Links, Learning and Liberation: Successful Independent Learners

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Links, Learning and Liberation Successful
Independent Learners

• Rosa International Middle School
• Cherry Hill, NJ
• Ms. Tammy McDonald, Principal
• Nina M. Kemps, Library Media Specialist

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What is the International Baccalaureate Middle
Years Program?

• What is required?
• How is our school different?

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International BaccalaureateOrganization
(IBO)Middle Years Program

• is designed to provide students with the values
  and opportunities that will enable them to
  develop sound judgment and to choose wisely.
• Learning how to learn and how to evaluate
  information critically is as important as the
  content of the disciplines.

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Fundamental Concepts

• Communication
• Holistic view of knowledge
• Intercultural awareness

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AREAS OF INTERACTION FORM THE CORE OF THE
PROGRAMME

• Approaches to Learning
• Community Service
• Environment
• Health and Social Education
• Homo Faber (Inventiveness Creativity)

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MIDDLE YEARS PROGRAMME CURRICULUM
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Dimensions of Learning

• Knowledge Understanding
• Application Attitude

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TRANSFORMATION AND DISCOVERY

• Start of every day
• All staff members are advisors
• Every advisor has 12 - 15 students
• Two days advisory three days personal project
• Programs compliment each other
• Models BEST PRACTICES

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TRANSFORMATION AND DISCOVERY

• Advocate
• Community Service Facilitator
• Home - School Communication
• Academic Monitor
• Adult Role Model
• Personal Project Facilitator

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What are Personal Projects?

• What is required?
• Let me see a few examples.

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Role of the Personal Project (IBO)

• The personal project is
• Significant body of work
• Extended period
• Students own initiative
• Very important to programme
• Creative piece of work
• Demonstrate skills of approaches to learning

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IB Requirements

• An extended piece of work
• Reflective writing about the learning process
• Bibliography
• Rubric assessment
• including self-assessment of process and product

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Addressing the Areas of Interaction

• To understand and apply the Approaches to
  Learning
• Effective study skills
• Critical, coherent and independent thought
• Capacity for solving problems and making
  decisions
• To address two or more of the other Areas of
  Interaction

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Approaches to LearningIn their individual
work, students should develop

• the ability to do methodical work
• sense of achievement and self-discipline
• care for a job well done

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Approaches to LearningIn their individual work,
students should develop

• care for language for adequate, precise
  vocabulary
• coherence of thought expression
• self-sufficiency responsibility

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Approaches to LearningIn their social and
cultural environment, students should develop

• the ability to communicate experiences.
• team spirit

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Approaches to LearningIn their social and
cultural environment, students should develop

• an open-minded attitude towards the world and its
  people, and respect for their own culture and the
  culture of others.
• a critical view of humanity and society.

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Format

• Creative writing
• Essay
• Invention
• Music, drama, art
• Science experiment

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Let me see afew examples.
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Communication Skills

• Every student became a teacher!

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REFLECTION
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JOURNAL WRITING

• Assists advisors as they guide students
• Journal entries are used for reflective writing
  and self evaluation

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Self evaluation is important.
We are teaching the learning process!
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How do Personal Projects align with standards ?

• National, State, and Cherry Hill Information
  Literacy

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NationalAmerican Association of School Libraries
(AASL)and Association for Educational
Communication and Technology (AECT)

• Information Literacy Standards for Student
  Learning (1998)

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Information Literacy Standards

• Information Literacy
• Accesses information efficiently and effectively
• Evaluates information critically and competently
• Uses information accurately and creatively

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Information Literacy Standards

• Independent Learning
• Pursues information related to personal interests
• Appreciates literature and other creative
  expressions of information
• Strives for excellence in information seeking and
  knowledge generation

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Information Literacy Standards

• Social Responsibility
• Recognizes the importance of information to a
  democratic society
• Practices ethical behavior in regard to
  information and information technology
• Participates effectively in groups to pursue and
  generate information

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Cherry Hill Information Literacy Standards

• Uses information accurately and creatively
• 6-8 Organizes information for practical
  application
• 9-12 Organizes information for practical
  application in an effective and appropriate manner

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Rosas Personal Project and Information Literacy
Standards

• Approaches to Learning
• NJ Core Curriculum
• link provided to www.emanj.org. website matrix
• Research model

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What has Rosa established to guide students
towards year-long Personal Projects?
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How do we develop successful independent learners?

• Transformation Discovery
• Strong library media program
• Tools
• High interest lessons
• Skills built into lessons
• Application throughout school curriculum

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RAVE
Read Ask View Explore
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FLIP IT!
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FLIP IT! Focusform essential questions Linkconne
ct prior knowledge and plan Inputmake meaning by
implementing (search, shift, sort, and store)
Payoffputting it all together in a
product. Intelligentalways asking If
.. Thinkingresponding with Then ..
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I-SEARCH

• Personalizing the learning
• Writing reflectively about the learning process
• Aligns with FLIP IT! Model
• Students meet the IB requirement

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Online Reflective Writing

• A. Personal Connection to Topic Including Focus
  Quest
• In this section I should
• Indicate why I care about the topic including why
  I wanted to learn more. (Make the personal
  connection.)
• Include your essential questions.

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Online Reflective Writing

• B. The Story of My Research
• In this section I should tell the story of my
  learning
• Describe problems in locating information and
  how I solved them.
• Describe breakthroughs! Tell when it really got
  interesting
• Tell how I changed, expanded, or revised my
  questions.
• Acknowledge how others in and outside the school
  helped me carry out my search.
  
• Suggest further questions or areas to explore at
  another time.
• Describe the sequence of steps in my search.

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Online Reflective Writing

• C. Connections to the Areas of Interaction
  Approaches to Learning, Homo Faber,
  Environment, Health Social Education,
  Community Service
• This section should be at least two paragraphs
  long.
• I should make a strong connection between my
  project and two Areas of Interaction besides
  Approaches to Learning. (The Personal Project
  shows how I have mastered the Approaches to
  Learning.)

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Online Reflective Writing

• D. Evaluation of My Learning
• In this section I should indicate what
  completing this project has meant to me
• Tell how I've developed my mastery of the
  Approaches to Learning.
• Describe what I will change when I do my next
  project.
• Set one or two goals related to Approaches to
  Learning for next year.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY FORMS

• Note taking sheets
• Guidelines and rules
• Required sources
• Available online

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Other Tools and Assistance

• Calendars
• Library Requests
• Help locating information
• Inter-Library Loans
• Journal prompts
• Questions stems
• Team meeting time

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Timeline - Year One

• Establish learning community - Sept/Oct
• Journal writing developing questions - Oct/Nov
• School-wide Projects - Parallel Universe (Homo
  Faber) and Global Issues (Environment Health
  and Social Ed.) - Dec-Feb
• Individual Projects - Mar - May
• Personal Project Celebrations (3 days) - June

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Timeline - Year Two

• Establish learning community - Sept
• Journal writing develop questions (6th) - Oct
• School-wide Projects - Paralympics (Homo Faber
  Health and Social Ed) and You Be the Senator
  (Environment.) - Oct - Dec
• Parallel Universe (6th) (Homo Faber) - Jan - Mar
• Individual Projects (7th/8th) Jan - Mid May
• Individual Projects (6th) - Mar - May
• Personal Project Celebrations (5 days per grade
  level) - Last half of May - First week of
  June

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TIMELINE YEAR 3

• Sixth and seventh may remain the same
• Adjustments to celebration times
• Eighth grade skills to stress
• Speaking skills and editing
• Deepen knowledge of Areas of Interaction
• Use the IB eight criteria assessment rubric
• Learning and Behavior Styles
• Use student trainers

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CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

• Baldridge Plan, Do, Study, Act
• Teacher survey at end of year
• Use feedback
• Team meetings
• Model life long learning
• Mobius Strip

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(No Transcript)
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Group Assignment

• Must identify the 20 time-slipped items in the
  picture, but you must have a plan as to how you
  are going to accomplish the task.
• Must submit an alphabetical listing of the items.

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INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

• Answer the following questions about one of the
  time-slipped items
• 1. Who invented it? When was it invented?
• 2.What need or want of the people prompted the
  invention?
• 3. What did the people during your time period
  use in place of the item or why didnt they need
  the item?

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How do you assess Personal Projects?
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Rosa Assessment

• CRITERION A - Planning and Development
  (FOCUS)
• GOAL The student will clearly state and explain
  the focus of his/her personal project giving a
  few key questions to be answered.
•   Evidence of this will be found in the
  introduction and body of the project.

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Rosa Assessment

• CRITERION B - Collection of Information/Resource
  s - (LINKS)
• GOAL The student will demonstrate his/her
  ability to collect relevant information from a
  variety of sources. Students should select
  sufficient information and appropriate resources
  to substantiate the project.
•   This criterion is to be evaluated by the use
  of the bibliographic note sheets. (The note
  sheets are to be turned in with the finished
  project.)

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Rosa Assessment

• CRITERION C - Analysis/Creativity - (INPUT)
• GOAL The student will demonstrate his/her
  ability to make meaning by evaluating and using
  information from a variety of sources.
•  
• This criterion will be evaluated through review
  of notes, journal entries, and the finished
  product.

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Rosa Assessment

• CRITERION D - Organization of the Final Product
  (PAYOFF)
• GOAL The student will present a complete
  personal project that links to the areas of
  interaction, includes a bibliography, and
  reflective writing concerning the process.
• The final product will be used to evaluate this
  criterion.

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Rosa Assessment

• CRITERION E - Review of Process (INTELLIGENT
  THINKING!)
• GOAL The student will self evaluate the
  learning process and final outcome of his/her
  work.
•  
• This criterion is to be evaluated by the teacher
  based on the reflective writings in the learning
  journal.

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PERSONAL PROJECT
Successful Independent Learners
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Rosa International Middle School
Tammy McDonald, Principal Nina M. Kemps, Library
Media Specialist Rosa International Middle
School 485 Browning Lane Cherry Hill, NJ
856-616-8787 tmcd_at_hotmail.com
nkemps_at_home.com
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Websites

• Workshop Handouts
• http//www.cherryhill.k12.nj.us/rims/aaslhandouts.
  htm
• Rosa Online Library
• http//www.cherryhill.k12.nj.us.rims/library/rosa_
  international_middle_school.htm
• International Baccalaureate Organisation
  (IBO)http//www.ibo.org.
• Educational Media Association of New Jersey
• http//emanj.org