Supporting Learners as Inquirers & Designers (LC Submission 5 - Module 9)



The options are endless...there is so much to offer



The reading and resources from module 9 gave many ideas and inspirations 

  • Sketchnoting - I quickly scrolled through this article and thought to myself...I'm not a fantastic artist, how can I sketch and doodle well enough to make this work? Weeeellllll, let me tell you...THIS IS AWESOME!!! I LOVE IT. I can see how this would be terrific in a classroom and can get students to think beyond regular linear thought process and consider things from all angles - thinking outside the box.
    My five minute sketch note was all about taking the plunge and believing in oneself:
  • School Libraries and Makerspaces: Can They Coexist? I think the most important point in summary here is Josh Weisgrau's statement "Librarians and maker advocates alike should be able to understand the need for both spaces and their different means for building knowledge, while recognizing and valuing the similar approaches to learning encouraged by each." I really believe these two can coexist providing there is mutual respect and understanding. This is one of many blocks for building community and having it continue successfully
  • I love the uTEC Maker Fair and would love to see something like that happen in my district. The TLs in my district are in the process of forming a LSA; I think a small version of this fair would be a great project to put on the list of future goals. (The following notes from Loertscher, D. V. (2014). Makers, self-directed learners, and the library learning commons. Teacher Librarian, 41(5), 35-35,38,71)
uTEC:

Following along the uTEC model with us will help to recognize and elevate creativity rather than judging alternative thinking and behavior as negative,
U FOR USING
*Enjoy, sample, engage, play, participate in, or experience what others have created
We are all users and enjoy the creations of others, from games to microwaves to cell phones, to art and music and the automobiles we drive. We love new models and often want to be the first to own them, but we trust the creative approach of the inventor and use the item as intended.
T FOR TINKER
* Play, mess around, question, research, make changes to others' creations
We often become curious or dissatisfied with an invention and start experimenting with its purpose or the way it works, or we arrange the music or change the game. We might repurpose an item to use it in a different way than the inventor intended.
E FOR EXPERIMENTING
* Build, try/fail, repurpose, modify and test theories, learn from failure/success
At this level, we get serious about tinkering and begin experimenting with an idea, invention, musical sound, or video technique as we wonder what would happen if . . . This requires much trial and error, record keeping, thinking, and rethinking.
C FOR CREATING
* Invent, produce, entrepreneurship, novel products, ideas, inventions


In my first year in a position as Teacher Librarian, I have come across many (many!!!) ideas that I would really love to incorporate into future LLC spaces. Here are some examples:

For now, and for the purposes of this blog, I would like to concentrate on two inquiry and design based ideas I have found that were particularly exciting. 
  1. Heritage Inquiry
  2. Coding - specifically for girls
Heritage Inquiry projects came onto my radar this past fall when I met a wonderful teacher librarian, Sarah McLeod from GNS Glenlyon Norfolk School, who was working with the Education Team from the Royal BC Museum on a Heritage Inquiry Toolkit for students in grades 4-7. She introduced me to BC Heritage Fairs and I really started to think about how wonderfully well this could work in a LLC space.




This was all new to me, but I was really intrigued. The RBCM Learning Portal outlines some of what can be learned through the Heritage Inquiry.

Together, the Education Team from the Royal BC Museum along with Sarah McLeod have created a "Heritage Inquiry Toolkit" session at RBCM with the idea of preparing students, teachers and teacher-librarians to get started on Heritage Inquiry projects. These "toolkit" sessions are aimed to "provide information and ideas on how to access, evaluate, use and integrate information and create knowledge using the amazing resources (people, places and things) we have available to use in our community." (McLeod, S. December 2017). In addition to these skills, the "toolkit" session also prepare students with various ways of displaying their information for presentation to the school community.

I have heard nothing but positive feedback on Heritage Inquiry as an invaluable and meaningful process for students.

I would love to offer this inquiry and project based learning  as a program where interested students could work on Heritage Inquiry during a set LLC block of time. Perhaps it could even be offered as a middle school elective?

The whole notion of Heritage Inquiry fits in so well with my desire to build a LLC Community. I have added a Webmix to my Symbaloo to keep track of Inquiry based learning and Heritage Inquiry Information I find:

2. Coding This past fall, I had the opportunity to take place in something amazing. I had been quite interested in learning more about coding and teaching this to students. I had thought it would be a terrific use of LLC space and time to offer co-teaching and collaboration in introducing coding to students.
Around the same time as I was learning more about coding myself, I was introduced to Hackergal. An amazing teacher in our school took the lead in forming this group and offering it to middle school girls two days per week at lunchtime. Watch this YouTube clip below to learn more about Hackergal:


Together, we followed the Hackergal program and watched this group of 20+ girls work extremely hard, enjoy the learning, help one another and be super proud of their accomplishments! Diane did an amazing job putting it all together while I was able to support where needed and learn a great deal from her leadership.






We even made it onto the news:




I would love to offer HackerGal to another group of girls next year and get as many involved in the area as possible.

While HackerGal is for girls, there are many opportunities for everyone. I plan to offer some guidance and instruction to teachers so coding can be offered to as many students as possible.


Sources:

  • "10 Reasons to Use Inquiry Based Learning" image from https://www.teachthought.com/critical-thinking/10-benefits-of-inquiry-based-learning/
  • Weisgrau, Josh.  (2015, September 24). School libraries and makerspaces: can they coexist? Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/school-libraries-makerspaces-coexist-josh-weisgrau (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
  • uTEC - Loertscher, D. V. (2014). Makers, self-directed learners, and the library learning commons. Teacher Librarian, 41(5), 35-35,38,71. 
  • https://www.slj.com/2016/09/standards/hey-i-built-a-lego-wall-heres-how/
  • http://www.salmonidsintheclassroom.ca/
  • http://www.makerspaceforeducation.com/breaker-space.html
  • https://www.techsmith.com/blog/how-to-create-a-diy-green-scre/
  • https://meetedison.com/
  • https://zentangle.com/
  • Heritage Inquiry information from Sarah McLeod, October 2017
  • http://bcheritagefairs.ca/about/
  • http://learning.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/pathways/heritage-fairs/
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=7&v=gpVleL0YZzo
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbEx2biM4io
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJO3FM2hOdo
  • http://hackergal.org/
  • HackerGal information created by Diane Tanner, December 2017



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