Letting Go

I think I am not the only teacher who struggles with letting go and leading students see the value in failure. If I "let go" as Grant Wiggins susgests in his blog post Great Teaching Means Letting Go, then I have to relinquish a little control and let my classroom "get messy".  It is so easy to have a one size fits all step by step process in lessons. We have so many learners who are on so many different levels and have so many different needs that we have to keep some type of commonality or order. But kids do this all the time in sports. They scrimmage. They practice for the big event or the big test where the coach or teacher can only stand on the sidelines and maybe offer some advise, but can't change or control the game.  I see Dr. Wiggins point. If scrimmaging is the formative assessment for sports, then scrimmaging for the big test is a must in all classrooms. Students would then have the opportunity to discuss and analyze strategies and yes, failures as well. Meta-cognition: isn't that what we really want our students to do? Don't we want them to be able to do it on their own and transfer skills and knowledge to the real world? Can we let the messiness begin in our classrooms?

Chris Lehman of the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia says yes to the questions above. In fact he says we must. Students should learn through inquiry and failure. Students should learn in a school where it matters in the real world. I like his point that school is so regimented and that while students typically go to seven different teachers a day in high school, we as adults would not accept a condition where we would have to report to seven bosses. It seems to me that this type of school where teachers are mentors and facilitators is an ideal place for students to learn and to learn from their failures, but the whole school must be structure in that way for it to work. We would have to change the data we collect and use to measure growth because standardization in testing does not even fit this paradigm. Technology, inquiry learning, and great teaching are all interrelated.  Technology is the vehicle through which students can demonstrate what they know and how they solve the same problem in different ways. To me, it seems that a whole shift in structure would be necessary.

Reflective Searching

As an educator, I have constantly monitored the search habits of my students and tried to help them navigate the onslaught and availability of information since the early nineties when I first stepped into the classroom as a teacher. I have witnessed first hand their reliance on the Google search browser and their eventual abandonment of the school librarian as a helper and navigator of information for research. Students would rather hit the search icon on a web browser than even sort through suggested search engines and databases on  our school media center website. The word "research" for students today does not even conjure the thought of a physical library. And why would it? Instant information is available to them on their cell phones. This information is abundant, everywhere, and easy. I find myself sending them back to square one and forcing them to slow down and take the time to evaluate the information they find. I see the behaviors mentioned in several readings from this week- skimming information without considering its depth and breath, power browsing, and (a term new to me) squirreling away information by saving it or printing it for later. Students do not spend much time at all reading the content they find online. I would say they spend most of their time, as the articles, suggest navigating around and searching. Even though contained in a source right in front of them, they claim they cannot find the information they need because they have skimmed rather than thoroughly read the sources they find.

These observations lead me to a realization about myself as a searcher; this member of generation x has slowly evolved into one of the Google Generation.  I employ many of the same behaviors as my students when beginning to research anything- even when I resort to looking it up the old fashioned way and even then in a virtual library resource. I am even willing to admit that yes, I do browse and skim Wikipedia first before consulting other sources. I have unknowingly created my own "filter bubble" just as they have. One difference is that I do know that I need to check a reputable source afterwards, but I still start with the same methods that my students do.  How do I avoid having an algorithm filter my results for me or for my students for that matter? We need to think about how we search for information. Apply the principals of meta-cognition to our browsing and searching and gathering of information. -Something librarians did for me when I was in school. Sometimes I wonder if any of my students  think about their approach  to searching for information at all. Could they make an info graphic of their own search pattern? Do they employ different patterns for different inquiries or always the same? These are issues we should ponder in these times when we are all bombarded with information. Having  immediate and abundant access does not improve their information literacy. 

Four Resources: One Theme

In which I review four resources....

Oxford English Dictionary Word

PLN and Twitter

WordPress

EduBlogs

As a teacher of literature, I have the habit of viewing most of what I approach in terms of its theme. Therefore when asked to identify commonalities of the above mentioned resources, I see a common thread of "connection". All four serve to connect people in some way. For example, every human born in the year of 1966 can look up his or her birthday word and find that computernik is a newly invented word during the year in which he or she was born. The blogging platforms connect people with like interests as do the various PLNs such as RebelMouse, PaperLi and Twitter.  I see them all as connecting people who are looking for or are willing to share interests and information on the same topics. The birthday word site from Oxford English Dictionary would be the one resource here that does not allow for any sharing within its own platform, so it does not connect people as the other do.  Above all, the resources make learning personal by providing a means for any person to share how the information she acquires applies to her experience and her prior knowledge.
   

For my learning goals, these resources set a stage or present a platform that allows for others to engage in inquiry. When a student or person can scroll through a feed on twitter, or search for a blog post and find millions of resources that anyone can post, the idea is overwhelming. I have one particular goal in my desire to introduce Inquiry Learning into my classroom in an organized and systematic way. I want the experience to be manageable and  fairly easy to navigate for my students and for me as well. The most prevalent thought that pops into my head  is that not only do I need to find a way to sort through and digest the information coming in, but I also need to provide a way for my students to organize it, apply a meaning and use to it, and have a means to share it and express it.- A way that connects them to other learners. It is almost like a never ending cycle, search, find, sort, compose, share...and then the process starts all over again.

Learning Goals

I am excited to be taking Information Fluency and Inquiry Learning this semester as I pursue a Masters Degree in Instructional Technology. In my job as an educator I have had the privilege to work with many teachers in helping them navigate technology for their classrooms. The resources and possibilities are vast and overwhelming. I have several learning goals I hope to achieve by the end of this semester in this class. First, I want to hone my skills in developing a classroom that incorporates Inquiry Based Learning. I am looking forward to concentrating on this area of learning. My next goal is to build my PLN in an organized and accessible way. I feel as if I am bombarded with information and I hope to use the activities,tools and learning opportunities presented in this course to filter and fine-tune that information and make it  more organized.  My last goal is to refine the tools I use and methods I use to teach research to my own students in my high school English class. I am looking forward to a great learning experience.