Tuesday we talked about what makes a question essential. Today we're going to further that discussion by delving into what Wiggins and McTighe call the designing of an essential question. We touched on actively exploring the content, looking at targeted understandings and overarching versus topical essential questions.
Let's start with exploring the content. No matter what you consider your "essential content" to be, that is the place to start. It was interesting to have Wiggins and McTighe confirm what our administrator has been telling us for years now when we're working on curriculum. He taught us to highlight the verbs and key nouns in the standards to get to the point of what is essential. This method was helping us really unpack the standards, become a more cohesive team, and our students are reaping the benefits. I see now that this system has the potential to set the stage for inquiry based learning. In chapter 3 there is a table that highlights this method and gives examples of essential questions to use with a small sample of ELA, Math And Science essential standards.
When we've unpacked the standards and come to an understanding of the big ideas; then we can target our desired students' understandings. These understandings are generally essential in all disciplines. Understandings are not concrete and "teachable" in the traditional sense. Understanding comes from "guided inference." We are not teaching them what to think but how to think. By designing our essential questions around our targeted understandings this is what we are doing.
Another way to think about how to design topical essential questions is to look at the overarching essential questions derived from unpacking "essential content" standards. The overarching questions assist in coming up with more "topic-specific" questions. A bonus to this idea is once the targeted understandings are established; the overarching questions to support said understandings are in place, the topical questions can be designed to span grade levels. In turn, causing a spiraling effect that provides the roots needed to develop and deepen understanding.
Essential Questions can also be designed by using possible and predictable misconceptions. With time and experience as an educator, comes the patterns of misconceptions of students' to the more abstract and subtle ideas. Another way to find misconceptions is to use pre-assessments. Using these predictable patterns will gain insight to many essential questions.
Wiggins and McTighe also found their previous study on the 6 facets of understanding to be quite useful in this endeavor as well. The six facets of understanding that they propose are: the capacity to explain, interpret, apply, shift perspective, empathize and self-assess.
I hope you found something to take back to your classroom and look forward to chatting about this topic tomorrow.
Don't Forget the Twitter chat tomorrow @ 6pm use #MMPD #inquirybasedlearning I changed the questions a little so use this chart for reference.
Now that we have a better understanding of what a culture of inquiry looks like and why we should use essential questions we're going to take a look at the essential question. What does that mean? What is essential? What is their purpose?
Wiggins and McTighe state that essential questions have seven defining characteristics. These include: open-ended, thought provoking and intellectually engaging, call for higher order thinking, lead to important and transferable ideas, invoke more questions, require you to support and justify your answer, and can continuously be revisited over time.
With the characteristics defined Wiggins and McTighe (2013 ) delve into the purpose of essential questions which we touched on in chapter six.
We propose that education should strive to develop and deepen students' understanding of important ideas and processes so that they can transfer their learning within and outside of school. (pg )
Essential questions require actively exploring the content; understanding how it lends support to the idea of broadening students thinking that allows for transfer-ability. Essential questions are the "flip side of the coin" of targeted understandings. When we look at our targeted understandings we can build essential questions that focus on essential content.
Several years ago the teachers in my district sat down together to determined essential standards. We spent countless hours determining which content standards were the most important to "master" by the end of the year (at all grade levels). We did activities together as a whole staff. We did activities in grade level teams and we did activities in small vertical teams. What we didn't know at the time was our administration was setting us up for this exact way of thinking. I'm forever grateful to be apart of such an amazing community of educators.
Next in chapter one, we take a look at the meanings of essential. We have "essential" that means important and timeless. Then we have "essential" that means elemental or foundational. And last, we have essential that means vital for personal understanding. All equally important. This goes to show that even in skills-based courses essential questions can be utilized. As a literacy interventionist, this was key for me and my PD plan this coming school year.
I love and have many highlights and notes in the next Subtitle: Intent Trumps Form. Why you ask a question is more important then how you ask a question. You can post, and ask, and encourage students to use questions but if there is no purpose behind the question other then requiring general knowledge, it is not essential. That's not to say that questions that require recall and basic knowledge do not have a place in the classroom because they do. But this study is about the "essential question."
At the end of this chapter they discuss several different types of questions and their purposes. I like how they include this because reiterates that in order to support a culture of inquiry in the classroom all types of questions are necessary. Sometimes when we start studying a topic it becomes unclear that topics around this same idea are also necessary to creating balance. I know I'm guilty of that and sometimes that leads me to believe that a particular idea is not good and I abandon it.
I hope you were able to read chapter one and gain some personal insights. If so comment below, or if you'd rather, start a discussion in the forum. I'd love to see you you plan on applying this learning.
Don't forget our Twitter chat Friday, July 17th at 6 p.m. Use #MMPD to join in the chat!
I'll post chapter 3 Thursday July 16th. Until then,
I choose to start this study with chapter six because this is at the heart of my professional development plan. For several years I've been searching for the best way to execute the "ideal" intervention program that meets the goals of my district. I'm very fortunate to be in a district that encourages growth and change, strong collaborative teamwork, and inquiry. So this has been, and I'm sure will continue to be, an ongoing learning process.
You might be thinking McTighe & Wiggins put this chapter at the end for a reason. And I'm sure they did have their reasons. For me, understanding the 8 elements that support a culture of inquiry is the first step in understanding why and how essential questions are so important. Wiggins & Grant mention and at the beginning of this chapter that the longer students are in school the lower their levels of curiosity regarding academics becomes. This breaks my heart. I do however, love that they focus on what we can do to change this.
The first element of supporting a culture of inquiry is to reflect & analyze whether or not our teaching practices align with our goals. We all want our kiddos to be self-regulated critical thinkers. But do we show them that in our traditional teaching methods?
I like how they break learning goals into 3 types and explain the teacher's role in each. If you've not read Wiggins & McTighe's Understanding by Design, you should. Reading this will help you better understand that each learning goal has it place in our lessons and we must learn to balance them all. (such is life)
The next element is an important one. It includes understanding the role of the question, the teacher and the student. The role of the question is to establish that it is the question that matters, not the answer. This is a tough one. If there is no right or wrong answer how do we measure their learning? Right? I could tell you my thinking on this but I want you to have your own ideas. We can share in the comments below & in the forum.
The role of the teacher- what is our role? Are we "the almighty" givers of information or are we facilitators of student thinking? Is there a time for both?
The role of the student - It is very important that they understand how to have a conversation; that there is a time for them to speak and a time for them to listen. They need to understand that just because someone has a different response then theirs doesn't make their response right and the others wrong. They need to know how to continuously ask questions and probe for deeper understanding.
Another equally important element is establishing "norms" or explicit protocols for discussions. We're human. We require social interaction to stay emotionally and mentally healthy. Kids are no different. When we begin handing over our class to our students there needs to be clear guidelines and expectations that remain the same. How do you establish norms? Is it a discussion that you have with your students? Or are they in place before your students enter the classroom?
Let's not forget one of the most important elements of supporting an inquisitive culture - establishing a safe and supportive environment. We are afraid of failure. We don't want to look dumb or say the wrong thing so sometimes we don't say anything at all. I imagine this is what our students feel like when our discussions are led by questions that require a "correct" answer. Or when they do speak up and others don't agree and they get shamed.
It is vital that a culture of respect be established right away. No answers are wrong - some just need a little more discussion and/or explanation. Our kids need to know that, respect that and practice that. It will make them more productive members of society when they do find them selves out in the "real world."
Walking into any learning space will immediately clue you into how things work. When I walk into a traditional classroom with desks all facing forward in straight rows I see compliance. I see teachers as lecturers and students as vessels having a hard time filling up. When I walk into a room that has desks in "pods" facing a team of classmates collaborating I see engagement. I see teachers moving around the space and facilitating thinking with individuals and small groups. These are things to keep in mind when creating a culture of inquiry in your classroom.
How we use our time inside & outside the classroom is vital in creating an inquiry culture. Being able to hand over your "teaching" time and utilizing technology to give us opportunities to do some of our teaching outside of class, lends more in class time for inquiry and collaboration. This should be when you step in as the "facilitator" to guide deeper thinking about the topics at hand.
We have several tools at our disposal that may be being used inappropriately. Textbooks and technology are tools not curriculum. How we use these tools will determine what we think education is. If we utilize these tools in such a manner that shows these are the skills that need to be mastered before they take this "test," then we are showing that we think education is about passing some test. If we utilize these tools in a manner that shows these can be used to support creative, innovative, and collaborative work then we are showing that we think education is about being inquisitive, using creativity to problem solve and the ability to work collaboratively with a team. What is your definition? Do you portray that to your students? their parents?
Last but certainly not least, element 8: How we use assessments. Wiggins and McTighe quote the old truism,"We measure what we value." So if we're measuring content recall and basic knowledge with our assessments then that's what they will see that we value. If we want them to know that we value inquiry, and in depth thinking we need to show that by using assessments & rubrics that require inquisitive & thoughtful responses to inquisitive and thought provoking questions. How can we use this information in our classroom? How do we change thought processes of others to see the need for a change in how we assess?
Don't miss chapter 2's discussion Thursday, July 9th. Join in on the forum discussion, as well, by checking out the forum!
I'm getting super excited to launch this site and this year's book study in just five days! If you haven't heard yet, we'll be studying Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe's Essential Questions. Some of you may have already studied this book, it is a couple of years old. I choose this book to study because it applies to my Professional Development Plan of creating a culture of inquiry in my classroom. So, if you have studied and are using these strategies in your class I'd love to hear from you! If you haven't studied this book and want to learn more about essential questions and the role they play in creating a culture of inquiry in your classroom then join in and learn with me!
So I'm going to tell you a little about the book. It is a guide to everyone involved in the learning process on how to use essential questions to build engaging curriculum, guide instruction and create critical thinkers. In the intervention setting, it's become habitual for me to teach to the skill and guide learners on a very literal level. And I've been racking my brain as to why my students were having such a hard time thinking. Well, duh...
This book claims to explain why essential questions are so important, explores defining characteristics of EQs, distinguishes between topical and over-arching questions, gives rational for using EQs in units of study, and shows us how to create EQs working from standards or desired outcomes.
I have no idea what this is going to look like yet but I hope to transform my classroom into a culture of inquiry. I look forward to sharing the journey with you!
I will officially start blogging chapter 6 on July 7th. Click the graphic for a copy of the first study guide. It includes the weekly schedule and assigned chapters, a study guide for you to print out if you prefer writing notes as you read, questions to discuss in twitter chats and forum discussions, and extra resources. At the end of each post I will include the next study guide. (these are just tools you can use if you choose to, there are no rules stating you have to use or following the study guide)
For those of you unfamiliar with the way I've set up similar book studies, I created a document on how you can participate in the study. Click the image below to download the file.
