Unit two started with a lot of work on my part...
And therefore a lot of learning...
After several sessions about Over Arching Learning Goals - what they are, how they look for science at Jean Augustine S.S.
Learning Goals - I had only a general understanding of what they were, but not how to construct them
Success Criteria - just beginning to get a handle of what that was too...
An intense few weeks of converting the student's rewritten curriculum expectations in to LG/SC structures, so students could use them as a scaffold for planning their unit learning...
I can now say I'm feeling quite confident about my OLG/LG/SC proficiency!!!
Why focus my energies here?
So students knew what the goal in their daily learning would be, and identifiers for what it might look like when they have met their goal.
In order for them to be able to go full inquiry, they needed the structure for what they were trying to learn and what it might look like.
Students also were given a unit timeline - showing one way to approach the knowledge portions of the inquiry. They were reminded that this is one way to approach the unit, but certainly not the only way!
What was the initial response to these supports - students seemed pretty happy with the increased structure for the daily information. They liked that there was a suggestion of what to learn and in what order, but also the freedom to follow areas of interest in more detail.
Next steps - how do I help them identify their own interests?!?!
Who knew that would be one of my biggest challenges!?!?!
Students were so unsure about how to ask their own questions,
how to identify concepts they might be interested in,
how to use the textbook to help them get a general understanding of the unit, so they can generate interest in something to investigate...
The number of times I had a conversation like this...
"I don't know what to research..." and when I ask, "Well... what are you interested in?" and the answer is, "I don't know."
When did they stop asking questions...
When did the curiosity move from I want to know, to tell me what I have to know...
I know at one point you can't stop kids form asking 'why?', when does that stop for so many...
What can we do to ignite it again?
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