Monday, February 18, 2013

Just Google It

Last week, Miss A came home with her first project.  Miss A is in year 2 this year but has been put in a year 2/3 class so instead of continuing stage 1 work (Kindy-2), she is now doing stage 2 work (yrs 3-4).  I'm in mixed minds about this but I'm not focusing on this in today's blog post.

Back to the project.  So this is the project:

During each Term this year you will be given an outline for a project to work on at home.  The projects will be linked to that Term's theme in HSIE.  While not compulsory, we hope you will take these opportunities to further develop valuable skills in research and presentation.

Our theme in Term 1 is early Australian history: sea exploration, reasons for colonisation, and first settlement.

For this Term's project you should choose one of the following:

  • A biography of a convict.  This can be any convict who became well-known, e.g. Francis Greenway, James Ruse, John Cadman.  If you know you have a convict as an ancestor, you can do your project on him or her.
  • A famous shipwreck, e.g. Batavia, Vergulde Draeck, Zuytdorp or Trial (there are two - one in WA and another at South West Rocks)
  • This year is the bicentenary of the crossing of the Blue Mountains by Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson in 1813.  Explain why it took 35 years to find a way over the mountains west of Sydney, and why it was so important for the colony of NSW.
And it goes on to explain how the project is to be presented.

Imagine my shock when Miss A told me that the teacher (not her teacher) explaining the project told them to use Google.  I asked - did they mention books, the school library, the public library??  She said no.

So like any good mother, I visited her teacher and mentioned that I wasn't very happy that the students were told to use Google and I'd happily offer the students a session on how to find information in the public library - which is just down the road from the school.

This week I'm providing "how to find information" sessions for the year 2/3's, 3/4's and 5/6's from my daughter's school.

Now I don't dismiss having students use Google to find information.  But I do get disappointed when there is no explanation on how to define what they should be looking for, no discussion of keywords, no discussion of how to evaluate the information found, and no discussion of the other research tools and resources that could be used.

I also find it disappointing that the school librarian is not insisting on offering "how to find information" sessions to the students.  

I understand that there can be many reasons why this doesn't happen - lack of funds, lack of support by the teachers, lack of time etc etc.  But what if I my daughter was not at this school? Who else would jump in and ask that the students be given the opportunity to be taught these skills?  Especially since the project states that it is allowing the students to further develop their research skills - well how about giving them research skills to develop instead of giving a project without the basic support to get them started?

Even if the school had not agreed to allow the students to come to the library, Miss A would still be provided with a lesson in finding information from me - but what about the other students?

And I'm trying very hard not to think about the other schools in our area that are also not providing their students with the basic start in finding information.

What are your thoughts on this?

Monday, February 4, 2013

My Love of The Outsiders Fan Fiction

Ok there are some readers that will know I love The Outsiders and that I have also mentioned my love of some, not all, The Outsiders Fan Fiction.  But here I will share a little bit more on why I love some of The Outsiders Fan Fiction.

To quote from Wikipedia: Fan fiction (alternatively referred to as fanfictionfanficFF, or simply fic) is a broadly-defined fan labor term for stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creator. 

I stumbled across The Outsiders Fan Fiction purely by accident - so much so I can't even remember how and why I found it.  Regardless, I haven't looked back since finding it.

For me it is the ability for the characters to continue to live on once I finished the book that does it for me.  And while some fan fiction is absolutely terrible, others I have found to be quite good - even up there with the original book.

I admit that I don't always feel in the mood to go to it and I have my The Outsiders on and off phases but it is something I keep coming back to.

I have re-read the original book to many times to remember but at times I feel I have out done it (definately not out grown it) - but am over it and want the to see the characters move on and that is exactly what fan fiction has allowed me to do.

Sometimes you find a story that you just shake your head in disbelief at what they put the characters through.  Others try to re-write the original with different endings - some I have liked, others I haven't.

I now have a few fan fiction authors that I have feeds for so I know when they write a new chapter or new story.  It is frustrating at times at how slow they release the chapters but most are very much worth waiting for.  Other stories have been started and left abandoned - I have found a few where it has been a real shame that this has happened.

Did you know that Fifty Shades of Grey started as a Twilight Fan Fiction story?  So fan fiction can be and has been a starter for some successful authors.

Anyway, for those who share my love of The Outsiders - here are some links to what I think have been good stories/authors:

They used to have Wrong Side of the Tracks awards for the best The Outsiders FanFic but it hasn't been updated for many years.

Of course, they also have some YouTube clips where fans have put together some clips from the movie to appropriate or sometimes inappropriate song - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4EHMS7a-IU

But if you are an Outsiders fan - you can't go past this website http://www.theoutsidersbookandmovie.com/Index.html