I have often wanted to do more research projects with my students but I have felt restricted by my schedule. I have always worked within a fixed schedule of library classes where I see each class once a week. I’ve worked with teachers to provide some research skill components to support classroom projects, but it always feels so disconnected. We work on one aspect of the project and by the time I see them again the students are many steps father along in the process, or done, and I find it very challenging to keep in the flow.
Time for change. I’m taking some of Katie Martin’s advice from Learner Centered Innovation and some ideas from John Spencer and A. J. Juliani in Empower. I’m flipping the question around- I can’t change the schedule, and I haven’t found a way to make the classroom connection quite what I’d like it to be, so how I can do research a different way. I can take the student empowerment track and let students work through their own research based project in the library. It’s been slow going, 10 minutes here, 15 minutes there but I think it’s working.
In the first couple of weeks students have been changing their topics a lot which I think is great. As they realize they can really pick their own topic of choice it’s gone from your typical animals with basic facts to uncovering ideas like, What if dragons were based on science instead of magic, and Do dogs use their whiskers differently from cats? They are creating their own research questions and goals and I’m learning a lot about my students.
I can’t say for sure how this will turn out but I can see them working through their questions and answers, I’m learning a lot more about some of them, and they are excited to explore information. We’re off to a great start.