I recall an interesting moment our family shared while watching the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. We were preparing our New Year's dinner. Brett started the conversation by saying an important thing we can do as a family is remain in contact via traditional mail—actually finding out how much it costs to send a letter to Poetland, Carpinteria, Switzerland, or Santa Barbara. At least once in a while send out non-technology based mail so that we can remain in contact the old-fashioned way.
The weekend was spent in the usual manner, culminating in a frenzy of effort at the midnight hour to complete my weekly Walden assignment. Prior to that moment, Tera and I had spent a productive Saturday preparing and leveling the pad for our swimming pool. All the while, quietly in my head, I was formatting the layout and draft for the second Assignment. I knew it would appear on the monitor eventually, the actual time a mystery. I am a procrastinator, and usually wait until the final moment to complete major projects. I am continually amazed at my ability to survive with these ingrained habits. Prior to that, I had completed the following discussion assignment on Wednesday: In past classroom experience, inquiry starts with the motivation of the teacher in directing students’ toward successful understanding of incentive participation. A great way to provide these rich learning experiences is to tap students’ prior knowledge, set clear goals and expectations, and demonstrate to these learners you are there to ensure their success (Gabay, 1991, p. 7, cited in Alvermann, Phelps, & Ridgeway, 2007, p. 32). One idea discovered this week is the cyclical progression of Internet inquiry, especially in the challenges students (and their teachers) face in adoption of technology best suited for this purpose (Eagleton & Dobler, 2007, p. 52). The use of tablets and other technology must be thought out thoroughly before students attempt any assignments. Involving students in determining how technology will be used is a prime motivational strategy for success. Since most of my students have little access to information technology away from school (besides their phones, of course), the computer classroom should provide multiple opportunities for these students to engage in the understanding of technology as it relates to school, home, and the workplace (Kuhlthau, Maniotes, & Caspari, 2007, p. 2). Kuhlthau, et al. (2007) go on to describe how guided inquiry can produce independent learners who realize the importance of expanding their knowledge (p. 3). I have found talking about cultural commonality opens the floodgates of discussion in the classroom. In our secondary classrooms, students still do not understand the concept of the Memorial Day three-day weekend! They just know they don't have to come to school because of some wars old people fought in. It was interesting eliciting questions from these students, and this led to an impromptu lesson on the history of Memorial Day on http://www.discoveryeducation.com/ . It's a great site and seemed to do the trick. Dr. Sara Armstrong describes the importance of developing a method to engage students in meaningful inquiry by giving these learners the opportunity to develop their own questions that will spur critical thinking (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010). I find when you let your students generate questions, they become motivated to discover the answers. Marzano (2013) hints that students need to be guided in the proper methods to generate viable questions that require students to provide the means to support evidence for their elaborations (p. 77). Thornburg (2004) also concurs, “questions that need to research and/or verifiable experimentation lead, more naturally, to defensible answers” (p. 4). Technology is useful in helping students to attain the background knowledge they need to be academically successful. Second language learners require additional encouragement in the initial phases of developing good questions. A great way to facilitate question generation is to utilize small group discussion with a rotating note-taker utilizing a tablet that can mirror these notes on the overhead. References: Alvermann, D. E., Phelps, S. F., & Ridgeway, V. G. (2007). Content area reading and literacy: Succeeding in today’s diverse classrooms (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston: Pearson Education. Eagleton, M. B., & Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the web: Strategies for Internet inquiry. New York, NY: The Guilford Press. Kuhlthau, C. C., Maniotes, L. K., & Caspari, A. K. (2007). Guided inquiry: Learning in the 21st century. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited. Laureate Education, Inc. (2010). Essential questions in inquiry projects [Video webcast]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_ 1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3F%26id=_2822226_1%26url= Marzano, R. J. (2013). Asking questions-at four different levels. Educational Leadership, 70(5), 76-77. doi: http://www.ascd.org Thornburg, D. (2004). Inquiry: The art of helping students ask good questions (Executive Briefing No. 402). Retrieved from http://www.tcpdpodcast.org/briefings/inquiry.pdf |
Author: Ron BottorffI am a high school English teacher, EdTech coach, guitar player, and retired Firefighter — Be yourself, change the world! Archives
February 2018
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