35 Educational Resources to Encourage Inquiry & Inventive Thinking This is a sponsored post. I’ve scoured the internet, including all of my favourite social media sites, to bring you a fantastic collection of online inquiry and inventive thinking resources that I know will inspire and motivate both you and your students. The collection includes Lego, science, practical activity ideas, engineering, videos, animation, technology and a tonne of fun facts – so there is sure to be something for everyone! Sean Kenney Lego Certified Master Builder’s YouTube Channel: Best-selling author and artist, Sean Kenney, uses LEGO toys to build anything and everything you can imagine. CSIRO Crest: CREativity in Science and Technology (CREST) is an Australian non-competitive awards program supporting students to design and carry out their own open-ended science investigation or technology project. Pinterest is a veritable smorgasbord of great ideas across all grades and subject areas. What are your favourite online resources for inspiring kids to think? You may also like:
Mastering Assessment Language: Trusty Tips and Tools The formative assessment rubric is an amazing and revealing tool. They are made all the more effective by carefully considering the language we use. Mastering assessment language is an art form in itself. Like all other art forms, it takes time to perfect. Proper formative assessment tells us what students have learned. Where Am I? Where Do I Want to Be? How Will I Get There? Formative assessment is first and foremost a partnership with teacher and student. Tips for Mastering Assessment Language When writing a question or developing an assessment, ask yourself: What does this show? Our goal is to have our students performing at the higher end of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Part of mastering assessment language is making sure we are targeting the right skills. That said, there are better modes of assessment that are exemplified in the terms we use. Now consider this list associated with higher-order skills (HOTS). The general rule is that action terms and descriptors should be: Never Stop Encouraging
Going with the "Flow": Teachers' Perspectives about When Things Really Work, Online Submission, 2014-Jul-22 This research studies teachers' experience with the concept of "flow." Flow can be described as a state of being in which one is fully engrossed in the activity. When activities are in "flow," there is a sense of immersion, high energy, joy, and focus. In an analysis of fifteen teachers' reflections of flow experiences, five prominent characteristics emerged: engagement, authentic and meaningful experiences, relationships, learning environment, and flexibility and risk-taking. Recognizing the classroom conditions under which flow may occur could assist teachers in creating effective and engaging learning environments. Descriptors: Teacher Attitudes, Teaching Experience, Reflection, Teacher Participation, Educational Environment, Graduate Students, Inservice Teacher Education, Reflective Teaching, Risk, Performance, Teacher Effectiveness, Best Practices, Interpersonal Relationship
Askthejudge – Answers for teens about the law Life in a Inquiry Driven, Technology-Embedded, Connected Classroom: English I teach in an inquiry, project-based, technology embedded classroom. A mouthful, I know. So what does that mean? To begin with, I don’t lecture. It means my classroom is a place where my students spend time piecing together what they have learned, critically evaluating its larger purpose, and reflecting on their own learning. Finally, technology is embedded into the structure of all we do. In my English classroom, this looks a lot different than in my biology & chemistry classrooms (which you can read about here). Meeting curriculum and teaching goals My curriculum states that I need to develop skills in 5 areas: reading, writing, viewing & representing, listening and speaking. Whenever we begin a new inquiry unit, research is always involved. After researching, we come back together to discuss what needs to happen next. Learning to use social media wisely This semester, we’ve chosen to create a social media campaign to raise awareness around modern slavery. The hard work of creation
Bringing Inquiry-Based Learning Into Your Class In the shallow end of the Types of Student Inquiry pool, Structured Inquiry gives the teacher control of the essential question, the starting point—for example, “What defines a culture?” or “What is the importance of the scientific method?” These questions are not answered in a single lesson and do not have a single answer, and, in fact, our understanding of an essential question may change over time as we research it. In Structured Inquiry, the teacher also controls specific learning activities, the resources students will use to create understanding, and the summative assessment learners will complete to demonstrate their understanding. In Controlled Inquiry, the teacher provides several essential questions. How Are the Types of Student Inquiry Helpful? Inquiry is most successful when strongly scaffolded. This structure allows us to successfully address the curriculum and the “must know” content and skills of each discipline, grade level, and course. Second, think big and start small.
The Phases of Inquiry-Based Teaching A central goal of education is teaching critical-thinking skills. Inquiry-based teaching is an excellent path to this goal. Based partly on the philosophy that “humans are born inquirers,” the method focuses on student discovery over pushing information from the instructor. Along the way, the students explore multiple sources and contexts, ask questions and pursue hypotheses, and work to apply their theories to new and diverse situations. In general, all inquiry-based teaching follows three phases. Phase 1: Formulating Questions and Initial Understandings First, students are oriented to a problem, phenomena, or goal. For instance, I teach an inquiry-based online world religions course in which we begin by exploring the core question “what is religion, spirituality, or faith?” Phase 2: Exploration & Analysis In the next phase, students might conduct research, design experiments, and collect data from multiple perspectives and sources.
Fostering Student Questions: Strategies for Inquiry-Based Learning Ramsey Musallam’s TED Talk on his "3 Rules to Spark Learning" inspires the need to foster students' curiosity. As educators, we want them to ask questions and explore their ideas, which can lead to a rich inquiry-based classroom. From young children whose mantra for everything is "Why?" to teens that require effective inquiry skills as part of their preparation for successful post-secondary life, this need is high. But our challenge is where to begin. 1. The Question Formulation Technique offers a starting place to teach students how to construct questions that meet their needs. 2. One challenge to generating substantive questions and ideas is getting every student's voice heard. Post a topic as a statement starter or a question on chart paper for small groups. Traditionally, the teacher collects the results at the end to use as data for later activities based on the students' contributions. 3. Divide students into groups of 2-4. 4. No Time to Wait Where will you start?
36 Rainbow Activities for Babies, Toddlers, Preschoolers and Older Kids There are few things that make me as happy as rainbows! So this round-up is a celebration of just that. I've included my favorite rainbows from eight different sites (including our own) - and the activities apply to a variety of ages - there are rainbows for babies, for toddlers, for preschoolers, and even several activities that older children would still enjoy! Please click on the post title to be taken to the full recipe/tutorial on each site. :) Fun at Home with Kids We love rainbows so much here at Fun at Home with Kids that it was really challenging to choose just four! Babble Dabble Do Here are four of my favorites from Babble Dabble Do (clockwise from upper left): Meri Cherry Here are four of my favorites from Meri Cherry (clockwise from upper left): Twig and Toadstool Here are four of my favorites from Twig and Toadstool (clockwise from upper left): Blog Me Mom Here are four of my favorites from Blog Me Mom (clockwise from upper left): Learn Play Imagine De Tout et de Rien Twodaloo
The Challenges and Realities of Inquiry-Based Learning Inquiry Learning Teaching Strategies Getty By Thom Markham Teachers in a rural southeast Michigan high school were recently discussing the odd behavior of the senior class. It seems the 12th graders were acting more civilly toward the junior class in the hallways. The teachers’ explanation: Project-based learning. Here’s the back story. Stories like this are about to become more important to educators. This is a steep challenge because it forces education to cross a philosophic divide. Standardizing Valuable Skills To put a new system in place, a first key step is to disseminate and train every teacher on a clear set of performance standards to assess skills required for effective inquiry, such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. The challenge: Right now, a standards-based environment forces teachers to straddle the inquiry process. Assessing Collaborative Learning The iconic model of the individual scholar has been replaced by team-based inquiry. Related
Part 4: STEM, STEAM, Makers: Turning STEM to STEAM… 24 Resources Welcome to this fourth post in a series that brings STEM, STEAM, and Maker Space together with Project Based Learning and proper technology integration in the classroom. You will discover around one hundred resources in this series along with some great ideas for finding student success. Before reading, please take a moment to subscribe by email or RSS and also give me a follow on Twitter at mjgormans. I promise you will find some great information coming your way in the posts that follow…So sign up now and please pass this on with a retweet. – Mike Gorman ( Booking Info – It is time to think about your school or conference needs. Are you looking for a practical and affordable professional development workshop for your school or conference? Part 4: STEM, STEAM, Makers: Turning STEM to STEAM… 24 Resources It actually is quite obvious that the Arts should be included in STEM education. Next in the Series… Making in Education ! Like this: Like Loading...