Inquiry

Check out this great article and embedded video about inquiry in the classroom. http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/09/21/10-tips-for-launching-an-inquiry-based-classroom/?utm_content=buffera3fa0&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Thanks, Karla Martinez, for sharing. 

What Is In Your Bag?

 Police pound on your door yelling that you to evacuate in five minutes. What do you grab? 

I was a middle-school librarian in San Diego, when horrific brush-fires, forced our students to evacuate their homes. The next week we returned to a campus covered with ash, still reeking of smoke. One of my student monitors came in and started talking about her experience. She was really upset, about the fires of course, but even moreso about the items she grabbed when she left her home: her expensive jeans, her trophy and make-up. She was upset because she thought about irreplaceable things she should have taken instead such as family photos (this was before the Cloud). She was mad at herself because she thought what she took was shallow and selfish. She kept going over and over in her head about how she would do it differently and how she could help others plan ahead for another emergency. 

At the time her teacher, Kate Dominique, and I were working on project/problem-based research units. We realized this experience of having students analyze what they took, was the inspiration for a new unit. 

Students were really excited to put their experience into action and to help others process the fires and to plan ahead too. Together the students reflected on their own stories and then brainstormed a website based on a question...Does what you took when you evacuated represent who you really are? Students researched articles that defined the typical teen. Then they compared this to primary resources - data from surveying their friends about what they took during the evacuations. Then they asked them if they had to do it again, what items would they take instead? They created graphs of what they toon and then created another to communicate how family photos and necessary emergency supplies trumped expensive jeans, gameboys and makeup if they could do it again. 

They also created a page of their own family photos of the fire coming over the ridges near local homes and designed maps showing the fires in our own community. 

They all kept coming back to the appreciation they had for our first responders so they created a thank-you page for SDFD and invited the local station out to the website "launch". Even the Fire Chief came out to the school with the trucks and we had a cake to thank them.

It was an amazing student-led unit that was relevant to our students and our community. Students wanted to prove that teens care and can make a difference. They wanted to show that the typical apathetic and disgruntled teenager seen in media does not represent all teens. They wanted to design something that was a legacy priject but that could also help teens help their family to prepare for a disaster. 

This student also led me to create a Community Narratives blog where I hoped students would be inspired to post their own narratives. It ended up turning into more of a service learning blog, but I still am grateful for the original inspiration. 

Today, I read an amazing article about what a group of refugees had in their bag. It reminded me of our fires and our student website. It reminded me of an incredible unit on refugees and resiliency written by Penny Novak, Carrie Lynn and Courtnee Donohoe at PB Middle. Connecting the dots...what if students compared what they have in their backpack versus what they'd take in an emergency??

https://medium.com/@theIRC/what-s-in-my-bag-758d435f6e62

Although I wouldn't be comfortable asking students to dump-out their backpacks and share, I think this article could become an incredible unit about "stuff" and what our "stuff" says about our priorities and about our culture and society. 

It could also be a great connection to create a time capsule for the graduating class or explore the question of "What does my 'stuff' communicate about what is most important to me?" 

These ideas could also lead to a unit where students analyze an anthropological "dig" into what we discard and what that says about us. 

Have a wonderful year facilitating learning experiences that lead new students with new ideas and new inquiries to make a difference in our community. 

School Start for the Miracle Workers

Perspective: "If a doctor, lawyer, or dentist had 40 people in their office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn't want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he/she might have some conception of the classroom teacher's job." 

- Donald D. Quinn

Integrating Hartford Schools

Just heard a segment on NPR "This Anerican Life" about Hartford Magnet Schools and their very focused school marketing efforts to integrate schools. It's not posted yet but definitely listen to it when it's available. 

They discuss trials and successes as they work to desegregate schools and face difficult and wonderful discussions around magnet funding, policy, race, integration, school competition, and public perception of schools. Here's the Hartford Magnet school's website and there are definitely some ideas worth exploring to market schools. 

http://www.hartfordschools.org/choice-next-steps/78-pages/344-choice-overview

 This American Life - Aired August 9, 2015. (When it airs I'd love to hear your comments). 

Check out the book: 

"The Children in E-4"

Sent from my iPhone

IB MYP Design Cycle

Slides can be used in IB MYP Design and process can also be applied to STEM design.

http://www.slideshare.net/ynnoova/design-in-the-ib-middle-year-program-myp

Maker Space Ideas

Check-out the ideas in this great Edutopia articke below. It reminded me of some of the maker-space areas I have used in classroom and at a teacher training. When I taught elementary I had a table where kiddos could tinker with old electronics. Think safety-first, then let them explore as far as their imaginations will allow. It's an especially easy "when finished" activity. I'd often cut the cords or pull off the back so they wouldn't electrocute or cut themselves. We'd review proper use of tools and they were required to wear goggles if they were going to disasseble or pull anything apart as they really loved finding the magnets inside machines. 

Once disassembled, materials can be sorted to be upcycled into new electronics, art creations, or students can even repackage items to sell to other classrooms as math manipulatives in order to fund the purchase of new tools. In your weekly email to parents ask for tools instead of Starbucks gift-cards as holiday, end-of the year or birthday present donation with the student's name on it for years to come. Ask for old home phones, old desktops, broken kitchen appliances with motors etc. You don't need storebought "kits". Unless a student designs something and wants to teach others with a how-to demo and a step-by-step how-to page, imaginations go much farther if you do not post pre-made instructions.

Makerspace is fun for teachers too...Remember the old "make-it-take-it" teachers worksops? They were super fun!! In an IB teacher librarian training we set up a fun artistic maker space with materials to design superhero capes out of old tshirts. Our participants had to present to teachers and administrators they didn't know so this gave our superhero participants a space where they could chat about their content and settle nerves before they went out to present to other sessions, and have some fun too.

A makerspace can also be an old school super simple idea like a place to make postcards out of index cards, rulers,  copies of class/student photos, markers, and stamps. Young students can practice writing, drawing portraits, landscapes etc and send to their own home or to companies requesting freebies through the mail. Another simple station is a bookmaking station...Put out paper, rulers, makers, large plastic needles, yarn and hole punch, glue and cereal boxes to make bound books with covers. Books can be put out into the class or school library. Students love finding books from older friends and family members in the library. Remind them to include dedications and copyright dates. Too fun. 

These are some low-tech ideas I think are easy, cheap and don't take up a lot of space and time to establish. This article can really help you get your designer-on too. 

https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Starting+a+School+Makerspace+from+Scratch+%7C+Edutopia&url=http%3A%2F%2Fedut.to%2F1Ld1IaN&related=

Unplugging for Summer

Here's to Renee, a wonderful English teacher from Michigan who is on vacation and working to unplug. 

You unplugged your mini-fridge and your printer, you are ready for summer, but are you able to unplug yourself? Just because the calendar says summer vacation, turning off the mental to-do lists and "undone" items on the to-do list can continue to keep us up at night. The first article points out that a teachers make up four decisions in one minute. Many teachers I know arrive early, leave late, and don't take time to sit down to even finish their lunch. Here's a little test to gauge work/life balance... From September to December has your extended family and friends all but stopped contacting you because you are so busy with your students? 

Teaching is like a play. Most are familiar with the performance but don't realize the countless resources, time and money that goes on before the curtains open and the audience (students) walk through the doors. So no wonder it's tough to slow things down and take the break that we need to rethink, reflect and reconnect with our support system of family and friends. http://www.teachingquality.org/content/blogs/tricia-ebner/downshifting

The second article disccusses why it's important to unplug and gives suggestions on how to unwind. 

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201006/the-importance-vacations-our-physical-and-mental-health

Cheers to all you wonderful teachers. It takes a couple of weeks to wind down but it's really important to recharge and replenish. Changing lives and making a difference is amazingly rewarding and important work but so is leading a balanced life. I guess I'd better go then and enjoy our block full of kiddos laughing and playing outside on a beautifully balmy evening. Happy summer, happy balance.