Provocative Posts

Maybe it's because my radar's up for all things inquiry-related, but I seem to be running into good ideas wherever I turn. A couple recent blog posts that have me thinking:

Zac Chase, "Important Words": This wise teacher from Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia describes how a subtle reframing of a question can make all the difference. Say more, indeed.
Scott Schwister, "Teaching Teachers as a Subversive Activity": Can a blank page be a portal to inquiry? Apparently so, when there's also an invitation to be an active participant in the learning process. Simple but elegant.

Interesting, too, that both these posts mention that the writer's thinking has evolved as the result of a conversation or comment from a colleague. Hmmmm.

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Permalink Reply by Suzie Boss on February 17, 2010 at 3:44pm

And here's one more post that will get you thinking about inquiry:

Neil Stephenson, a Canadian teacher who knows his way around PBL, weighs in with "Questioning Student-Centered Learning" on his blog, Thinking in Mind.

Here's hoping he joins the webinar discussion on Thursday. Would love to have him add to this conversation.

Permalink Reply by Neil Stephenson on February 17, 2010 at 3:54pm

Thanks for the kind words. I'll try to join in the discussion tomorrow.
Neil

Permalink Reply by Suzie Boss on February 18, 2010 at 8:14am

Terrific! We're aiming for a conversation, not a traditional sit-and-get session, so feel free to take the microphone and share your insights. This group will be quite interested in your inquiry-based classroom experiences.
Thanks,
Suzie

Permalink Reply by Shane Krukowski on February 19, 2010 at 10:22pm

This article in Education Weekly is right on and recognizes, IMO, leaders in holistic PBL schools. Glad this perspective has been articulated in a mainstream medium.

http://bit.ly/b5hhMO

Permalink Reply by Suzie Boss on February 21, 2010 at 3:25pm

Interesting reading, indeed! Thanks for sharing, Shane.
The small school models that have proven to be effective share common elements, several of which the Ed Week piece points out. I'm curious what other common characteristics members of this group see as being essential: shared time for collaborative professional development? block scheduling? access to technology tools?
What are the schoolwide factors that help you and your students succeed with more authentic learning experiences, including PBL?

Permalink Reply by Sue Boudreau on February 21, 2010 at 11:39pm

I investigated Great Explorations by Outward Bound - sounded great. But required the whole school to buy in. Never going to happen at my school. We have a traditional schedule in a school that scores high on the standardized testing treadmill. But I did have some key pieces in place - I had built a reputation and some trust with the community of parents, the administration and school board. We had a tradition of building projects in the science curriculum, for example the Rube Goldberg Project. We started with similar stuff - Make a cool toy to demonstrate a principle in electricity and magnetism.

But I wanted to move toward more authentic projects that actually did something useful. I gradually moved the needle to very issues-driven projects that complement and add relevance to the standards based curriculum. The Grow Food project, and the Take Action Projects are our latest ones.

We communicate what we are planning with all stake holders, especially parents. We set clear expectations. We train students in the collaboration, communication and project management skills they will need.

No we don't need block scheduling (although it would help). We use some technology for research but it's not central to the process.

So trust, willingness to try and model some failure and learn from it. We've been careful to make it fun for US as well as kids. That means not rushing or cramming too much in too fast.

Sue

Permalink Reply by Suzie Boss on February 22, 2010 at 8:52am

Hi Sue,
I think many teachers will be nodding their heads as they read your comment. You offer some good advice here for teachers who are not in a schoolwide PBL model. Sounds as if you're off and running--and will be able to build on your success.

Note to participants: Sue will be one of our featured guests in the March 4 session, when the topic is "Keeping Your Project on the Rails." She has some terrific project management tools to share.

Permalink Reply by Aaron Grimm on February 22, 2010 at 3:36pm

Suzie,
I think the following are possible shifts the successful small schools have made:
1) implementing a whole school advisory model (much more comprehensive than home room)
2) Individualization for students (may include pbl, but looks to give students choices on when/how they learn) - technology is making this easier
3) Passion Based Learning (a term we have been throwing around here) - allowing students to focus on strengths and interests to get them to "buy in"
4) Collaborative Teacher Environments that spark ownership in teachers - there are schools that allow teachers to be in charge of more than just classrooms, as they may share admin responsibilities.
5) Site Based Schools or School Governance Boards - allows the board to do more personalization among the specific student populations each site is service... rather than having decisions made at a district level
6) The Hope Survey - assessing students on adolescent needs based on the students perceptions gives us a more accurate picture on what students perceive
7) Lastly, I think that these groups mentioned in the above article have tried to re-imagine schools as we know it. Schools that are able to exist outside of the "school within a school" constraints have been more sustainable.

Permalink Reply by Sue Boudreau on February 24, 2010 at 10:13pm

Passion-based learning caught my eye. Because in the end, we want to MOTIVATE kids to learn and to achieve their goals, the more 'choice and voice' they have in that process the better.

That quote is from Vicki Albeles, the producer of a cool new documentary "The Race to Nowhere" about the factory of todays' public school system. (www.racetonowhere.com) I think/hope this documentary will get people thinking at all levels about what, exactly 'educated' means.

I really like the ideas in Aaron's post. Would love to work in a more collaborative environment than I do. What teachers do, what admin leaders do, all trickles down into the class room.

Sue

Permalink Reply by Connie Weber on February 27, 2010 at 9:51am