Research is DONE!!! Yippee!!!

It has been a long two weeks in the library with my CP English 9 classes as we learned about the research process. I will admit, at the beginning of our time in the library, I was seriously thinking I was a crazy person for not limiting the students in what they could research-- like we have done in the past. Typically, I would provide the students with a list of topics I knew for sure our library had resources on, so I could easily manage the research process and effectively move my students through the various stages with very little hiccups along the way.  However, this year I came to a realization that by limiting my students too much, I was really negating what I wanted them to learn about research--the research itself. If I continued to do the preliminary work for them, then I was the only person getting better at choosing topics and evaluating resources. Furthermore, when my students and I embarked on this "Innovation Project", I allowed them to pursue questions they wanted to answer, so there really was no going back at that point. 

I'm so glad I didn't limit them now. What I witnessed happening in the library this last two weeks was far more than I ever expected. Each day we were in the library learning about locating resources, and then writing thesis statements and outlines, taking notes, and finally putting it all into a paper was thrilling and impressive. Students who had been shy or reluctant suddenly had the "ah ha" moments and became frontrunners in my class and experts to help the other students. I saw my students taking ownership of their own learning and taking command of the research process. Now, don't think it was all rainbows and sunshine. There are always some who struggle and there are still some who haven't quite finished, but overall I feel like everyone learned something and is "getting there." That is all I could have hoped for with 9th graders embarking on research for the first time. 

This week we will be working on updating our blogs about the research process and uploading completed research papers to our websites. 

I'm excited to move into our 3rd phase of the project which is the "Implementation" stage where the kids will finally get to design their final products in an attempt to answer their "Innovation Project Question." I cannot wait to see how they solve their issues! 

More to come.