I'm Angie from Brevig Mission. I teach 9-12 Social Studies, Language Arts, and Visual Arts. I wonder if my desire to download Kindle books will ever wane...
#akedchat
I'm Walter from Kodiak, and I teach orchestra. I often wonder about how to make a decent sausage from salmon. It's fatty, it's good smoked, there has to be a way. #akedchat
#akedchat A1: that quote makes me think of my boys! Everything is so new and exciting to them. Love how they see the world (4 hour ferry ride? The booth is a motorcycle) hope they always keep that wonder!
A1: Mr. Morrison, Ms. Devin-Smith, Dr. Reynolds, Mr. Wells....all teachers who fulfilled this quote in my life as a learner. I am forever grateful to them for it. #akedchat
My family of German ancestry makes sausage every year. They also like to fish. I'll have to ask the uncles if they've ever attempted something like that... #akedchat
A1: If my goal is to raise productive members of society, we need our Ss to be comfortable and confident wondering about and questioning the world. They are going to be in charge one day. #akedchat
Q2: I was recently introduced to the philosophy 4 children (p4c) program by the University of Hawaii Manoa. The framework can be applied to any content and grade to promote wonder and inquiry. https://t.co/teYSG6qRS9
What environmental characteristics promote wonder? #akedchat
#akedchat A2: I love introducing things that students don’t see in their day to day life... it just sparks their curiosity since it’s something different
Any environment works, but we can focus on schools or classrooms. I think a certain amount of safety is necessary for students and teachers to freely wonder. #akedchat
Q3: p4c starts by having each class create a Community Ball out of yarn. Each student contributes yarn as they share something about themselves. Teachers use this opportunity to introduce principles of intellectual safety.
What makes an intellectually safe environment? #akedchat
A2: I like to present pictures or videos with no explanation and ask Ss to compile a list of things they notice and wonder. It's amazing what they'll come up with! #akedchat
A2: we have flexible seating, floor to ceiling windows, and bright bold colors in our room. The first day I play “musical chairs” so students can test out all the furniture and find their most successful seat. #akedchat
A3 Making sure that everyone (Ss & Ts) frequently experience both failures and successes in front of each other. Both need to be accepted as part of growth. #akedchat
I'm been experimenting with the "I See, I Think, I Wonder" visible thinking strategy out of Harvard's @ProjectZeroHGSE It's definitely helping my high school students wonder a little more freely! #akedchat
A2 A feeling of welcome and appreciation for all opinions and all questions. Stepping away from the right/wrong, or the closed questions that are so common.
#akedchat
A3 Dr. Kia here sliding in! I think that when teachers help students think about what they are thinking about and open the floor to students sharing ideas a classroom becomes intellectually safe. #akedchat
Q3: p4c starts by having each class create a Community Ball out of yarn. Each student contributes yarn as they share something about themselves. Teachers use this opportunity to introduce principles of intellectual safety.
What makes an intellectually safe environment? #akedchat
Have you done KWL charts? I love these. You start with a topic and ask what children know, then what they wonde, and at the end what they learned #akedchat
In reply to
@AlaskaTeacher, @Kate_Muelling, @ProjectZeroHGSE
Q4: In p4c students generate questions and vote on which questions they want to discuss. The question with the most votes becomes the first topic of inquiry.
What is the power of student-generated questions? #akedchat
A3: praising questions as steps forward and mistakes as opportunities to learn something new! Make “most improved” the top award of each week! #akedchat
Ah! That makes more sense now. Sometimes it's a teaser, sometimes not. There's a portrait of Beethoven glaring down from up really high partly to make the students wonder how I climbed up there to hang it. #akedchat
A4: The power of student-generated questions comes in the answering of them, and not just the asking; let them ask, and then let them dig in to their own questions! Let them explore them! Then Ss feel as though they own the lesson and the learning. #akedchat
https://t.co/lYR8m5oVcI Students are so engaged to find the answer to their own questions... my favorite is was their wondering on why reindeer were called reindeer? #akedchat
Student generated questions lets the discussion start right in the middle of a student's schema.......making it interesting and relevant for their lives.
#akedchat
A4 It means that they are THINKING!!! That's my favorite thing! They're thinking for themselves and not regurgitating whatever I blab at them if they come up with real questions. #akedchat
Q5: Students sit in a circle and use the Community Ball as a talking stick. Some teachers started the exercise with an Inquiry Round where each student asked a question about the chosen question.
What is the value in having everyone participate from the beginning? #akedchat
Love this! Start the year by giving each student a post it & tell them to write down one question they would like to answer this year. Put them all on a poster, and find a way to incorporate them into your lessons, or use it as a research project too! #akedchat
Q6: Students discussed the question. They chose who spoke next by inviting and passing the ball. They were encouraged to use techniques from the Good Thinker’s Toolkit
https://t.co/o1KxfN3zsj
How could you use the Good Thinker’s Toolkit in your classroom or school? #akedchat
I teach in a #new tech network school which focuses on teaching through Project Based Learning, and I love watching students lead the way through each project!#akedchat
A5 I'd like to propose that getting everyone to participate is something that would need to be "grown" and fostered, by things like intellectual safety and some discussion structures. It might take a while for everyone to buy in.
#akedchat
A5: Passing the ball to everyone makes a place for less dominant voices. Some eager beavers will want to talk all the time. Other students will wait for the right opportunity. The ball being passed directly to their hands is a perfect opportunity! #akedchat
A5: everytimw I walk into a room, I do it with the belief that everyone in it has something I need to learn. If we teach students that they hold this same worth, then we can start learning from them—not just them from us. #akedchat
A5 The longer you work with them, the more you can understand their timeline and how they make logical jumps. You can start to predict the next steps they'll take, and try to nudge them one way or another (validate or make second guess) with questions. #akedchat
A6: The sentence starters take the pressure off of the student to construct a perfect sentence; they only have to worry about their thought process, not how to put it into words. #akedchat
Q7: One masterful technique used by a teacher: ‘Hold the ball and think” to a student that forgot what she was going to say.
Reflects the idea “we’re not in a rush” that permeates the p4c movement.
How could that idea impact our schools and classrooms? #akedchat
A6: using those letters & ? Stems not only encourages inquiry in the classroom, but also teaches respectful debate & (my fav!) complete sentences. #akedchat
A6 "Thinking about what is true, and the implications of what we think is true..." I love asking kids what they think they know, and why they think they know it. It always puts them on the defensive and makes them think harder. #akedchat
A7: Coming from a math perspective, Ss often think that the thinkers are better at math, but many real, working, famous mathematicians are slow at math! Speed has nothing to do with it. #akedchat
A7 The idea of "we are not in a rush" is contrary to the perpetual rush we all experience in teaching (pacing guide, schedule, assessments). I love how it sets a tone that taking the time to think and formulate ideas is valuable.
#akedchat
Q8: Some teachers ended the p4c circle with a Final Thoughts round. Each student passed the ball and shared something they learned or continued to wonder about after the discussion.
How could this be an effective wrap up or formative assessment? #akedchat
Q1: Joining late from ASD! Teachers have a hard job, the quote summarizes it well! I agree with the general statement, but some of those ingredients are also necessary for the survival of the "wonder" (like a little bit of routine)! #akedchat@AlaskaTeacher
Q9: Students demonstrated evidence of understanding beyond contributing vocally to the discussion. Many made notes in journals to turn in. Others completed post-discussion writing prompts.
Why is it important to allow for a variety of evidence of understanding? #akedchat
A9: All Ss (and adults) think differently, which means we all understand differently. Teaching is its most effective when Ss can show that they understand in the way that makes most sense to them. #akedchat
A7: what would we learn if we stopped rushing to meet deadlines, growth measurements, state assessments? Would we learn what roses smell like? Would we discover a cure for cancer hidden in the thorns? #akedchat
A6: we passed the ball and the yarn in the classroom also. The yarn symbolized connection. The good thinker's tool promote deeper inquiry, philosophy skills. #akedchat@AlaskaTeacher
A9: Not all students will talk a lot. This doesn't mean they're not thinking and wondering. Alternate evidence of understanding allows these students to prove their processing and growth too. #akedchat
A1 This is more true now than ever. How can we protect that natural learning spark? It was an evolutionary blink of an eye ago that learning was literally life or death. How hard have we worked to eliminate the natural processes of learning and make it inaccessible? #akedchat
The openness of the Final Thoughts rounds we observed were quite effective. Sometimes students ended with more questions than they started with, but everybody had something to say. #akedchat
Q10: Each discussion ended with a variation of reflection questions that students responded to with hand signals, including:
How was our community?
How was our inquiry?
Did it feel intellectually and emotionally safe?
Is there value in reflecting on the process? #akedchat
A8: every time someone says something you’ve also learned, stand up. Every time someone says something you hadn’t learned, say thank you. Every time they offer a wonder, offer the floor for their peers to answer. #akedchat
A9 In music, some kids can show me on an instrument but can't explain it in words. For that matter, I have some kids that can explain things in Tagalog but not English, so it might be me not understanding them rather than them not understanding the content. #akedchat
A8: It gives a quick visual of everyone's take-aways. The teacher can plan follow-ups and students can have some of their wonders answered by others in the circle. #akedchat@AlaskaTeacher
A9: I was a shy student. I didn’t discuss. I didn’t even look peers in the eye. But writing was different. I could be whoever I wanted to be on the page, clothed in ink. Every student deserves to express their knowledge in the way they can be their best selves. #akedchat
Q11: Classrooms are encouraged to hold a formal p4c discussion circle once a week.
What difference would a weekly p4c discussion circle make in your classroom or school? #akedchat
A10 Yes! If Ss don't understand the process, then the lesson was a waste of time. I end every private or small group lesson by asking the Ss how we found the problem (which is tough in music sometimes) and how we solved it. That's what lets them use that tool elsewhere. #akedchat
Thanks so much @AlaskaTeacher for facilitating tonight. Just wanted to point folks to the #akedchat schedule and newsletter. Take a look at my profile for links. https://t.co/vHkQebkTgK
A11 A weekly P4C discussion would let me know what the kids where really thinking about......not what I thought they were thinking about......which would theoretically be what I taught supposedly taught them. It would rearrange my thinking as a teacher. #akedchat
Also, take a look at the new #akedchat meetup at https://t.co/oQprFqac89 This is where we can plan in person meet ups. It's just getting started so sign up to be informed of future activities.
