Wednesday, March 22, 2017

The Power of the Right Question: Provoking Problem-Solving and Ponderance

Often, a teacher is in their lecture zone, asking questions and waiting responses. These questions may be deep and meaningful but still very much from the perspective of the teacher. What if we put this roe of question writing for quizzes and assignments at least in to the hands of our students? What is we empowered them to design assessments driven by discussion and debate rather than multiple-choice and short answer questions. This style of questioning, state exams etc. is necessary for practice for the "real-world examinations" but self-driven, personal questioning is just as important because when you can train yourself to ask the right questions you can discover the answers to almost anything.

When I start a unit I always begin with the broad, over-arching concept. That is the framework from which all of the student-centered activities and learning experiences derive from. I let my students research and delve into the topic through discussion questions and short video clips. Then they venture deeper into the topic they find incredibly interesting. Something that they are curious about will automatically be the magnet that pulls them in. When my students are fascinated, the topic will be more focused and their ideas will be more fleshed out. Let them come together in groups and discuss their findings because together they will see how independent thought will create unique ideas to their own but yet sync beautifully into the big picture.

Once students develop their large scale questions and research their interests, they come together and create graphic organizers or info-graphics to share with the class. These often lead to blog discussions or podcasts too. The more excited and connected they feel to the topic the more time and effot they put into their collaboration. These questions then become the foundation of our student-driven assessments. My tests are standard with my team-mates as per district policy, but my quizzes are very different because I feel interactive quizzes, student run informal assessments work best to truly gain insight to their strengths and growth. This is when I can really see those who are still struggling. Then we have remediation or enrichment circles to delve deeper or to help those who may need an extra push forward.

Socratic seminars, fish-bowl, interviews, and podcasts are all great tools for a class wide assessment. Rather than have them take a written quiz I prefer performance tasks as a class or at least large groups, where everyone must participate equally to get the grade they desire. They get individual grades but they push themselves harder when they know it is for the betterment of the group that they come prepared and ready to attack the days task. The last assessment I gave every student stood in a single line and had to build off the person in front of them's response to the topic. To make a connection between there topic and those around them. when we got to the end of the line there was a clear understanding of photosynthesis and plant characteristics and adaptations. Their test scores have increased by 25% after we have begun these types of quizzes/performance tasks. I use these in all three levels as well. Once students feel empowered in their own learning they will achieve great things.

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