Observe, Think, Question

OBSERVE...THINK...QUESTION

I'm going to share one of my all-time favorite inquiry-based teaching strategies today. I loved it so much in fact, that I incorporated prompts for it permanently in my classroom. The strategy is called Observe, Think, Question. If you would have walked into my classroom you would have quickly seen a large Eye (observe), a Brain (think), and a questions mark (questions) hanging from the ceiling.
This strategy can be used in any content area using only a photograph, text, or even a video clip. It very simple, and once your students learn it, they can participate pretty seamlessly at any point in your day, in any subject area.
FIRST: the teacher displays an artifact, text, photograph or video clip and the students write (either on a pre-made graphic organizer or a notebook page they have chosen) about what they notice. It takes some practice, but they get good at just "stating the obvious." This stage of the strategy anchors them in the reality without letting them jump ahead to application or prediction. For example, if I displayed this book cover to my students

They might write observations like:

* I see that it is a boy

* I notice he has only one eye

* I notice that there is no nose or mouth

NEXT: The students can verbally share, or record on their paper thoughts they have, and predictions. For the above book cover they may say:

* I think this boy must be the main character

* I think his eye is important

* I think he might wonder a lot because of the title Wonder

LASTLY: Students ask questions about the artifact, text, photo or video clip. I usually have them record their questions first and then pair up to share and generate a few more. 

By the end of the exercise, you can imagine that a lot of interest, background knowledge and predicting has been done. It is a helpful strategy that I found replaced KWL charts in my classroom very quickly. Revisiting the OTQ work after learning has occurred allows for reflection as well. Think about how you might do this....

display a map with no title or legend in geography....

show a video clip like this without sound in your biology class....

Try it out and let us know what you think!

21st Century Approaches to Teaching

21st CENTURY APPROACHES to 
LEARNING & TEACHING include:
(follow the links and please be patient as the videos load!)

STUDENT VOICE & CHOICE
Differentiating with learning menus

A FOCUS ON QUESTIONS & CONCEPTS

COLLABORATIVE WORK

STRATEGIC THINKING

STUDENTS AS KNOWLEDGE CREATORS

INCREASED INTERACTIONS & TALKING
Twitter in the classroom

USING MULTIPLE SOURCES FOR INFORMATION
Literacy in Physics: Reading a Primary Source

INCREASING INTRINSIC MOTIVATION

Engage motivation2012 from jenniferplucker

Beautiful and Diverse Text

I heard about this site while listening to a presentation Cris Tovani gave on reading engagement. The site is called informationisbeautiful.net and what you find there is just that, beautiful information. Weather you are a content area teacher or just looking to spice up your student's reading material, there are many great choices here.
You could address place value, percentages and musicians rights using this info graphic:

Or you could use this to spark a class discussion in physical science

or perhaps you would assign your health class to read and respond to this chart in small groups...

lots of interesting info and interesting text!

Questioning Circle- Anyone can do it!

From Engaging Readers & Writers Through Inquiry By Jeff Wilhelm

Narcissism & Assessment

   

 I was at a great workshop, focusing on meaningful assessment and feedback at all grade levels. As I sat surrounded by hundreds of educators, I found myself wondering "How did we get here? How did we get to a place where we aren't testing what students really know in a way that is effective or helpful, but grading is consuming so much of our time and brain energy?" The theme of giving honest and authentic feedback kept rolling past my eardrums and into my mind throughout the day, along with the acknowledgement of a fear we have developed in truly measuring and reporting learning. I believe there are many reasons why at times we shy away from the fact that a student, or perhaps many,  are not making it and why we aren't reporting these results to them. We're afraid. Not of what it says about us as teachers or even about what it may mean in terms of curriculum changes. I believe we're afraid of our students (and in many cases their parents.)
        The students we deal with today are living in a world that literally screams a message of their "importance" .....because these are the days when you can gather Facebook "friends", twitter "followers" and Instagram "Likers" as easily as you can sit on the couch and breathe.
      As I considered the implications of this on how we give feedback and assess student learning I was reminded of an article from TIME magazine last month.

The witty and insightful content of the article is steeped in the truth and research of how we got here. The author explains that in the 1970s, there was a push towards self-esteem and self-worth in educations. The original intentions were pure, or at least remotely innocent, but the results have been long lasting. As the article explains from a physiological perspective, self-esteem without an authentic self-awareness, breeds narcissism. You see, if you are just told that you are amazing and wonderful and even worthy of royal titles like "princess" simply because you exist, you begin to develop an entitlement mentality that creeps into all of your thinking. So, zoom ahead 40 years and we now have sports leagues where all participants walk away with a trophy (even if they lost), people who pour themselves into virtual relationships rather than real ones, and an overall consensus that no one wants to be "judged" by anyone else's standard. 

      So, in turn, this leaves us as educators cowering in the corner. Students are "passing" on that shouldn't be. Parents push back about the value of homework and attempt to justify the behaviors we are "concerned" about. No one wants to be the barer of bad news, but if we don't start giving specific and honest feedback about where are students are in their learning, how close they are to the target, and what they might need to do to make improvements.......it will only get worse. 

     So as not to leave you on an immensely negative note; I believe these children are capable of developing an authentic and realistic view of themselves. One that has an awareness of strengths and opportunities.  I believe they have the capacity to receive a D on an assignment that was truly D work, and become better for it. They will need our help though.