How did we come to know and understand the ideas we learned this week?
I learned a lot this week, and mainly due to experimentation grounded in research and theory.
The use of inquiry and team development surrounding a BQ yielded interesting results. It was easy to tell, through formative assessment, which students were using the cyclical routine of reading, responding to thinking charts, entering into group conversations of important ideas, photographing valuable passages, and adding to their presentation notes. As I moved around the media center facilitating and making adjustments within leadership teams I noticed that students are digging deep into their understanding of their chosen novel as it relates to their self-generated BQ.
On Tuesday I noticed that students began to migrate to the doors of the media center with nearly ten minutes of class time remaining - this bothered me. Because typically the students who did this were the ones complaining of needing more time to work. As a solution, I decided to regroup teams in our Lit. Circle to engage in elevator talks that asked teams to think about and share 1. what their goals were, 2. how they accomplished their goals, and 3. what was the most important new information they learned as they they thought about their BQ.
The strategy worked.
Students seem to be more engaged and focused than they were in previous weeks. I think it is a glimpse of what is to come as students begin to trust themselves academically.
I learned a lot this week, and mainly due to experimentation grounded in research and theory.
The use of inquiry and team development surrounding a BQ yielded interesting results. It was easy to tell, through formative assessment, which students were using the cyclical routine of reading, responding to thinking charts, entering into group conversations of important ideas, photographing valuable passages, and adding to their presentation notes. As I moved around the media center facilitating and making adjustments within leadership teams I noticed that students are digging deep into their understanding of their chosen novel as it relates to their self-generated BQ.
On Tuesday I noticed that students began to migrate to the doors of the media center with nearly ten minutes of class time remaining - this bothered me. Because typically the students who did this were the ones complaining of needing more time to work. As a solution, I decided to regroup teams in our Lit. Circle to engage in elevator talks that asked teams to think about and share 1. what their goals were, 2. how they accomplished their goals, and 3. what was the most important new information they learned as they they thought about their BQ.
The strategy worked.
Students seem to be more engaged and focused than they were in previous weeks. I think it is a glimpse of what is to come as students begin to trust themselves academically.