Active Learning

At Saturday’s Hawaii Association of School Librarians’ conference, Nalani left a spot on the evaluation form for people to ask questions. Here’s my first stab at the first batch of questions. More will be coming soon! Please leave a comment or email me at font [at] umich [dot] edu if I can clarify anything further!

How does HCPS (Hawaii Content Performance Standards) compare with Common Core standards?

I’m not from Hawai’i, so I’ll direct you to this Hawaii DOE toolkit for ideas. How’s that for side-stepping the question? 🙂

How do you convince teachers and administrators to support this kind of open-ended inquiry?

No doubt about it, this kind of instructional shift takes time. Most of us didn’t go to school learning how to teach and learn in this way, so it can feel unwieldy and tricky.

The thing that’s worked best for me has been to ask for an extra 15 minutes in a research project and insert a little nudge. When I’ve done that, the students’ behavior has changed, and that motivates the teachers and administrators I’ve worked with to find space. It’s like the Stone Soup story or the Loaves and the Fishes … we educators are stingy with our time until we see what can happen. Then we “remember” that we could make a little more space for things.

If finding time during class is a struggle, try a lunchtime or extracurricular club. Generating student energy and excitement often translates to the classroom. Teachers and administrators are as weary as librarians are of the many demands placed on them, so when they see students responding positively to something, that gets their attention. They love it when kids are engaged … and seeing is believing. (Note: this works for makerspaces in schools, too!)

Next, you might consider putting some bumpers on that inquiry. Open-ended inquiry is great … the sky’s the limit! … but its very limitlessness can be disconcerting or downright chaotic. My editor once illuminated the hazards of open inquiry by saying, “Sure, if you put a bunch of kids in a room and ask them to rub items together, they might eventually discover static electricity, but it could take forever.” So sometimes putting frames around inquiry can help (or, in the case of static electricity, limiting the items for inquiry could help them make the discovery more efficiently). Instead, consider what Kuhlthau et al called Guided Inquiry (they have a couple of books on the topic … read this one first, then this design workbook).

Additionally, if you need a blunter instrument with which to broker conversations about inquiry with folks, look at the Smarter Balanced assessment documentation. Smarter Balanced will be the test instrument used for about half the CCSS-using states, including your state of Hawai’I and mine of Michigan. Take a look specifically the document entitled “Claims for the English Language Arts/Literacy Summative Assessment.”  I’m pasting the text for the four claims below.

Claim #1 – Reading
“Students can read closely and analytically to comprehend a range of increasingly complex literary and informational texts.”

Claim #2 – Writing
“Students can produce effective and well-grounded writing for a range of  purposes and audiences.”

 Claim #3 – Speaking and Listening
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 Claim #4 – Research/Inquiry
“Students can engage in research and inquiry to investigate topics, and to analyze, integrate, and present information.” (emphasis added)

Sometimes, the adage of, “If it gets tested, it gets taught” is what gets folks’ attention. If the testmakers claim they will evaluate research and inquiry, it needs to be taught, right? 🙂

You mentioned a way teachers can find resources that have Lexiles so they can direct students appropriately. Where can I find this?

Many subscription databases will display the Lexile level – or other measure of reading difficulty – when it delivers search results. My state subscribes to many GaleCengage databases, so I know Gale’s databases do this.

The cool thing about Lexiling is that it helps teachers do something they’ve historically struggled with: match readers with content at a personalized level. So instead of fretting that their biology textbook is written at an unsuitable level, teachers can quickly find more suitable resources in a database.  If you’re a teacher reading this, hightail it over to your librarian, who wants to help you make this huge connection to differentiated resources!

Additionally, since we know kids like Google but that many results aren’t custom-written for kids, you might find Google’s advanced search by reading level to be helpful. Check out this Free Technology For Teachers post for a quick introduction.

Do you use Follett Destiny in your research projects?

That’s a tough question. I had better luck pulling books or making pathfinders than spending much time having students do search in most grades. I used some Google Custom Search for grade 4. In grade 5, we talked about open web searching, Google News, constructing good Google searches, and skimming results. I left practice about four years ago, and if I were to go back into K-12, I would start this much earlier now than I did then. We’re just not doing kids any favors by not teaching them — from an early age — to use the number one search tool.

I had students for such a limited time that I wanted to focus on working through content instead of finding it.  (Each of us learns to discern what our faculty and students need most.) So I didn’t use Follett Destiny as a formal portal to research projects very much. Plus, I inherited an outdated collection, so if I had multiple students interested in a topic, I couldn’t accommodate those resources in print – digital pathfinders could get me more bang for the buck. Also, I pretty much used Destiny to track equipment, print resources, and audio books instead of web-based resources.

At the time, it was a bifurcation that made sense to me, but that’s not the only way to go. Some people put both print and digital resources into their catalog. Take a look at Marcia Mardis’ WebMARC project as a way to integrate your curated digital resources into your Destiny or other catalog if that’s of interest.

Others buy the add-on that adds Destiny Quest to their Destiny account, which helps do federated search with your subscription databases and resources. That was something that was just being added to our account when I left K-12, so I can’t comment on it.

OK, that’s all the questions for today. (This week is spring break, after all!) What do you think? Do you have different approaches or strategies that are working for you? If so, leave a note in the comments, and stay tuned for more questions from HASL’s Saturday conference!

**Updated after the workshop to include your “Aha!” moments that you shared at the pin table at the bottom of the post**

***Updated again March 6 with your “Aha!” moments from the evaluations at the very very end of the post***

What a pleasure to be at Kamehameha School today to lead the Hawaii Association of School Librarians’ workshop about inquiry strategies in the Common Core era.

Some links for today:

• Morning slide deck
• Afternoon slide deck
• “A Yacht, a Mustache: How a President Hid His Tumor” story on NPR
• Download an extra postcard to send yourself!

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Participants shared these “Aha!” moments. All are direct quotes, with commentary in brackets:

• (This) confirms that synthesis and personal sense making remain at the heart of learning!
• Does the information you’ve found help solve the problem? [A question you can ask students if you frame their research around a scenario or problem]
• It’s not about libraries; it’s about learning. [A direct quote from AASL President Gail Dickinson’s opening remarks!]
• (If you replace the “I” in K-W-L with “what I think I know” instead of “what I know” – an idea from Sandy Buczynski, it leaves room for the possibility that) what I think I know … was wrong.
• “Guidelines shouldn’t hold us back.” [quoting Gail Dickinson]
• It is rejuvenating to mentor new teachers.
• (I) need to rethink how to approach student learning. I need to do more Connecting and Wondering!! [Connect = Stripling’s prior knowledge phase; Wonder = Stripling’s questioning phase]
• So much information. I need to learn a little at a time.
  
• Frame projects for relevance.
  
• I never thought about it, but you were absolutely right — in the beginning, children chat and talk, then it gets quiet, not because they are not engaged, it’s because they are thinking.
• Research based on materials by Lexile level — yes! [Some databases let you search for items by Lexile level, which can help teachers better customize texts to readers]
• See – Think – Wonder (is) a great way to get student sto use photos as an initiation for inquiry.
  
• No wonder the end products for research projects aren’t what they should be — we didn’t prep so well at the start!
• I don’t need to come up with a new project focus; I just need to reframe it.
• Reuse a (tech) tool (instead of introducing a new one for each project). It saves instructional time. [Hat tip to Buffy Hamilton, who clued me into her approach of finding a few hardworking tools she could reuse instead of new ones each time]
• (Experts) look at the bibliography first before reading the paper/project.
• That it’s okay to not do all the steps of inquiry – we can emphasize some of them!
• Start thinking about small additions to final research problems to make them relevant to students.
• Inquiry is about living in the muddy soup. [Adaptation of a quote from Chris Lehmann]
• Go beyond just looking for facts!
• Stripling’s Inquiry (Model) rocks. It’s a new discovery for me. Thanks.
• Keep building prior knowledge! Activate it; the students may have a whole different idea of something! I can’t ask good questions if I don’t know about it!
• How can we make learning relevant for our students beyond just facts? I learned how to revamp questions to provide deeper thinking and research. We read to connect to our world: past, present, and future. 
• See-think-wonder, the pyramid of inquiry. Inquiring minds will want to know.
• New K-W-L [Buczynski’s idea to convert the columns to “What I think I know” (leaves room for misconceptions), “What I wonder” (instead of what I want to know)]
• I came up with a new way to frame, with a question, a project I collaborate on with a teacher.
• I am a classroom teacher and I was hesitant because it was a “library” conference. BUT I got to see a different perspective about librarians and education. 🙂

AHA moments from the evaluations:

• That it is okay to use the same tech tools instead of trying new ones, because it saves on instructional time. [I learned this from Buffy Hamilton!]
• Reuse a tool–it saves instructional time. [Thanks,  Buffy!]
• Love using primary sources, audio/visual, 3D objects ,etc., to tap prior thinking and begin inquiry. [Me, too!]
• Librarians play a big role in our students’ learning and success in CCSS ELA.
• Pre-searching is important for generating interest. Important to direct/frame searching.
• How librarians should support research and not limit the process for students who may go off on tangents when finding information. Ways to make these projects for meaningful for students, “flip history” projects, telling stories.
• Inquiry learning is a muddy soup (Chris Lehmann quote!). Students need adequate time for inquiry learning.
• I don’t need to redo my projects, just rethink how to approach my targets. Students now think differently, so I should, too.
• My library lessons should/could be TOTAL immersion in inquiry. [Keep in mind, though, that you can still teach the “understructure” of research … they still need those basic skills … they’re just stepping stones, not the destination!]
• Inquiry can be confusing for our students, so using the Stripling Inquiry (Model) helps me devise my lessons to better guide the inquiry so it doesn’t become a muddy mess.
• Gotta keep working on getting teachers to make projects more student-centered. (Think) big picture.
• Reframe Problem Based Projects. Stripling Inquiry Model. More CONSTRUCT, less Express. Make “aha” buttons for next workshop. Give students time to share while researching.
• I need to have students do inquiry-based lessons because they are more exciting/interesting for the students.
• “CWICER” [my mnemonic to remember the Stripling Inquiry iterative ‘stages’] (is a) good reminder. (I had) lost focus about the initial prep work (that leads to) better endings.
• My “Aha’s” from today included the Inquiry:
  • Inquiry as a base. This reaffirms what is happening in the classroom and confirms the basis of my teaching.
  • Stripling’s Inquiry Model s a great guide for me to remember the steps of inquiry
• Loved learning how to make inquiry and research more meaningful for my students. The 3 examples were helpful.
• Stripling Inquiry Model
• Wonderful look at inquiry research–I loved the practical examples and hands on sessions.
• It’s not hard to connect the library to the classroom to the CCSS.
• Go back to the basics! Primary Resources!
• It’s ok to ask low level questions [KF adds: at the start!] to get the students with limited language to be participants
• Kristin clarified for me the direction I’ve been trying to head towards for our children in trying to listen & help them have their voice through her organized and clear presentation based on Stripling’s Inquiry Model, the many thought-provoking quotes, bringing us back to question what sparks us and how do we do the research. Many connections reinforcing inquiry in more valuable, meaningful ways trying to comprehend, investigate, eval. & analyze, integrate, synthesize … focused on the process and reflection, presenting backseat to the learning up to the final. Her exercise providing hands-on experience raised questions, provided sparks, highs & lows, all part of the process. Will take her messages: ‘evolution not revolution’, ‘nudging towards inquiry’ (our facilitating the students to learn/question), ‘living in the soup’ (being uncomfortable w/o all the answers, go for it)…’Inquiry isn’t linear. It’s iterative.’ Frame focus – project-based, problem-based, real-world situations.
• Think (about) the way to inspire the student to do their best on their research paper
• I really liked learning about the Stripling Inquiry Model and how Kristin shared some ideas on how I can incorporate it in my first grade classroom. I also like the “New” KWL.
• Research can be FUN! [YESSSSSSS!!!!]
• Some aha’s were how to better approach inquiry with students, and I plan on sharing the information I received with my teachers. (YAY! Keep me posted!)
• I don’t have to have an end product for every research unit and that parents should see the tools and processes their child used, not just the cleaned-up final products.
• I need to do a better job in getting students excited about research by connecting it to their own lives or community.
• Research projects can be inspirational and motivational when using a problem based construct approach that keeps interest high in order to solve the questions arising during discussions.
• I appreciated the entire information shared but my Aha would be the mind shift: the basic research could be tweaked (framing strategies) to engage students in pursuing knowledge that would fascinate them.
• How important and difficult forming questions can be, and that the time to search and discover is needed.
• Guide students to be responsible for their own learning.
• small changes can be made to existing research assignments to nudge students toward authentic inquiry
• allowing students time to explore and wonder before doing the actual research is vital for activating interest and giving students background info to create good questions
• That it is okay to use the same tech tools instead of trying new ones, because it saves on instructional time. [Thanks, Buffy! Look how much your idea resonated!]
• Frame the project for real life relevance.
• Inquiry means that we live in that uncomfortable place where we don’t know the answer. [Another appearance of the power of the Lehmann quote!] CWICER.
• Instead of trying to create completely new projects, I need to work with teachers to re-frame existing projects.
• In order to reduce the time needed to do inquiry, some of the “steps” can be skipped – example the express component. Starting with a good foundation of prior knowledge can lead to higher level/deeper questions. I do research similar to what I see students doing — starting with Google, getting easily sidetracked
• Exciting learning is noisy, full of people wanting to share what they just learned and walking around looking at what other have found. We got to remember when we try to “sh…..h our students in our libraries.

Wow, folks. It makes me shiver to hear this kind of learning going on. Keep me posted with what you try! Next up, I’ll start tackling your questions from the evaluations.