Inquiring Minds: Why Would We Use a Single Pedagogy?

by Marcia Bonds Notes from the Classroom Oakland Writing Project

The_House_on_Mango_Street_(Vintage_Contemporaries)What they don’t understand about birthdays and what they never tell you is that when you’re eleven, you’re also ten, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two, and one.  And when you wake up on your eleventh birthday you expect to feel eleven, but you don’t.  You open your eyes and everything’s just like yesterday only it’s today.  And you don’t feel eleven at all.  You feel like you’re still ten.  And you are—underneath the year that makes you eleven.

– from “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros

 As I sat at a conference recently…

I realized that I was eleven, but I’m also ten, nine, and eight.  I am eleven–in this case, a constructivist.  I believe that learners learn best when they build their own models for learning.  But I am also about direct instruction, in moderation, when necessary.  There are situations when it’s important for the instructor to model for a student how they can go about thinking about a subject.  This is the conversation that Sandra Cisneros’ character Rachel has with her audience on her birthday in the story “Eleven.”  It is, for me, the perfect metaphor for my constructivist beliefs.

I’m Eleven

elevenI believe that students construct lasting knowledge by immersing themselves in learning and creating diverse ways of exploring a subject or topic.  I also believe that there may still be some circumstances where direct instruction (in moderation) is necessary.  Over the last month, I have listened to explanations of the positives and negatives of inquiry-based learning, project-based learning, gradual release, and direct instruction.  As I have listened to hard-liners on all sides discuss the pros and cons, I heard Rachel’s voice saying, “I’m constructivist today.  What they don’t understand about teaching and learning and what they never tell you is that when you’re constructivist, you’re also inquiry-based, and project-based, and gradual release, and direct instruction…”

I’m Ten

number_tenJeff C. Marshall (2013) states that “…inquiry-based learning involves learners asking questions about the natural or material world, collecting data to answer those questions, making discoveries and testing those discoveries rigorously” (de Jong 2006a p.532). The National Science Foundation (2008) defines inquiry as “an approach to learning that involves a process of exploring the natural or material world, and that leads to asking questions, making discoveries, and rigorously testing those discoveries in the search for new understanding” (20).  I propose that these definitions do not exclude the use of multiple strategies to get students to think and create independently.  There isn’t a “one size fits all” strategy for making and doing.

I’m Nine

Why is there a need to exist singularly in one of these spaces?  Sometimes, as the instructor, I demonstrate how I have learned; other times I ask for students to discuss their own strategies for being metacognitive.  Sometimes I do both things–whichever it takes to allow students to understand how they should think about their own thinking.

I’m Eight

8Is my love of inquiry-based instruction always in conflict with direct instruction?  Is it true that if there is a place for the gradual release model, then I must, by definition, not be in favor of inquiry-based learning?  There are teaching situations that call for using the gradual release model (I do/demonstrate, we do the work together, you demonstrate the knowledge with scaffolding if needed, and then, you do it alone). As the student goes off to try the work on her own, the environment must be safe for mistakes, growing, and demonstrating learning in some new way that the student has or will discover.  I am back to being eleven and constructivist.

Flexibility and the use of effective instructional strategies appropriate for a specific learning situation and student should be applied for the benefit of advancing learning for that student.  Up underneath eleven, I am ten, and nine, and eight……

 

marciabondsMarcia Bonds is a 6th Grade Math and English Language Arts Teacher at Key School in the Oak Park School District.  She has been teaching for 17 years.  Marcia is a member of the Core Leadership Team of the Oakland Writing Project and was a co-facilitator of the 2014 Oakland Writing Project Summer Institute. She has facilitated professional development on inquiry-based learning for the Oak Park School District.

The Day the Lights Turn On

by Marcia Bonds Notes from the Classroom Oakland Writing Project

I had that moment this week.

You know the moment.

179114536This moment is different from the beginning of school, when everyone is excited to be back. This moment happens after my sixth grade students start to remember that:

➢ They really have to do homework and,
➢ There are going to be lessons that are difficult and,
➢ Dion likes Ann instead of Mayze or Mayze likes Dion instead of George.

And I:

➢ Actually have to listen to why Dion likes Ann instead of Mayze and explain (again) that they are in the sixth grade and are in my classroom to learn MATH.
➢ Remember that there is a time when the honeymoon is over.
➢ Sometimes, just sometimes, wonder why I was so excited to come back from summer vacation. So much so, in fact, there may have been days when I started to look forward to (and perhaps even count) the days until Christmas.
➢ See a light at the end of the tunnel and wonder if it is a train heading straight for me.

Just before that moment, I have produced progress reports and lesson plans and checked papers all weekend. I have assessed knowledge and disaggregated the data. I have had myriad conversations with colleagues and parents and students. I have revised lesson plans and searched for ways to re-teach and challenge students.

512753007Then it happens. It is like the compact florescent lamps (CFLs). You know, the energy efficient bulb that turns on and takes a minute to become its brightest self. The light coming toward me gets brighter… (As you read this, you may think one of two things is about to happen – I am going to be wonderfully surprised or run over by that train.) The light gets brighter and brighter and suddenly, guess what? The lights are bright all over the classroom! Even Mayze, Dion, Ann, and George are completely engaged and the air in the room shifts.

122412492I breathe a sigh of relief that it was not a train, but rather brains becoming adjusted to thinking and considering and probing and analyzing. The air becomes full of questions and hypotheses. Understanding and synthesizing information becomes the order of the day. New ideas, new connections. Oh my! Light bulbs start turning on all over the room. I breathe in this creative air and in my head I scream “Yes!”

Suddenly, I know why. Why what? Why I come back year after year. Why I keep pushing and cajoling and pressing and questioning even on the days it seems nothing is getting through to my students. Why I keep answering the same questions over and over again with different words in different ways. Why I fight to build the bridge that connects what is known to what is new.
I end up reminding myself:

  • If it has not happened yet, be patient.
  • Have confidence in myself and my students.
  • Keep building those bridges one nail and one board at a time.
  • Believe the lights WILL come on!

marciabondsMarcia Bonds is a 6th Grade Math and English Language Arts Teacher at Key School in the Oak Park School District.  She has been teaching for 17 years.  Marcia is a member of the Core Leadership Team of the Oakland Writing Project and was a co-facilitator of the 2014 Oakland Writing Project Summer Institute. She has facilitated professional development on inquiry-based learning for the Oak Park School District.

Engagement: Conducting a Symphony of Learning in the Classroom

by Marcia Bonds Notes from the Classroom Oakland Writing Project

A conductor stands in front of an orchestra. He raises his arms and there is silence in the concert hall. When he brings his arms down, music begins. Each instrument plays his or her own part in creating a larger musical production. The conductor hears the music and directs the players, but he does not play every instrument. How wonderful it would be if we were conductors in our classrooms!

Each year, I find myself in front of a new group of sixth grade students — fresh new faces, some with no idea how good they are at playing music.  Some of the music will be beautiful, some will create dissonance in their lives and in the community.  And, you know what?  It’s okay.  Together, eventually, we will create a whole new community — one that will encourage independent thinking so that each member can solve problems and have an open forum for discussion.

However, right now, we are not there yet.  As always, with the first couple of assignments, there’s always a Dion who asks “Is this right?”, “Should I ……?” (fill in the blank with whatever decision necessary).  When I ask, “tell me what YOU think…” they look at me as though I have suddenly grown three heads.  I turn, take a deep breath, and think, “Okay, here we go, it’s September!”

Sometimes, whether I intend to or not, I give the impression that I am, as the teacher, the purveyor of all information, of every note and instrument, and my way is THE way.  What I really want my students to do is to theorize and contemplate ideas they have and synthesize the information that they discover. However, when my students begin to play their part in the music, sometimes I try to “fix” it. It does not take much for students to become disengaged when they feel that their voices are not valued. Imagine the conductor ignoring an entire group of instruments…

I want to teach my students. I want them engaged! However, engagement requires that I actually teach them from my own places of vulnerability and openness. Do I mind being wrong or not having all of the information or do I feel that I must play each instrument to get it right? What if there is another way to solve a problem? Am I open to seeing and hearing their music?  To teach my students well, I must listen to their thoughts and ideas. I must work to break down the barriers between us that suggest that there is one “right” way.

Every year, the instruments in my “classroom orchestra” are played by different musicians, each talented in a different way than the ones before.  There are a variety of ways to encourage students’ “music.”  For example:

  • Practice not answering any question that students can answer for themselves.  This goes for most of the questions that students ask in the beginning of the year.  I model the manner in which I want them to question each other – “I wonder if …..”, “what do you think will happen if ……”, “do you think that will work?”  Then, I get ready for incorrect answers.
  • Allow the incorrect answers.  In the places where a discussion can take place, I ask students what they think about both correct and incorrect answers.   Students end up discussing their answers.  This is my opportunity for modeling and discussing different ways of  “talking to” without “talking at.”  Here, I can build trust and listen to student thinking.
  • Trust is imperative. Our students must trust us and we must trust our students enough to allow a level of autonomy in the classroom. This is not a haphazard learning environment where everyone “goes on their own.”  It is a highly structured environment where students are free to speak and think aloud and reason with others, openly discussing their ideas.
  • Allow students to discover their way through learning by hypothesizing and testing.  I have had to let go of the feeling that they will not “get it” or will not be able to discern the “right” way if I do not “help” them. Me releasing control of the “how” and “why” has been the key to opening the door to a greater level of engagement for my students.

Our students and their reasoning should be given respect–even if it is not the way we think. Dion can learn to think and reason aloud with the rest of his classmates if we respect him enough to hear him play.  That respect is the key.  For all that we hope to accomplish, we should know that we must be open and willing to “let go” and allow students agency–the ability to make choices to explore–in their learning. That way, we become conductors of a symphony where we do not play every instrument. We understand, we listen, and we conduct the music.

marciabondsMarcia Bonds is a 6th Grade Math and English Language Arts Teacher at Key School in the Oak Park School District.  She has been teaching for 17 years.  Marcia is a member of the Core Leadership Team of the Oakland Writing Project and was a co-facilitator of the 2014 Oakland Writing Project Summer Institute. She has facilitated professional development on inquiry-based learning for the Oak Park School District.