Today was the first day of my new job. How was it? A struggle, of course. How could it not be? As my shoes clicked across the hall floor this morning I thought, “Boy, it’s quiet here.” Something I’m not really used to. I taught in an inquiry classroom, which was often loud and boisterous.
For the past eight years, I’ve been a teacher at the same school. I knew what my role was, what I was there to do, what I was good at. So even though I took many risks in my classroom, there were many things that were safe. I knew how I fit into the larger picture.
But now all of that is gone, and I have to figure out what is mine to do in a new place. It’s hard. Ironically, it’s what I tell my grade 12′s they need to do when they graduate. It’s much easier to be giving the advice than living it.
And this is part of the reason why we need to equip our students to think on their own, to trust their instincts, to figure out what they love, and how to problem-solve and critically evaluate. This identity thing never goes away. We need to continue revisiting it our entire lives, and if it’s not done well, developmental theorists tell us the consequences can be disasterous. Maybe we need to talk to our students more about that. You can’t really run away from figuring out who you are and live well.
And the thing is, I have to figure it out myself. No one can hand it to me. I have to do the hard work. I’ve realized this is why school that is “real life” matters. Kids need to be involved in work that is challenging and at the same time fundamentally shapes who they are.
Rather than spending time memorizing answers for an exam, what risks are our students taking? In their learning? In their growth? Are they learning what they love and how they contribute? We must learn to risk wisely — it’s the only life worth living.
“To Risk”
by William Arthur Ward
To laugh is to risk appearing a fool, To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out to another is to risk involvement, To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return, To live is to risk dying, To hope is to risk despair, To try is to risk failure.
But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.
He may avoid suffering and sorrow, But he cannot learn, feel, change, grow or live.
Chained by his servitude he is a slave who has forfeited all freedom.
Only a person who risks is free.
The pessimist complains about the wind;
The optimist expects it to change;
And the realist adjusts the sails.
I love project-based learning. Why? Because my students do. Some of my favourite projects are the Biology 30 projects due at semester’s end. These aren’t the only projects we create throughout the semester; we also create a number of digital products too. However, these tend to be the most intricate and hands on.
For the past week, my students have been sharing their projects. My students don’t give their presentation at the front of the room, although that’s an important skill to learn too. Instead, we sit in a circle and share. I’ve found doing it this way creates more interaction between my students than presenting at the front of the room.
The topic for this particular project was body systems. My students were to create a project on any system in the body– a really broad topic, I know. I do that on purpose. In class, over the past two months, we’ve studied 5 different systems, but students aren’t limited solely to those. Often students are interested in things we don’t have time to explore in class. This project allows them to do so.
One of my students created a Monopoly-type boardgame based on the nervous system. Each of the different properties represented a different aspect of the nervous system. Additionally, the Community Chest & Chance cards also contained many facts about the system, in addition to the usual penalties or rewards.
But the best part of his presentation, to me, was when he stated, “I really enjoyed doing this. It was a lot of fun — a ton of work, but a lot of fun.” And that’s why I love project-based learning. It allows my students to really focus on, and learn deeply about, things they’re interested in, which often causes them to work hard, enjoy the process of learning, and produces a great deal of satisfaction once they are finished.
Another student researched and created a model of the knee. She has knee problems, and as an athlete, she experiences the real pain of these problems quite frequently. During her presentation, she showed the parts of the knee affected, informed the class how these problems affect her, and possible treatments and surgical options. It took her hours to create the knee from Plasticine. This is the second reason I love PBL, it often becomes personal for my students, allowing them to understand more about themselves or others they are close to.
A third student created two cakes — each depicted the brain. The brain with large portions of yellow, shows a healthy, functioning brain. The brain that is predominantly blue shows the functionality of a brain struggling with depression. Wow. I was shocked to see the difference. And this is one of the reasons PBL can be powerful. It allows students and teachers to see what might often be taught as vague, abstract concepts.
This particular student chose this topic because her family has been deeply and painfully affected by depression. She wants to understand it better. This project was meaningful far beyond the knowledge she acquired.
We also learned about hip replacements. One of my student’s has a father who is a doctor. She was curious about how hip replacements work, and through his contacts, he was able to procure the actual implements that are used in a hip replacement. How many people actually get to see what those look like? Which is the final reason I love PBL – I learn a ton from my students, and it allows my students to experience the reality that they have knowledge to offer to those around them. The PBL classroom allows students to learn from each other, as well as me.
My student created a playdough version of the pelvis & hip bones to show how hip replacements fit. And then, during her presentation, spared none of the gory details of the surgical process. Trust me, it was readily apparent by the looks on my students faces who might be successful at pursuing a medical career and who will likely steer clear of it. The detail of the process was truly amazing. During these presentations I’m often surprised by the amount of learning that occurs and the enthusiasm my students have towards it.
While some teachers may wonder about the merits of PBL, I’m sold. My students learn much more in an inquiry classroom, than they did when we had a traditional one. It allows them to have a say in what they learn and how they present their knowledge. Every semester I’m impressed by the hard work and energy my students pour into their projects. It’s not enough for students to learn a bunch of disconnected facts, they need to be able to synthesis them into a large whole and create something from what they’ve learned. Often they’ll connect them to their lives in ways we could never have imagined.
I love PBL and so do my students; and that makes all the difference.
Somewhere along the line we decided that failure was a bad thing — something to be avoided at all costs, as if that’s possible. Even though we tell our kids that Edison failed hundreds of times before he invented the light bulb, we keep perpetuating school cultures that abhor failure. Our students likely know most of what we’re saying is lip-service.
It could be all of the testing. It could be current grading practices. It could be the lack of play in many of our classrooms. This needs to change.
On Monday, I’m going to show my students this video:
And then we’re going to talk about their experience with failure in school and our classroom. What needs to change will come from that conversation.
I’ve been reflecting on what the most important things are for my students to learn. And none of the subect matter I teach comes to mind.
Instead, my students need to learn to embrace failure and allow it to be their teacher.
Fear of failure prevents us from taking risks. Prevents us from reaching out to others. Prevents us from becoming who we are meant to be.
In two days, on January 11th, it’s National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. What are my students doing for it? They’re wearing a barcode. Yep, you read that right. My students decided to wear a simple barcode off a household object to represent that people should not be bought and sold, to start conversations with those around them that slavery still exists, and as a visual symbol that our work is not done.
We ask that you join us on January 11th to raise your voice that slavery is not okay. Start a conversation in your classroom, send out tweets using the hashtag #slaverystillexists, blog about it, or join us in wearing a barcode. If you’re looking for resources to use my students have created a few.
One of my students sent me an article today. President Obama has declared January to be National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. People are starting to become aware that slavery exists, but awareness isn’t enough. We need to do something. Do I believe wearing a barcode will end slavery? No.
But I believe teachers and students have the power to bring about radical change in this area. It’s time we stand up and make our voices heard. We need to join together. How? Social media. It has the power to change the world. We’ve watched it bring down governments and help survivors in earthquakes. With enough voices, companies like Hershey, Nike and Disney will need to change their practices. In fact, a recent social media protest forced Kroger to cough up a $10,000 dollar prize.
Let’s join together in the fight. Let’s show kids that what happens in school does make a difference. Let’s change the world.
You must be the change you want to see in this world – Gandhi
Three weeks from tomorrow, when our semester ends, I’ll be leaving my classroom. For the next year, I’ll be the high school learning consultant for my school division. And I had no idea it would be so hard to leave.
I’ve been in my classroom for seven years; it’s my first classroom. And my students have always left me – that seems to be the proper progression of things.
It hurts to leave my kids. I had no idea it would hurt so much. I had no idea how deeply this way of learning connects you to your students. And I keep asking myself, “Is this going to be okay? Did I make the right decision?”
I love the idea of a new challenge. I love the idea of working with other teachers. And my biggest hope is that it will help me to become a much better teacher than I am. But I know what I’m leaving, and it’s a big loss. I’ve learned so much from my students about teaching and learning and the power of people to make a difference. I love their enthusiasm and honesty, and they’ve been so incredibly gracious while I’ve stumbled around learning this inquiry, project-based, technology thing.
And I think, partially, it’s hard because I can see my students are afraid too. Shortly after hearing the news, one of my students came up to me and asked, “the new teacher that we get, are they going to teach the other way? or like you?” I don’t know. I know what I hope.
But I also know that my students have learned how to ask for what they need, and that will serve them well. They’ve learned how to learn, how to create, and how to speak up, and they need those skills much more than they need me.
This morning the parent of one of my students came up to me to thank me for all that I’ve done. But the most important words she said when speaking of her son were, “He’s so appreciative of the way you allowed them to learn.” And that’s really the key. It’s not what I taught them, but what they were able to learn when given the space to do so. And that’s what I hope I can share with other teachers in my new position.
During the next year, I’m not sure what this space will become, or what I’ll have to share here that will be of value to other teachers. I hope something, but if not, it will still be the space where I think and try to grow.
So for the next three weeks, my students and I will struggle with how to say good-bye.
I’ve come to describe my classroom as an inquiry-driven, project-based, tech-embedded environment. But that’s not where I started. For most of my teaching career, I’ve been a pretty traditional teacher; even now I slip back into that mode sometimes. However, as I went through the motions of trying to “teach” my students, something didn’t seem right. My students seemed to learn things only for the exam, were focused on the mark, not the learning that was supposed to be taking place, and dumped all their notes and assignments when the unit or semester was over. Frustrating.
The shift to a student-centred classroom has been a rollercoaster, but well worth the work and effort. For the most part, my students are engaged and have started to take responsibility for their education. We view knowledge as a process, not a product. I think the most valuable skill my students have acquired is the ability to learn, unlearn, and re-learn. In today’s constantly changing world, this is one of the most important things they’ll take with them when they graduate.
Teachers who are interested in shifting their classroom often don’t know where to start. It can be overwhelming, frightening, and even discouraging, especially when no one else seems to think the system is broken. The question I’ve been asked often throughout the past year is where should a teacher start? I’ve thought about this a fair amount, and I think small strategic steps are the key:
1) Start with creating one inquiry unit in one subject. You can jump in and change everything at once like I did, but that’s slightly crazy. However, if you design one unit in one subject, at the end of each day, or week, you can analyze what worked and what didn’t. While teaching doesn’t always leave a lot of time for luxuries like reflection, it really is the key to figuring out inquiry learning, and as the teacher, it’s one of your most important roles.
Sometimes you may not understand why certain things aren’t working. Ask your students. I’m often surprised by how much they know and how adept they are at articulating what they need.
If you don’t know how to create an inquiry classroom, ask me. Press the contact tab on the top of this post, and ask whatever questions you may have. I’m happy to help. If you need resources, I can probably point you to some.
2) Talk to your students about their learning — a lot. Especially in the beginning, I talk to my students about why my classroom is structured differently than every other class in our school. I show them Ken Robinson’s talk about how the 20th C. school system doesn’t really prepare students anymore. I also show them Chris Lehmann’s TED-x talk emphasizing how education is broken and Karl Fisch’s Did you Know?.
I tell my students that essentially I’m preparing them for jobs that don’t currently exist, that will use technology which hasn’t been invented yet, to fix problems we’re not currently aware of. How do I do that? They get the point. It’s about developing skills, and we use content to do that.
But I also talk to my student’s about stuff like how their brain works, and how neural connections need to be made. That often for students to learn, it has to be attached to things they already know. The last week of school, before break, we talked about cognitive dissonance and Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development. They like to know there’s a reason for the way they feel when they don’t “get it”. And they like to know that everyone’s zone of development is different. In fact, they were amazed to find out everyone’s brain is different.
And, yes, I use the big words. I simply explain what they mean. I don’t use them to sound smart. I use them because it makes my students feel smart; most of our society doesn’t treat our students like they’re capable of understanding or doing much. I do.
3) Embed technology in ways that are authentic to the learning process. The first tools that I teach my students are Google Docs, Diigo or delicious to bookmark their research, and Symbaloo to house their tools.
Experience has taught me that the first day I introduce a class to Google docs, we will get nothing done. To them, it’s the most amazing thing ever. They usually spend most of the class typing back and forth to each other in the doc. No big deal. However, eventually, my students open Google docs without me telling them to. I have students who literally use them for every lab, essay, and assignment. And the ability for a group to work on and edit the same document at the same time, more than makes up for the initial class we lose.
The social media tools we used to show our learning in our slavery unit seemed like the most natural and logical tools to use. As a classroom, we want our learning to extend beyond the four walls of our classroom. So we have a discussion, or likely multiple discussions, about what that should look like. We also want our projects to have “real world” implications. What’s more real world than advocacy against modern-day slavery using social media?
Essentially these are the two criteria we use to assess the product we’re going to create. How do we extend our learning beyond, our classroom and how can what we’re doing here make a difference to the real world? Our tools are the natural out working of these.
4) Remember that inquiry learning is an emotional process. Each stage of learning has specific emotions attached to it, and at some point, you will likely hit the wall. That’s normal.
I’ve found that we need to talk more as an inquiry class. My role is to be well aware of how my students are doing emotionally, especially when we’re dealing with a weighty, overwhelming topic like slavery. While this may not matter much in a traditional classroom, it can completely blow apart an inquiry one.
I won’t promise you that any of this will be easy. It’s not. You’ll likely have days when you wonder why you ever started it. But trust me, it’s worth it. Take the challenge.
I teach in an inquiry, project-based, technology embedded classroom. A mouthful, I know. So what does that mean? To begin with, I don’t lecture. My students don’t take notes, at least not in the traditional sense, and we don’t read a novel and simply answer the questions.
It means my classroom is a place where my students spend time piecing together what they have learned, critically evaluating its larger purpose, and reflecting on their own learning. It also means my students don’t acquire knowledge just for the sake of acquiring it. They need to do something with it — that’s where “project-based” comes into play.
Finally, technology is embedded into the structure of all we do. It’s part of how we research, how we capture information, and how we display our learning. It’s never an accessory tacked on at the end.
In my English classroom, this looks a lot different than in my biology & chemistry classrooms (which you can read about here). My English curriculum is largely skills-based, which provides a fair amount of flexibility. Many people ask me how I have the opportunities to do what I do in my classroom. My answer? It’s all in how you look at the curriculum.
Meeting curriculum and teaching goals
My curriculum states that I need to develop skills in 5 areas: reading, writing, viewing & representing, listening and speaking. The curriculum also suggests themes. Our grade 11 theme is childhood, but nowhere does it state whose childhood. So this year we read Patricia McCormick’s novel Sold, which chronicles the childhood, or more specifically the loss of childhood, in a young girl who is trafficked. A powerful story. This was the springboard into our unit on modern slavery and creating a social media campaign.
Whenever we begin a new inquiry unit, research is always involved. We start by sitting in a circle to talk through what we want, and need, to know about slavery in the contemporary world. From there the research begins. The first thing my students do is open a Google doc, access their Diigo or Delicious account, and sign into Symbaloo, a site that houses all of their favourite tools. We spend approximately one week on our initial research. Any more than this and students tend to become overwhelmed.
After researching, we come back together to discuss what needs to happen next. What is the best way to present our learning? What will be the most powerful? What do we want others to learn from us? Throughout this process, my students do most of the talking and leading. I tend to sit and listen, and at critical moments, draw out the nuances or similarities of what is being said. And when things aren’t working, sometimes I need to suggest a new direction.
Learning to use social media wisely
This semester, we’ve chosen to create a social media campaign to raise awareness around modern slavery. This is the project-based part. It’s not enough for my students to learn about slavery, they need to do something with it, specifically “real world” projects that matter.
One of the most important things we can do is teach our students how to use social media wisely, and how social media can be used for social good. My students started by creating a Flickr feed, Facebook page, a YouTube account, a Tumblr blog, and a Twitter account.
They decided that visual representations of their knowledge would be the most powerful. So some of my students created photographs depicting images that they felt best represented modern trafficking. These photos were then edited in Picnik, and posted to our blog.
Teaching this way also allows me to teach real writing to my students. Before we started to create videos, my students looked at numerous YouTube videos about slavery. They focused on those they found powerful, and conversely, those that weren’t very effective. We analyzed the differences between the two. My students talked animatedly about how the powerful videos touched your emotions.
I grabbed a piece of paper and drew a triangle. On each tip I wrote one of three words: Logos, Pathos, and Ethos. When you write for an audience, you can appeal to knowledge, emotion, or ethics — the Aristotelian triad. A few years ago I tried to teach this idea to a grade 12 class when we were studying essay writing. They didn’t get it. But in the context we were using, after comparing social media content, it made perfect sense to my grade 11 students. So we designed our videos with the triad in mind.
The hard work of creation
My students decided to create Common Craft-styled videos to educate viewers about slavery. These videos took hours. First, students needed to distill all of their “fact” knowledge into a compelling story. Then they needed to write the script, create paper characters, and finally begin to practice moving their papers on the whiteboard. My students soon discovered there is only a very small area to use on the whiteboard while filming these videos, otherwise you move out of view of the camera. In the end, it took hours to coordinate movement with script, film & then edit our videos. The remarkable thing is that these videos fulfilled many objectives across all 5 strands. Here’s one example:
As part of this project, my students have also Skyped into classrooms to teach what they have learned, so that other students can begin this enormously important discussion in their own communities. This is the connected part. My students believe that what they have learned is valuable, for themselves and for others too. They also believe they have a role to play in teaching others.
My student are also creating a Museum Box, a project inspired by the work of Thomas Clarkson, who spent most of his adult life trying to abolish the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Clarkson carried a box to support his argument. The Museum Box site allows you to build an argument or description of an event, person or historical period by placing items in a virtual box. Students can display anything from a text file to a movie. My students will be using this platform to argue their thesis, rather than writing a traditional essay.
For our second novel, we’re reading The Secret Life of Bees. For this unit, my students are engaged in wiki work. In pairs, my students are responsible for identifying the major themes in each chapter, and how they are developed. The first week I model this skill, and throughout the novel I coach my students as necessary. They’re also responsible for posting and responding to the discussion questions for each chapter.
How has this approach impacted my classroom?
My students have started designing our curriculum units. Seriously. While transitioning to our current unit, we discussed the possibilities as a class. Both Dr. Seuss & Christmas literature were mentioned as possible study topics. But one student wasn’t sold on either.
“Could we do something entirely different? Something that you haven’t done before?”
“Sure. What are you thinking?”
She thought and then said, “What about a movie unit? Could we study movies of different genres and then analyze them for themes and other different features? Is that possible?”
I explained that, with the English curriculum, we have more flexibility than with chemistry or biology. In those subjects, I’m specifically told what content I need to teach. In English, the concern is mostly around teaching skills, although the curriculum does stipulate how many novels, short stories, poems, etc. we need to include.
I further explained the five “strands” that we use in English and that there are multiple skill objectives for each strand.
“So yes, it’s possible to do something with movies.”
I asked them to talk a little bit more about what it might look like. My students brainstormed various possibilities. Maybe dividing into groups to show clips from various genres. Each group would be responsible to facilitate the discussion around the analysis. Maybe creating a digital space to post movie critiques, and other connected classrooms could join us. And, of course, there would be writing involved too.
After hearing a number of ideas, and seeing a plan beginning to formulate, one of my students looked at me and said, “Can you help us create a unit plan for this?”
Wow. Never in a million years did I think my students would ever say those words. Another student remarked, “Yeah, I only know how to teach swimming lessons.”
I looked at him and said, “Well, it’s not that much different.” When he gets in the pool he doesn’t just splash around for 30 minutes. He knows exactly what he’s going in there to accomplish. Not only that, he knows what it looks like when someone has mastered the skill and when someone isn’t even close. He agreed. Curriculum & teaching is pretty much that. We need to know what our outcomes are, the content we’re using to get there, and what we’re using to show our learning.
So I brought in the curriculum objectives…
My students are always a bit surprised to see what curriculum actually looks like. They pulled out the objectives we are meeting with this unit. They chose six genres that they will look at with films as diverse as The Princess Bride, A Time to Kill, and Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. In groups they will analyze six elements in each film: themes, writing, character development, film techniques, setting and plot development.
Once students have watched the film, they will meet with their group to discuss their findings. A group summary of their findings will be posted to the wiki. Students will also write a short analysis rating the film, including their basis for doing so. Ratings will be published to the wiki.
The next day, there will be an in-class discussion of the movie. Each group will contribute their observations. From the list of movies chosen, students will need to write a longer critique, much like an essay.
Students are excited about this unit because they designed it around something of interest to them. I’m excited about this unit because film is the medium of the future, and our students need to be astute at critically evaluating it.
My teaching . . . then and now
Before the technology/constructivist shift in my classsroom, I would have taught all of this quite traditionally. We’d read books, answer questions, and then address those questions in class. I’d lecture a lot, with supplemental grammar lessons here and there, and I’d include some type of artistic project to achieve viewing and representing objectives. The whole design would have been extremely teacher centered. And at the end of it all, I’d hope they learned something about writing and thinking.
Instead, inquiry and technology are a natural part of our English classes. It’s what my students have come to expect and have started to design themselves. Instead, of saying, “hand in your assignments,” I say, “publish your assignments and send me the link.” They think about connecting and sharing their learning in the larger world.
The truth about inquiry is not all of your students will always get on board, and I think that’s okay. I don’t think it reflects anything on you as a teacher or your classroom. Let me tell you a story.
I teach Christian Ethics 10. Our theme is the life of Christ. Most of the semester we’ve spent delving into aspects of Christ’s story, his parables & teachings, but mostly how he reacted to and treated others. This class loves to talk, so rather than writing a lot, we have a lot of interesting discussions.
This past week, on Wednesday, report cards came out. I told my students it’s time for us to assess our class. Has it been what they wanted? We spent a number of days at the beginning of the semester discussing how my classroom is different, that the process is as important as the product, and that their voices matter.
I asked if there was anything they wanted to change. They thought about it, and finally one student said, “I wish we could explore some of this stuff through the arts, like painting, or drama.” We can. The life of Christ has been explored through art for centuries, if not millenia.
So I asked them to talk about what that might look like, and kids began to get really excited. They brainstormed a whole list of ways they might bring these ideas together. After looking at the list I said, “Why don’t we create an exhibit on the life of Christ?” We can do that? Yep.
The next day we had to decide on a theme. This was the tough part. My students came up with five solid ideas, but went back and forth between people of the bible and Jesus’ parables and couldn’t come to an agreement. There were students who really wanted to learn about each area.
Finally, one student said, “Why don’t we do it on stories? It could be the story of someone in the bible, or one of the parables, or even our stories and how they intersect with these. We can call it One Storyteller: Millions of Stories.” Brilliant.
Except there were two students who weren’t buying in. I watched as my students went back and forth with them valiantly trying to find a topic they would be interested in, making as many concessions or trade-offs as they could to rouse interest. I have never seen students do anything like this before, but this is a class that takes care of those in it.
Finally, after watching for a while, I looked at the two students and said, “I have a question. Is there any theme that would make you happy? Because if not, we should just move on. But if there is, you need to let us know.” I didn’t say it rudely, condescendingly, or critically. It was said as simply and kindly as I could. Sometimes our students need to be asked hard, truthful questions.
They thought about it and came to the conclusion there wasn’t. So we needed to move on. This was the idea that the class had painstakingly cobbled together and was excited, for the most part, to bring to fruition.
The two students in question are at a really painful place in their lives. I get that. I understand why they might not want to have any part of it, and if they do come around, their part might express the anger & pain they feel; that in itself might be healing & life-giving.
Not all of your students need to buy-in for inquiry to be successful. And it is entirely possible that these two students will catch the vision and excitement from their peers. Throughout the process they will continually be invited into what is going on, to wonder how their story fits, or to help others express theirs.
I think one of the skills our students need to learn is how to learn. Another is learning it’s not okay to stop the learning and excitement of others because you’re not happy, but instead learning how to interact and be with others during this process.
While in a traditional classroom you might be able to ignore these problems, in an inquiry classroom you can’t. They become part of the fabric you work with, something you need to thoughtfully and sensitively respond to. That’s what makes inquiry both incredibly difficult and life-giving.
Even though I’ve been doing this inquiry thing for a bit, there are still moments that take me by complete surprise. Something crazy is happening in my classroom.
We’re currently finishing up a unit, and beginning to look at what’s next. Several weeks ago one of my current students was talking to a former student. He was telling her about a Dr. Seuss unit we did in English five, or so, years ago.
The next day she came to school and said, “Hey, why don’t we get to do Dr. Seuss? Something a bit lighter would be nice. We’ve studied the Holocaust, human rights issues, and now slavery. Could we do something that’s not so heavy?”
Sure. So today the idea of the Seuss unit was mentioned. Many liked that idea, a few wondered about other options. Well, we’ve looked at Christmas literature in the past too. A few others liked that idea. But one student wasn’t sold on either.
“Could we do something entirely different? Something that you haven’t done before?”
Sure. What are you thinking?
She thought and then said, “What about a movie unit? Could we study movies of different genres and then analyze them for themes and other different features? Is that possible?”
I explained with the English curriculum we have more flexibility than with chemistry or biology. In those subjects, I’m specifically told what content I need to teach. However, with English it’s mostly skill based, although it does stipulate how many novels, short stories, poems, etc. we need to include.
I further explained the five “strands” that we use in English: reading, writing, listening, viewing & representing, and speaking, and that there are multiple objectives for each strand.
So it is possible. I asked them to talk a little bit more about what it might look like. My students brainstormed various possibilities. Maybe dividing into groups to show clips from various genres. Each group would be responsible to facilitate the discussion around the analysis. Maybe creating a digital space to post movie critiques, and other classrooms could join us. And of course, there would be writing involved too.
After hearing a number of ideas, and seeing a plan beginning to formulate one of my students looked at me and said, ” Can you help us create a unit plan for this?” Wow. Never in a million years did I think my students would ever say those words. Another student remarked, “Yeah, I only know how to teach swimming lessons.”
I looked at him and said, “Well, it’s not that much different.” When he gets in the pool he doesn’t just splash around for 30 minutes. He knows exactly what he’s going in there to accomplish. Not only that, he knows what it looks like when someone has mastered the skill and when someone isn’t even close. He agreed. Curriculum & teaching is pretty much that.
So that’s where we’re starting tomorrow. I plan to bring our curricular objectives, with the objectives we’ve already met highlighted, and we’ll decide which objectives this unit will cover. We’ll also decide what it looks like when they’ve been met, and how they’ll show their learning. And, together, my students & I will create our next unit.
How crazy is that? This inquiry stuff is amazing. I’ve noticed this semester that my students have taken responsibility for their learning in ways I never dreamed possible, to the point where they’re willing to do the hard work of figuring out the details — stuff I normally do. They’re invested, and they have every right to be.
I teach in an inquiry, project-based, technology embedded classroom. A mouthful, I know. So what does that mean? It means I lecture less, and my students explore more. It means that I create a classroom where students encounter concepts, via labs and other methods, before they necessarily understand all the specifics of what is happening.
It’s a place where my students spend time piecing together what they have learned, critically evaluating its larger purpose, and reflecting on their own learning.
It also means my students don’t acquire knowledge just for the sake of acquiring it. They need to do something with it — that’s where “project-based” comes into play. Finally, technology is embedded into the structure of all we do. It’s part of how we research, how we capture information, and how we display our learning. It’s never an accessory tacked on at the end.
So what does this look like?
On lab days, one of the first things my students do is take out their phones. Our school has a cell phone policy that normally bans these devices during class time; however, we have permission to use them in learning situations. I even lend my phone to groups who may not have one.
I used to have students sketch pictures of lab slides. The truth is most of them didn’t look anything like what was on the slide. I doubt our students have spent much time sketching throughout their schooling career. If they have, they’re not very good at it! In the end, they mostly look like a mass of circles.
Last year, instead of sketching, my students began taking pictures with their phones of what was on the slide. These are then uploaded to our wiki and become part of our digital textbook. The beauty of this is that students who have missed the lab can refer to them. We also do this for dissections. Within minutes, they’ve often uploaded these pictures to Facebook.
Do my students use their phones during this time for non-educational tasks? Probably. But until I see they’re not focused on their work, I’m not prepared to be the texting police. Instead, my students know they are trusted and they need to act accordingly.
The nuts & bolts of embedded technology
My students have multiple options as to the final format of their lab submission. Some students choose to hand in paper labs, but a number have started creating v-labs. These are labs in the form of Voicethreads or videos. Sometimes their paper labs simply include the pictures. I also receive labs that are created in Google Docs.
At strategic points, our classroom is flipped. Meaning: A chunk of content is learned outside of the classroom, and during class time, we use the learned information in labs or projects. Depending on the type of information needed, we use Khan Academy videos, TED talks, and other informational videos. This year, I’ve added something new — Livescribe pencasts. These are pencasts created by myself that address the content my students are learning. Sometimes it will be about formulas that we’ve learned in class, such as balancing equations. I find creating a pencast allows my students to revisit what we’ve learned in class at home. The pencast is interactive, so my students can click on the parts they don’t understand and have that part replay again. And there’s something significant about your own teacher reviewing what you learned, anytime, anywhere.
Other times we’ll learn content in the classroom, but we do it interactively. How? We Google Jockey. The first time I told my students we were going to Google Jockey, they didn’t believe it was an actual term. I told them to Google it. It is.
I facilitate the discussion by asking questions, while my students Google, looking for the information we need. As they come across links and videos that explain what we’re learning about, my students send me links that I add to our wiki. This process allows us to talk about the information, including how to research & find reputable information.
If I had a set of laptops or iPads on which my students could reliably create a Google Doc of our notes as I speak or they Google jockey, I would do it that way instead. There’s something engaging about creating a real-time set of class notes. Unfortunately, the technology available at my school doesn’t allow for it. Our Mac lab is incredibly unreliable, only letting a few students into a Google doc at a time.
This past week in Chemistry, my students have been learning how to name chemical compounds, a process that is laden with rules and often difficult to learn. Yet knowing the process is essential for correct chemical nomenclature. I’ve created a livescribe of the process my students need to use. We’ve also discussed it in class. For three days, my students have been trying to engrave this process into their synapses, through repeated practice. There are a number of activities on our wiki that my students can engage in during class. The can learn polyatomic ions, how to transfer formulas to names, or names to formulas, and they can practice naming acids — to name a few. This format allows students to choose what they work on. And it allows me to talk to every student, every day.
Formative assessments to guide learning
Usually, my motto is Einstein’s — “Never memorize anything you can look up.” However, chemists have a particular language. You need to understand it, including the vocabulary, before you can do something with it. Almost every morning, before we start, my students have a small quiz, a formative assessment. It doesn’t count for marks, instead the assessment is used by my students. Rather than penalizing them for what they haven’t mastered yet, it shows them, and me, what we need to work on. As they become more proficient, they become more confident about their abilities.
Next week, in Biology, my students are learning about DNA. To begin, they will perform a lab where they extract and spool DNA from a cow liver. While they’ll be able to see it, they really have no idea of its structure or composition. For the next few days, my students will research the basics of DNA, and, in pairs, create Glogsters.
I love using a format like this because it easily differentiates instruction for a classroom that is full of different abilities and learning styles. Students can create a Glogster that best suits their learning needs. Additionally, I have students who might read at a grade 3 or 4 level. These students refer to digital resources that I have hand-picked and linked to on our wiki. With help, they are able to create their own Glogsters that are perfect for their learning and reading level. Technology allows students to adapt instruction in way that was never possible with print materials.
Once my students have gleaned the basics, we’ll create models of DNA and engage in a number labs that show my students how DNA is used in crime scene analysis.
My students are also working on an independent genetics project. They can research anything in the realm of genetics that deeply interests them: cloning, crime scene analysis, genetic research, stem cell research, the list goes on. In order to check that their project is not too large, my students have one week to submit their project proposal, which outlines their topic, how they will research their project, and what format the product will look like. They can build a model, create an interactive presentation that includes a lab, or create a digital product using a tool such as Prezi, Flip Snack, Empressr, Wix, My Brain Shark, or create a screencast, to name a few. The only stipulation is that they cannot hand in a research report or a powerpoint. Their digital products will then be published on our wiki.
The powerpoint rule is flexible. This morning one of my students said to me: “I’m going to do my project on Dr. Burznski and his work with anti-neoplastons and their anti-cancer effects. My product will be a PowerPoint presentation, which I will then upload into ‘myBrainShark’ and create a voiceover.” I stood stunned for a moment. Did all of those words really come out of the mouth of a grade 11 student?
Finally, to keep track of housekeeping items, and remind students of upcoming due dates, my favourite tool is Remind 101. And my students love it! Essentially, I set up the class, my students send a text or email to the class site, and every time I enter a message, it is sent to them via text or email. I can even set up reminders in advance.
Teaching then and now
Before the technology/constructivist shift in my classsroom, I would have taught all of this quite traditionally. We’d learn formulas through worksheets. I’d lecture a lot, with supplemental textbook readings here and there. The whole design would have been extremely teacher centered. And at the end of it all, I’d hope they learned something about Chemistry & Biology.
Instead, inquiry and technology are a natural part of our science classes. It’s what my students have come to expect. Instead, of saying, “hand in your assignments,” I say, “publish your assignments and send me the link.” That’s the 21st century difference.
At strategic points, our classroom is flipped. Meaning: A chunk of content is learned outside of the classroom, and during class time, we use the learned information in labs or projects. Depending on the type of information needed, we use Khan Academy videos, TED talks, and other informational videos. This year, I’ve added something new — Livescribe 
