Inquiry Based Learning - 1st Week

I have greatly enjoyed this first week of learning about inquiry based learning because it totally makes sense as an effective learning method to use! To have a learning environment in which students take more ownership of their learning, ask genuine questions of curiosity, and are ‘guided on the side’ by their teacher has always been a goal of mine. To have motivated students is always a teacher’s goal, because that’s when students will really learn and remember their learning.

I really like Inquiry Page’s (2010) defense for inquiry based learning - “All learning begins with the learner. What children know and what they want to learn are not just constraints on what can be taught; they are the very foundation for learning.” Without investment from the student, the likelihood of them putting something into long-term memory is less than ideal.

I found myself agreeing on another point that Inquiry Page brought up – that a teacher’s (and community’s) job is to direct and mentor a student’s questions and learning towards the benefit of the community. To be more specific, Inquiry Page (2010) describes a simple, doable process:o   Ask – question out of curiosity, identify problem
o   Investigate – research, study, experiment, observe, re-question
o   Create – make connections & synthesize info to create new ideas
o   Discuss – share new ideas, give & receive feedback, compare
o   Reflect – look at big picture, analyze what was learned/created, determine new questions to investigate…
 This week’s study on inquiry based learning was another great reminder for me to not let myself slip into the all-too-comfortable lecturing role that traditional education uses to share information. I like to lecture and convey what I feel is important information to my students, and there is a time and place for that. But I also want to make sure to be more intentional about letting student questions and curiosity affect where the learning journey goes.

Now that I have become more confident about the definition and process of inquiry based learning, I want to see it in action. More importantly, I want to obtain some sample formal and informal assessment tools to use with this process, since it sounds more like project-based learning, which requires more self assessments, rubrics, and checklists, compared to traditional learning.

Sources

Inquiry Page. (2010). Definition of Inquiry. Retrieved from http://www.cii.illinois.edu/InquiryPage/inquiry/definition.html

Inquiry Page. (2010). Inquiry Process. Retrieved from http://www.cii.illinois.edu/InquiryPage/inquiry/process.html

Sustaining Digital Literacy Introduction

Teaching is a challenging and rewarding profession. I'm so grateful that I have been able to do it for 9 years now, but not without considerable effort and help. In addition to all the teachers, mentors, parents, students and supervisors that have shaped and supported my educational journey, I have learned a lot from professional growth seminars, websites, and social media.

Here are the organizations that I have found to share valuable content in seminars:

• Bureau of Education & Research (BER)
• Every seminar I've attended from BER is packed with great ideas & resources.
• Adventist Education
• As my employer, they have always had very relevant information for me to learn.
• Imagine Easy Solutions
• They have an excellent set of free professional development videos online.

Besides just searching for what I need on Google, here are the websites that I have used the most for teaching resources:

• Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything
• She has links to a LOT of useful educational tools!
• Discovery Education
• I mostly use the science & social studies videos w/handouts for my class.
• Google Apps for Education
• My students and I use these everyday!
• Common Sense Media
• This is a great resource site for online media, tools, games & digital citizenship.
• ETA Hand 2 Mind
• They have great math manipulatives.
• Evan-Moor
• They have daily language workbooks.
• Teacher Created Resources
• I really like their Writing Workshop book.
• Khan Academy
• My students enjoy the math activities and coding tutorials.

As far as specific people that I look to for support, that would be, first and foremost, my wife. She is a high school math teacher, so we have a lot of great educational conversations. She is a great sounding board, helps me tackle issues from a broader perspective, and affirms my decisions. Without her, I would probably need to see a counselor regularly! :)

Other priceless souls who have supported me over the years have been my direct supervisors, board chairmen, mentor teachers, and pastor. 

When I want to learn more about an up-and-coming idea, I have a couple friends that always seem on top of the latest educational & technological trends. The first is @AaronNKoleda. In working side by side with him (and online) on the NAD Elementary Technology Standards, we became friends and explored new tech ideas together. He specifically helped me start implementing a makerspace & genius hour environment in my classroom. I also consider my mother-in-law, Jeane Lutz, a wise mentor. Having taught multi-grades and most subjects for 25+ years, she knows a lot and always has neat ideas with math, language arts, and technology in the classroom.

Besides the above two people, I've made a lot of great contacts through Twitter and Google+ that have given me great ideas and advice. The e-Nable Google+ Community has specifically helped me learn a lot about 3D printing, especially about constructing body-powered hand prostheses.

As I have experimented in the classroom with new ideas or technologies, I have faced the most common challenge of finding time to first learn about the idea or tool, then decide and figure out how it might help my students learn, plan how to use it in class, and last of all, evaluate its effectiveness. With all those time-consuming factors, searching for or hearing about a new idea or tool can be pretty daunting. But as my mentor teachers always told me, I try to improve just one subject each school year, and make only 1 lesson during the day special. Otherwise, I would have burned out long ago.

Communication, Collaboration & Publishing

To help teachers better prepare their students for the future workforce, the International Society for Technology created standards. I like to refer to them as the ISTE Standards. Their purpose is to "describe the skills and knowledge [students] need to learn effectively and live productively in an increasingly global and digital society" (ISTE, 2015).
ISTE also made a sampling of learning activities, divided by grade levels, to help teachers have an idea of how to specifically meet the standards in class. These can be found on the same website and are located under the title of "ISTE Standards Student Profiles."

In my Project Based Learning (PBL) class from Wilkes University, I have learned how to facilitate a successful PBL experience in my classroom and the learning benefits it brings to the students. PBL relies heavily on communication, collaboration and publishing. These three components are also essential pieces of the ISTE Standards. Let me first state the 6 parts of the Standards:

1. Creativity and innovation
2. Communication and collaboration
3. Research and information fluency
4. Critical thinking, problem solving and decision making
5. Digital citizenship
6. Technology operations and concepts

It's easy to see that #2 specifically addresses the importance of communication and collaboration. ISTE specifically states that this involves "using digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others" (ISTE 2015). PBL is a great way to bridge the gap between schools and develop streams of communication using web 2.0 tools such as email, Skype (video chat), Google+ Hangouts (video & typed chat). The purpose of communicating in this case is to collaborate on a project with distant peers and/or professionals. Collaborative platforms like Google Apps for Education, Edmodo, and Wikispaces then provide a medium to work on the same document, presentation or product together...in real time! Those same platforms can then publish the students' work with a simple click of the button, whether it is just for their class, school or the whole world to see and benefit from.

PBL doesn't just accomplish the #2 ISTE Standard though. Creativity and innovation is a given when producing a new document, presentation or product. Students develop research and information fluency by finding and using appropriate digital tools and information to accomplish the project's goals. Students use critical thinking, problem solving and decision making to overcome challenges during PBL, individually and with their distant collaborator. Under the teacher's guidance, students will also learn to be global digital citizens simply by working with a student or professional in another country. Lastly, with enough support from the teacher and the school's administration & IT, students in PBL activities will build their technology operations and concepts skills as they learn, use,  and troubleshoot their hardware and software. 

Given the benefits of PBL and how it taps into all parts of the ISTE Standards, teachers should attempt to incorporate PBL in the classroom if they haven't already.

Resources

ISTE Standards for Students. (2015). Retrieved July 23, 2015, from 

http://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards/standards-for-students

Digital Storytelling - Coast Salish

My wife and I took a trip to Vancouver & Victoria, British Columbia this summer as a pre-trip for what I'll be doing with my students in the spring. What particularly fascinates me is the Native American culture and history there, particularly the totem poles. For one of my Digital Storytelling assignments, I created a short video to introduce my students to the Coast Salish people.

The Door Scene

For my EDIM 504 Digital Storytelling class, I had to make a still image video of the "Door Scene." This assignment originated from American Film Institute's Screen Education program (which is no longer funded). They created a simple scripted scenario for the film:

"A person is about to open a door. The person hears a sound and becomes mildly concerned. The person finds the door locked and searches for his or her keys. The person hears the sound again and becomes visibly apprehensive. As the filmmaker, your goal is to build tension and growing panic, using any visual element or device that you can think of.

The film closes with the person finally opening the door and getting to the other side safely. Here, you want to communicate to the audience the character’s feeling of relief and safety." (AFI 21st Century Educator's Handbook, p.17) With this scenario, the student is also required to follow these rules: 
Neither the character nor the audience ever sees the source of the sound.
The film may not exceed 90 seconds.
No sound may be used.

So, here was my attempt at it..

Project Based Learning Examples

This summer I enrolled in another technology master's class (my 5th) from Wilkes University called "Project Based Learning." After the first week I am already very excited to utilize this type of learning in my classroom! Below are stories and videos from 3 different schools that have successfully used Project Based Learning (PBL) in the classroom.

"More Fun Than a Barrel of . . . Worms?!" - Diane Curtis, Edutopia

http://www.edutopia.org/more-fun-barrel-worms

"Geometry Students Angle into Architecture Through Project Learning" - Sara Armstrong, Edutopia

http://www.edutopia.org/geometry-real-world-students-architects

"March of the Monarchs: Students Follow the Butterflies' Migration"

- Diane Curtis, Edutopia

http://www.edutopia.org/march-monarchs

If you have the time, I definitely recommend watching the videos, which are very inspiring as a teacher to watch! If you don't have time, however, you can see what I have gleaned to be the factors that made these schools and their projects so successful at engaging kids and increasing tests scores.

Circumstances and environment that enabled the teachers and students to do successful PBL: 

• A school that embraces PBL from the principal down, and teachers willing to experiment and learn with PBL as well
• The school strives to “meet students’ academic, emotional & creative needs!” (Curtis, 2001)
• Morning meetings
• Looping (teachers stay with 1 class for 2 years)
• Community service
• State-of-the-art technology
• Professional development
• Teachers accomplish multiple standards in 1 project, focus on applying the students’ learning through projects
• Time, space & creativity to do PBL

Design of a successful, enriching PBL:

1. Teacher researches what standards can be met first
2. Brainstorm for interests, big ideas & essential questions
3. Field work
1. research
2. go on field trips
3. meet with experts
4. perform experiments
5. use graphic organizers
4. Share findings (oral presentations, digital slideshows, display boards) with authentic audiences & their feedback

Teacher Role: facilitator, encourager, student & project advocate, not a lecturer, feedback giver, inspirational spark, keen observer

Student Role: scientist, mathematician, designer, businessperson, researcher, problem-solver, team member, presenter

"If you find it yourself, it stays in your brain," sums up a third student.” http://www.edutopia.org/more-fun-barrel-worms

With the above circumstances, design principles & roles, students are more engaged because they are able to explore and solve real-world problems that are relevant to them. Higher engagement and interest naturally lead to more learning and critical thinking because when something matters to a student, they will do whatever they can to find a solution (or solutions) to a problem. Plus, when they see how their project findings are critiqued and used by professionals (authentic audience) in their community, they are motivated to do their best.

To summarize the effectiveness of PBL, I'll let a 3rd grader have the last word: "If you find it yourself, it stays in your brain" (Curtis, 2001). 

Resources

Curtis, D. (2001, October 1). More Fun Than a Barrel of . . . Worms?! Retrieved June 29, 2015, from http://www.edutopia.org/more-fun-barrel-worms