Learning Never Stops

"The power of question is the basis of all human progress." - Indira Gandhi. During an IB workshop I was conducting a few months ago, I remember a teacher heaving a huge sigh of relief when she learnt that it was okay for her students to struggle with generating questions. I was a little taken aback to see her so stressed. Though young children are naturally curious, they usually struggle to articulate their queries in a formal setting. While engaged in play, as they create things with loose parts for instance, most of their questions are in their minds. If they fail at something, you can see their questions in their expressions and movement of their hands as they try and figure out what to do next. Lately I have seen a lot of posts on "X" and some educational platforms where the focus is on surface and deep questions. This is usually accompanied by a visual of a scuba diver trying to reach the depths of the ocean. So this time, instead of a wonder wall for my unit ...

One day, a student and his dad arrived in class with a little package. It turned out to be an empty nest they had found in their garden. My students eagerly gathered around it to see it up close. "What if the mummy bird is still looking for it?" one worried boy asked. They all looked at me but I shrugged and kept inspecting the nest. I was thinking about the lesson ahead and decided to shelf it. Long division could wait. The Grade 3s were learning about natural structures and this was a perfect chance to let inquiry flow.  I Step Back,   They Move Forward. We then used SEE THINK WONDER, an often used, yet simple and powerful tool to organize our thoughts. By now, my Grade 3s are readily able to identify HOT and LOT questions  (higher/lower order thinking). Their sheets filled up with their wondering. I noticed there were quite a few Why... What if... I wonder why... ...

In order to teach a skill, what strategies do we have under our belt? Which strategy works better? How can we gauge the effectiveness of a strategy? Educators need to have many different ways of approaching a lesson. Knowing your students really well, will help you decide which strategy will work best. You will know it works best when you observe the children during that activity. Be observant. Are the students engaged? Are they interacting with one another? Are they focused on the task even when you are not in the vicinity? If yes, then the strategy and task are 'just right.' If not, no need to panic. Use your judgement and tweak it. You can even abandon it right there. It has to be meaningful to the students. Otherwise, you are wasting your time and theirs. I am posting a video of a lesson in my class. Feel free to critique it. I love reflecting on a lesson. The strategy is familiar to many I am sure. But that's not the point of this post. Did it work well? How...