Week 14- Research Collaborations

After all the chaos of the Kentucky Derby Book Race and technology troubleshooting, I still had several outside hours to accomplish. I decided to collaborate with a teacher on a formal research project. The 8th grade social studies teacher, Mr. Downs, wanted to allow his 8th grade students to research the different pioneer groups that went west. Students were to evaluate websites for accurate information before creating their PowerPoints.

Mr. Downs was my KTIP mentor as well as my student teacher supervisor in my undergrad practicum. He and I have a long-standing working relationship and we collaborate very well together. He came to me with the idea and I provided support for developing the lesson, resources, and assessments. We have not yet implemented this research project but we plan to assess student work together.

One of the most important components of students' digital citizenship is information evaluation. It is essential to develop this skill as 21st-century learners and thinkers. I wanted to use an authentic task of investigating the reasons people move in a historical context. This research project meets these expectations as well as social studies standards.