I have added more information to my Study Skills Wiki. I now have 7 pages and a google calendar widget, as well as a chart for my students to complete after they visit the Multiple Intelligence Quiz links I provided. I found an article tonight (NPR) that talks about how traditional methods of studying have been proven to be less effective than studying in shorter bursts, varied locations, etc. Interesting!
I spent a while on Marvel last week. Frankly, I had no idea that there was such a rich resource of scholarly material available in one location. Did everyone else know this? Or were they like me, thinking that if it was "out there" you could find it on google? In any case, I feel much more comfortable navigating on that site and I will certainly encourage students to use it. I will recommend they access it directly through the Mahoney page to avoid overwhelming them with resource choices on the main Marvel page. I remember many of our conversations at the start of this course, when we were concerned about the quality of the information our students were finding. The Marvel sites certainly limit students' searches to more "respectable" sites, which should reassure teachers. I do think that Marvel could spend some time re-designing the site to make it more user friendly, as I have heard several kids say they don't use it because it's confusing, and frankly, I found it confusing as well.
My other discovery was Novelist. I found a list of about 20 authors I "need" to read for myself (I love historical fiction and British mysteries) and compiled a list of books to help me with my Halloween/ghost story unit. I found the site to be easy to use, very informative, and well explained by the tutorials.
Have a great week!
Another week of great learning, Maggie. You are a veritable sponge! Nice wiki. Thanks for sharing the link. I, too, love Novelist. It is addictive! The Info Tech Team has been encouraging the use of Marvel for several years. I think teachers are overwhelmed by all the databases and, as you point out, it's not the easiest to navigate. If you read some of the class blogs posted by the elementary teachers in our grad class, you will see that they are excited to have reliable, safe information for the little students. So, please join us in helping to encourage the use of Marvel among your colleagues.
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