IBI - the WHAT and the HOW

Inquiry Based Instruction - Curiosity meets the Scientific Method. 

In this teaching method, students work on a problem to formulate questions, investigate their questions, observe and repeat until they can connect the information, make a conclusion and finally share their findings. What I find most impressive about this process is how fluid it can be. When we went on our field trip this morning to Greenwood, I would not have even known that I was observing IBI if I was not there specifically for that.

The five steps of IBI are:
          1. Question
          2. Investigate
          3. Use evidence to describe, explain, and predict.
          4. Connecting evidence to knowledge
          5. Sharing findings.

The IBI method allows for students to have autonomy in their learning and gives teachers flexibility.  It allows students to work together and learn from each other - showing and utilizing their strengths.While this method of teaching is commonly used in a scientific or laboratory setting, it can be used in many settings and classroom environments with a little creativity and a lot of plannning.

Although I would like to see some more examples of this type of instruction to become more knowledgeable about it,  I feel as though triggering curiosity may be the most important, and difficult part. If students are not interested or curious it will make it much harder for them to formulate questions and research them to find answers/solutions. Furthermore, the more invested they are in the topic, the higher up Bloom's Taxonomy they will go - propelling them into the evaluating and creating stages.

I also believe that this type of learning would take a lot of time and planning for teachers that have never done it before. It would also be very important to make sure that you do not leave your students hanging. For example, while I think that helping students to work towards answers with questioning them and their thought process to lead them down the right path is important, I do not believe that this should ever be a "cop-out" for teachers to tell their students that they need to "figure it out". I feel like this could be a hole that educators could fall down into easily. I would like to remain mindful of this and make sure I am well prepared to help my students through the process with helpful questioning techniques to lead them down a path. The path may lead them back to the beginning, but will also help them to rule out solutions and ultimately help them find the right answer.

SURPRISE! Lab Reflection

So this week in lab we were given a set of AFNR standards on Monday and asked to write a lesson plan by Tuesday at 5PM for our lab on Wednesday. At first it was a little overwhelming, but once I came up with an idea, the lesson plan came together okay! 

My standards were related to the food science industry trends, so I decided to do a lesson plan on GMO labeling. I based this lesson plan on being in a junior/senior food science class. I chose to split the class in to two groups and have them debate with one team being the affirmative and one team being the negative in respect in to food being labled with containing or not containing GMOs. 

There were definitely some things I would change if I were to do this in an actual classroom. First, for the lab, I gave my peers a shortened amount of time than what I wrote my lesson plan for. I was trying to get the most out of the lab and the 43 minute lesson plan. In the future, I would assign groups and their side the night before. Not only would this allow for more time the next when the student were actually going to present, but it would also allow the students to prepare a little more. 

I also notice that I REALLY need to work on giving directions clearly! I feel like I explain the assignment better after a student asks a question. Which is NOT what I want. I need to get better at more explicitly writing out the directions for myself, copying them onto the board, and then finally verbally expressing the directions of the assignment. 

I think this overall assignment, although frustrating at first, was beneficial. It allowed me to see some more of my weaknesses. Also, even though I may not be teaching this exact lesson plan next semester, I could use the practices from it for another topic that I am teaching. 

Weekly Investment 8 - Differentiated Learning

This week in class we learned about individualized learning and it was reinforced with this week's readings. Individualized techniques we learned about are:

• Supervised Study
• Independent Study
• Experiments
• Notebooks
• Sheets
• Information
• Assignment
• Skill

This types of learning strategies are to help students in an individual way and maybe not as personalized.

What intrigued me most about the reading though was learning about differentiated learning and how it compares to individual learning. All throughout the semester we have been learning about variability in the classroom. After learning more about differentiated learning, I feel as though there are many similarities.  While individualized learning begins with one student's needs, differentiated learning starts with multiple students or groups.

In most classrooms, especially agriscience classrooms, you have students across the spectrum and students that are reading and learning on different levels. For differentiated learning, students are divided into groups for activities; however, students are not always in the same group with the same people, and they do different types of activities. Teachers must design their lessons around students' needs, which creates a lot more work on their end. This is because each group is tasked with completing an activity in a way that best suits them. This means not only is the teacher taking the time to make sure special activities are planned, but they are also taking the time to understand how their students learn and separating them into groups based on that.

I don't foresee myself using this type of learning all the time, but I can see myself figuring out how to work this into my curriculum and using as part of my variability in my classroom!

References:

(n.d.) Retrieved October 15, 2017, from https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/partnering-with-childs-school/instructional-strategies/individualized-instruction-vs-differentiated-instruction

EduGains. (2015). Reach every student through differentiated instruction.  Retrieved from http://www.edugains.ca/resourcesDI/Brochures/DIBrochureOct08.pdf 

Weekly Investment 7 - Rubrics? What?

I hate assessments, but I LOVE rubrics. I can complete most assignments well if I have a rubric. Why? Because I know EXACTLY what my instructor is looking for if their rubric is clear. If their rubric is clear, I would almost just take the rubric over the instructions for the assignment. It tells me what I need to know and what I am being graded on. People of all ages want clear and accurate directions that are easy to follow - A.K.A. a Rubric.

I also feel that rubrics create consistency for the teacher. It takes opinion out of the equation and helps the teacher/instructor to stay on task when grading many of the same assignments. As much as a rubric gives the student guidance, it also gives the teacher guidance - when teaching the material and when grading.

What I did not know before this reading was the different types of rubrics and I learned some things I would think to use a rubric for - like class participation. ASCD has a published book all about rubric, but also has some nice guidelines online. Is the rubric holistic or analytic; general or task-specific? It lays this information out in a nice table seen here:

I personally like task-specific and analytic rubrics, but I think there is a place for all of them. For example, if you are writing a rubric for a whole unit, it may need to be more general than for a specific assignment. General rubrics can be handed to students at the beginning of an assignment, while task-specific rubrics function more as "scoring direction."

While I see myself using task-specific rubrics more often, I can now see the need for a general rubric. "Rubrics help teachers teach…rubrics help students learn." I said earlier that rubrics can help teachers stay consistent and this doesn't just go with grading - but also in the classroom. Furthermore, it helps students to look ahead and see what you may be building up to, which will help them to organize their learning in your classroom. I am interested in taking some more time to look into this and maybe read the full book!

 References: 

Brookhart, S. (n.d.). Chapter 1. What are Rubrics and Why are they Important?Retrieved October 8, 2017, from http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/112001/chapters/What-Are-Rubrics-and-Why-Are-They-Important%C2%A2.aspx. 

Stoughton, A.L. & Myers, B.E. (2008) Creating and working with rubrics. Retrieved from https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/WC/WC06900.pdf (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

Problem Solving Lab - What to give and what not to give.

This past week I was able to complete a lesson plan for and teach my first problem solving lab. As I work through my "Basic Principles of Soil and It's Land Uses" Unit for spring, I chose to do my problem solving lesson on finding soil horizons. My essential question was "How do I use soil texture, soil color, and soil formations to find soil horizons?" At this point in the unit, students will have been taught and have practiced soil texturing and soil coloring. They will have also learned about soil horizons. Therefore, I thought it would be best to have them do an activity where they used all of those skills to help them find soil horizons based on characteristics.

In the beginning of the lesson I set up the problem and gave them some information they would need. In the future teaching this lesson, I would start out by asking them questions and letting them give me the information that they needed to complete the assignment. I feel like this would further the problem solving and push them more into the application and analysis sections of Bloom's taxonomy.

I also think I will forgo the power point so that it is more of a discussion. I or a student can write their answers on the board and leave them there to help them during their lab. I think this would be good to give them a break from the power point and also increase the classroom discussion. Furthermore, instead of having the directions on a power point, I may have a printout of the directions to give them, as well as verbally stating them. Also, I think that I need to at least put the soils in order that they were taken out of the pit. Since it will be January/February when I will be teaching this they will more than likely not be able to go to a soil pit. It would not be fair to not put them in order, because if they were able to be in the pit they would be able to see what order the samples were in and just need to distinguish the soil horizons. There would be too many variations of "right" answers if I do not. I think that I will need many stations set up so that students can work through them easily and more efficiently.

I found this lab challenging because I have not taught my peers information that I will be teaching my students, so it was a little confusing for them. I also do not think I could have set my lab up the same way I plan on changing my lesson plan for my classroom - because my peers needed that information. Whereas hopefully if I do my job, my students will be able to give me the information when prompted. Otherwise, this lab gave me insight that I need to not give so much information and let the students give me the information.

Are we preparing students for the 21st Century?

This week's readings had a lot to do with problem solving and the problem solving approach. There was also a reading on "How are students reaching 21st century goals?" Since we ended up talking a lot about problem solving in class last week, I wanted to touch more on it for my weekly investment.

Our reading focused on Projects vs. Project Based Learning. I found this very interesting because I can recall many times in high school and college where I have been giving a project that contributed little to nothing to what I was learning. However, I can only recall a handful of times where I was given a project that was beneficial to my learning. It is easy to fall into the hole where you give students projects to break up lecture, but are they really learning from it? Project based learning is when students learn the material from completing the project. The project requires critical thinking that revolves around an open ended question, allows student voice, and includes processes for reflection and revision.

When we are using projects in the classroom to help teach students versus teaching students to help them complete the project, I think they get a lot more value out of it. I am not saying that you are not teaching them some of the material, but you may not be teaching them all of the material - and may the project helps them to connect the dots of what they have been learning.

We also talk about the 4 C's in class last week: Communication, Critical Thinking, Collaboration, and Creativity. I found an article from Oxford University Press about how these 4 C's prepare students for the 21st century. Although, the article is geared towards English classrooms, I think it lays out 5 good steps to help in any classrooms.

These 5 steps are:
1. Let your students lead the learning.
2. Create an inquiry-based classroom environment.
3. Encourage collaboration.
4. Develop critical thinking skills.
5. Encourage creativity.

In summary, students learn best when they are empowered and if you have empowered them to lead the classroom they need to be able to ask questions. A classroom that promotes sharing, is simultaneously promoting speaking and listening skills. When we are taking students beyond comprehension and challenging them with real world problems we are developing their critical thinking skills. And finally, students need to be able to express what they have learned in a creative way.

Hmmm..... this all sounds a lot like the 3 circle model in action. ????
  


References

ELT, O.U. (2013, October 9). 5 Ways to prepare your students for the 21st Century. Retrieved October 1, 2017, from https://oupeltglobalblog.com/2013/10/09/5-ways-to-prepare-your-students-for-the-21st-century/

Larmer, J. & Mergendoller, J.R. (2010). The main course, not dessert: How are students reaching 21st century goals? With 21stcentury project based learning. Retrieved from http://bie.org/object/document/main_course_not_dessert
 (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.