Wrap Up

Eduglogster turned out quite well.  Although there were some glitches the students did amazingly well.  We have certainly seen their comfort level increase over the past few weeks.  They have been very good about helping each other.  I had one little girl tell me yesterday how she is working on her glog everyday at home so there is definite engagement there.  Overall I think the unit went well and has provided some basic skills as well as some thoughtful considerations of our big question.

Beginning Eduglogster

Today we hope to begin our glogs.  The students are going to make a persuasive glog to convince others to vote for them as teacher for a day.  We've had some bumps in the road with posting comments and making posts on the blog so this should be interesting!  Stay tuned!

Chewing Gum Election and Inquiry Questions

Last Wednesday, as Saskatoon's municipal elections took place, the students in Ms. Goodman's class held their own election.  It was to decide whether they would vote to chew gum in class for a day or not.  It was an authentic task in preparation for a further election they will underetake to decide who will be teacher for a day.  They followed the exact procedure for casting ballots and discovered what spoiled ballots meant!
We are now trying to answer some of our 'quick questions' and 'deep thinking' questions.  The quick questions are being answered individually and the deep thinking ones we are working on in groups using Debbie Miller's inquiry folders. Time and complexity have necessitated doing this as group work.  I think doing it this way and modelling the process will help students when they choose to do further inquiry work.

Skyping and a Visit From Judy

Last Wednesday Laura's class (Holliston) skyped with Crystal's class  at Dundonald.  Both classes have been listening to some of the same stories regarding our big question.  The students were able to introduce themselves and to share what they've been learning so far.  Holliston shared our questions and Dundonald shared their brainstorm about what freedom is.  It was engaging and gave us some insight into looking at our question in another light.  We hope to skype again later on. 

Judy also visited us last Wednesday and confirmed that we are on the right track. She gave us some suggestions about 'next steps' to take.  We appreciated her support and help!

Collabortion and Laura's Class Blog

Laura and I met with Marge and Crystal for our planning half day on September 26th. Through this collaboration I think we generated far more ideas then we might have individually.   I marvelled at everyone's input and felt we made a lot of progress so that Laura and Crystal could get started teaching the unit.  I'm looking forward to seeing how the two classes compare as we go along.  I was reminded again of how much time is needed to do this inquiry planning.

Laura has created a class blog which her students have posted to about what they have been doing in Social Studies.  This has helped me stay on top of what they are doing and thinking and through my posts I can be a part of their learning even though I have been unable physically to be in their class yet.  I think the blog will be an excellent way to monitor their understandings and a way to stimulate new thinking.  I think we may be able to use it as a tool for some assessment as well. 

September 17th Reflections

Once again I am struck by the difficulty of creating a good essential question and how much easier it is to accomplish when working with colleagues.  I am excited about working with Laura, Crystal and Marge.