Students and Teachers Exploring the World Together!

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Don't Tell Me The Answer!

by

Eric Crivac

Don't tell me the answer was what one student said to me three years ago and what has lead me to this group and this way of thinking and teaching.

After 10 years in the classroom and seeing more "drill and kill" creeping into my teaching practices, I was thrilled to have an opportunity to be involved with a group of educators researching and practicing Inquiry-Based Science. Allowing students to be "builders" of their understanding has always been a corner stone of my teaching philosophy. The curiosity within each student, when given the opportunity, can truly be a wonderful launching pad for discovery. With the introduction of many new and packaged curriculums I personally found their structure very time consuming and focused on the answer more than the process of learning. The desire to teach in a more dynamic way has consistently been in me, but the method to deliver it has somewhat eluded me. Enter Inquiry.

With instilling curiosity always a goal of mine, I do believe a piece of inquiry based learning was always present in my classroom. Since entering this program I have been better able to define and practice inquiry. As I learned and was given the opportunity to practice this way of teaching I discovered the potential for it to not only effect my science instruction, but for me to see other portions of my day from an Inquiry based point of view. I have been consciously making inquiry part of my whole day. The one constant hurdle that I find myself in front of is time. Trying to get it all done in the allotted blocks of time at the elementary level can be challenging. With the constraints of time in mind I returned from one of our group sessions with a proposal in mind for our school administration. This is where my part of the story has taken an exciting change since becoming involved in this group.

In our elementary school the energy/curiosity for science is high, but the amount of exposure each student receives really depends on the team of teachers and the demands of other curriculums. Current testing scores have our team focusing on the language arts and math portions of our day.

With my renewed energy for teaching science and a perceived willingness from students and parents I made a proposal. Early in the 2008-2009 school year I proposed offering an after school enrichment program for students interested in meeting to explore the world of science. In fact, that is what we called it, "Exploring the World of Science". My thought was to create an afterschool science enrichment program where I would bring the project influence to facilitate a block of time where students would be the architects of their learning. The other motive I had was to create an opportunity for science that was not limited by the curriculum or short time blocks. With this group I would listen to their science curiosities and then assist the group as we explored them. The idea was to see the impact of inquiry based science on my teaching style and allow students to be part of the learning process from start to end. The idea was accepted by school administration and our first enrichment program was set up to meet for four weeks after school. The first time we offered the program we had sixteen students sign up to participate. Yahoo! Each student and their family agreed to pay twenty-five dollars to participate for four weeks with the money going to pay for materials and provide a stipend to the teacher. Getting paid to teach inquiry science…Yahoo Again! Time to start!

I knew that students would come the first week expecting to create/do something, so I prepared a couple simple experiments for discovery. At the start of that first week I also wanted to set the stage for what the future weeks would look like, so I took an idea from our cohort group and created a "Wonder Board". This was a place for students to post their science wonders and a place for me to get direction and inspiration for future classes. What I soon discovered was that the students who took part in this group came to the enrichment class with many questions and a thirst to get involved. "How does a light bulb work?", "What makes an airplane fly?", and "What is the source for salt in the ocean?" were just a couple of the thoughts scribbled on the "Wonder Board". In the past I would have been stressed about getting all the lab materials needed, typing out detailed lesson instructions, and demonstrating just how I wanted each lesson to progress.

With what I have learned about inquiry and how I have changed my teaching style based on inquiry those stresses were less…not completely gone. The challenges of procuring ample supplies still existed, but were limited due to the access I had to a small "slush" fund used to purchase supplies for this enrichment program. Remember, students paid to attend and some of the money was used for supplies. Each week I would use between $15 and $30 to purchase materials needed to aid in the lesson. Once I had the materials and the essential question for the week I would organize materials around the room and pose the question. The first week was the only week that I was responsible for the question. After the first week the question came from the student's, "wonders". Once we had the question I became the facilitator in the room instead of the teller of knowledge. This was the change I thirsted for in my teaching style and one that was received well by the students.

I think some of the students were surprised to not get step by step instructions and hear the teacher explain exactly how is was to look. We took each lesson and set forth a challenge or a question then set out in teams to solve and explore the challenge. I focused on supporting students and encouraged "chat" among the scientist as they worked to brainstorm and solve the question of the day. During the first week I heard a lot of, "What are we supposed to do?", "What is it supposed to look like?" and my favorite, "Why didn't he show us what to do?" The initial uncomfortable wiggles of the unknown soon gave way to a pure curiosity where students were allowed to work together to solve the question.

What was discovered by both me and the students was that working independently we could reach a similar conclusion by going after the question in unique ways. For example, during our second week we posed a question from our wonder board, "How do bridges hold so much?" Again, the question came from the students curious wonders. : I gathered a large supply of straws, tape, tooth picks and a few books on bridges and set them out on the resource table. I also set up a laptop for the purpose of allowing students the option of looking up information online. What happened was an interesting mix of thoughtful research and speedy building and rebuilding. A couple groups quickly went to work saying, "This is easy" and others went to work thinking, looking at pictures, and using the computer to determine the best course of construction. The only input that I had for each group was to keep an eye on the time and have a product to be tested at the end of 1½ hours of build time. What was interesting each week was the "chatter" within the groups. There were comments like, "I once saw one built like this," and "What if we tried it this way?" I would only peak into their groups and encourage the thinking and offer my assistance in getting needed supplies. It was enlightening for me to step back and allow discovery to happen in unique ways. There was a freedom of learning happening that was liberating for me and I think the students. As Einstein said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge". This enrichment time was turning into a place where student curiosity turned into knowledge. That led me to reflect on my teaching practices in other areas of my day. How can I take the curriculums I am asked to implement and impart this inquiry method of teaching?

While I am continually working on tweaking the remaining parts of my day I am starting to see that my style of approaching lessons is changing. I no longer see many of my lessons as me delivering knowledge. My lessons have become questions and the answers are more often than not discovered by the students. I have become the "guide" as we explore the information before us. The inquiry method of teaching science has spilled over into my all areas of my classroom and for that I am grateful.

In summary the enrichment program using the inquiry method of teaching was a huge success. Students were challenged by the new approach, but took the challenge and ran with it. I hope that the seeds of inquiry that have been planted this year will continue to bear fruit. I know both my students and I have started to look at learning in a way that allows for all of us to find the answer using unique paths designed NOT by the teacher, but by the learner.

Collaboration:

The power of giving educators the time and resources to explore and create solid inquiry based lessons can be seen with each participant of this Rivier group. The regular opportunity to come together and share ideas is powerful. We all know each of has the ability to teach, but at the same time we face a shortage of time to collaborate as professionals. This group and this grant have given us a unique opportunity to embrace inquiry based science. This grant has brought together educators at many different stages in their teaching careers. This richness of experience and our regular meetings have kept us focused on science and our goal of fostering an atmosphere of learning and sharing. Simply put, having time to talk to each other with a common focus is leading to some dynamic changes in how we approach teaching, and how teach. We view each other as peers with ideas to share, not as mentor and mentee. Together we are learning that the inquiry approach to teaching science is not limited to the science classroom. The same inquiry based approach is working in other segments of our day. It is empowering for both the student and teacher when learning is an exploration of information not the delivery of it.

Collaboration is paying dividends now, and will continue to pay dividends. When educators are given supportive time to build trust, share information, and create, the possibilities are inspiring. Thank you for supporting this endeavor. Our group will work hard to turn our inspired ideas into solid practices in the classroom.

Onward & Upward!

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