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Volume VIII, Issue No.1
In
This Issue: Responsibility
for Learning
Bubbles,
Puddles, and Chalk: Young Scientists at Work "How can you make bubbles with what you have in front of you?" I asked a class of 25 kindergartners to start the second session of the expedition "Water, Water, Everywhere."
I wanted to help children become more aware of what is needed to make bubbles. I had carefully set up six small tubs with water and several objects around them: a cup, a tin can with no bottom, a straw, some paper clips, a sponge, and other objects that I found in the classroom. I divided the class into groups of 4 or 5 children and sent them to explore. This was not the traditional bubble-making situation with soapy water, and I was worried they would get frustrated.
A few children said they couldn’t make any bubbles. Interestingly enough, they were blowing through the 1-inch tube into the water as they said so. I pointed at the bubbles they were blowing, but they were not very satisfied. They were not talking about that "kind of bubbles." Soon the bubbles became bigger and noisier, and the children grew more excited. As I turned around, all the children were busy exploring. They tried every single object. Everyone was engaged. Even the most withdrawn children had their hands wet and their investigations were focused.
I let the children explore in the small groups for a while and then I asked them to report what they noticed. I was as excited as they were, listening to their discoveries.
"I can make bubbles with a straw when I blow through it," said Sarah.
"Yes," responded Alfredo, "it is like a volcano," and blew through it to show his classmates the bubbling noises of his volcano.
"I can make bubbles with the can but I cannot make bubbles with the cup," added Christine as she blew through the can. Pat commented that one could not make bubbles with a sponge.
"Oh, yes you can!" interrupted Juan, "I can make bubbles with everything!" and proceeded to show his discoveries.
There was no need for me to say anything. I had set the children off with a question and a variety of objects to use, and they did the rest. They explored, observed, compared, raised questions, solved problems, found new answers, and communicated their discoveries. They exchanged thoughts with their classmates and in some cases these conversations helped them modify previous ideas. The children were engaged in the essentials of science.
Bubble making turned out to be a lesson for me, too. Before the session started, I wondered if I would need to guide the children through the process, but as the session evolved, it was clear that they did not need any extra help. I realized that there was no doubt that exposing children to the real process—and not to a description of it—makes the difference in learning. If I trust the children and the materials I present to them, something interesting will almost always come out of it. I think one of the greatest challenges I have as a teacher is not carefully planning each step of a lesson, but identifying what could truly engage children’s minds.
My goal as a teacher is to help children become curious about, and good observers of, the world around them. I also want them to use these observations to come up with more questions, or with ideas to explain the phenomena in front of them. The scientific process provides the framework for that type of learning experience.
As the children and I continued our water expedition, we looked at the concept of evaporation. After a rainy winter night, the playground was full of icy puddles. In the morning I took the children out to look at the puddles and asked them to trace the boundaries with chalk. Back in our classroom, I asked the children what they expected to find in the afternoon when we would go outside again. They suggested a plethora of ideas: God had made the ice melt and the water go up into the sky; the water was going to melt and go in the drains; or the sun was going to melt the water which would go up into the clouds. One child used the word evaporate to explain it. I accepted all their ideas and asked children to draw them. That afternoon, we went back to the playground and the children had the chance to double-check their predictions.
Once in the playground a group of children ran to me with an almost magical expression in their faces and said:
"Ana, all the water is gone. The ground is dry."
"So what do you think has happened?" I asked.
"We were right, the water was going to disappear."
"How come?" I insisted.
"The sun dried it up." This situation offered no conflict. It happened just the way they predicted.
"Let’s go see what happened over at the other side," I suggested. To their surprise the icy patch was still there. "How come the one over there is gone and this one is still here?" I asked.
"There isn’t much sun here, Ana," Isabel commented. Stuart added that the building was casting a shadow over the puddle so the sun couldn’t get to it. Other children couldn’t explain what happened and shrugged their shoulders. Their predictions didn’t work and they had no other possible explanation to offer.
I asked them what they thought we were going to find the following day. Some children went back to their previous assumptions about God, others couldn’t give an answer. As the days went by, the first thing they did in the playground was check how the icy puddles changed and trace their boundaries with chalk to compare the changes from one day to the following. In this particular case, not having the right answer did not paralyze their learning, but just the opposite. Children became more curious about the icy spots in the playground.
By offering children the time and space to develop their own premises, to check them out, and to reformulate them, I provide my students with the tools they need to explore their surroundings, to be curious, to investigate, and to look for possible explanations: to be scientists. Then, mistakes become an excellent invitation to further learning, and an inevitable part of their explorations.
Sometimes mistakes happen because our preconceived ideas do not coincide with what we have in front of us. The children and I continued to investigate the concept of evaporation. The children decided to place cups with water in the classroom where it could evaporate easily. Children identified the heaters, the windows, or the lights as good sources of heat. After the weekend we observed what happened with the cups. The water in one of the cups had evaporated 1/4 of an inch.
As we looked at it, John said: "Nothing has happened." I couldn’t understand why he was saying this when it was so evident that there was less water. So I asked him what he meant. He repeated that nothing had changed. I realized that I was not asking the right question.
"What did you expect was going to happen?" I asked instead.
"I thought that all the water would be gone, but only a little bit did." What an insightful response! How many times it is that we make mistakes because what we see doesn’t match our expectations. John had to spell out his expectations and to compare them with his observations in order to correct his answer. After thinking quietly he continued. "Then, I think that if we leave the cup at least two hours a day by the heat, the water will evaporate in a few days." His parents later told me he developed his own experiments at home.
When children have the opportunity to figure things out, they may come up with "wrong" answers. Yet, those answers reveal children’s thinking process and point of view. Too often we jump to correct those mistakes and disregard the possibilities they offer to the learning experience, both for the children and the teachers.
Knowing children’s predictions about the icy puddles was a door into their thinking. They helped me better understand their points of view, have a perspective on their learning process, and design future interactions with them. More specifically, my conversation with John reminded me of the importance of trying to understand what the children really mean with their answers. When I understand what they mean I become a partner in their learning process.
The water in the cups evaporated a little bit each day. After several observations, two girls discovered a pattern and predicted that it would take the water eight days to evaporate. They arrived to that conclusion by measuring how much water evaporated from one day to the other and by counting how many times that measurement fit in the rest of the cup. Then we marked it in the calendar and waited for the day. A third girl became so interested in their prediction that she took ownership in checking out on a daily basis how much water had evaporated. On the eighth day, she excitedly announced to the whole class that the two girls were right. Everybody celebrated with excitement and begun to predict how long it would take for the water in the other cups to "disappear."
These classroom episodes reveal the excitement, curiosity, exploration, and thinking that takes place when young children take responsibility for their learning. I didn’t tell the children how bubbles work or how water evaporates. They had the opportunity to explore and figure that out by themselves. I believe this is the kind of knowledge that will stick with them. When children become explorers, they are not only learning content but some very important skills they will need throughout their lives, such as the capacity to observe and reflect on their surroundings. And they can begin to learn all of that in Kindergarten without missing a bit of fun. Can one ask for a better combination?
Whose
Work Is It? Student-Led Parent Conferences I admit that just before I implemented student-led parent conferences for the first time, I had my doubts. "Isnit this your job, Deb?" I wondered. "What makes you think this will be better than traditional parent conferences?"
My doubts dissolved, however, when I observed my crew proudly and articulately sharing their work with their parents. I was there to be "on belay" for them should they need me, but my primary responsibility had been to guide them through the preparation process so they could present their work comfortably and effectively. Once I knew that the students were capable of taking on this role, and that the parents were satisfied with the information shared, it was easy to pass on this important task to the students.
These experiences with student-led conferences convinced me that whether schools use report cards or portfolio as reporting systems, it is vital that students attend their conferences and take an active role in reporting their growth. After all, whose work is it? Who should be celebrated for exemplary effort and quality work? Who should be held accountable when work and study habits are neglected?
Student-led conferences can be designed to be grade/age appropriate. Almost all conferences at Rocky Mountain School of Expeditionary Learning (RMSEL) are thirty minutes in length. In the primary grades, students are responsible for ten to fifteen minutes of the conference, leaving about fifteen minutes for parentsi questions and concerns. Children share pre-selected pieces of work and talk with their parents about what is good about the work, what they learned, and what they need to improve.
Older students may be accountable for the entire conference. They, too, talk about their portfolio pieces, reflect on academic and character strengths and weaknesses and share themselves as learners. Additional time is scheduled if the crew leader or parent needs to address other issues or when confidentiality is required. The middle school teams schedules two conferences at a time. The math/science teacher sits with one student/parent group while the humanities teacher sits with another and then they switch after half of the conference. High school students sit with their crew leaders during the conferences and share work from the various content area classes. The subject area teacher may be asked to attend the conference if the student, crew leader or parent requires more detailed information.
Ultimately, the format is less important than preparing the students and parents for student-led conferences. Students need advanced warning that part of their job in school is to prepare and present their work for their parents. They need to spend adequate time selecting work, setting agendas, creating scripts and practicing for the conference. We block out anywhere between several hours for the younger children to a few days for the older students for them to prepare. The following procedure was developed by Linda Greene and Kendall Wills for their first- and second-grade, multi-age crews:
1. Go through the Table of Contents as a group.
2. Go through each discipline folder (math, reading, writing, science, etc.)
3. Pick from certain work (may be required by crew leader or may be self-selection).
4. Work is selected by quality. Best work is: complete, shows best thinking, and is neat.
5. Once all work is in portfolio, students complete Peer Portfolio Review forin.
6. Students take peer comments and polish their work.
7. Students choose particular pieces to share and mark them with a sticky note.
8. Students complete "Goals" worksheet and "Who Am I As A Learner?" form.
Older students may be given a checklist to follow as they prepare, more independently, for their conferences. Gretchen Strong and Jen Wood, RMSELis third-and fourth-grade crew leaders, use the following:
Communications
Literature Circle Group Work: You should have written summaries of the book. Pick one or two to share. Fiction Writing: Share at least one story you have been working on and explain your plan for it. Grant Writing Drafts: You should select at least three drafts to share. A copy of the story Eleven and any notes you took Literary Analysis: be prepared to discuss your work on your novel. Refer to the rubric we created to discuss your strengths and weaknesses.
Math and Science
Select three or four multiplication and division sheets that are your best work or that demonstrate something youive accomplished that was difficult. Area and perimeter packet: put this in your portfolio. Fraction math work Your written piece on "What I Know About Division" Add any other math work you want. Include your boat building and testing sheets Include boat-building plans
Cultural Understanding
Notes from the Clipper Ship movie Crew investigation on the History of Sailing
Sometimes students are given a list of questions that help them focus their presentation on particular content or character areas. For example:
Work and Study Skills
Are you responsible about getting your work done on time? Do you use class time wisely? Explain. Is your work quality work or do you only put in enough effort to get it done? Do you work well independently or do you need someone telling you what to do all the time? Do you respect your crew and allow them to work in a positive environment? Do you disrupt the learning of others?
In addition to checklists and questions, crew leaders may provide some "conversation starters" to initiate conference topics. These might include:
I want you to notice my work: I picked this piece because: I really liked doing this because I learned: Iim having difficulty with: I could use your help with: Iim doing well on: I need to improve:
All crews provide opportunities for students to practice their conference presentations within the crew or with other crews. Students improve their presentations with the help of peer critique sessions that focus on whether or not the presenter was organized, stayed within the time frame, and covered all the content areas.
Parents have an important role to fill during the conference, and we often share guidelines that help them play an active role. We suggest they listen carefully to their child, ask clarifying questions that require their child to explain their work, and talk about what can be done at home to support improvement
We have found that once parents experience a student-led conference, they become enthusiastic proponents of the practice. One parent, Susan Tamulonis, wrote "Here is a time where the parent can evaluate and reflect upon how the child sees herself as a leader, as a learner, as a responsible student, and a future adult. These alone, but also many other dynamics at the conferences, have forced me to break many of my preconceived notions about my child."
Students are equally enthusiastic about their involvement in conferences. Some of Gretchen Strongis third and fourth graders spent time explaining the importance of student-led conferences.
"If you are having trouble, it is good that you talk about how you can improve and make it so you can improve more on work."
"If I couldnit go to my conference, I would feel sad because I wouldnit get to share the good work I worked so hard on and that I was proud of."
"If I couldnit go to my conference, it would be silent."
Students understand that learning to present their work in an articulate fashion is a skill that will serve them well. In the course of learning expeditions, for instance, students are asked to present to business and educational groups. These parent conferences build the communication skills students need for those audiences.
Additionally, RMSEL students at the second, fifth, eighth and twelfth grade years are required to present a passage portfolio to a panel of adults who decide if they are ready for the next level of their education. Student conferences help to prepare students for this high-stakes assessment.
Educational experts talk about the
need for authentic assessments. What could be more authentic than
students being responsible for creating and preparing a presentation
that accurately reflects what they know and can do?
The
"Aha" Moment: When Students Take Ownership of Service Sims: I always start a learning expedition by presenting ideas for service to the students. In the beginning, I know that theyire doing the service because I asked them, not because they necessarily want to do it. But at some point, I can take a step back, and the students take over whatis happening in the classroom. The class starts to function as a cohesive whole, and I donit have to do much intervention. Students start talking a lot in class, but it is not idle chatter, it is all about their work. They use their lunch period to work on the project on their own. When it gets to that point, then I know that there has been a change in these children thatis going to stick with them. I call those times the "aha" moments.
The challenge for the teacher is figuring out what can spark that "aha" moment. My frustration comes when Iive gone through a whole expedition, and I havenit seen it, because teaching without it is unsatisfying. In the past few years, I have done three learning expeditions with strong service component. In two of the years, the students really took ownership of the service, but in the third year, it just didnit happen. I am still trying to figure out why.
Cousins: Can you describe an expedition when students took ownership of the service?
Sims: Three years ago, we did an expedition on local ecology. We started by doing a survey of the local community to see what environmental issues people were concerned about, and one of the things they listed was improving Madison Square Park. The students felt park restoration was something that they could handle, something they felt empowered to do.
Still, I donit think that they got to that "aha" moment until an Outward Bound instructor asked if my students would teach elementary students about the restoration of the park. They immediately took over the ideas of what and how they wanted to teach. I was able to step back and let them do all the planning and implementing. At that moment, they became classroom teachers for those little children. Middle school students seem to contribute the most and are most willing to take risks when they work with younger children. They felt empowered and motivated.
In the following yearis expedition, we tested peopleis water for sodium, chlorine, and metals. I began by asking them "Would they drink their bathroom water?" Young students like things that are shocking, so a question like that got their attention. They immediately got into a debate. The hardest part of planning a learning expedition is finding a good guiding question. I got lucky with that one.
Out of our debate, we started determining the scientific investigations necessary to tell the difference between bathroom and kitchen water. In the beginning, I was leading the questions, but at some point, the students started to take ownership of what was happening. They got really interested in researching water quality and conducting tests. Part of their interest came from the fact that their own bodies are affected by the water they drink, but they also liked learning things that officials at the Department of Environmental Protection werenit even sure about. They were so motivated to find answers that they read college research papers off the Internet.
Cousins: It sounds like they got interested in the science of water testing, but they also seemed interested in providing a service related to that. How did that happen?
Sims: They realized that they were learning things about water quality that adults wanted to know. There was an opportunity to share knowledge. It gave them a sense of empowerment, which is so important with children that age. I think it was also tied to the fact that they had seen examples of service before, in their lives, and also in my classroom. It wasnit a new concept to them. We had started out the year with an exercise in which I presented students with different scenarios, such as donating blood or tutoring students as part of your job, and asked them, "Is this service?" Debating different views gave them a chance to think about service in new ways. After that exercise, I used the vocabulary of service throughout the expedition, and it became a part of their vocabulary as well.
Cousins: Tell me about a time when your students did not buy into the service.
Sims: This past year, I did an expedition on solid waste. I suggested to the students that we set up a recycling program in the school and share our model with other schools. The students got really interested in the research. They loved going to the sewage treatment plant and to Staten Islandis landfill. They liked learning about the politics, and the places where New York Cityis problem with solid waste is getting out of control.
But all of their interest in environmental issues was not enough to carry them through the service. It was not enough to make them believe that their school recycling program was making a difference at the landfill. The whole time, they were doing things because I asked them to. It was more important to me than it was to them.
Some people did start recycling because of these students, but the students focused only on those who didnit. They wanted 100% participation, and if it wasnit 100%, they felt that they failed at what they did. We had conversations about the question, if a service project wasnit successful, did you still do a service?
Cousins: Why do you think the students never took charge of the service?
Sims : I think there was one major issue that got in the way. These students were seventh graders in a school that goes up to twelfth grade. They didnit think that older students would listen to them. They werenit really willing to take that kind of a risk. But I pushed them, because I hoped that after they got started, that they would see that the older students would listen to them, and that they could take on this project as their own. And indeed, some of the older students and teachers did listen, but many were not recycling properly. I donit think that my students felt that they could do anything to change the habits of the people who resisted change.
Cousins: It sounds like students were intellectually engaged in the issues of solid waste, but they did not feel empowered to make a difference.
Sims: Yes, I think that empowerment is the central theme that inspires that "aha" moment in students. Itis about finding projects that make them feel like they can take charge and accomplish something meaningful.
Cousins: What are some of the ingredients that allow students to feel empowered?
Sims: One of the most important things is to offer them choices. You have to find the common ground between what you as an educator want to cover and what your students are interested in. Then give them choices within that framework, so they can actually pick things that they feel that they want to accomplish.
Introducing students to good resources can also make a difference. When the students researched water testing, some of the materials they read came from college papers—very sophisticated stuff for eighth graders. Yet, they didnit feel intimidated by it, because they had been to the Department of Environmental Protectionis laboratories, they had seen professional water testing, and they had talked to officials. Having resources like that gives them a chance to really explore what they are interested in.
Itis also important for my classes to see me doing work right alongside them. Iim modeling at the same time that Iim teaching. They see me going to the computer and researching something. When they ask me a question and I donit know the answer, I say, "Iim not sure about this, either. Letis look it up together." They see that model, and they start to run with it and go a little bit further on their own.
Cousins: Many of the expeditions you have done have had service as a key motivator. Do you notice a difference when that service isnit present to a strong degree?
Sims: There is a difference. When you do a learning expedition without service, the students donit seem to shift from doing things because you asked them to doing things because they want to.
I think service, more than any other aspect of an expedition, helps students become self-directed learners. It goes back to that empowerment stage. Service-oriented expeditions require students to do a lot more and teachers to do a lot less. Itis a time when students actually see the importance of what they are learning; they apply their learning for the good of someone else. Itis a time when their work is real. They have a dialogue with the world, and instead of it being about PokEmon cards, itis about school work.
Service gets them to ask questions, too. When the students were doing the water study, they had to ask themselves a lot of questions. As they learned something new, it would prompt them to ask other questions. Too often with other types of learning, the only questions students ask are, "Is that going to be on the test?" or "Do we have to copy this down?" The questions that come out of service have real-world substance.
Cousins: Is that why service helps bring about those "aha" moments?
Sims: Yes, I think so, because
service has to do with connecting with the outside world. You learn
not just for your own sake, but because other people are depending
on you. Students come to understand that. Perhaps in the beginning,
they donit really understand the importance of how well they do
the job, is doing to affect other people. But as they get going,
after theyive seen some of the work theyive done and can evaluate
it, they realize that hey, this really is going to impact on somebody
else, and I really do need to do a better job if Iim going to help
someone. else, and I really do need to do a better job if Iim going
to help someone.
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