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Sharing our learning

Teaching sometimes feels like an all-consuming task because I am planning and preparing alone. Though there are many opportunities to collaborate, most of the time I make most decisions for my class because I know them best. It is very exciting, then, when it is time to share our learning with other people in our community.

This week my class finally completed compiling their last edition of our classroom newspaper, their “Guide to Creating a Classroom Newspaper”, their Science Journals of “Plants and Growth”, and their books “Classroom Portraits”. With this package the students led their parents in a conference of all the things they learned this term. It was very exciting to set up a framework for the students to achieve success! They felt knowledgeable, and were great hosts to the wonderful family members who came in to support the kids. Last Friday I also finished putting up our art collage board, and added the last question leaves to our ‘Question Board’. These displays complemented the ‘Knowledge Tree’, our ‘Global News– Uganda pen pals’, our ‘Fruit Seeds Gallery’, our ‘Inquiry’ board of research, and our ‘Earth Day Promises’ boards. All the samples of student work on the displays represented the students’ learning process and growth! It is so exciting for the students to feel like their classroom is really ‘theirs’, with visuals showing their thinking and projects.

The students had a chance to receive feedback from their family member (or a peer if families could not make it), as well as from their Big Buddies in grade 5/6 during a second conference. It is interesting to read the comments from these other ‘teachers’ in my students’ lives. It gives me perspective on what my students have really learned, by seeing what they have shared with others.

 

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Developing Inquiring Minds

Tomorrow our class is taking a class field trip to Water #10, which is an art sculpture near Aberdeen Station on River Road. We will be exploring what “Interdependence” feels and looks like, through our unit study on Plants and Growth.
 (photo from VB Learn)
“The idea is for the teacher to ask more questions to stimulate thoughts and share their ideas. It is important to encourage no right or wrong answers and someone’s ideas can lead to new ideas and thoughts. Do not give them answers and let them come through with the answers – it may take longer but it would engage students and develop inquiring minds.”
— Katherine Tong from Vancouver Biennale
It is very exciting for the students to look forward to this walking field trip, but I am also curious about the students’ participation tomorrow. It is a little frightening at first, to let the students take charge of their own learning. The fear is that they will “get off topic” or “not have the relevant ideas”. But when I think critically about my teaching practice, I realize that it isn’t possible to ‘get off topic’ if the topic is where the students direct the conversation. When the idea is a BIG IDEA, any of the students’ connections and inquiries will likely fall under the BIG IDEA. I want the students to understand the importance of interdependence in Nature, and to begin to appreciate the complexity of a balance as created through inter-dependency. In our exploration of the space, and of our own bodies and representations of what it means to grow and depend on each other (humans and nature, communities), I am positive that the students will have a meaningful learning experience.
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Learning moments

I have been guiding my students to have inquiring minds. I am learning to plan less activities, and more meaningful spaces for students to fill up with their own wondering and thinking.

During Math today all I had were 3D blocks and geometric objects. We spent half an hour exploring the parts of a 3D shape and all the ways we can sort them into groups. The students started taking charge of their own learning and asking interesting questions such as, “Why do 3D movies not work if the glasses aren’t on?” “Why is the core of the Earth the balance?” “What is the core of the universe?” “Where do we put cones, spheres, and semi- spheres?”

Our science lesson was an extension of our inquiry placemats activities from last week. I typed up all the questions that they had about interesting plants. Students chose one or two to focus on, to find out information for the rest of the class. I pulled books from the library to have a little collection of all the books that have to do with our topic. I also found many magazine articles from EBSCO Kids through our district library resource website. Still, there was not enough material for every student to look through. This lead into a teachable moment when I revealed to them that there are many, many answers for one question, and that the answer does not reside in me, nor simply in books, nor simply in technology. Research is hard, and I encouraged them not to abandon their question just because they were stuck. I modelled for them how to gather information, and by the end of the lesson everyone had a sheet full of facts gathered about their question.

 

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