I wonder....In with Insights, Out with Road Maps?

Thinking...

     In science class, we have been a big fan of using a "road map" to structure the learning throughout our projects. This has allowed us to maintain control of our project in making sure our content standards are hit. In addition, it is very easy to manipulate student need to know lists to match the content that we need to teach and we can outline this process in a road map. Students and parents like road maps because they clearly lay out the activities and expectations in a formative way. Finally, road maps allow room for inquiry because student need to knows drive the teacher led road map...through manipulation. Is this best practice?
     Inquiry is an interesting topic...mostly misunderstood by many teachers. In depth inquiry brings in a whole new discussion that is difficult to find common ground. The most successful educational experience I have had is the IChallengeU summer academy where high school students solve relevant problems for local companies. Students stay up late at night not being able to "shut down" on their projects. The emails we receive at 11:00 PM revolve around ideas...not help. IChallengeU has no road maps. It's here where we find what in depth inquiry is...it's real, not fake and not manipulated.
     How might we take away the manipulation that can exist in our projects? In the past year, I have had great success in our IChallengeU and Academy programs with story share and captures that build into group and saturate protocols...all pointing towards the creation of insights. Insights are the key headlines and ideas that make connections and provide meaning to what we gather to solve relevant problems and issues. My hypothesis is that by providing a variety of resources and experiences for our students that lead to insights versus the completion of road maps, we create a much deeper level of in-depth inquiry. In addition, I bet their insights would match the manipulated content standards...only this time the authentic learning deepens the roots!

Bridging the Product Gap: A Case For Interpretation

     Taking our products to the next level is a daunting task. Implementing authentic audiences, engaging story-lines, and inspiring driving questions can certainly lead to quality products and presentations. However, how might we take our products to the next level and display deep understanding alongside inspirational art? In my opinion, one answer may lie in the interpretation phase of the design process. 

     Typically, when it was time to create the product or presentation, we would ask students to take what they learned and apply it to the product. Even in the scope of a inquiry based projects, we assumed that in depth knowledge automatically transfered from understanding to creating. To compound things, when we ask students to interpret anything, we ask for what they interpret and stop! A common place for this occurs in the famous reading of charts, graphs, and data tables. 

     Another prime misuse of interpretation happens in the world of writing. How many times have we asked students to submit a piece of writing that starts with a "lets brainstorm what we can write"? What good is brainstorming if we have no insights to brainstorm? 

     Interpretation is making sense of what we have gathered, learned, and understood. Making sense and finding insights is the first major step in bridging the gap from learning to creating inspirational products and presentations. Finding creative methods to make sense of our learning is essential in the design process or any project. One such creative method is the use of the 2x2 matrix. On our current project, students created 2x2 on the effects of overpopulation. It provided a visual platform to launch the creation of powerful insights into the problem. 

     

     Once students developed insights into the problem, they were able to use a madlib to create a mission statement or point of view. This provides the focus for the rest of the project. The madlib we used was __________(user) needs to _______________ (verb) because ___________ (insight). Students posted their Points of Views on a large inspiration wall. This activity was extremely powerful and highlighted one of the best experiences in my year. The power of the mission statement is that it matters to the student and provides the "why" for their product creation.

     Finally, we used the point of view statements to drive structured and intentional brainstorm sessions. Some students further processed their point of view statement into "How Might We" brainstorm questions while other students sketched out ideas. Spending time teaching the brainstorm session and having a mission statement that matters to the students dramatically increased the quality of the brainstorm. 

     While we get so excited to go and create we must take time to synthesize what we learn and make sense of all we gather. Being very intentional in the interpretation process and spending time improving our brainstorm sessions can go a long way in developing highly inspirational products and presentations. 

Sources:

"The Bootcamp Bootleg (.pdf) - d.School." 2011. 27 Feb. 2013 <http://dschool.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/BootcampBootleg2010v2SLIM.pdf

"Design Thinking for Educators." 2011. 27 Feb. 2013 <http://www.designthinkingforeducators.com/>

Google 20% Day

     We have all heard about the google 20% rule...giving employees time to work on ideas that interest them. Obviously it's much more than that, but we can take the basic principle and run with it in our classrooms. In addition, we have been reading of more examples of teachers re-creating this experience in the classroom. Therefore, Bob and I decided to have a "google 20%" day in which students could research and explore topics that interested them or work on creating something. This was our first time running this kind of day so we thought it would be good to document the experience. We are excited to share video footage of this experience, but also some bulleted observations:

• Being able to come up with ideas that capture their learning is a skill that needs practicing. 
• Students really have a wide range of interests...they are more dynamic than we think they are.
• We noticed kids struggling to make the connection between research and expression. 
• We noticed a number of students already so engrained to be a "cog in a wheel" that they felt lost. 
• A number of students have a story/background that could drive a ton of learning. Stories can provide so much of the "Why" in the learning process. 
• Instead of expanding the process, we feel students just need more opportunity and practice at asking questions and finding ways to become involved in what interests them. Keeping things small early on will be our theme! 
• Sad Comment: Too many students don't know what interests/excites them. 

Here is a video reflection of the day!

HMS 1st Google 20% Day from Mr. Malefyt on Vimeo.

Amazing Race (Fall 2012)

Hamilton 7 Science Amazing Race 2012 from Mr. Malefyt on Vimeo.

Reflection on Student Engagement

Real Story

  Meet Bryan, upcoming senior on our IchallengeU team. Bryan loves football and can't stop talking about it on his first day at the summer academy. His life revolves around work, football, friends, and going through the motions. During the two week summer academy, Bryan engages in a life changing experience in a field that he had no previous interest in...Agriculture! Bryan had a hard time shutting down at night because he couldn't get the problems out of his head! He left the program with a new life goal of making it back into the board room of Zeeland Farm Service as a business professional.

Have we really spent time to focus on what student engagement looks like? I wonder if we have a major misconception of the importance of time on task? Upon some reflection and reading I have come to the following ideas...

How should we document student engagement? 

     The first step in documenting student engagement is understanding what we are looking for. What does student engagement look like? If I am in church sitting through the sermon, I can look very engaged and can play the "game" just fine...but my mind is in a completely different place. On the flip side, I can learn in a variety of ways and one such way is through walking and talking...does walking and talking look like I am engaged? I think that there are three levels of evaluating engagement. 

Three Levels of Evaluating Engagement:

1. Visual: What do I see my students doing? In my opinion, the lowest level of evaluating engagement lies in what we see. In our science classroom, rarely do you see the teacher talking in front of the class. Students are moving, talking, debating, wondering, questioning, socializing, living, breathing, reading, writing, drawing, laughing, looking, daydreaming, etc... How do you decipher what is engaged and what is not? Is the learning meaningful? In Alfie Kohn's blog entry, "Time on Task" he talks about meaningful learning leads to faster learning which lends time irrelevant in the big picture. I think we can do better to understand where each student is in his/hers level of engagement.
2. Conversational: What are my students thinking? If I want to know what my students are thinking, I can't do it by visual cues. Conversations can occur verbally or written and attack a much deeper level of understanding. Having conversation of what they are doing, thinking, wondering, dreaming, and living will lead to clues about their level of engagement. How can we best create learning environments that foster this conversation on a consistent basis? I have a fellow teacher, Mr, Fuzak, who has a great line hanging in his room..."every student...every day". 
3. Impact: Are my students making actual change to the way they think, live, or learn? Is the highest level of engagement a situation where we have made actual change in the way someone thinks, lives, or understands a concept? Is our classroom environment allowing more "Bryan's" to exist in the world? Will our students work to create positive change in our health, environment, workplace, and world to name a few? How can we best create this learning environment in our everyday classroom? 

     To document this, I challenge us to focus on the conversational and impact piece. Instead of using a visual cue to dictate a checkmark in the "Class Dojo" app, there better be a conversation to go along with that checkmark. In addition, we need to continue to have students "share their story" on what is impacting them. I wonder if we should use this documentation to relate back to their skills for success and/or if we should use it for teacher reflection? 

How can we help students self-reflect on their own engagement? 

     While engagement is not usually listed as a 21st century skill or skill for success, it is an essential component to ones ability to be productive.  Would it be best to reference engagement as a "state of mind" and not a skill? If so, how do we teach students to self reflect on their "state of mind"? A couple of thoughts come to mind: 

1. Can we teach students how to self advocate for methods to get back on track?
2. Are we OK with non-conventional methods of providing students time/space/freedom to refocus? 
3. Can we change focus from "Time on Task" to the actual meaning of the activities and include students in this discussion? 
4. Can we provide an adequate portfolio system where students can reflect upon and share their engagement?

     In conclusion, I want to work at documenting the higher level of impact our classrooms have on our students.  I want to have conversation and understanding to drive our documentation of student skills and state's of mind. I look forward to continuing this discussion with my colleagues and PLN this upcoming year! 

References:

"The Limits of "Time on Task" - Alfie Kohn." 2011. 18 Sep. 2012 <http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/tot.html>

Should Personal Wellness be included in Skills for Success?

     I remember the days of old when I was sitting in high school. On the black board was posted a sign that read, "An ounce of Prevention is worth a Pound of Cure." Almost 20 years later that phrase still sticks, especially as I think about the skills for success. Skills for success and 21st century skills are closely related. I think it is fantastic that local companies teamed up with our ISD to emphasize certain skills our graduates need for their future. Each skill addressed has merit and makes a lot of sense. However, I would like to make an argument that one very large skill was left out...Wellness...the ability to be physically, mentally, and emotionally well.
     In reading the book, The Coming Jobs War, a lot was mentioned about the facts of our health. The numbers are staggering in how much health care costs. In fact, the book goes as far as saying that in order for us to win the upcoming jobs war, we need to double the amount of fit people in our nation. Marvel at these stats from the author, Jim Clifton:

1. The US spent $2,500,000,000,000 on healthcare in 2009. Compared to the $200 Billion per year price tag of war. Compared to the entire economy of India, with a population of 1 billion people, is right under $1.5 Trillion. Compare to Russia's entire GDP of $1.5 Trillion. 
2. The Gallop corporation predicts that the US will need an additional $10 trillion in the next 10 years for health care alone. 
3. The CDC reports that 70% of the $2.5 trillion dollars America spends on healthcare goes towards preventable disease. A significant contributor to this number is the fact that 2/3 of Americans are considered to be overweight or obese. 

     Therefore, why have we not addressed this issue to the point of making it a 21st century skill? The data says this topic has the power to make or break this country. Are we afraid that this issue hits home with too many of us? We currently work on evaluating citizenship, dependability, and social skills...is wellness to personal? If we are serious about educating our youth in what our businesses really need, we need to consider upgrading the importance of personal wellbeing. If we are serious about educating our youth to keep America significant, we need to consider the importance of wellbeing. Maybe then the cost of cure will be easier to handle because the price paid for prevention was a wild success!

Another Way to Start the Inquiry Process

Bob and I seem to always search for ways to kick off our units. We began starting the unit with student questions to guide the learning process. However, we need to find more creative ways to spark the conversation. Therefore, we tried to use a imovie for this topic!

A Fresh Look at Learning Targets

     Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of good to learning targets. They provide structure and focus to the learning that takes place in the classroom. Additionally, learning targets help in the process of grading, especially for teachers implementing a true system of standards based grading. However, I would argue that there might be a better way!

The Process
     This year, 7th grade science has started to implement more challenged based learning into the classroom. With this implementation we discovered that students had a difficult time asking good questions to drive their research. Upon reflection, Bob and I made a decision that we needed to increase our focus on student inquiry. In addition, we took a look at learning targets and came to the conclusion that each learning target was teacher driven. Not a single learning target was derived from student inquiry! Therefore, we decided to pursue a method that would preserve the content the state was requiring of us all the while encouraging student inquiry. We came up with a plan to have student questions drive the formation of our newly found (thanks to Brad Fuzak and Nate Alkire) road map.



When you take a look at the road map, student questions were divided up and organized into appropriate categories. These categories were designed to match the state curriculum. We hypothesized that student questions would match the general curriculum. In fact they did with a little teacher influence on the organization.
     The next phase of this newly found "road map" is the formative structure that it provides. As students complete the "box categories" we enter into a discussion with each student. Using their questions as a guide we determine if they have a good understanding of the content in that category. If a students has completed all the tasks and can demonstrate content knowledge they receive a stamp on that box to verify. No student is allowed to take a summative assessment until they have all their stamps!

The Data
     The data supports the validity of the student inquiry driving the tasks and the formative assessment. After the first trial of summative assessment on rocks we came up with the following:

• 175 students (88%) scored above a B-, which we consider to be proficient. 
• 22 Students (12%) scored between a B- and D-.
• 1 student scored below a D-

Conclusion
     Without actual numbers from previous years, I am very confident that we have never achieved this kind of student performance on the first summative assessment for a concept of this magnitude. A concept as complicated as a dynamic rock cycle has proven to be difficult in years past for many students. Many times we have found ourselves finding ways to re-teach material and providing justification for using retakes. Witnessing 88% of our students demonstrating proficiency this early in the process is good, but having only 1 student receive an E the first time through is bigger. In my opinion, reflecting on our use of learning targets is a discussion worth having.

Mineral Inquiry

We are changing things up in our rocks and minerals unit this year. In years past the labs and activities were based upon our interpretation of the standards. This year, we are going to format the unit based upon student questions. Our hypothesis is that the student questions will match the content expectations of the state. From these questions, we will create a "road map" of activities and tutorials for students to use to answer their questions!

Facebook Page!

We decided to find another avenue to share the good things happening in our science classroom. Facebook! Here is a "like button" to click. I will be very interested to observe the data we are able to collect and watch it grow!

Piping Plover Mini Challenge

Here is a student sample of work they produced for our Piping Plover Mini Challenge. The challenge can be found by clicking here. Overall it was a good project and we are extremely thrilled with the students being able to create accounts on vimeo for them to publish to the world! Students then are in the process of embedding their videos on their newly created blog! I will post an example of a student blog soon.

Our Topics

Here is a video I put together showing some of the topics the student groups have picked to work on. We are in the research phase right now and are finding that this is a pretty big thing to take on. Students are excited though!!!!! I had some fun creating a background beat using garageband!

Wilder Issues In Science Shares Our Nature

The students in my Wilder Issues in Science Primetime Class wanted to share the nature that we have surrounding our middle and high schools. Here is a small sample of what they created. This video is a collection of three projects. All pictures were taken by personal cameras or supplied ipod touches. Students emailed me those photos and videos and I placed all pictures/videos into a file that every device could access. We did address copyright laws and using only a percentage of a song...still can improve on that one! Another thing that would be really nice is if Students could upload their individual creations to you tube as a place to host a high definition film.

AKAT

All kids all the time! Here are some pictures of the group working together. Transforming our old mini MGM into this has been a fantastic change. It will be interesting to see how this process evolves and how much the entire staff buys in.

Peer Editing Day

It was a good day today of students peer editing their project proposals. Ready to move on to the research phase of the project!

Collaborize Classroom Formative Assessment

Recently we tried a website called "Collaborize Classroom" in which students were asked to answer a question and combine their answer with a vote for selections they agreed with. It was a good first try and I recommend we continue to use this program!

Start of the We Can Change The World Challenge

Today we began the "We Can Change The World Challenge"

First Trial of Screen Chomp App

Here is a student sample of a screen chomp they made using the ipad. This was one option students had on the structured choice review for the upcoming basic ecology test.

Owl Pellets to Food Webs

Here is a great video that Bob Wandel made that documents how we used the owl pellets to gain understanding of food webs!

Owl Pellet Project 2011 from bob wandel on Vimeo.

Food Web Creations

Students created food webs based on what they found in their owl pellet.