Katie-
I am curious, about how many hours do you think you put in creating and revising this lesson? It seems like a really good lesson that you are enthusiastic about.
I like how you used fun activities as part of your instructional activities. Play is how kids "work." Relating certain character traits of the artist to student's behaviors was also pretty slick. The students will connect with the artist more once they connect those dots. Giving the coloring sheet to work on while other students were reviewing also helps engage the kinesthetic learners during the review time. The students can get quiet, listen and think while they coloring safe zone.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Erika,
You stated that some students seemed apprehensive about
modeling new techniques, were as one girl really took off with creating
new techniques. Have you ever heard of SCAMPER? It is a creativity
strategy for younger students, but you can modify and use it for
students who think more concretely.
Substitute.
Combine.
Adapt.
Modify.
Put to another use.
Eliminate.
Reverse.
I
also agree with Sheryl about creating a stock video. If you have an
iPod for the classroom, you could store videos on it for students who
were sick or need a review before they get started. You might even make a
private YouTube channel for your videos.
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Week 12: Lesson reflection
Pre-viewing: The lesson was successful. At this point in the year the kinders are more "trained." We completed the lesson about 10 minutes earlier than the other classes had. We had enough time for clean up - paint on tables and chairs - so I didn't have to worry about my next class waiting as I wiped things down. They are still developmentally sooo self-centered. When I explained the students were going to be sent two at a time to the sinks to wash their hands as we have done before, they didn't seem to understand why they had to wait because their hands were dirty. Later in the day a third grade boy came up to me and asked, "Art is about getting dirty, isn't it?" I was so happy that he was focusing in on the process of art making and had accepted that there is a time for being messy and getting dirty.
Post-viewing: I am always amazed with how the camcorder sees things I don't pick up on in class. There are twenty little balls of energy bouncing around the room and I don't ever just step back and watch them all as a whole. I am the twenty-first ball bouncing around the room. Each table group of six students is its own little island of interactions and personalities. Every once in a while, a person travels over to another island.
I think I am realizing that movement me is just as important for me as it is for my students. I am a kinesthetic teacher. Even when I am standing near the board, I am gesturing with my hands. I am pretty sure my behaviors and procedures are unconsciously there to facilitate my need to be moving around. The few times I have sat at my desk while the students were working this past year I have felt so dejected and bored.
The second video showed a class that started quicker with less distractions, and cleaned up with one Indian chief orchestrating the actions, not five or six. Before viewing the video, I felt like so many students wanted to be at the sink at once. The actual difference was that most students kept to their seats even though they were vocalizing their desire to run to the sink. I also noticed in the second video that the students were responding to inflections in my voice as their cue to stop chattering and listen to what I was saying. The students tend to verbalize what they are drawing as they are drawing it, and their opinion of it. I do not think it would be possible to teach them something new and have them be quiet about it. They also moderate other student's drawings to see if others followed the teacher's directions. This is a contrast to what happens in the upper grades as the students are more peer centered. When they are off task, they look to see what their peers have done instead of looking at the teacher sample. In the lower grades, I do not have to question a student about copying off their neighbor instead of looking at the board.
I am also noticing some design flaws with my room other than its small size. The room is not designed to facilitate movement. Watching the video of myself walking between tables in my room is like watching an auto-crosser navigate a curvy road course. My room also does not handle noise well. Students talk while they work, but I have no surfaces that absorb the noise. My voice doesn't project in my tin can like it did when I was in a regular classroom.
Post-viewing: I am always amazed with how the camcorder sees things I don't pick up on in class. There are twenty little balls of energy bouncing around the room and I don't ever just step back and watch them all as a whole. I am the twenty-first ball bouncing around the room. Each table group of six students is its own little island of interactions and personalities. Every once in a while, a person travels over to another island.
I think I am realizing that movement me is just as important for me as it is for my students. I am a kinesthetic teacher. Even when I am standing near the board, I am gesturing with my hands. I am pretty sure my behaviors and procedures are unconsciously there to facilitate my need to be moving around. The few times I have sat at my desk while the students were working this past year I have felt so dejected and bored.
The second video showed a class that started quicker with less distractions, and cleaned up with one Indian chief orchestrating the actions, not five or six. Before viewing the video, I felt like so many students wanted to be at the sink at once. The actual difference was that most students kept to their seats even though they were vocalizing their desire to run to the sink. I also noticed in the second video that the students were responding to inflections in my voice as their cue to stop chattering and listen to what I was saying. The students tend to verbalize what they are drawing as they are drawing it, and their opinion of it. I do not think it would be possible to teach them something new and have them be quiet about it. They also moderate other student's drawings to see if others followed the teacher's directions. This is a contrast to what happens in the upper grades as the students are more peer centered. When they are off task, they look to see what their peers have done instead of looking at the teacher sample. In the lower grades, I do not have to question a student about copying off their neighbor instead of looking at the board.
I am also noticing some design flaws with my room other than its small size. The room is not designed to facilitate movement. Watching the video of myself walking between tables in my room is like watching an auto-crosser navigate a curvy road course. My room also does not handle noise well. Students talk while they work, but I have no surfaces that absorb the noise. My voice doesn't project in my tin can like it did when I was in a regular classroom.
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Week 12: Video Pre-thinking
My revised goals are two part: one organizational and one part enhancing reflective thinking. For the second video I am sticking with the same kindergarten class. They are my Friday morning/energetic/gifted and quirky class. To survive them I have to be even more prepared than with the other kindergartner classes. I am still focusing on organizational skills for this class. For example, earlier this year they had a teddy bear week in their classrooms. I took a class to VTS a bear sculpture show them how to draw bears with texture. The first four classes elaborated their bears with bows, vests, dresses, tiaras and the like. The fifth kindergarten class ended up synthesizing a ninja ballerina bear, with masks, nun-chucks, ballet shoes, and tutus.
This week I have started a tried and true lesson plan with kindergarten. It is a space shuttle lesson from Deep Space Sparkle http://www.deepspacesparkle.com/2010/06/22/blast-off-space-shuttle-art-project/. It always turns out nice. It is a close ended lesson. I don't like to do many of those, but the students like being taught a schema for representing items they find interesting. I do not find it harmful to give them those schemas as confidence builders as long as by third grade we are elaborating and interpreting our symbol making.
My goals for this lesson are to acknowledge student need for movement and interaction while at the same time giving a guided lesson that requires student attention and organization. To meet my goals I have been better about giving some of the supply management over to the students, and allowing for chatter during my instruction so students can vocalize their excitement. I have to use my bell or chime to transition the students back in. Before, my bell was a "you've gone too far and need to get quieter," signal.
1.
Organization and Structure in the Classroom
- identify student needs and teacher needs, physical and social
- This class needs to have movement built into their routine. They also need to learn when movement is appropriate. For example, in this lesson students are using paint and I want them at their seats when they have messy supplies. This class also shares their discoveries about their supplies verbally with their neighbors and sometimes with their friends across the room. I want to validate their social interactions, but at the same time contain excessive mess and distractions to the flow of the lesson.
- identify my patterns of organization and structure
- My desk and counter tops are cluttered - totally visual spatial. But the student tables and supply shelf are organized and labeled. I do have an overflow student table in the middle of the room. It is converted into a supply table later in the day as my classes get younger and smaller. It is the point where my style of organization directly intercepts the student work space. My room is so small that I have to be flexible with supply and project storage. I tend to start the day by organizing my room and putting away projects that dried overnight. At the end of the day I am spent and only do cleaning up.
- evaluate the effects of organization and structure in meeting student and teacher needs
- If I set out my supplies on the center-most table, students can catch a glimpse of what supplies they will be using, and I can be centrally located to orchestrate student movement.
- create modifications to meet student and teacher needs.
- This past quarter I have implemented a clean up song at the end of class for grades 2-5. Students are able to pace their clean up. I have had only one student who ignored the cue of the clean up song and continued working. I have not implemented the clean up song with kindergarten or first. I think they would focus on the song and get distracted. They still get a count down for clean-up. I pick helpers as opposed to having students put up supplies themselves. Kindergarten and first grade still seem to do better with more structure and less wiggle room for getting too experimental with the supplies.
This week I have started a tried and true lesson plan with kindergarten. It is a space shuttle lesson from Deep Space Sparkle http://www.deepspacesparkle.com/2010/06/22/blast-off-space-shuttle-art-project/. It always turns out nice. It is a close ended lesson. I don't like to do many of those, but the students like being taught a schema for representing items they find interesting. I do not find it harmful to give them those schemas as confidence builders as long as by third grade we are elaborating and interpreting our symbol making.
My goals for this lesson are to acknowledge student need for movement and interaction while at the same time giving a guided lesson that requires student attention and organization. To meet my goals I have been better about giving some of the supply management over to the students, and allowing for chatter during my instruction so students can vocalize their excitement. I have to use my bell or chime to transition the students back in. Before, my bell was a "you've gone too far and need to get quieter," signal.
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Week 12: Chapter 6 Reading and Reflection
Chapter 6 of Teaching as if life matters reinforces my opinion of teaching systems thinking in schools. The author explained different ways to get students to experience relationships that exist in a system. The chapter was also a good metaphor for living holistically. If a person can be in tune with the natural world, then perhaps the same person can listen to others' (students') personal languages and respond in kind...reducing conflict and frustration.
I didn't find Chapter 6 too controversial in content. The context of the classroom for the messages was different in that the teacher is enforcing a worldview. Education has already been revolutionized through the services now demanded of it. School isn't just a training ground of reading, writing, and arithmetic for a blossoming middle class. It has become the major socializing institution of most American children. The roles of schools are even more profound in economically depressed areas because they'd provide the majority of the food children eat, cultural exposure, health care, and often clothes and shoes.
By the way, You Are Stardust is a children's book that has recently been published. It is about the interconnectedness of being. I found it on the new acquisitions shelf at the library and read it to my GT kids this past fall. Upon second thought, it would also be a good beginning of the year book for art class, leading to a multi media project in which students explore their relationships to the universe. It could also be continued into a u about change or interconnectedness.
I didn't find Chapter 6 too controversial in content. The context of the classroom for the messages was different in that the teacher is enforcing a worldview. Education has already been revolutionized through the services now demanded of it. School isn't just a training ground of reading, writing, and arithmetic for a blossoming middle class. It has become the major socializing institution of most American children. The roles of schools are even more profound in economically depressed areas because they'd provide the majority of the food children eat, cultural exposure, health care, and often clothes and shoes.
By the way, You Are Stardust is a children's book that has recently been published. It is about the interconnectedness of being. I found it on the new acquisitions shelf at the library and read it to my GT kids this past fall. Upon second thought, it would also be a good beginning of the year book for art class, leading to a multi media project in which students explore their relationships to the universe. It could also be continued into a u about change or interconnectedness.
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Week 11 Responses
Dear Katie-
What did you learn about your students' perceptions and development based on your implementation of PMI? How did using PMI in this lesson helped reinforce the big ideas of the artist study?
An observation I wanted to share with you is that your PMI notes show that studying Van Gogh affected your students on the social-emotional level. They demonstrated deep empathy and also abstract thinking. How could you cater to this strength in your students in future lessons - highlight how the social-emotional experiences of famous artists relate to their own lives?
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(Ginia)
Do you do bell ringers? If the students liked the PMI a lot, you could have a topic posted each week for the students to reflect on. Over time the students would become more fluent in the process, and it might help this type of thinking to other areas of their lives.
What did you learn about your students' perceptions and development based on your implementation of PMI? How did using PMI in this lesson helped reinforce the big ideas of the artist study?
An observation I wanted to share with you is that your PMI notes show that studying Van Gogh affected your students on the social-emotional level. They demonstrated deep empathy and also abstract thinking. How could you cater to this strength in your students in future lessons - highlight how the social-emotional experiences of famous artists relate to their own lives?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Ginia)
Do you do bell ringers? If the students liked the PMI a lot, you could have a topic posted each week for the students to reflect on. Over time the students would become more fluent in the process, and it might help this type of thinking to other areas of their lives.
Week 11 Question Based Lesson
To complete the "Why Questioning" lesson, I displayed Meret Oppenhein's Object, 1936 on my whiteboard.
I modified the Fifty Questions strategy to fit my perceived needs of a kindergarten class. I told the class to look quietly at the picture of the artwork for a minute. I then explained that I wanted everyone to come up with a question about the artwork. I told them that I did not want anyone to copy someone else's question, so to try to think of a few different questions in case somebody else asked their question first. *This is a set of directions I could not have given at the beginning of the year, but since they have been VTSing all year, they have gotten used to listening to each other and evolved a consciousness of how their statements are the same or different than their peers.
The first few students wanted to share observations and interpretations (VTS) so I had to prompt them to ask questions using who, what, when, why, and where. After the clarification the students caught on. Since the kindergarteners are more fluent at speaking than writing, I found it necessary to write their questions on butcher paper I had taped to the side of my board before class. Half the class got antsy and bored waiting for me to write down the questions, and it got a bit noisy. Below is the list of questions the students generated about the artwork, in chronological order. Each student asked one question.
I explained that in order to answer our questions, we were going to make a place setting that looked like the artwork in the picture. However, fur was too expensive, so we were going to use feathers.
The students had fun making the bowl, plate, and spoon. I tried to get the class to focus back on the list of questions at the end of class, and wasn't very successful. Between clean up, hand washing, and generally being in a tizzy over the feathers we couldn't get to focused. Below are some answers I did get.
I guess a big question I have for myself is "What value, if any, is there in learning in depth about the works of artist in kindergarten art?" I can spend a whole year doing creativity training, materials, exploration, and VTS with the kinders. I know they are thinkers. They are very bright and capable. But does studying an artist answer questions that are valid to kindergartners, does it meet their needs?
After looking at their questions I see concerns about process, intent, aesthetics, materials, texture, and function.
I think the lesson went o.k. in that the students said they liked making their project. I got to catch a glimpse of their thinking, but it required analysis after class and not in the moment. I finished the class with a slight feeling of having more questions that answers. I had a strong feeling that I needed to know more about questioning strategies before I could successfully implement a lesson with them. My first informal reflection was that I needed a semester course about questioning strategies, theory and implementation. I then chided myself for being lazy, and rephrased my need in terms of doing my own research about questioning strategies. **A chapter in a book does not provide enough background and knowledge about questioning strategies to implement them in the classroom. Below are the questions I would like to answer:
I modified the Fifty Questions strategy to fit my perceived needs of a kindergarten class. I told the class to look quietly at the picture of the artwork for a minute. I then explained that I wanted everyone to come up with a question about the artwork. I told them that I did not want anyone to copy someone else's question, so to try to think of a few different questions in case somebody else asked their question first. *This is a set of directions I could not have given at the beginning of the year, but since they have been VTSing all year, they have gotten used to listening to each other and evolved a consciousness of how their statements are the same or different than their peers.
The first few students wanted to share observations and interpretations (VTS) so I had to prompt them to ask questions using who, what, when, why, and where. After the clarification the students caught on. Since the kindergarteners are more fluent at speaking than writing, I found it necessary to write their questions on butcher paper I had taped to the side of my board before class. Half the class got antsy and bored waiting for me to write down the questions, and it got a bit noisy. Below is the list of questions the students generated about the artwork, in chronological order. Each student asked one question.
- How did it get fur on it?
- How did feathers get on it?
- How did the artist make it?
- How did it get made into that?
- How did you make the spoon?
- Why does the spoon, plate, and bowl have feathers on it?
- How did it get hairy, brown, and white?
- Cows and Pigs
- How does the knife cut the bowl and plate?
- How can you make it out of feathers? It wouldn't be easy.
- How is the cup like feathers?
- You would have to use it to eat cereal without milk. Milk would mess it up!
- Why is it made out of feathers?
- Why did the artist make it?
- What bird has those feathers to make the plate?
- How did they get made?
- How did the artist make it so beautiful, so that the kids say, "How is it so beautiful?"
- Why is it hairy? / Why did they make it?
I explained that in order to answer our questions, we were going to make a place setting that looked like the artwork in the picture. However, fur was too expensive, so we were going to use feathers.
The students had fun making the bowl, plate, and spoon. I tried to get the class to focus back on the list of questions at the end of class, and wasn't very successful. Between clean up, hand washing, and generally being in a tizzy over the feathers we couldn't get to focused. Below are some answers I did get.
- How did it get fur on it? Killed a brown and white bird, cut the feathers, and made it
- How did feathers get on it? A bird hit a tree and the feathers fell on it.
- How did the artist make it? Put glue on the bowl, spoon, plate; made with feathers; waited for it to dry; cut it open and put a handle on it; let it dry; made sure it didn't break
- Why does the spoon, plate, and bowl have feathers on it? To decorate it and make it soft
- Why is it made out of feathers? So everyone could like it; beautiful art; Because the artist made it like that
- Why did the artist make it? Decided to make it - Let's make something furry by animals and different colors
- How did they get made? Killed the chicken, took the feathers, dyed them brown and white
I guess a big question I have for myself is "What value, if any, is there in learning in depth about the works of artist in kindergarten art?" I can spend a whole year doing creativity training, materials, exploration, and VTS with the kinders. I know they are thinkers. They are very bright and capable. But does studying an artist answer questions that are valid to kindergartners, does it meet their needs?
After looking at their questions I see concerns about process, intent, aesthetics, materials, texture, and function.
I think the lesson went o.k. in that the students said they liked making their project. I got to catch a glimpse of their thinking, but it required analysis after class and not in the moment. I finished the class with a slight feeling of having more questions that answers. I had a strong feeling that I needed to know more about questioning strategies before I could successfully implement a lesson with them. My first informal reflection was that I needed a semester course about questioning strategies, theory and implementation. I then chided myself for being lazy, and rephrased my need in terms of doing my own research about questioning strategies. **A chapter in a book does not provide enough background and knowledge about questioning strategies to implement them in the classroom. Below are the questions I would like to answer:
- What are different types of questions that can be asked?
- At what stages do students ask certain types of questions?
- What contexts determine which type of question be asked?
- How does a teacher pre-teach questioning at each grade level?
- When is questioning most relevant?
- When is question based learning a strategy that is not relevant?
- Do questioning strategies follow stage development
- How do I become proficient in question creation?
- How do I become proficient in question selection?
- What research has been done on question based learning?
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Questions for the Teacher
Over the semester, you have been piecing together the stories of the students in this class. What do you perceive are the needs of the students? How do they compare and contrast with your own? How has your assessment of our needs informed your instruction for reflective teaching? What has been your celebrations in teaching this class? What would you modify for the future?
Response to Katie's Response
"Great overview of the chapter! I'm curious to know what strategies do you think you would use in your own classroom and why?"
Thank you for the awesome question!
I think I would like to modify the Lectio Defina exercise. Christopher Uhl modifies it to be used in a group setting with a focused group of older students. I would use it for my oldest students - fifth graders. I would have the students choose a print or postcard of an artwork that "speaks" to them. I then would ask them to answer the following questions in writing, by themselves, to quietly hear themselves think:
1.If a crowd of people walked into an art museum and saw this artwork, what would they say the artwork is about?
2. Does this artwork remind you of an experience you have had in your own life?
3. If you had a question for the artist, what would it be?
4. If you could go into this artwork, what would you do?
I might use copies of allegorical work from a specific time period, to get the students thinking about metaphor in art. For example --
Two Shepherd Boys with Dogs Fighting by Thomas Gainsborough
Wounded Angel by Hugo Simberg
Gregory Crewdson
Gregory Crewdson
Gregory Crewdson
Thank you for the awesome question!
I think I would like to modify the Lectio Defina exercise. Christopher Uhl modifies it to be used in a group setting with a focused group of older students. I would use it for my oldest students - fifth graders. I would have the students choose a print or postcard of an artwork that "speaks" to them. I then would ask them to answer the following questions in writing, by themselves, to quietly hear themselves think:
1.If a crowd of people walked into an art museum and saw this artwork, what would they say the artwork is about?
2. Does this artwork remind you of an experience you have had in your own life?
3. If you had a question for the artist, what would it be?
4. If you could go into this artwork, what would you do?
I might use copies of allegorical work from a specific time period, to get the students thinking about metaphor in art. For example --
Two Shepherd Boys with Dogs Fighting by Thomas Gainsborough
Wounded Angel by Hugo Simberg
Gregory Crewdson
Gregory Crewdson
Gregory Crewdson
Week 10 Peer Responses
To Katie-
On how to modify the How Many of You......Icebreaker for elementary students..
I would use it on the first day of class as a community builder for third grade and up. "Welcome back to school, children. In order to get to know each other better, I want you to complete the answer on the board. Ask a question that you can share with the class, such as, 'How many of you like to play soccer?' I will read each question to the class. Each person will answer by raising their hands for 'yes, me' or leaving your hands down for 'not me.' "
I wouldn't expect deep and probing questions. But you would get them started with question based learning. A lot of textbooks about critical thinking strategies overlook younger elementary students. It might help to look at thinking skills books for younger students to get some ideas about appropriate phrasing and concept development.
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To Sheryl-
In response to "“Questions are catalyst for learning; they provoke movement; they yield change.”(p75) I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, proponents of 21st Century Learning call for change, but school policies and standardized testing doesn’t readily facilitate the process. Makes me wonder what questions I need to be asking and to whom I should be listening…or, is the answer already there and I’m too afraid to see it? "
Baby, it's you! It only takes one good teacher to make an impact. My good teacher came my junior year in high school. Plant the seeds, and over time they will grow! You are the change you want to see, and all that jazz. Just remember...time...
On how to modify the How Many of You......Icebreaker for elementary students..
I would use it on the first day of class as a community builder for third grade and up. "Welcome back to school, children. In order to get to know each other better, I want you to complete the answer on the board. Ask a question that you can share with the class, such as, 'How many of you like to play soccer?' I will read each question to the class. Each person will answer by raising their hands for 'yes, me' or leaving your hands down for 'not me.' "
I wouldn't expect deep and probing questions. But you would get them started with question based learning. A lot of textbooks about critical thinking strategies overlook younger elementary students. It might help to look at thinking skills books for younger students to get some ideas about appropriate phrasing and concept development.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To Sheryl-
In response to "“Questions are catalyst for learning; they provoke movement; they yield change.”(p75) I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, proponents of 21st Century Learning call for change, but school policies and standardized testing doesn’t readily facilitate the process. Makes me wonder what questions I need to be asking and to whom I should be listening…or, is the answer already there and I’m too afraid to see it? "
Baby, it's you! It only takes one good teacher to make an impact. My good teacher came my junior year in high school. Plant the seeds, and over time they will grow! You are the change you want to see, and all that jazz. Just remember...time...
Week 11 Lesson: Pre - think
Timeline of what we have done recently in kindergarten:
1. VTS Picasso's Gourmet
2. Drew a picture: What would you make in your bowl?
3. Made: A pinch pot
4. Artist Study: Chihuly, and Macchia
5. Made: Coffee filter macchia
6. Meret Oppenheim?
We are doing materials exploration using the theme of a bowl. Clay and glass. Bowl as utlilitarian, bowl as sculpture. I can not resist showing them a picture of Object by Meret Oppenheim. I MUST do it.
We have just come off of an artist study about Dale Chihuly. This is my first year doing an artist study with kindergarten. I have not done artists studies with kindergarten in the past.To be truthful, I am still leery of presenting artist information to such young students. I feel that when students study an artist, they need to get to the big idea an artist works with, not just imitating a style of art making. How do I present an artist in a nutshell to such young children? How do I bridge gap between what I "know" and what is developmentally appropriate for the age group? Maybe question based learning is the answer.
So, for the question based lesson, I am going to display an image of the furry bowl. I am going to do a modification of 50 Questions with the students to assess their reading of the image and their art vocabulary. In a whole class setting, will write down all their questions on moveable strips. I will then categorize their questions in front of them based on trends found in questioning. I will have them make a feather bowl and spoon. I will then ask the students if we have answered any of the questions by making the bowl.
Anybody else have different ideas?
Week 10: Reading and Reflection
Read and Reflect Chapter 3: Teaching as if life matters
Chapter 3 advocates for question-based learning. The author suggests inverting the power structure in the classroom, and teaching students strategies that help them guide their own learning. The way to engage students and create valid school experiences is to let their natural curiosity guide their intellectual development.
In the first part of the chapter, Christopher Uhl talks about overcoming the negative connotations of questioning. I have distinct memories of being reprimanded for questioning at school, home, and about church. I wonder about the triangle of childhood existence and question where the questioning an curiosity is allowed to flourish. A typical child's life revolves around church, home, and school. Are children encouraged to ask questions about their parents' faith and explore spirituality on their own terms? Do standardized tests gauge critical thinking ? How many parents can entertain their children's questioning by validating instead of going bonkers? In each of the institutions that children are engaged in, the power structure is top heavy. I guess I was fortunate that I had an "interior space" I could retreat to and let my mind wonder free as a child. In high school I had an English teacher that fostered a questioning spirit in her class. I felt like I had learned a secret skill in that I could observe and analyze things for how they really appeared to me.
A good portion of the remainder of chapter is spent outlining questioning strategies that can be used in the classroom. After explaining the crafting of questions, Christopher Uhl explains question based strategied. They are as follows:
Chapter 3 advocates for question-based learning. The author suggests inverting the power structure in the classroom, and teaching students strategies that help them guide their own learning. The way to engage students and create valid school experiences is to let their natural curiosity guide their intellectual development.
In the first part of the chapter, Christopher Uhl talks about overcoming the negative connotations of questioning. I have distinct memories of being reprimanded for questioning at school, home, and about church. I wonder about the triangle of childhood existence and question where the questioning an curiosity is allowed to flourish. A typical child's life revolves around church, home, and school. Are children encouraged to ask questions about their parents' faith and explore spirituality on their own terms? Do standardized tests gauge critical thinking ? How many parents can entertain their children's questioning by validating instead of going bonkers? In each of the institutions that children are engaged in, the power structure is top heavy. I guess I was fortunate that I had an "interior space" I could retreat to and let my mind wonder free as a child. In high school I had an English teacher that fostered a questioning spirit in her class. I felt like I had learned a secret skill in that I could observe and analyze things for how they really appeared to me.
A good portion of the remainder of chapter is spent outlining questioning strategies that can be used in the classroom. After explaining the crafting of questions, Christopher Uhl explains question based strategied. They are as follows:
- How many of you______? ice breaker in which each student creates a question for the class. Other students respond with yes/no answers, and the teacher models asking follow up questions.
- Fifty Questions. With this strategy, students generate questions based on sustained observation of some subject matter. Students then analyze and look for trends in the content of their questions. The teacher helps students revise questions so they are not ambiguous. Students then design research projects based on the questions.
- Annoying Child. Use the question of "Why" to systematically delve into deeper reflection and thinking.
- PMI. Students brainstorm the Plus and Minus aspects of a topic. They also list aspects of a topic that aren't positive or negative, just Interesting.
- Lectio Divina. This strategy for contemplatively reading the Bible can be modified into
a questioning technique for secular texts read in a group setting. The
original steps are paraphrased to glean the message of any author.
- Strategic Questioning. This strategy is used to help develop self-understanding and to bring about social change. First, Background Questions are asked in the order of guiding focus, analysis, and feeling. Next, Strategic Questions are asked about visioning and action plans.
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