Weaving

Dr. Lamb says, “Weaving consists of organizing ideas, creating models, and formulating plans. It focuses on the application, analysis, and synthesis of information.”
(http://virtualinquiry.com/inquiry/weaving.htm)

Analyzing Resources

In the Online Lesson, Using Graphical Organizers for Sensemaking, the authors, Judith Kantor and Sharon Sutton tell us that: “Once students have gathered information on a topic, it is important that they reflect on whether the information they have gathered is sufficient to answer the research question. This requires students to make sense of the information they have gathered-to synthesize the information into new knowledge.”

And also “One form of representation that helps students make sense of gathered information and reflect on whether the information gathered is sufficient is the graphic organizer.”
(http://www.kn.att.com/wired/21stcent/lgraph.html)

I admit I have a lot of resources, and I’m not entirely sure what to do with them. I have enough online resources bookmarked that when I call up that section of bookmarks, not all the websites fit on the screen. I’m pretty sure, even before I begin to try and organize this information, that I won’t include all of it, and might very well find that I need more info on some of the topics.

I did some browsing through the lists of graphical organizers offered in our class materials (http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic73.htm) and found that, perhaps, sorting through graphical organizers was as difficult as sorting my project information. There are a lot of choices, and trying to decide whether my list of resources is best sorted by using one organizer or another was time consuming. If I were going to use any of these organizers in a school library setting, I would definitely want to, as librarian, spend some time matching the project of the day with the appropriate graphical organizer. It seems to me that one size does not fit all, and each organizer has some very specific uses.

In the end, I decided I would go back to Inspiration, and see what I could come up with. One of the program’s templates actually helped me clarify my thinking more than any other thing…that is, the template under “thinking skills,” that helps define resources in terms of their influence, i.e. direct influence, less direct influence, least direct influence. When I saw this template, I knew that this was how I would arrange my information for my project. Here is the Inspiration chart I made illustrating how I would proceed:


So now, with my chart and information goals firmly in mind, I start sorting resources and information accordingly.

Organizing the Multitude of Stuff

As I began sifting through my resources, I also began debating how to best present this material online. I not only want to give resources that pertain to the Miami settlement that once possible existed here, but I also wanted to give my reasons for this research, and also make sure I included my own personal connection—I live in Derbyshire, and wonder if Miamis lived where my house now stands. (Which is a cool thought for me.)

I envision this as a possible ongoing project, something I may want to add materials to in the future as I learn more. How best to do this?

While some of this planning information comes under the steps of “Wrapping” which asks “Who needs to know about this topic? What's the best format or product for your audience?” (http://virtualinquiry.com/inquiry/wrapping.htm) I find that I really need to start considering this issue now, for the best way to sift, sort, and organize online resources it to put them up on a webpage or blog or wiki as you sort.

I have had experience now, through my classwork, with all three of these online publishing formats. Recently, I used Google Page Creator, and while it’s functional, I found it difficult to edit over and over. (Changing backgrounds or templates involved me losing portions of my text.) Blogs are nice, but they organize information by daily posts. This isn’t really how I wanted my project to work or look. So I decide to try putting this info into a Wiki. While I’ll discuss this more in my wrapping section, I go ahead sign up for a free Wiki space at Wikidot.com. (http://www.wikidot.com/) As I sort, I throw the various resources onto separate pages. I can add commentary later, once I have sorted it all.

The first page to my Wiki is found here: http://annettegriessman.wikidot.com/introduction

Even now, the project is taking form. By the time you take a look, I may already be well into the wrapping and waving portions of this inquiry.

Citations:

Kantor, Judith, and Sharon Sutton. “Graphical Organizers for Sensemaking.” Online at: http://www.kn.att.com/wired/21stcent/lgraph.html Accessed September 16, 2007.

Lamb, Annette. Inquiry: The 8Ws: Weaving http://virtualinquiry.com/inquiry/weaving.htm.