Teacher Inquiry is further advocated by the research of Professor John Hattie and the late researcher Graham Nuthall (both Kiwis!).  Now I am not going to waffle on about the research justifications, not my style though it needed to be mentioned, as you are all intelligent enough to Google it for yourself (that was a compliment …).  What I will share with you though is a wonderful statement announced the other day by Intrepid Teacher – “Group Brain Activate!”.  As a 21st Century Learner and Teacher I can see no other way to conduct a Teacher Inquiry other than collaboratively.  By collaboratively I mean by using the Web2.0 to publish, discuss, review and share my process and findings.

Over the past couple of years I have come to realise that I am not alone in my search for Educational Enlightenment.  Not only are there people out there struggling along on their own journey but these people are sharing, thinking, communicating and learning from one another.  I want to be part of that crowd!  So Group Brain Activate, lead me to the promised land … or at least give me few good tips on Oral Language?  Oh yeah, that’s what my Teacher Inquiry will be about – The improvement of Oral Language through Video Conferencing and any other Web2.0 gizmo my hopefully enthusiastic Group Brain may suggest.

I have set up a Wiki as my Individual Teacher Plan (formally a flimsy piece of paper, Save The Trees!) where I will document my thinking, planning, progress and reflection.  Pop in, have a look, make a suggestion, correct my spelling or just stay for a cup of tea, you are all welcome! (just as a quick note for all you speedy readers out there, I haven’t got anything on there yet, I am planning to set it up this weekend after the in-laws have gone, but never fear it will be done asap!)

Anyway we got there in the end and the kids were thrilled to receive their replies.  I then announced that we would be meeting our ePals on Thursday through a Video Conference call, confusion – “What’s that?”, “Are we going on a bus?”, “Will their Mums bring them?” hmmmm.  I explained as best I could, “Well, it’s like talking to someone on a big TV”, “Oh, you mean like Skype?”, “Yes”, “Is that all? Why didn’t you just say so?”, “Mmmmmm …”  We began our preparations by brainstorming for good questions to ask the other class, this of course was when it became my turn to be confused.  The students had such a difficult time coming up with good open ended questions, in fact after further probing I realised that very few of them were able to formulate good questions that would maintain a focussed discussion.  This realisation was further backed up by our VC call with the other class.  Questions were asked and answers were given but there was no attempt to elaborate or probe for more information.  If it wasn’t for the two teachers present who carried the conversation, it would of been a very brief VC Call indeed.

So many questions have sprouted from my grey matter since this experience.  “Is it their age?”, “Was it first time jitters?”, then “Is it me?”, “Am I dominating conversations?”, “Should I keep quiet during discussion?” maybe not, because now that I think about it, most of our classroom discussions are heavily reliant on me prompting, questioning, scaffolding and drawing out their thoughts and ideas.  This of course goes against my belief that I should be striving to put myself out of a job. I don’t want the kids to be reliant on me, I want them running their own focussed discussions.

What I do know is that the national trend for oral language proficiency is at a steady decline.  In our school there has been a significant increase in referrals to the speech and language specialists.  Our PAT testing at the beginning of the year has shown a significant gap in students vocabulary.  Through my own casual observations, I have noticed that many of my students would not understand the books my parents read to me, they would not understand the vocabulary; goodbye Oliver Twist and Little House on the Prairie.  Most irritating of all is when I hear fellow teachers saying statements like “You did good!”. Double Grrrrrrrr.

What to do?

Here’s my plan:  Increase my formal oral language programme, explicitly teach questioning through the use of De Bono’s Thinking Hats, and, here’s the cool bit, use the VC equipment whenever possible.  I see the Video Conferencing as an excellent tool for providing oral language opportunities.  There is a significant difference between conversing with our peers and conversing with a stranger on the other side of the world.  My kids understand this and if I can activate my students learning by allowing them to practise these skills through VC with real strangers, then hopefully I will be on my way to putting myself out of a job.

What do you think?  Any suggestions?  Anyone want to VC with ME?

Much of what Mark was saying during the day was not new to me and I found some of his statements quite opposed to my own beliefs about imagination and intelligence. However I persisted with an open, yet critical mind and was pleased to hear one of my key beliefs, about best practice teaching, being validated by Mark.

Mark advocates that there needs to be a strong educational shift from teaching CONTENT (traditional themes and genre) to facilitating CONTEXTS (Values and Competencies). This view alines itself perfectly with what I refer to as the Fourth Stage of Formative Practice.

Stage One – Prescribing the Learning Intention and Success Criteria to the student for each lesson and self-assessment.
Stage Two – Collaborating with the student to create their own success criteria for each lesson.
Stage Three – Purpose is introduced as apart of the LI, SC process for each lesson.
Stage Four – Learning Intentions and Purpose become Global not genre specific – we are able to use these Global Concepts in every lesson we facilitate or teach and the children are able to adapt their person SC to suit the context.
Stage Five and On – I am not sure what is next but I am very excited about finding out.

I am still contemplating the shape of this model, however I do see Formative Practice as a series of learning stages an Educator must progress through. The New Zealand Curriculum now allows and justifies this fundamental shift in educational practice. The beauty of Global Concept Practice is that it fits perfectly with the Ministry’s vision for the 21st Century Learner – To be confident, connected, actively involved, lifelong learners.

So I was unable to ask him why he charges for such a antiquated website, but I was inspired to delve into the New Zealand Curriculum, Formative Research and my own practice at a deeper level so that I will be ready to take that huge educational leap when the time comes. And hopefully I will of been able to build up pair of sturdy wings so I may soar.

The Fuwa

All About The Fuwa

Our class inquiry this term is centred around three questions based on information I would like them to discover. Along with this the students are required to complete five independent learning activities based on five different sub-topics based on the Olympics.

Here is a copy of the stations and activities (all based on different HOT tools):

Inquiry Rotation

As a side note we have decided to un-pack the curriculum value of Excellence, which is well matched with the games.

Curriculum Values Display

Anyway thats all for now, much TV to watch now

Marama

So here is a blog I have set up about Inquiry Learning. Now I am by no means an expert. I have picked up most of what I know from watching other teachers and experimenting with my students.

As you all know, every child, class and situation. What works for me may be irrelevant for you, however I have found the following key points have helped me no matter who I am planning for.

1. Never assume anything! Especially what the children know or understand.

I once tried to facilitate a brainstorm on why Good Oral Language Skills are important with a Year Five and Six class. After getting nowhere for quite a while, I realised that the children didn’t know what the term Oral Language meant. Once I had explained this term the brainstorm was very successful, all of their knowledge had been blocked by my use of an unfamiliar term.

2. In order to be curious about something, you need to already know something about it.

I always begin any class inquiry topic with an immersion rotation, or pitch a mini class inquiry to hook the children’s interest. Lead the children to some key learning that will scaffold their understanding and own personal inquiry.

3. Good questions are essential, and good questioning must be taught.

They need to be taught about, open ended, closed, leading, and higher order questioning. Use Bloom’s, DeBono’s and Thinker’s Keys to scaffold them.

4. And finally, do it all over again and again and again.

Again it is the assumption thing. Don’t assume because they have done it before, whether it was last term or last year that they will remember how to conduct an inquiry. You will need to teach, use and refer to the basic skills of inquiry over and over again. I often use guided reading as means of teaching these skills.

Anyway, here are some resources that I have begged and borrowed in PDF.

inquiry-model – This was given to me by our team leader and could easily be turned into a check list.

issues-inquiry-learning1 – A student workbook used in a Yr5 & 6 class

Keywords, Skimming and Scanning Skills cards

scan-card1, key-words-card1, skimming-card1

Tools for good questioning

venn, bloom-rubric, 6hatsplanning, thinkers_keys_all-1

Please feel free to add anything else you think may be useful.

Marama