3rd Blog-Social Studies Catalogue Project

My project was supposed to be fairly basic, because I had changed it from the original, after my contract changed just after Christmas break, so I then had a new school, grade, and class. However, I now realize that my plan was not well-laid out. I had a vision in my mind of what I wanted to see created, but I had a difficult time communicating that vision.

Preceding the computer aspect of the project, my students attended a presentation by the Aboriginal Education Center regarding traditional Aboriginal uses of cedar (clothing, tools, baskets, etc). Then they worked in partners to make a chart showing each type of cedar product, how it was made, what it was used for, etc. I then showed them advertisements from magazines, showing what information should be included in a catalogue write-up. Then students were required to make mock-ups of 4 different cedar product advertisements. The final project was supposed to be a catlogue-type Keynote project which they could also present orally. A very detailed project when I look at it now :)

So far I have learnt many different, peripheral things, to be able to do the project with my students. First, I learnt how to create my own classroom website for students to access to get pictures for a project, so that they were not spending their computer lab time searching for pictures. Second, I learnt that just because we assume students use computers on a daily or at least weekly basis, they do not intuitively understand how to work in different application programs. Finally, I learnt that it is hard for my students to transfer their thinking and planning from paper onto the computer, because they were more interested in fancy animation than the content, so I would start the project differently next time, emphasizing content and maybe having them type it into a word processing program before making it into a presentation in Keynote.

James Klassen from START has been a huge help, as he has made many trips out to work with my class during the past months, teaching them how to use Keynote, and teaching me in the process.

I have only partially gathered data, because they have not completed their projects yet, but I hope to complete them shortly after spring break and then update you all.