This week, Education World talks with the students and teachers behind three award-winning, student-created Web
sites. Children's Encyclopedia of Women, Herstory, and Women in Science help fill curricular gaps in women's studies.
Learn how these sites can beef up your curriculum as you and your students celebrate Women's History Month in the classroom!
Teacher Terry Hongell couldn't help but notice. Neither could Gary Glassman or Lisa DuFur. Few classroom materials
present a full account of women's contributions to their societies and communities.
Hongell noticed it in the Golden Book Encyclopedia software her students used: "The index has 25 listings
for women -- and 173 entries for men!" Hongell told Education World. "With that kind of imbalance in an otherwise
excellent piece of software, I saw the need to remind all students that girls can be anything they want."
The result: Hongell and her students created a Web site:
Gary Glassman looked over the textbook he would be using with his tenth-grade world history students and noticed
that more than 90 percent of the characters mentioned were male.
"Even the California State Framework mentions 25 male characters that world history must include in its curriculum
and only one woman, Gertrude Stein," noted Glassman. "That seemed to be a rather unlevel playing field. In good conscience,
I couldn't exclude my female students from an equal opportunity education, inspiration, or role models. I began in
earnest to include a healthy balance of the contributions of women in every unit in my curriculum."
Lisa DuFur found herself seated with Nora Sabelli, from the National Science Foundation, at a
ThinkQuest awards banquet. Their dinnertime conversation turned to the lack of role models for young girls in
the sciences and math.
The result: DuFur returned to her school and coached the students who created:
which connects young learners to women who are making a difference in the sciences.
The students and teachers behind these award-winning Web sites discovered that writing for the Web motivated learners
of all ages. In honor of Women's History Month, Education World is pleased to share their stories.
CHILDREN'S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WOMEN
Terry Hongell was excited when the idea of having her third and fourth graders create a Web encyclopedia of women
came to her. She saw the project as an interesting way for her students to learn about women's achievements while
developing Internet searching skills and designing Web pages. Student response to the Children's Encyclopedia of Women
has been most gratifying. "This year, the first thing the fourth graders asked was, 'Are we going to do another report
on a woman?' "
Responses from complete strangers have been just as gratifying. "We get the best mail," said Hongell, who teaches
computers and technology at Pocantico Elementary School in Sleepy Hollow, New York. "I read all the letters that come
to us about the site so the students can hear how their work is affecting others. I think that helps them understand
the need for accuracy. One of our favorite e-mails was from a graduate student who began with, 'I got to the bottom
of the page and was shocked to see that it was written by a third grader.' "
The project offers another big benefit -- it sets young students up as 'teachers.' That sets the stage for some
real learning. "There is a pyramid that depicts the amount of information that is retained by a learner," explained
Hongell. "It shows that you remember the most when you teach someone else."
This year, Hongell's students continue to teach others by adding to the site. "I ask students to think of something
they are interested in -- science, art, sports, literature, TV, history," said Hongell. Then students use the list
of Women's History Month sites that she has created to help them narrow the choices. She especially likes the
Distinguished Women Web site because students can
search by field of interest. Students supplement their online research with print materials and by using YahooKids
or KidsClick search engines to locate more
resources about the specific person they choose.
Students love writing for the encyclopedia, added Hongell. Paul, a fourth-grader last year, told Education World,
"On a scale from one to ten of what we learned, it was definitely a ten! We feel that we have created a special
site for all ages to use for reports or just to enjoy learning about women doing special things. … This project was
definitely worthwhile."
The Children's Encyclopedia of Women continues to evolve, noted Hongell. Last year, fourth graders added a list
of related links to each of their encyclopedia entries. Hongell hopes to add a categorical listing to the site, which
is currently presented in alphabetical order. Someday, she also wants to add a search engine!
No question -- the Children's Encyclopedia of Women passes the "worthwhile" test!
HERSTORY
The Herstory Web site passes the "worthwhile" test too! "The site inspires my students to create excellence in hopes
of getting their work published online," said Gary Glassman. His students at South Fork High School in Miranda, California,
created Herstory. "For the Web site, I'm looking for creativity, originality, depth of thought, a sense of voice,
and lots of polish," Glassman added.
Glassman provides a rubric for students. That rubric establishes what it takes to get work published on the site.
"I apply a multi-genre approach to the project. Students can get credit for doing a myriad of assignments in which
they apply their talents to create art, poetry, historical fiction, music, or the traditional research paper. Representations
of all those approaches are included on the Web site."
"I'm never surprised by what my students turn out once they are given the green light that it's OK to let their
imaginations soar or to apply their strengths to their work," Glassman emphasized.
The Herstory Web site came about almost by accident. The students were working on their Herstory projects; at the
same time, Glassman knew he wanted to create a Web site. "The students' Herstory assignments showed me the way," Glassman
told Education World. "Jennifer's Medieval Women and David's African Slave Trade--A Comic demanded to be published.
Those were the breakthrough pieces. I knew they were very well done and very rare."
Herstory has received recognition from all around the world. The site received the grand prize in the high school
division at the Startech competition organized for northern California schools. The judges cited the original artwork,
the quality of the written pieces, and the sophistication of the work by Webmaster Michael Eastwood, who created the
site when he was a junior. "One judge said the site took history to a whole other level!" Glassman proudly noted.
WOMEN IN SCIENCE
Lisa DuFur went away from her dinner table conversation with an idea. That idea was all students Nicole Hassold
and Kyle Thomas needed!
"We brainstormed the idea and its possibilities and proceeded to collect information for the site," recalled DuFur,
co-director of the Craigmont High School Planetarium in Memphis. "[The students] wanted to create the [ first
international registry for women in science on the Internet. They also wanted the site to be more than just a registry.
They wanted it to be a source of important information."
The result is clear -- Women in Science is a terrific resource. It has also earned many honors. The Tennessee State
House of Representatives passed a resolution recognizing the students' efforts! Click on Awards on the site
for a list of other awards.
"Young women need female mentors," said DuFur. "When the project first started, Nicole and Kyle began interviewing
female scientists. They asked a series of questions, one of which was 'Who was your mentor?' We were surprised to
learn that most [female scientists] had male mentors because there were no female mentors in their fields of study.
We hadn't really thought about it until then, but it became a driving force to create a site that made females available
as mentors." Through the site's registry, students -- boys and girls -- can ask the women scientists questions
about school projects, career possibilities, or anything else that comes to mind.
Another chance meeting at a ThinkQuest gathering led Hassold, Thomas, and coach Dufur to team up with a high school
student in Germany. Arne Frerichs had the Web-building skills to turn the team's idea into reality. Frerichs and his
coaches created a perfectly matched, can-do team, recalled DuFur. "I have worked with several other Web-page teams
and have never found a harder working, more positive and compatible team," she said. "We coaches watched and cheered
them on as the site grew larger and larger, better and better."
The site continues to work its magic, even though Thomas and Hassold have moved on to college. "Just last week,
a sixth grader from Arkansas e-mailed me," said Kyle Thomas from Washington University in St. Louis, where she is
now a freshman. "She wanted my opinion about her science fair project idea. I immediately e-mailed her back and encouraged
her to follow through with her idea. It's gratifying to know that so many children are seeing and using the site and
that they feel comfortable e-mailing us and asking our opinions."
Memphis mayor Willie Herenton (left) and Tennessee state representative Tre' Hargett
pose with Kyle Thomas (second from left) and Nicole Hassold on the day the two students received their official
state resolution that honored their efforts in creating the Women in Science Web site.
"I particularly like the responses we get from students and other users who say that they never really knew there
were that many women who made such a huge impact," said Hassold from the University of Tennessee at Martin. "Women
in Science has enabled students all over the world to speak with professional women doing all sorts of science-related
jobs."
"These young women brilliantly blazed a path for excellence and have uncovered many misconceptions about women entering
the field of science," added Sandra Hodge, principal at Craigmont High School. "This Web site will continue to inspire
students all over the world to attain their goals for the future."
"I enjoy receiving feedback from teachers who say that
their students are much more interested in science.
Now they can communicate with a 'real' person instead of just collecting information out of a book or off the computer
-- copy, paste, copy, paste," DuFur told Education World. "It is nice to have someone there to show you the ropes
of higher education and academic growth -- especially in a particular field of study that you are interested in."
Kids Fill the Gap in Women's History!
