Inquiry as a Way of Life

Audience: STEM Waukesha Teachers

How do we learn? Learning is an incredibly complex process that results in an actual, physical change in the brain.  When we learn, we are transformed.  Our lives, perspectives and actions change for the remainder of our lives.  So how do we provide rich learning experiences that ensure both understanding and transfer of the concepts, skills and strategies that support our navigation through the world around us?

First, it is important to understand what actually happens in the brain during learner.  In Jame Zull’s book, The Art of Changing the Brain, Zull outlines a learning process (or learning cycle) that employs the biology of the brain and gives us insight into the conditions that need to be present for learning to take place. (We highly recommend reading this book!)

This first stage of learning, the gathering, begins with a feeling or emotion.  There is a motivation or need to know ignited within the learner.  When we consider ways to personalize learning, beginning with learner interests and passions is an important way to ensure engagement and ownership of learning.  From here, the teacher crafts an inquiry experience, based on what we have learned about what motivates our learners, that guides them through the remainder of Zull’s cycle of learning.  

Inquiry is so important to personalizing learning, we believe it should have it’s own cell in the The Institute’s Learning and Teaching Practices within the Honeycomb. This is also why Process Thinking is one of our Big Rocks at STEM. Within this Big Rock, we also engage learners in Design Thinking and that will be a focus of a future blog post.

From the moment we are born, we begin to engage in inquiry as a process for learning. Take a look at this video of a baby learning to walk. As you watch, consider the following questions:

-How does Zull’s theory fit with this learner’s accomplishment?

-What is the role of the learner (baby)?

-What is the role of the facilitator (parent)?

-What is the role of the community (brother, sister, grandma)?

Hawthorne STEM Teachers: This week in STEM PD (Wednesday, September 28th) we will view the video of a baby learning to walk together and have a conversation about what we notice. Then, you will have an opportunity to work in level teams to reflect on the same questions in regards to the inquiry experience you are developing. Please bring anything you need to work on developing your inquiry experience to STEM PD with you.

STEM Randall Teachers: This would be a wonderful activity to engage in during level PLCs.

Take care,
Talk soon,

Essential Questions: The Learning Belongs to the Curious

Audience: All Staff at STEM Waukesha

If you have ever spent time around a two year old, you know what it’s like to be peppered with questions. How?, why? and what? asked in rapid succession can be exhausting and it puts us on the spot to feel like we have all of the answers. A really smart mom once shared her secret with us. She told us to turn the question around on the child. Answer the questions with a question… "What do YOU think?” The trick is, you have to listen to the answer and listen closely. In their answer is insight into how a child sees the world around them. This is our entry point into our learning.

Developing essential questions to guide a learning experience is an early and challenging conversation for many teams.  It asks us to step back from the content we know and are eager to share and requires us to look at the bigger picture.  The time spent on this conversation supports all of the other big rocks and supports the team in their norming around the experience.

The Future Belongs to the Curious from Skillshare on Vimeo.

Watch this video of a learner sharing his learning experiences and consider what essential question may have sparked his curiosity into the topics he is exploring.  Keep in mind that an essential question is broad, but should provide opportunities for learners to investigate topics they’re interested in more specifically.

During Hawthorne’s STEM PD on Wednesday morning (Sept. 13 @7:30), there will be time for teams to: 1) view the video above, 2) have a conversation about possible essential questions that inspired this learner, and 3) dive into planning STEaM/Inquiry for the current or next unit.  Please bring all relevant materials that your team needs to support this work to the meeting.

At the end of our time together, teams will be asked to share a poster demonstrating the Essential Question for your learning experience. Specifically, teams will be able to answer:

+ What is your essential question?

+ How does your EQ connect the thinking learners will do related to the world beyond our classroom?

STEM Randall teachers, this could be an activity your teams complete during your Level PLCs.

Enjoy your week and BE CURIOUS!

Taking the Time to Listen

Audience: Literacy Teachers at STEM Waukesha

brown girl dreaming 
by Jacqueline Woodson

Welcome back to the first FULL week of school! I have to admit, it was nice to ease into the school year with the two day week and then the four day week... now we're ready to take on the full five days... and so are our learners.

I was in and out of a few literacy classrooms last week and I noticed a trend of teachers working REALLY hard to get to know their learners and to build community within classrooms. This important work of getting to know our learners serves as the foundation for everything we do. While we sometimes put pressure on ourselves to fit everything we need to into a day, we must remember to grant ourselves the time to just listen to our learners. Listen to what they say. Listen to what they don't say. Take the time to get to know their stories. I'm currently reading brown girl dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. In this book Jacqueline Woodson shares her story. As I read this book I've been reflecting on the stories that belong to our learners... each as powerful and as valuable as the story of Ms. Woodson's. I'm thankful to see you all making the time throughout the day to build relationships, to listen and to truly understand the little people you interact with on a daily basis.

brown girl dreaming 
by Jacqueline Woodson p. 278

In literacy PLC this year our work will focus on getting to know our learners as readers, writers and as people in order to develop a learner experience that grows each and every one of our learners. Our goal this week is to norm around the administration of running records so that this assessment can become a tool to help US get to know OUR learners, rather than a data point that we submit in a system for someone else. At our next PLC we will norm around the analysis of running records. This is where we study what the learner did or did not do in order to determine areas of strength & next steps and to plan for intentional instruction.

Marie Clay says, "If a child is a struggling reader or writer, then the conclusion must be that we have not yet discovered the best way to help him or her learn." Let's put our time and energy into listening to our learners and into studying our learners this year so that we are able to discover the best ways in which to help every child grow.

Vertical Literacy PLCs:
Hawthorne STEM - Tuesday, September 13 @7:30 in the Collaboration Space
STEM Randall - Wednesday, September 14 @3:15 in the Collaboration Space

I hope your week is filled with the space to listen to our learners' stories.

Coaching: The Why, The How, and The What

Audience: Teachers at STEM Randall & Hawthorne STEM

The role of Effectiveness Coach has changed considerably in the few years of its existence. As this role continues to evolve, we want to take a moment to explain the Why?, How? And What? of the role of Instructional Coach.

Why?	Our role is supportive, not evaluative. We are here to unlock your potential so that you’re able to maximize your performance. Our goal is for all of our teachers to see themselves as self-directed learners. We strive to connect the work of teachers in our buildings to the broader work of district, to the work of our buildings as STEM schools, but most importantly to what our learners needs are. We measure the effectiveness of our practice in your growth as teachers.
How?	* Lab classroom development - this is our primary objective for the majority of the year (more info to come)* Observations, feedback and coaching conversations for all literacy & math teachers * Coaching cycles related to lifting the learner experience * PLCs & professional development The Wordle represents the responses we received when we asked you (teachers) how we can best support you all. The larger the word, the more often it came up.
What?	Our coaching will focus on growing our practices around the math and literacy big rocks, as well as the STEaM and inquiry experiences. This work should tie directly to your professional goals (SLO, PPG).

Please reach out to us with any questions you have about your learner experience.  Email is the easiest way to connect and we will share our schedules with everyone soon.

Growing Mathematicians

Audience: Teachers of Math at STEM Waukesha

Many of you have heard me share the story of how I used to think that I wasn’t good at math.  In 6th grade I once had to write 6x8=48 one hundred times because I answered the question wrong (twice) on homework.  Somewhere along the line, I developed an identity that did not include “mathematician” in who I was as a learner.   I began to believe the myth that some people are not “math people.”  

My thinking shifted in high school as I fell into solving algebra problems.  I loved the order and balance of finding solutions.  I thought of them as puzzles and attacked them with determination.  I realize now that my experiences in school primarily shaped my mindset about learning math.  What my teachers put in front of me for learning experiences shaped whether I felt math was a set of rules to memorize and apply or a set of challenges that I could tackle.  THAT is how we want our learners to experience math at STEM...as an opportunity to explore numbers in the world around them to develop competency in numeric thinking.

Our Instructional Vision at both schools supports this important work.  Over the last two years STEM teachers have developed and refined an  instructional vision to frame our workshop experiences around.

Waukesha STEM Academy - Randall Campus

Hawthorne STEM School

A feedback rich (teacher-student, student-student, student-self) learning environment where students build a conceptual understanding of math concepts and apply this understanding in real world contexts through design briefs and problem solving tasks.  Students have access to “just right” math instruction throughout the different parts of the workshop.  Students own their learning through setting goals and crafting learning plans to meet their goals.  Students have access to resources to allow for anytime/anywhere learning.

A discourse driven learning environment where students build a conceptual understanding of math concepts and apply this understanding in real world contexts (project or problem based).  Students have access to “just right” math instruction throughout the different parts of the workshop and regularly self-assess and reflect on their progress.  Students own their learning through setting goals and crafting learning plans to meet their goals.

Our role as teachers is to provide a mathematically rich environment where learners can think deeply about problems in the world around using numbers as a way to make their thinking visible.  Learners engage in inquiry through the rigorous problems, tasks and activities available to all students.  Learners connect their thinking to each other to build understanding towards the essential question.  Our big rocks mirror the School District of Waukesha Math Big Rocks as instructional components that support this type of learning experience.

STEM MATH BIG ROCKS

Problem Solving	At STEM we add opportunities for learners to craft their own problems to solve and students use process thinking to solve math problems.  This can include using design briefs to make math thinking visible.
Discourse	Our STEM experience provides ample opportunities for learner voice to guide and stretch the learning. We strive to have learners facilitate the conversation and connect the learning - this is the same expectation throughout our district.
Small Guided Groups	In addition to using the district look-fors to frame this piece of our math workshop, at STEM, learners have the opportunity to set and work towards goals as it relates to where they are in the math continuum of learning.  Teachers give feedback on the continuum of learning by evaluating various evidence pieces.
Technology	STEM Learners use technology to create and collaborate around mathematical ideas.  In addition, students use visual and written lines of code as a way to make their thinking visible.

Because we are a multi-age environment, we want to ensure that students have access to content at their just right level along the continuum of learning every year.  What we shift every year for learners, is the context in which they are applying the mathematics.  The continuum of math learning is used to guide the content and our curriculum maps are used to guide our thinking around the context. (Numeracy continuum is available on bb9)

Level 1 Curriculum Map	Level 1 STEM Parent Curriculum Map
Level 2 Curriculum Map	Level 2 STEM Parent Curriculum Map
Level 3 Curriculum Map	Level 3 STEM Parent Curriculum Map

Throughout the year, we will work together to develop our practice around our math experience.  PLCs are held twice a month for the purpose of analyzing student and instructional data, developing plans for providing responsive instruction and to provide professional development specific to math.

STEM Randall Vertical Math PLCs	Hawthorne STEM Vertical Math PLCs
1st and 3rd Wednesday of the Month In the Collaboration Space 3:15 PM	1st and 3rd Tuesday of the Month In the Collaboration Space 7:45 AM

Looking to stretch your math wings and learn more about providing a quality math experience?  Check out the two options linked below.

• Carroll University Math Certificate Program - this program was developed with the School District of Waukesha and has helped shaped our math program district wide.  This program can be rolled into a Master’s Degree for those who are interested in that option.  There is still room available for Fall Registration so sign up soon!  I just finished the program in December of 2015 and I would be happy to answer any questions you have about the program.
• How to Learn Math:  for Teachers by Jo Boaler at Stanford University - this course is completed online from the comfort of your home.  Jo Boaler has been a leader is shaping what math instruction looks like for ALL learners based on what we know about how the brain learns and grows.  Grab a team-mate and sign up together.

I encourage you to spend some time reflecting on your own feelings and attitudes around math.  Consider the baggage we all bring to our practice.  Did you feel successful in math?  What experiences from your own math learning stick out in your memory?  What role did the teachers in your lives play in your math learning?

Also, tap into what you believe to be your “WHY?” of teaching mathematics.  For me, I know that the highest level of math a student takes in high school is often a determining factor in post-secondary schooling, career path and subsequently, life-time earning potential.  Numeracy is essential for full participation in world.  If we have a learner leaving our classroom believing that they are not a “math person”, then we could be putting up roadblocks that will slow them down for the rest of their life.

Matthew Felton, a professor and co-author of many CCSS and NCTM documents shares,

“I believe that students should study mathematics to—

• learn about and appreciate diversity in human thinking and accomplishments throughout history and around the world;
• see the role of mathematics in their daily lives, their community practices, and their cultural backgrounds; and
• understand, analyze, critique, and take action regarding important social and political issues in our world, especially issues of injustice.”

I believe that too...