Summer Reading

Dave Spencer shared this on twitter.  A perfect summary to my last post, Cool Explorations With Found Materials.  I've ordered my copy of Launch and cannot wait to start reading.  It will be a great support for my rethinking learning journey.

This book is my other summer reading.  Since I consider much of my rethinking journey to be a shift of mindsets, I am soo excited to read more from George Couros.  I read his blog posts and tweets everyday already and would love to start or join a book club where I can reflect and talk with others who are on this journey.

Cool Explorations With Found Materials

I thought it would be a good idea to follow my Cool Explorations with New Materials post with this one because sometimes what gets in the way of moving forward is that we don't have the materials that others do. For one reason or another, this can be why we hesitate to try something new.

In reflecting back, I can identify times when I've had similar thoughts in my own teaching career.  What I realize now though, is that there was always a reason other than not having the 'right' stuff that held me back.  Those times I have truly been ready to make some shifts in my practice, I found a way to do so, regardless of what I 'didn't have.'  It might have required creativity or thinking outside the box about how I could navigate the obstacles but in the end, there was always a way to make things work.  

What is important to know about this rethinking learning journey is that when Sam and I started inquiry learning, we did it without any of the materials you saw in the Cool Explorations with New Materials post. (These came much later, following the approval of a grant application we had submitted).   Instead, most of what we originally offered the students for exploration were found materials.

We picked through school storage, art and supply rooms, collected bins full of recyclables and gathered any and all materials that might possibly spark student curiosity and creativity. We gathered old technology for a 'tech take-apart' centre, old film canisters, jars, wood dowels, old paperbacks, calendars, yarn, empty tape rolls and other odds and ends that had been packed away because they might be useful for an art project some day.  

We also made a trip to the Dollar Store to buy a selection (but a limited one) of other supplies (tape, tools, glue guns, clay, etc).  The most commercial materials we had available were lego and k'nex.  

Keeping a good collection of supplies and materials available is something we have been able to do because we have learned to look at things we come across through a new lense. What we may once have thrown in the garbage or recycling, is now suddenly more valuable and can often be added to our classroom collection of beautiful things. Cardboard boxes, packing materials, bread clips, bottle lids, old marker lids, pieces of ribbon and buttons are a few examples of these 'beautiful things' (inspired by Beautiful Stuff.)  What we've learned is that almost everything we find has the potential to spark a new idea or be useful for the further exploration of an already-existing curiosity.  

Check out some of these explorations using found materials:

These boys were were completely hooked by this old computer.  They spent days taking it apart and exploring it further to see how it worked and if they could make it work again.

Every single item on this table is created with found and supply room materials.  No special items needed for exploring these curiosities!

This roller coaster was built using only popsicle sticks.  Standing 45 cm tall, this is an amazing structure.  The girls who build it were so excited about it, they took it home on the weekend to paint it in the back yard.

This Grade 4 student explains how this lift works- which was created using only found materials.

These Grade 4 students describe how they created a bird's nest and scene after being inspired by rescuing a bird at home.

Cool Explorations with New Materials

It's been a while since I've posted examples of the explorations happening in Grade 5/6. With the arrival of new materials to our inquiry space, the students have been excited and challenged to try new things.

Here, a couple of girls share with the class, how they were able to program Dash to place a familiar tune.  Their classmates' response is typical to what we see during inquiry.  The students genuinely enjoy seeing what their classmates are learning.

In this video, some boys are demonstrating how they were able to build a quadruple connection using snap circuits.  To the right of them, some other students are working to build a device that makes things fly.

This student is exploring with found materials and Makey Makey.  This was his first attempt to create keyboard keys to play PacMan.  Since he wasn't completely satisfied with how they worked, he continued to explore how he might use different materials which would give a better connection.  In the end, clay keys were much more successful for what he was trying to do.

These students used the Little Bits circuits to explore how speed affects colour. 

An exploration with GoldieBlox engineering materials.  

As part of the ongoing roller coaster inquiry, these girls are now building Ozobot its own roller coaster!

Why Checking-In With Students Really Matters

After interviewing the students about how our inquiry learning is going (now that we are several months in), they shared what they found valuable as well as the routines and processes they didn't think were a good use of their time.

Turns out, there were some themes to what they had to say:

1) The visual tracking tools, which were originally used to teach the inquiry process, were no longer needed.  The students said that while this organizer was helpful in the beginning, they now knew the process well and didn't see the purpose for using the tools.      

2) The time management routines that had once been needed to support them were no longer really needed either.  Now that most of them were managing their time responsibly, they felt it would be more productive for them to be more flexible in their planning and use of time. In fact, they actually said that this routine interfered with their learning progress at times.

It was important for us to act on this information they had shared.  But, in keeping with our goal towards having a 'shared responsibility for learning,' we didn't make any changes based on what they had said in the interviews before talking to the students. And in the end, we decided together that these routines were no longer needed. Students were able to organize and take responsibility for their own learning without them.

It was amazing to listen as these 11 and 12 year-old students talked through their options for using these 'once useful tools' and then came to a consensus about the conditions that allowed for their best learning.  As educators, we are always trying to figure out what our students need.  Yet, unless we check with them about what it is we are doing and whether or not it's really helpful, we don't really know.  They really are very capable and competent.

Changes Over Time

I've been reflecting lately about how the learning the students are doing is changing.  We see different combinations of students working together and students doing different things than they typically might have before.  They seem to have spread their wings.  And this makes total sense.

In the beginning, when we first started providing time for them to explore their own curiosities, they tended to gravitate largely to the materials they were comfortable with. Crafty girls were creating craft-type projects, the boys were big into the lego and building materials.  The students tended to stay away to some of the things that were new that seemed to present challenge to figure out. They also tended to stick with the same partner or small group of students.  

Now when I think about it and after asking them, I understand why.  They were a little confused with the notion that they could go and choose what to do.  They didn't really 'know' how or what that might look like so they stuck to what was safe for them.  They stuck to what they knew how to do.

Recently, after collecting written feedback from the students, I interviewed them about how they had changed.  Many talked about the types of learning they are doing now that were different from what they had been doing in the beginning.  They were learning about bigger, topics and using different materials to explore new ideas.  They told me they felt a little smarter because they could learn in lots of ways and were capable of doing lots of different types of learning that they hadn't done before.  They are more confident!  They've become risk-takers!  And this has happened because they were given the time and support to work through the process of moving from what's comfortable to what isn't.  They are excited by the challenge of trying and learning about new things.

The student interviews were very powerful.  If you even wonder the true impact of what's happening in the classroom, I recommend you hold candid interviews with your students.  I did videotape them too (but asked their permission first because it allows them to say no if they are not comfortable with it.  Plus, it's a great way to model how we must be respectful in our use of tech).