications of the Dr. Lamb’s 8w’s are endless. It is a solid model that escorts students through the inquiry process. In particular the Webbing, Wiggling, and Weaving steps help to make students proficient in Indiana’s Information Literacy Standards from the Indiana Department of Education website, and these are:

The student who is information literate:

accesses information efficiently and effectively.
evaluates information critically and competently.
uses information accurately and creatively.

In meeting these standards through using inquiry models such as Lamb’s 8w’s students from 12th grade Social Studies students will meet Indiana State Standard 12.4.7 which states the student will:

Develop presentations using clear research questions and creative and critical research strategies such as conducting field studies, interview, and experiments; researching oral histories; and using Internet sources.

As well, 8th grade Social Studies students can meet standard 8.1.28 which is:

Chronological Thinking, Historical Comprehension, Analysis and Interpretation, Research, and Issues-Analysis and Decision Making: Recognize historical perspective and evaluate alternative courses of action by describing the historical context in which events unfolded and by avoiding evaluation of the past solely in terms of present-day norms.

Example: Use Internet-based documents and digital archival collections from museums and libraries to compare views of slavery in slave narratives, northern and southern newspapers, and present-day accounts of the era.


http://dc.doe.in.gov/Standards/AcademicStandards/index.shtml

Waving

The project has been communicated with my husband all along. This really is a personal quest that ended in an authentic product. According to Callison and Preddy, "Authentic assessment values both the processes and products involved in learning. For example, journals, logs, and concept maps may be developed as the project progresses. Final products might include a letter to the editor, online book review, or presentation to a local nonprofit groupo." (p. 297 The Blue Book). I have always been a believer in Authentic Assessment. As a classroom teacher I had my students write a book review on a book they chose from a list I generated. What I didn't want was a traditional book report. Through peer review, rubrics, lists that showed what a good book review is, the best review was chosen and we posted that on-line through Amazon.com.

My product are three sketches of our areas. While there was an enormous level of frustration throughout this process, my husband and I are ready for the spring. I feel satisfied as most students would when they produced an authentic product that was only possible through an inquiry process.

Additionally, the resources I used were authentic. The sites I chose are recent sites created by experts in the field. I relied on my new found friends at Smalls and Chesterton Feed for advice. They supported what I learned from the resources I selected. In the classroom, students need to be exposed to authentic resources. According to Callison and Preddy, "The library media specialist is essential in authentic learning environments. Stuednts are expected to go beyond teacher-directed activities and textbooks. The library media speicalist can collaborate with the teacher to locate and organize authentic materials and resources from community or online experts to primary source documents or photographs." (The Blue Book, p. 296)

So, while my project will be shared with my husband, the process of Lamb's 8w's needs to be communicated to the faculty.

Wrapping

I feel as though I have exhausted all the possible resources I could have used. I will say that the two most helpful things I did was go to Coffee Creek and write down everything I liked (and photograph) and then take that to Chesterton Feed and Smalls. Now that I have done the brain-work, my husband gets to do the dirty work. My final product are three separate drawings of the three areas I was interested in landscaping. To complete those I used Smart Draw's 7 day trial. I may even convince my husband to purchase the software for future projects. I will post the PDF files of those drawings to the Scout Area so they can be viewed. There is a little part of me that wishes I could hire this work out but the real satisfaction will come in June when those plants are in the ground.

Weaving

I am one of those crazy visual learners. So, I used Webspiration to organize my random thoughts. It can be viewed at

http://mywebspiration.com/publish.php?i=182192a11601

This process has reminded me of one of the more simple models mentioned in Callison and Preddy's The Blue Book, the Inquiry Page model by Bertram C. Bruce and the Inquiry Project. I've asked, investigated, created, discussed (with my husband), and am about to reflect. I've done this over and over throughout the process. Often the reflection on the process is left out at times and this could be a real disservice to students. Without time dedicated to reflection or debriefing, how would a student determine waht went wrong and what went really well? This is where the expertise of the media specialist and/or classroom teacher comes in. The process of inquiry is every bit as important to learn as the content of the research inquiry. These are just some thoughts that I have as I wrap this up.

Wiggling

This was the most challenging part of the entire process. I found so many wonderful sites that it became overwhelming. After speaking with my friends at Smalls and Chesterton Feed and Garden, I had an idea of what I wanted in my backyard. So I revisited the sites that I bookmarked using Delicious and kept the ones that met my needs. The sites needed to provide any or all of the following:

1. Information on Perennials
2. Information on Shrubs
3. Pricing
4. Hardiness
5. Size of my choices
6. Tips on planting
7. Tutorials on how to build a paver patio
8. References and /or a bibliography

The sites that made the cut can be viewed at:
http://www.delicious.com/KristineArthur

Webbing

What didn't I try? Well, not much! I started by visiting local landscaping stores to discuss what I needed to do to get started compiling the information I needed. Those that were particularly helpful were:

Small's Landscaping located in Valparaiso, IN.
http://www.smallslandscaping.com/

Chesterton Feed and Garden
http://www.gardenguides.com/resources/landscaping/landscaper.asp?store=349645

I was surprised at how willing they were to talk to me. I told them what I liked, they told me whether or not those items will do well given our location in rural Chesterton and the direction the house faces. I took pictures of plants that I think are pretty and would like to see them in my yard with me. If anyone is familiar with Coffee Creek ( http://www.coffeecreekwc.org/) in Chesterton, then you know I had plenty of options. For those plants I was unable to identify, both Smalls and Chesterton Feed were able to help me out.

YOU TUBE to the rescue...

My husband and I have always tried to do big projects on our own with one shovel and one wheelbarrow. This time I was determined to do the homework ahead of time. So, what better way than to watch tutorials free on-line. These are the ones I found particulary helpful:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pmuq_hPaZdE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTLhkUC0O7Q&feature=PlayList&p=C5356EDD734987CE&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=22

Other places I went online were:

HGTV homepage. There are so many tips and the site is organized very well.

http://www.hgtv.com/landscaping/index.html

The Landscape Design Site offers how-to videos adn key information on plants and patios.

http://www.the-landscape-design-site.com/landscapeideasgallery.html

Right now I feel like I am following the InfoZone model of wondering, seeking, choosing, connecting, producing, and judging as well as Dr. Lamb's W's. There is so much information gathering going on, now I need to organize it.

Webbing

I have been webbing for two days. I have several sites I have found to help me decide what I am going to plant. I am creating a bibliography of those sites to share. I have narrowed down five basic plants / shrubs that I am going to focus on. I am going to create a patio area for entertaining on the far left side of the house. I opted to design that instead of planting. So, while I am doing well at finding the information Ineed to landscape the back, now I need to take a look at patios. I am NOT going to do the labor myself but I will certainly have a plan on what I want it to look like!

Pardon the ladder. My husband has been staining the deck. The area to left of the stairs with the lava rock will be part of this project as well. The area is 10' x 6' so I am looking for something to block the area below the deck but will not be planting under the deck. I want to keep it clean to prevent little critters from making it their hideout.

So, I have three areas that need landscaped. All three need to flow nicely together, and thrive during the hottest part of the day. The soild has been prepped already as we did that before we put the rock down. We will be planting in the spring so I need to do my homework now to get ready. This is a great time for this project to have come along.

Wondering still

This is the far left side of the house. The area needing to be landscaped here is 18' x 5'. It is also facing east. You can see that the windows are to our basement and I have not had time to peel the stickers off from the inside.

Still Wondering

I think I have decided to focus on landscaping the back yard. This is the right side that faces east and therefore receives the hot morning and afternoon sun. The total are needing landscaped is 16' x 16'. The tree in the middle is a maple that my husband found in the yard and decided he wanted to grow it big and tall. It will be moved this fall. I am going to research plants for this area that do well in the daytime sun. I want color for each season. You can see that we put lava rock down as we had too many projects to tackle before we dealt with the landscaping in the backyard.

We live in the country and have many wild animals to consider. I want to be careful that I do not plant plants that attract certain bugs. This will be part of my research. I am excited to get started.

Watching

AHHH...There are so many things I am considering doing for this project. I haven't quite made up my mind. Among the possibilities are:

Lung Cancer - how to promote awareness to teenagers outside of health and P.E. class.

How to deal with the loss of a loved one due to cancer.

Landscaping - We are going to be landscaping our back yard from scratch this spring. We have full-sun.

Anorexia - how to recognize it and what the long-term consequences are.

Obesity in children - how to change a child's attitude toward eating and physical activity.

Most of these are tough issues. All of which I have dealt with at one point in my life. Maybe I will pick landscaping. I am just not sure right now.