Evaluating: Video Presentation Supplement

    This blog post will serve to compliment my video (oral & visual) presentation in fulfilling the requirements of the final project rubric, as well as to represent the "evaluating" stage of my inquiry.

    My inquiry topic was boys' literacy. I explored the topic using the Alberta model of inquiry. My initial questions were:

1. How/why do boys read differently than girls?
2. When boys do read, what are they reading?
3. How have schools and libraries successfully increased boys' reading skills?
4. What are the best ways for childrens' librarians to implement these strategies?

    I found answers to all of these questions readily available in all of the sources I used...except for the fourth question. I decided to focus on that question in my presentation, and take it upon myself to deduce what public childrens' librarians could contribute to boys' literacy issues.

    A list of resources I used is available on the "Sources/Links" page of this blog. Most of the information I used was from government brochures and publications, a 2003 issue of Teacher Librarian, and two books written by male educators that provided a thorough overview of the issues regarding boys' literacy. Though the material cited is only a very small portion of the literature available on this topic, I felt that my reading satisfied the inquiry questions that I had posed and that my reading was therefore sufficient for me to move on to the next stages of my inquiry.

    I explained my choice of presentation software extensively in this blog post. At times I did find PowToon frustrating to use, but I suspect that was merely part of the learning process as I navigated an unfamiliar product. Overall, I'm happy with my choice and will probably use PowToon again in the future.

   The most challenging portion of the inquiry process was the planning stage, specifically finding sources. I don't currently work with children, so I don't always know what the best resources are for education topics, childrens' book lists, etc. The wiki post assignment was really helpful; without some of my classmates' suggestions I don't think my research would have gone as well as it did. Conversely, the most meaningful portion was the processing stage. I love to making connections between my reading and  my life/career, and my research led me to some very interesting and enlightening conversations with friends, colleagues, and even children.

    My findings are represented in my video presentation. Most of what I discovered corresponded with my personal beliefs about boys and reading, but occasionally my beliefs were challenged. For example, one of my readings made me question my long-held belief that teachers withheld attention from female students due to latent sexism. A conversation with a friend's son drew my attention to the role of humor in boys' books. Several of my readings made me wonder whether race and socioeconomic status are a much larger - and possibly more relevant - indicator of reading success. Most importantly, my research led me to believe that getting boys to read is not as hopeless a task as it might seem, and that there is a lot I can do to help them.

   As I explored in the post immediately preceeding this one, I have gathered many ideas about how to apply my learning to my future career. I have all kinds of activity-based storytimes in mind, from writing in response to books read aloud to integrating drawing and acting to simply having more active programming in the library space. I also intend to consistently display and booktalk humor books, short story collections, graphic novels, and other genres that appeal to boys and to encourage both boys and parents to consider "good" books that don't conform to what is traditionally seen as "quality literature". 

    In conclusion, I feel I've learned a lot from my inquiry and I'm looking forward to using my knowledge throughout my career.

Creating and Sharing Pt. 4: Nearing the Finish Line

Things are finally starting to come together. I think I've gotten the hang of PowToon, although I'm just going to have to live with the poor audio quality. Other than that, I think the video is turning out really well, and I'm looking forward to finding out what my classmates think of it.

As I conclude this inquiry cycle, I'm trying to think about how I'll continue studying this topic in the future. I feel that the information I've gathered will be crucial to my career as a children's librarian, and I already have lots of future boy-oriented program ideas gathering in my head. Dads-and-kids storytimes, acting out and drawing scenes from favorite books after we've read them aloud, book clubs that boys might actually show up to...although maybe that last one is dreaming too big.

Creating and Sharing pt. 3: The Struggle

After a few hours of video creation, I am becoming intimately familiar with the limitations of PowToon's software.

It's clear to me now that this is meant to be an upgraded Powerpoint with the capacity to animate a few things, not a straight-up animation software. The options for graphics, transitions, and animations are very limited, especially in the free account. Often the effect or picture I want simply isn't there. There are groups of "styles", only a few of which are available to non-paying users, and if I want a graphic that is in another "style" group I can't change the color of it at all...meaning that if I'm using all-white graphics in my main style, and I want a graphic that is only available in another style and it happens to be black, I can't simply make it white. This might make my video look a little scattered...but whatever. I've done my best to make the colors and design cohesive, there's not much I can do about it now.

Recording the voiceover was also a pain. I quickly discovered that the voiceover must be one long file, rather than a separate voiceover for each slide, which made the recording much more difficult as I had to restart the whole thing if I made a mistake. The quality of the recording was also not good, despite my best efforts to find the quietest possible place in my home. I tried to use my laptop's audio software and just upload the file, but it kept "buffering" for so long that I just gave up. Instead, I had to record myself using PowToon's mic recorder, which (as already mentioned) resulted in poor sound quality.

I also found out that the maximum length for each slide is 20 seconds. This has been my greatest challenge of all, as it forced me to break up my slides into smaller sections than I wanted to...in some cases, I need a separate slide for each sentence of my script. I am not pleased.

Despite these challenges, I continue to plug away at this video, and look forward to finally turning it in tomorrow.

Creating and Sharing pt. 2

I've started playing around with PowToon quite a bit, and I think I have a good feel for how it works. Before I actually start making a video, I'll need to record the oral part of my presentation so that I can line up the animation effects with my voice. I've typed up a script in Google Docs, but thought it would be a good idea to post it here as well so that my whole process is represented in the journal.

The finalized script:

For decades, librarians, teachers, and parents alike have shared a common struggle: getting boys to read.

National statistics show that female students consistently score higher in reading than males. However, that gap has begun to close in recent years as teachers and school librarians put forward countless strategies to help struggling male readers in the classroom.

These solutions are often applicable to schools, but not to public libraries, where childrens’ librarians much assist frustrated parents who just can’t find books their sons will read.

So what can public librarians do to help?

One of the most basic ways to encourage boys to read is to simply promote the sorts of literature they enjoy. Often, the books schools and libraries deem “good” are limited to character-driven fiction while graphic novels, short stories, and magazines are dismissed. Including the latter types of stories in displays, recommendations, reading lists, and programming sends a message to boys that “good readers” read all kinds of materials, not just fiction novels.

Teachers have also found success with male students by encouraging active learning. Incorporating writing, drawing, and acting and other hands-on activities into traditional reading programs offered by libraries can help boys associate reading with the types of learning that come most naturally to them and dissipate the belief that being a “good reader” means sitting perfectly still and silent.

Having male role models who enjoy reading is also crucial to boys’ literacy development. Children model what adults do, so it stands to reason that boys who don’t see men reading might simply assume that reading is not a masculine pursuit. Male librarians can challenge this idea by discussing book's with young patrons; female librarians can encourage fathers, older brothers, and male teachers to be seen reading often and with pleasure.

Guys Read, an ongoing project to encourage boys to read, lists book recommendations submitted by young readers. This is an excellent start when providing readers’ advisory for boys and their parents.

Some of my personal favorite boy books are listed below. (This slide will have pictures of some "boy books" I like.)

When looking for books for boys, consider some of the elements they tend to prefer. Is the book funny? Is it fast-paced and narrative driven? Are there visual elements? And, most importantly, what do other boys say about it? When in doubt, boys themselves are the best sources of information about what they and their peers want to read.

For more information and a list of sources used in making this video, please visit boyslitinquiry.blogspot.com.

Processing, Creating, and Sharing.

Now that I've finished Smith and Wilhelm, I'm declaring my processing stage over and moving fully into sharing.

Smith and Wilhelm's research wasn't necessarily eye-opening, but as I expected, it confirmed much of what I already knew. I focused on some of the later chapters, because at this stage of my process I'm looking for conclusions about how to solve the problem of boys' literacy rather than a foundational knowledge of the issue.

I've created my PowToon account and will soon be diving in to the video tool. I'm hoping it's as fun and easy as it claims to be...

Still Processing

   It's getting close to the end of this project, and while I have been working on my presentation a bit, I'm also still finishing up my reading as well.

    I just finished Newkirk, and now I'm reading through Michael Smith and Jeffrey Wilhelm's book, Reading Don't Fix No Chevys. In retrospect, I should have started with this book first; Smith and Wilhelm are actually conducting original research, while Newkirk was drawing conclusions from existing research...including theirs. At this point, though, most of what I'm reading is echoing the same few basic things, so going through the raw data is just giving me some backup to support what I already know.

    This book will be my last major source, and then I'll begin focusing solely on my presentation.

Retrieving and Processing (again)

   Yesterday the ALISS IUPUI book club had its monthly meeting. Our theme was "Nostalgia November", so we read The Giver and opened up the book club to allow members to bring their children. ALISS's VP, Jennifer, brought her two sons, who arrived carrying Pokemon cards (I had had no idea those were still popular) and a book.

    Seeing an opportunity, I asked Owen, the older boy, about the book he had with him. It was one of a series of books about a hamster named Humphrey. This one was called "Winter According to Humphrey", a seasonally appropriate choice. Jennifer and Owen told me the books take place from the hamster's point of view. I asked Owen what he liked about the book. His immediate response was, "It's funny."

    I decided not to interrogate him further, as we were all trying to eat pizza and discuss The Giver. (Fortunately his mom knew about my project already and didn't mind me questioning her son.) But I did give more thought to "funny" books. My initial view of popular boys' books focused on their graphic content; when I worked at a public library, the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series was so popular we could barely keep any on the shelves, and as kids my brothers' favorite series was Captain Underpants. I had assumed that the uniting factor between the two series was the pictures, but I think that assumption may have been misguided. Humphrey's adventures are not illustrated, after all, and they still seem to pass muster with boys.

   As I continue my inquiry, I will keep "funny" books in mind.

Creating and Sharing

    This past week, I've been finishing up my reading and exploring some media creation websites to try and decide how I want to share my inquiry work. I explored some of the suggested websites, and took a look at ALA's 2014 list of recommended sites as well, to see if any of them jumped out at me.

    I didn't really feel inspired by Prezi or Glogster. Since my inquiry project is about boys' literacy, I want my presentation to be visual and eye-catching...the sort of thing that would draw boys' attention. Easel.ly was quickly a front runner; I love infographics and was really excited about the idea of creating one. However, when I played around with the creation tools a bit, I didn't feel like they left enough room for creativity, and I was also disappointed to note that the site was set up to allow publishing only a one-page infographic at a time. I don't think one page would be enough to present all the information I want to discuss.

 
    Pixton seemed extremely fun, and would be a great way to discuss the popularity of graphic novels among boys. I seriously considered presenting my findings in comic form, as I think it would be in keeping with the spirit of my research, but ultimately since this presentation will be for my peers I would rather try a format that looks a bit more adult and professional. Were I presenting this in a class, for children (or even for teachers perhaps), I would probably reconsider Pixton.

    In the end, I think the best tool for my presentation is PowToon, one of ALA's recommended sites. It seems simple to use, and the example presentations range from extremely professional to suitable for use in K-12 classrooms. The animated video format is eye-catching and fun and again keeps with the spirit of boys' literature: visual, action-packed, and dramatic. So far, I've only been through the tutorials, but I feel I already have a good sense of how the creation tools work, and I'm looking forward to starting my video soon. I've experimented with Photoshop and other visual design tools before, but I've never really tried video editing or animation, so I think this will be both a fun and educational experience for me.

Dramatic Activities

    As I continue with Me Read?, I needed to pause to copy down some ideas it lists on how to integrate dramatic arts with book reading:

• Role playing: Students take on the roles of characters in a text.
• Dramatic play: Students use a situation from a text as a springboard for creating their own story or drama. 
• Guided imagery: Students are asked to imagine scenes, and subsequently write about or visually depict them.
• Snapshot drama: Students are asked to depict a moment from the text as a “freeze frame”, particularly as a way of describing characters’ expressions and gestures at that moment.
• Analogy drama: Students enact a story from their own lives that parallels a situation in a text.
• “To tell the truth” game: As in the television show of the same name, a fewstudents, each of whom is depicting the same character from a text, are grilled by a panel that ultimately determines which student has most convincingly“become” the character.
• Correspondence: Students write letters, diary entries, and advertisements in the roles of various story characters.
• Missing-scene scripts: Students write scripts for scenes that, while suggested in a text, were not explicitly described.
• Newscast: Students produce a news broadcast based on characters and events in a text

    These were listed in a section discussing how "visualization strategies" like writing, acting, and incorporating music can help keep boys' attention when reading. I majored in theatre as an undergraduate, so I will definitely be using some of these ideas in my library work, and wanted to paste them here for future reference. (I supposed this counts as "processing" for the purposes of my inquiry.)

Retrieving and Processing

    This past week was a productive one for my inquiry project. I now have what I feel are enough sources to move forward, and I have begun digging through them and exploring my topic more deeply. Me Read? was not only a helpful overview, but also led me to two very helpful books that happened to be available at the library where I work and were easy to grab. I will be focusing on those books, Me Read? , and a few of the other online sources I've already discovered. I also intend to follow the book authors' citations if they mention any previous research that I find especially relevant.

    Currently, I'm about halfway through Me Read? and about a chapter in to one of the books. Reading progress has been slow, as I normally try to get reading done at work when things are slow, and things have been very much the opposite of slow at work this past month. I'm hoping I'll have more time to focus on this project now that the main season at my museum is over. 

    I have been doing a lot of thinking and making connections about my topic in my everyday life and conversations, however. For example, I work part-time at a living history museum and spend most of my time in their Civil War area. During the fall, we have lots of school field trips come through - usually 500-1500 kids a day ranging in age from K-12. My coworker was a bit disturbed at how often the kids treated the violence of the war as a game; at our site they get to train for the Union army and run mock drills with sticks of wood shaped like muskets, and they often play with the fake guns, pretend to shoot their friends with them, etc. I find it disturbing also, but explained to my colleague that children under a certain age probably can't understand what violence means on a cognitive level. I've tried to explain to some of the children, in character, what joining an army and killing another human being actually means, and it usually just confuses them unless they're closer to middle-school age. The day after that conversation, I read Newkirk's first chapter, in which he discusses the culture surrounding boys and violence post-Columbine and argues that enjoying stores about violence doesn't necessarily translate to boys committing violence in the real world. Combining the perspectives of Newkirk, myself, and my coworker (who, I should add, is an adult male gun enthusiast) has given me quite a bit to puzzle over for the past few days. Newkirk examines these violent impulses from the perspective of school teachers, and I'm trying to decide on the ideal way to approach it as a librarian. Should I encourage boys to read violent books if that's what interests them? Of course, the question may really be how I, their parents, and most importantly the book's author treat and discuss the violence in the book. If it's trivialized in the narrative, that would probably not be a book I would recommend. On the other hand, a book that I felt dealt realistically with the consequences of violence in an age-appropriate manner would be a good resource to recommend to young patrons. Perhaps further reading on this subject will help me decide what exactly my approach to discussing violence with boys (at both my jobs) should be...

Identifying Sources Pt. 2

    A few weeks go I explored some of the resources I was already familiar with, so the next week I decided to hit the databases. I began with Education Resource Complete and initially performed a simple keyword search with the terms "literacy" and "gender differences". Applying some additional limiters, including articles from the past 34 years, academic peer-reviewed journals, and subject terms related to gender differences in education gave me 17 articles to sift through. I narrowed those down to 6 to save for further reading.

    Several of the suggestions added to my wiki post were helpful, especially the Ontario Education guide, "Me Read?". I've linked to it in the index of this site.

    My academic library also had a couple of books in the education section that seemed relevant. I checked them out, and cited them in the index as well.

Changing Platforms

I started this journal using Weebly, but I've decided to switch formats. Weebly is probably a great tool for creating websites, but its "blog" pages are really difficult to use, so I don't think it's the best place to keep this journal. I've moved it to Blogspot and I'm already having a much easier time writing and posting entries (plus, check out this awesome book background).

From now on, this is the inquiry project journal's home...unless I decide to move it again.

A Conversation and A Challenge

I had dinner with my best friend this evening. She got engaged in February and is now preparing to be a stepmother to three kids: two boys aged 8 and 11, and a 7-year old girl. Over fondue, she told me that Brayden, the middle child, is struggling with reading. Apparently he's below the reading level that he should be at in second grade and his parents and teacher are having trouble finding books for him to read that are at his level but not condescendingly so. I tried to suggest some books I'd heard of, but had the same trouble I always had with this question as a librarian.

This conversation renewed my determination to study this topic. Brayden is a cool kid - very hands-on, loves to fish and mow the lawn and help his grandfather fix things - and I'd like to meet the challenge of helping him do better in school. One of the added goals of this inquiry will be presenting my friend with a better list of book recommendations at the end of the semester.

Identifying Possible Sources

    

    The first step in the Alberta model of inquiry is "planning", which is illustrated in the model by five bullet points:

• Identify a topic area for inquiry 
• Identify possible information sources 
• Identify audience and presentation format 
• Establish evaluation criteria 
• Outline a plan for inquiry 

    As I have just begun my inquiry, I am still working on steps one and two. My topic area is mostly idenfitied: I want to research children's literature written specifically for boys. Currently, my focus is on gathering sources of information and reviewing them.

    I decided to begin by looking up Jon Scieszka, a popular author who not only writes books that appeal to boys, but is behind a project called Guys Read. His website provides a tab devoted to the project, and its page parrots almost exactly what I want to research, and why:

"Boys often have to read books they don't really like. They don't get to choose what they want to read. And what they do like to read, people often tell them is not really reading.

We can help boys read by:

• Letting them choose what they read.
• Expanding our definition of "reading" to include: graphic novels, comics, comic strips, nonfiction, humor, magazines, newspapers, online text
• Getting boys to recommend reading they do like to other boys.
• Providing boys with male role models for reading in school and at home.

The GUYS READ website is made to help with all of these things."

    My next step was obvious: head to the main page for Guys Read. I was pleased to find that their mission lined up exactly with my own:

"Our mission is to motivate boys to read by connecting them with materials they will want to read, in ways they like to read."

    The website provides resources not only for those who want to find books boys like - parents, teachers, and children themselves - but a page of resources for people, like myself, who want to research the gender-specific needs of boys. This will be my jumping-off point for further reading.