If you are new to Twitter chats, we are using a Q1: A1 (question: answer) format. Don't forget to add the #IDedchat hashtags to your tweets so we can see you! #idcoachnet
Hi #idedchat. I'm Sara, a K teacher in Lake Tahoe, NV. My friend Renee in Driggs, ID helped me test out some video chatting tech this morning! I'm multitasking chatting with you, packing for a wedding tomorrow afternoon and writing subplans.
https://t.co/8Z8H1arLbH
A1: Something we want students to remember long after they have left our classrooms. It could be related to a standard or an understanding about life. (Ex. Reading literature helps us develop empathy for others.) #IDedchat#idcoachnet
A1: Ooooh, this is a great question! For me, enduring understandings are those things that-once time has stripped away all the details-remain in our hearts and minds. #idedchat
A1: Prior to Googling or reading other As, I would thing "enduring understandings" are loftier emotional takeaways. Thinking of Ss, I would want enduring understandings to be, "Mr. C looked out for me." #IDedchat
Think Essential Standard - what is something you want to make sure your students understand (and can transfer) before they leave your class. :-) #IDedchat
Related, the best essential questions could/should be shared with students... assuming they shed light as opposed to obscure. :) I've seen it both ways. :D #IDedchat
A1: Enduring Understandings are those things that are absolutely crucial to know or remember, long after the individual lessons and activities have faded from memory. #IDedchat
A1. If we are teaching to a standard, we want that to be embedded learning.. we want that to be transferable. Here is what Google says about #enduringunderstanding... so lasting, permanent, carry with them #IDedchat
Absolutely! There is a lot of template (cookie cutter?)-based standards and curriculum out there; if you are writing an EQ to check off a box on a form? Sure... you can write less-than-clear EQs. #IDedchat
OK....I was gone for a minute - apparently I broke some Twitter rules and they were limiting my tweets... I don't think I have tweeted that much today.... #IDedchat
Sidenote: At the suggestion of @averyteach, I'm trying out @participatechat for the first time. Even though I've chatted before, it is always fun to try out a new tool. #idedchat#Idcoachnet
A2: An EQ is an intriguing question that frames S inquiry during a lesson, unit, or a whole year. It can help students grapple with the ideas in the enduring understanding #IDedchat#idcoachnet
A3: The purpose of an EQ is to "hook" the student into the learning. It gives them a quick snapshot into that they will dive into over the course of the chapter/unit. #idedchat
A1 I see essential questions as that “what are we learning” part & enduring understandings are how that learning can be connected to other learning later on. A sort of part whole relationship #IDedchat#idcoachnet
A3: An EQ can give focus to a unit. It can also provide an authentic question for students to consider... a question that someone in the discipline would grapple with. #IDedchat#idcoachnet
A3: An EQ takes learning away from worksheets, declarative answers, and memorization, and launches it into the real world of open-ended inquiry and authentic practice and investigation. #IDedchat
I like the word authentic. Open ended and compelling - to engage the students into wanting to find the answer (although there will be many possibilities). #IDedchat
I think this is so important! One of the most successful characteristics of a PBL is that students see the real word application of their project work. The EQ helps them see the long road from the beginning. #idedchathttps://t.co/sAiFfiF40I
A3: An EQ takes learning away from worksheets, declarative answers, and memorization, and launches it into the real world of open-ended inquiry and authentic practice and investigation. #IDedchat
We decided this morning that an essential question is a big idea that is open ended, promotes inquiry and further discussion/questions, transfer knowledge to other areas, intellectually engaging, and higher order thinking that focuses on standards #IDedchat
A3: I'm not super smart about EQs but I think they should be about what we are having fun with tonight #idedchat Making the learner WANT to engage in the learning process!
A3 Also... aren't good Essential Questions ones that can't be "cheated" on? Stop trying to prevent cheating w/ technology... change the questions & teaching! #idedchat
I don’t think Ts are taught to craft questions like this in teacher education programs. Core coaching is needed at pre-service level! imho, of course :) #IDedchat
A4: Seeing things big picture nowadays, I feel that EQs need to be a very broad scope. Not just in one curricular area, but created such that they bring in what the T is accountable for, but with some venn diagram circles that float into other areas. #IDedchat
Absolutely - the "googling" is taken out of the equation. Googling may get you some texts to read about the EQ - but not necessarily the answer. #IDedchat
Yep. In fact I started to say: "...has more answers than anyone can imagine." But then I thought that might not necessarily be true for ALL EQs. ??? #IDedchat
I’m not well versed in this subject either but - isn’t an effective question one where you don’t want to use google? Provoke thought and discussion and use the collective of everyone’s ideas to find an answer. #IDedchat
Good essential questions should also be able to draw students across all areas of curriculum. They should be crafted so that our students can pull in knowledge and curiosity from other content areas. #idedchat
A5: The romantic answer is that we involve Ss. However, there is a point where Ts are the experts. They know what should be taught, what the outcome is, and where to steer the Ss. #IDedchat
A5: I do a lot of listing and just getting questions down on a document without worrying about their quality. Then, I share it w/ someone who can give some feedback and help me fine tune. Developing EQs w/ someone makes the hard process easier! #IDedchat#idcoachnet
A5 This not easy, nor is it always a productive exercise, but, I think you need to start with... "why do you care about this?" Content experts waxing poetically about their life's work often get to the point of EUs, and then you can get to EQs. #IDedchat
A5: For me, it takes a lot of brainstorming. Thinking about the Enduring Understanding and what I want Ss to keep forever. What might be worth grappling with? Verbalizing with friends helps! #idedchat#idcoachnet
I can’t remember the book but there’s a good one in helping Ts craft and understand EQs. I can picture the book:/ @jillannski can you help my brain? #IDedchat
Collaborating on the EQ will help refine. Other minds can help make sure you don't have an EQ that is too narrow...or something that can be googled. #IDedchat
A5: I didn't generally involve Ss when I was in the classroom, but I would get feedback from them after a unit, and that would help me fine tune them. My fellow coaches and I have included teachers in developing EWs for workshops. #IDedchat#idcoachnet
AGREED! XS makes me think they're making it smaller, NOT bigger. But NO. But we all had to know that they were going to add an S to the end of it today. #Idedchat
I think Ss should be involved in that it should hook the Ss; bring them into the discussion making them think about a topic, or challenge their current thinking. #IDedchat
Yes! As an English teacher I always tried to do this, but now as a teacher librarian I see so many more possibilities (and missed opportunities). #IDedchat
A5 I DOlike to involve the learners. I often really look at big ideas, enduring understandings and standards, and run, and process that for a while as I think creatively for a question. I might dial in on 5 for a while, and allow some percolation time. #IDedchat
I'm not sure which book you have on your mind, but @willhelm has some great resources in Engaging Readers and Writers with Inquiry. And Understanding by Design is a classic tool for creating EQs and EUs and all things backwards design. #idedchat#idcoachnet
In reply to
@TCarter208, @paulkzimm, @leadedtech, @willhelm
That's a good wondering. Maybe some EQs are more limiting than others, but I'd like to think there are still many ways to answer even a narrower question. #IDedchat#idcoachnet
Our collaboration helped provide me ideas and the jumping off point for me to now spent time working through the process and refining the ideas I was given
A6: EQs keep kids grappling with content so they're willing to engage in productive struggle. It creates a real need-to-know because there is purpose and meaning and connection behind learning. #idcoachnet#idedchat
A6: Everything is connected to the EQ. Activities, reading, writing, etc. are all linked in some way so that students continually revisit the EQ and add layers of understanding (or peel back layers of understanding) #IDedchat#idcoachnet
The essential question helps develop high interest for our students, but also help us design our scaffolding in our instruction and mentor texts #idedchat
A6: EQs keep kids grappling with content so they're willing to engage in productive struggle. It creates a real need-to-know because there is purpose and meaning and connection behind learning. #idcoachnet#idedchat
A6: Everything is connected. The questions drive the activities/projects in the classroom setting. I think of it as an added layer to the overall understanding. #idedchat
Q6 Beyond the advantages of a well-written standards and curriculum, I think it is always useful to think about how all these parts fit together in lessons, then units, then courses, then horizontal and vertical alignment, etc. #IDedchat
A6: A good EQ doesn't succumb to lazy teaching; one can't just fill in the blank or dictate some notes. We have to be as curious and inquiring as we expect our students to be. #IDedchat
YES! Thank you! I just remember looking at it for guidance, because I honestly did not know how to write good, engaging questions! #Idedchat#alwayslearning
I just spent two days telling our site coordinators how important struggle is for learning and we have to teach our students it’s ok to struggle. That’s #preaching for this group of course but I loved seeing the ideas resonate with them #Idedchat
In reply to
@paulkzimm, @leadedtech, @techsavvyteach, @averyteach
A6: A good EQ doesn't succumb to lazy teaching; one can't just fill in the blank or dictate some notes. We have to be as curious and inquiring as we expect our students to be. #IDedchat
I like this. Even when repeating an EQ in following years, a teacher engages and makes it fresh! A continually relevant questions #IDedchat. #IDCoachNet
A7: Often, my Ss answered the EQ for their assessment. Sometimes it was through an essay or performance task. Sometimes their responses were formative assessments over time so I could see how their ideas changed as they learned more. #IDedchat#idcoachnet
Think of it this way - how much of a struggle and how many times did you mess up before you figured out how to ride a bike? But you learned. And the learning was hard but at the same time so incredibly rewarding. #Idedchat
In reply to
@TCarter208, @leadedtech, @techsavvyteach, @averyteach
Essential questions help decide what types of assessments that we need to consider. For example, i would not want to give students a multiple choice questions when a compare/comtrast paragraph is a better probe. #idedchat
A6: A good EQ doesn't succumb to lazy teaching; one can't just fill in the blank or dictate some notes. We have to be as curious and inquiring as we expect our students to be. #IDedchat
I think this also can be modeled to Ss simply by saying that you don't know the answer, and then follow up with let's go find it. Doesn't necessarily have to be an EQ, just a Q they're interested in. #IDedchat
What I love about this approach is how you can build in choice for Ss regarding format (essay? skit? visual representation?) in the answering of the EQ. It gets at how to allow S voice and choice while holding tight on content and synthesis. #Idedchat#idcoachnet
A7: Often, my Ss answered the EQ for their assessment. Sometimes it was through an essay or performance task. Sometimes their responses were formative assessments over time so I could see how their ideas changed as they learned more. #IDedchat#idcoachnet
A7 I would ponder a guess that if awesome EQs were crafted & implemented, the assessment (prob formative) would be a natural fit & more authentic. #idedchat
I love the idea of EQ answers changing over time - - - through more learning? from hearing what others think? by adding new data or insight to the mix? So powerful. #IDedchat
A8: Checking in over time and tracking S thinking and changes in S thinking after units of study is so important. It's also so gratifying to see (both for Ts and Ss) how thinking changes over time after new learning! #idedchat#idcoachnet
A8: The EQ should be present in the classroom so it's present in S's minds. Using guiding questions related to the EQ is also a way to keep students working with the ideas of the EQ but not getting burned out (especially if it's a yearlong EQ). #IDedchat#idcoachnet
I think having the EQ posted so that we and our Ss can refer back to it. This can also help keep everyone on the same track during instruction and discussion. #idedchat
A8 Out of sight, out of mind. If you have quality EQs to work with, print out a copy and stick them where you see them daily. Use that to help you frame your approach daily. I have a set of "big picture" things I believe that I do the same with. #IDedchat
A8 Reflection. Time to process, connect and consider is essential to connect the EQ throughout the learning. AND to other coursework, or life. #IDedchat#IDCoachNet
IMHO, it needs to be competency based, tying in as many curricular areas as possible. EQs can cover so much more than just what's done in one classroom. Means a major shift in most schools, but effective! #IDedchat
