Listening for the Learning

Let me set the scene. It is guided reading time in late October and I am working with a group of students on the guided writing portion of their lesson. A boy and a girl are working on writing three sentences, which I have dictated to them. The first sentence reads, "She looked in the grass," The second sentence, "She looked at the pond." I have just given the third sentence, "She looked in the barn." Both students have written the first two sentences without error. Suddenly, the girl stops and opens her guided reading book to the back page. I look at her third sentence and it says, "She looked in the brn." She looks at me, obviously feeling the need to explain what she is doing, and says, "I know that every word needs a vowel, and I am not sure what the vowel is in the word barn." This is kindergarten, folks--in October.

Had I not been sitting across the table from this girl, I may have missed this very important glimpse into her mind. I have no doubt I have missed countless other opportunities to capture the learning and thinking of children throughout the years. However, I am getting better. I am trying. I am learning to listen. I am learning to listen for the learning. The opportunities surround us every day, but often, we don't take the time to hear them. Often, we don't take time to see them. Often, we are too worried about "measuring growth" that we forget to see the growth occurring right in front of us.

Call it what you will--pedagogical documentation, taking anecdotal notes, observation, whatever. What I am trying to say is TRY IT. Stop talking, stop directing every action taken in your classroom and LISTEN FOR THE LEARNING. It is all around us, and it is magical.

Here are a few examples that I have captured. 

Student: "Mrs. Zeidler, look at my pattern."

Me: "Awesome! Tell me about your pattern."

Student: "It goes up like this."

Me: "How do you know it is a pattern?"

Student: "I don't know..."

Me: "Well, you told me it was a pattern. How did you know?"

Student: "It is a growing pattern."

Me: "How do you know that?"

Student: "Because it goes up by one each time."

Me: "What are you doing to your fort?"

Student: "It keeps falling down right here, so I am putting more weight on top of the sheet so it will hold it in place. We tried it with just one block, and that didn't work. Two blocks will be heavier."

Me: "Tell me about your gingerbread trap."

Student: "Well, the gingerbread man comes into the trap and is blocked in by the cardboard on the sides. This part in the front keeps him from getting out. And then (points to taped straw in front)...this part falls down to lock the whole thing in place so the gingerbread man can't escape."

Student: "Mrs. Zeidler, do you see my butterfly?"

Me: "What can you tell me about your butterfly?"

Student: "It is red and yellow."

Me: "What else can you tell me about it?"

Student: "It has antennae."

Me: "Interesting. Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

Student: "It is symmetrical."

Me: "What do you mean by symmetrical?"

Student: "It is the same on this side as this side."

Student: "Mrs. Zeidler, come look at my tower. I made it three dimensional. See...it isn't just flat on the light table."

Me: "Tell us about your picture."

Student: "I drew the stem brown, because it looks brown. On the bottom I noticed a round part, so I drew a a circle. These green parts are marks I noticed on the pumpkin (where a mouse chewed on the pumpkin). I drew dots all over the pumpkin, because I noticed there were spots on it."

Note: One of our science standards is "I can observe and describe objects in nature and share those observations and descriptions with others."

There is learning happening around us every day. Often, we are too busy "teaching" to capture it. I am getting better. I am trying. I am learning to listen. I am learning to listen for the learning.

A Star (Inquiry) Is Born!

After wrapping up our carrot inquiry, our class was in a state of limbo for a few weeks. There didn't seem to be anything that the majority of the students were showing interest in, so I decided to help them along. 

I placed the students in groups of four and asked them to talk with one another about things they wondered about or were interested in learning about. Next, I made a list of their ideas. After that, I had the groups talk about the ideas and agree on one idea that they, as a group, were interested in learning more about. Finally, I tallied the responses to find out what our next inquiry topic would be. The result: STARS!

Once we knew what our topic would be, I asked the students what they already knew, or thought they knew, about stars. This is what they came up with:

In order to facilitate our inquiry, I needed to find out what the students wanted to know about stars. I had them talk once more in their groups, and then I collected the following questions from them:

1) What are stars made of?

2) Do they get light from the sun?

3) Why are stars in the sky and how do they stay in the air?

4) How long do they stay in the sky?

5) Why do stars come out at night?

After doing some research on my own (and with the help of a colleague), I discovered that most of the answers to the students' questions would have to be found in books and videos found on the internet. At first, this bothered me a bit, because I like the students to learn through discovery. Then, when I reviewed our kindergarten standards, I realized how many literature and informational text standards could be covered this way, as well as many speaking and listening standards.

I did find one fun experiment to do with the entire class, which taught us why stars twinkle. Not one of their questions, but fun anyway.

I also incorporated some Discovery Time activities which related to the inquiry topic. These are shown below.

Positive and Negative Space Watercolor Spray Painting

Composing/Decomposing Shapes

Constellation Construction Using Marshmallows and Toothpicks

Star Patterns at the Light Table

Constellation Lacing Cards

Star Wire Sculptures

Star Cave

Throughout the week, we spent time finding answers to the our questions in books and videos. When an answer was found, I typed it up into a panel for our documentation bulletin board. This is what we have discovered so far:

This week, we will wrap up our star inquiry with a Van Gogh Starry Night art project and by sharing some more books in order to find answers to our remaining questions. Then, it will be on to the next inquiry!

Inquiry Based Learning: Step Five--Pedagogical Documentation

"Documentation is not about what we do, 

but what we are searching for."

~Carla Rinaldi

This is the last in a series of posts which explore the steps of implementing inquiry based learning in the classroom. By no means, however, is pedagogical documentation the final step. In fact, pedagogical documentation takes place throughout the entire inquiry based learning process.

In her article, "Making Learning Visible Through Pedagogical Documentation," Dr. Carol Anne Wien of York University explains pedagogical documentation in this way:

"Pedagogical documentation invites us to be curious and to wonder with others about the meaning of events to children. We become co-learners together; focusing on children’s expanding understanding of the world as we interpret that understanding with others. We document not merely to record activities, but to placehold events so that we might study and interpret their meaning together. Out of that slowed-down process of teacher research, we have the potential to discover thoughtful, caring, innovative responses that expand our horizons. We discover what we did not yet know how to see. Pedagogical documentation inserts a new phase of thinking and wondering together between the act of observation and the act of planning a response. Rather than looking for what is known through assessment, pedagogical documentation invites the creativity, surprise and delight of educators who discover the worlds of children.

To see children as researchers working with others to make sense of the world, and educators as researchers bringing their curiosity to generate theories about children’s social, intellectual, physical, and emotional strategies of communication is to view both children and educators in a new way – as participating citizens engaging their cultural surroundings in their full humanity: this process allows our humanity as thinking, feeling beings a richer place in our life as professional educators."

Pedagogical documentation serves many purposes:

• Pedagogical documentation provides the lens to view students as capable, competent problem solvers.

• Pedagogical documentation shows strengths outside of the academic areas, allowing each child a place for success.

• Pedagogical documentation highlights the necessity of revisiting topics to deepen understanding.

• Pedagogical documentation highlights the process and journey of learning.  It makes thinking visible.

• Pedagogical documentation enables children to hear and see multiple perspectives.

• Pedagogical documentation allows for collaboration and conversations about learning between students, teachers, families, and the school community. This provides opportunity for new understandings.

• Reviewing pedagogical documentation encourages us to dig deeper. The focus is on uncovering big ideas and the shift from product to process, allowing us to be more thoughtful about our learning. Teachers and students are encouraged to be reflective and active in their learning.

• Sharing pedagogical documentation invites others into the conversation.

• Reviewing pedagogical documentation scaffolds learning and possibilities for other students.

• Reflecting on pedagogical documentation reveals patterns of children's interests and curiosities for further inquiry and wondering.

• Pedagogical documentation can drive a co-constructed curriculum.

• Documenting ordinary moments develops a stronger understanding of students' interests, strengths, and knowledge.

In essence, pedagogical documentation happens when we slow down and listen to children--observing and documenting what they are doing. When we connect to these captured moments and use them to drive our curriculum, learning becomes deep and meaningful.

There are many tools that can be utilized to make students' thinking visible: Photos, videos, products, documentation panels, transcripts, observational notes, authentic writing and conferences are some, but there are many others.  The goal is to capture the students' thinking and display it in a way that all can reflect and learn from.  It is not a final product whose purpose is to show what the children did during an inquiry, it is a lens into the thinking children displayed while immersed in the inquiry process.

It is an understatement to say that I am excited, yet nervous, for my journey to continue this approaching school year.  One thing is for sure, I feel a fire ignited within me, and I can't wait to share that with my students, their families, and our school community!