With that being said, it is vital that we emphasize citations in all content areas, not just in the ELA classrooms. It is important that all staff members take part in this practice so our students will be better prepared for college and career paths. In order for us to teach students how to properly cite sources, it will need to be a building or district level initiative. I think teachers across all content areas will need to be educated on proper citations and utilize those skills in their classrooms. In addition, teachers will need to step it up and require students to use the appropriate citation for the assignments.
Our ELA department has put together a resource guide for all content areas on papers, citations, obtaining resources, and rubrics. Although this is a great resource, it is under utilized. How do you think it could be better utilized? How can we better educate staff members on plagiarism and citing sources? Any ideas are appreciated!
Listed below are a few websites that I have found useful related to citing and plagiarism:
Purdue Owl APA
Purdue Owl MLA
Teaching Plagiarism
Plagiarism Tutorial
I think one of the trickiest things about citations is all the different styles! In our fourth grade rooms we start very, very simply (author, website, book title, etc) and haven't followed APA or MLA. At the high school level do you encourage one citation style over another, or does each teacher just choose?
ReplyDeleteI think we need to share what citations the high school is expecting with all buildings. Much of what Katie already mentioned is just what I was going to comment. You have great points, and they are doing what they think is right. I am sure if they didn't care about citing, they wouldn't have taken the time to give the URL- they would have been the cartoon you linked. But I think step one is educating the other buildings how we/they can help get students ready for properly citing their work. Great read, Victoria!
ReplyDeleteHey Katie. At the high school, it varies... For the most part students are required to use MLA, however, in the last couple of years some of our teachers have introduced APA. When I was in high school, the I was only introduced to MLA and was very confused when I went to college and was required to do everything in APA. Although we can't memorize ever aspect (students or teachers) I think exposure to both would greatly benefit our kids!
ReplyDeleteShea, that is a great idea... Maybe a "vertical team" topic:)
ReplyDelete