Final Project for Inquiry Institute 2009

My Final Project was Inspired by the Article:  “Reflections on Openess and Structure in Education.”

Gardening under an ONE STORY MODEL approach:

Teaching students about gardening and composting. 

Showing them effective methods then having them carry them out in the field.

Main Weaknesses:  Everything is predictable

                                    No changes in perspective

                                    No interaction among the group and the individual

                                    Few new emerging insights

Gardening under an INFINITE STORY MODEL approach:

Setting kids loose in the garden area and saying “go for it”

Main Weaknesses:  No successes (in gardens, compost, other content)

An Inquiry  Approach to This Year’s Communique Organic Garden

What learning do you want to bring with you to our sister garden?

My Background Story

Communique has been organically gardening for the past seven years.  We started off with the Square Foot Gardening Method and  most recently focused on colonial plantings.  This year, we are planning to collaborate with a first grade class in Philadelphia to further cultivate their naturalistic intelligences.   

We would visit them every (other) month and students would teach the children one area of the Pennsylvania environmental, nutritional, and biological standards they are most interested in...colonial plant usage, organic gardening benefits, planting procedures...

Gardening under the BALANCE OF STORIES MODEL approach:

Structure I will provide:  Students will be given various topics to choose from…

                                          Books, websites, and experts in the field

Flexibility I will provide:  Students will be able to choose an area of gardening that they are interested in pursuing.  I will provide a base story while acknowledging the classroom as a place of change.  This allows for new opportunities and value to be placed upon student’s emerging ideas.

Compost Crew

            Research various composting methods.

Gardening Group

            Research and implement IPM (Integrated Pest Management) methods.

                        Organic methods

                        Companion Planting

                        Biological control of insects and weeds

Focus on our garden’s plants and their contributions to colonial life.

            Culinary

            Medicinal

                        (Coneflower, goldenrod, ginseng, chamomile, peppermint.)

            Aromatherapy

            Paper Making

            Leaf Printing

            Nutrition

Natural Dyes (Autumn: goldenrod or apple bark, Winter: onion skins & pine cones, Spring:  forsythia or bracken fern)

            Other

Importance of Native Species

Creating a field guide/dichotomous key for our garden

Assessment

Students will work together to develop lessons and assessments for both their 7^th grade classmates and the first graders based on the topic they have selected to investigate. 

The structure I will provide is to hold a brainstorming session for “Which criteria is vital for an effective rubric?” 

The flexibility comes in when they actually map out the criteria & content meaningful to the topic they have selected to pursue.

I am really excited about this new partnership and project. 

Thank you, Serendip!

Moira Messick

I am leaving Inquiry more confused than I came…

I have spent a lot of time thinking about what I thought I knew…

I have come to know that I do understand what inquiry is. In my own words it is using a child’s natural inquisitiveness to promote learning. This comes very natural to me after all parents share with our children all of the time. What has left me flat is the thought that inquiry learning has to be non-directed.  While playing with our own children we have tons of learning time and so open-endedness is not a problem.  On the teacher side however we become saddled with PA state standards, standardized testing, school district expectations, complicated with parent expectations, student expectations, and time constraints I know that inquiry has to be guided. I am not saying that we need to tell our students what to think but we do need to plant the right seeds to help the garden grow and sometimes we need to pull a few weeds to keep what we planted healthy.

This becomes further complicated with the question of, do we test? What will we test on, and furthermore how will we test? Once again we need to find balance between all of the participants indicated above. With so much discussion and so many reflections it becomes a puzzle of how to fit the pieces together and remain happy in our teaching/learning adventures. I have come to the idea that you have to teach several different ways including guided inquiry to accommodate all learners and test in the same ways.

I am walking away with lots of great beginnings and shared ideas I enjoyed and plan to use:

Loopy Learning – Paul Grobstein as an intro into shared learning used often in science.

Bubble-ology - Joyce Theriot using the color changes and reflection in the light and sound unit.

Understanding Scale – Paul Burgmayer in coordination with understanding scale of the solar system going from one extreme to another.

Water Chemistry – Paul Burgmayer in Earth’s Internal Processes unit to answer the question, “Can rocks hold water?” and later “Which volcanoes are most explosive and why?”

Exploring Electricity and Circuits – Joyce Theriot fits completely into my unit on electricity which is a new section for me to teach this year so I gain quite a bit of insightful ways in which to do electric labs and apply the learning to the students’ everyday life. I had taught simple circuits in science camp but this was my most useful lesson to date.

Critique of Alison’s lesson

Alison’s lesson was a powerful tool to get us to have students subconsciously draw out the essence of learning for the individual.  Story is innate behavior for humans, so the notion of telling a narrative is calming.  The additional instructions that told us the narrative would not be read out loud or shared, made it easier to be more personal.  Those are essential parts of the instructions.  That she told us later of her own concerns about wording the instructions correctly (to the point of writing out exactly what she wanted to say) indicates their importance. 

I note the similarity to Paul’s lesson yesterday, accessing the subconscious.  It is clearly an important aspect of getting to the root of the (any??) problem/situation.

The second activity, analytically looking at the narrative to discern what you needed for learning in that singular environment was very powerful.  Do I need all of those attributes every time I learn, doubt it, but it would be interesting to identify which, if any, I do.

The final activity of identifying what the teacher needed to give to me to be successful in that situation was another important tool of self-analysis.

I certainly plan on adapting this lesson for my own classes.

My lesson on Meta-cognition, with thanks to Alison.  For 9^th grade and 12^th grade students who are at least a little aware of meta-cognition.  I envision this at the beginning of the school year, laying the groundwork for us to always be ‘thinking about our thinking’.

Beforehand, for a day or two, (two’s more likely than one) we will have discussed the notion that physics is the science that helps to describe how the world around us works.  For example, this quote is on my wall about Newton’s Laws of Motion;

“His three Laws of Motion are ‘rules’ of nature that have been subjected to many tests of their validity and appear to accurately model and therefore predict how velocity, mass, force and acceleration are inter-related.”

This message nicely matches with the notion Paul G put forth of a summary of observations.  While we now know that these 'laws' are not true on a quantum level, they are true on a ‘macro’ level, the world we live in.  That sort of thing will be part of the discussion, that there are no absolute 'rules' in physics, only the best set of shared observations that have been made to date.  Physics is and will always be changing as our observations change.  This will be an open inquiry discussion, going in whatever direction each class takes it.  I plan to record each session and make the discussions available to all students. 

Now to the lesson.

Here is how I will pose the question/instruction.  For non-aural learners and/or slow processors, there will be a hard copy of the instructions for part 1.  A hard copy of instructions with room for a list of items for parts 2 and 3 will be given to everyone.  For those that need to type, usually 10-15% of my students, an e-version will be provided.

FIRST

“I’d like you to write a short story about a time you learned something, actually anything, in or out of school.  If you can think of one that is in some way connected to learning something about physics, all the better, but it does not have to do with physics.  I’ll give you a few minutes to compose the story in your head before you start writing.  You’ll have about 5 minutes to write, so let’s be done by____.  [Keeping the writing time short will ensure that they don’t try to over analyze the question]  I will not be asking you to read or share any specific parts of this story with the class.  You, however, will be using the story by drawing on what you write.”

SECOND

 I will ask them to “List at least three things from the story that indicate items/skills/actions important for your learning success in the story (Because kids will always take the easiest way out, insisting that they list at least three things will help ensure that they do some real reflection).  Use your own language to describe the prime components of your learning.”

THIRD

“Now, think about the teacher or person that helped you with that learning.  What did the teacher/lesson giver do to facilitate your learning for each item you listed above.  Use your own language to describe the help.”

FOLLOW-UP

It will be important to generate those lists that Alison posted on the board, but I don’t know that I’d number them (creating a specific link for each student’s learning issues and teacher needs), but rather keep the two lists separate and identify the terms/thoughts/ideas/topics that came up more than once (we are more alike than we are different) just like Paul G did when we did our subconscious brainstorm with him.  On a subsequent day after we get finished in each class, I’d bring out (in front of each group) the lists from each of the other classes and create a master list for both learning styles and teacher ‘duties’ that would be posted in the room.  When we are sharing the lists from the other classes it will be a great opportunity for more inquiry type sharing.

 Many aspects impressed me in this class. We were looking at different approaches to teach children according to how they need to be taught. One topic that specially spoke to me, was ‘transparency’. It showed me many important tools for students to feel that they are part of the learning process and to allow the student to feel that they have a role in their own learning. This helps the teacher identity different and personalized ways to reach the student. Most importantly it showed the teacher how to teach the child, according to how that student needs the to be taught; to reach address the learning needs of all the students.

The philosophy was based on a metaphor where by the teacher has many different keys. Every key represents different approaches and ways of teaching.

The teacher needs to understand that every key will open the doors and ways to teach the child and their specific teaching needs.

If the teacher understands this idea, the teacher shows more patience and respect for the students’ different learning approach and the appropriate time each student needs to process how and what they are learning will be given.

It’s important to give each student the feeling of success, to teach them at their own level, and challenge them.

Last week we were watching a lesson from Mrs. Cook-Sather and I was very impressed by it.  We wrote a story that helped us identify independent thinking. We then read our own story and identified through the details of our story how we learn with self critique.  We came to learn our own expectations as teacher. By taking the angle of the student, we were able to identify what areas we needed help in, and there for the we the teachers knew what to focus on, in order to teach the students in areas they specially need assistance with.

As a teacher this helps me understand the student’s needs and try to focus on teaching in a style that will be successful for that child. I will use these techniques on Back-to-School Night when I see the parents to show them the continual education and constant effort we the teachers are making to see that we reach every student in our class. The parents have valuable information about how their children learn. We need to be a team and I will also ask the parents to give me specific details of their child’s learning habits, needs, and styles so that I will have more tools to reach their child.

Another topic which I felt was very important was ‘exploring without content’ – creating independent thinking. The class really emphasized how important it is for a child to learn and to explore independently, and the teacher needs to create an environment where the child sees how important it is to explore and solve, so that they can use these independent skills to confidently solve problems and be comfortable with their own opinions. It’s very important to start the lessons with a substantive question with no correct answer. They can be divided into groups to brainstorm answers and together to summarize and come to conclusions, by listening to all the members of the group’s opinions. This should encourage all the students to feel confident to give their opinions and to increase the class participation by showing how each student’s opinion is important by sharing their thoughts with others. All these exercises are meant to give the children tools to deal with ideal life matters, and life skills for the future.

Assessment very important and I feel it is a tool for the teacher to monitor the progress of the students.  On the other hand, the assessment needs to be varied to address the needs of each student, so that the students do not feel like they are not succeeding / successful.  If on the initial assessment a student has not done well, give the student the opportunity to have a second chance; by way of reviewing with the teacher the work, completing a project, etc.

Bubbleolog: Second Grade

Lesson Review:

I. Materials

a.    Dish detergent

b.    Water

c.    Styrofoam plate

d.    Straw

e.    Medicin dropper

f.     Ruler

g.    Timer

Before:

Students were asked to close their eyes and write responses to prompts on a read aloud. Students broke into pairs and asked to share their responses.

Middle:

Students were given instructions and asked to experiement with the materials to make the best bubble.

End:

Students discussed their experiences withmaking bubbles and make a conclusion about what makes the best bubble.  

The lesson was very well prepared and easy to carry out. I plan to use this lesson with my students with a few moderations. To start with the younger grades will need more modeling. They need more modeling for the sake of time and my sanity. Older students would know how to measure and pour water, work the timer, measure the bubble ect. My students would be ableto figure out how to do it but it would take a lot longer and more accidents would occur, modeling would save a drastic amount of time.

            I would also have a lab sheet pre-made for them. To get the experiment rolling I would tell the students to measure the bubble with the ruler. I would allow them to determine how to measure it without popping it and ask them to discover on their own other ways to measure a bubble. The lab sheet will make the students feel more secure and I can use it for my data book.

            Something I would change about the lesson is to have students work in groups of three and rotate the jobs. In Joyce’s demonstration one person did the blowing and one person tracked the data. The children would all want a chance to participate in every part of the experiment.

To finish the lesson I would have my students graph the children’s results and discuss them as a group. I would also provide the students with a hard copy of the experiment with directions and materials so they could take a copy home to do with their family.

This lesson is easy to carry out, time controlled and promotes inquiry in the classroom. This is a perfect way to put inquiry to the test, while teaching students to work in groups.

Rachel Michelle Roberts

Final Project: Bubbleology 5^th grade

Objective: The students will explore variables in order to try to form the best bubble.

Materials:

1.      Soap- Powder and Liquid

2.      Straws- various sizes (3)

3.      Water- warm and ice cold

4.      Plates- Styrofoam and Plastic

5.      Eye dropper

6.      Timer

7.      Ruler

8.      Pre-printed Lab sheet with variables

Grouping: 6 tables of 5 students

Anticipatory Set: How many of you have blown a bubble? How did you do this? Explain in detail how you were successful. Now close your eyes: Students are given a story about bubbles and they are to fill in the blanks and picture what they see and write down there responses. At each table the students will discuss there reactions and thought that were triggered from the story.

Middle of Lesson:  The students in groups will explore their thoughts on how to make the perfect bubble. I will give the different variables to each group along with a pre-printed lab sheet so they can write down their results and think of how they can alter the effect of the bubble if this is actually possible. I would start them off and allow them to use inquiry during the lab to explore other possibilities.

Example:  Group 1-  variables: warm water, powder soap, plastic plate, Mcdonald’s type straw

                  Group 2- Ice water, liquid soap, styrofoam plate,skinny straw(stirring straw)

End of Lesson: Students will have an open discussion regrding their findings, share ideas of how we could alter the lab and come to some conclusions regarding what would make the best bubble.

I would use this lesson as an opening for the first few days of school. This will allow the students to work collaboratively, become partners, introduce eachother and learn how to work in cooperative groups by discussing what worked and what didn’t.

I would explore this lab for 2 days so that the students can come away with a better sense of trial and error as well as building confidence and finding leaders within the classroom environment.