To encourage dialogue and reflection about questions and the ways that questions foster learning, our question(s) for this week are: What are some questions that you are thinking about these days? What questions would you like to find the answers for? Fostering Questions (Week of 3/26/23) (This is an anonymous Google Form)
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Our Students
Blake's Core Values: Respect, Responsibility, Resourcefulness, Reflection
Our Essential Question: How can we cultivate and curate the progression of student learning and growth?
Our Mission: Blake Middle School believes in a living mission statement, based on the concept that our community seeks and respects knowledge, integrity, character, wisdom, and the willingness to adapt to a continually evolving world.
The most important attitude that can be formed is that of desire to go on learning. - John Dewey
You cannot teach today the same way you did yesterday to prepare students for tomorrow. - John Dewey
I shared last week that March seems to be moving along faster than ever, and this past week felt no different (although it does not always feel that way on a day-to-day basis!). As I am looking ahead to schedules/meetings in the near future, April is truly on our doorstep! Our weekend was nice - some down time, watching basketball, and dinner with some friends.
As we were taking the bus back to Blake from the museum, I kept thinking about what our group’s docent said throughout the tour about the importance of sharing thoughts and asking questions. She welcomed every question (on and off topic), affirming what’s on their mind and also pushing the questions back to the students to hear their thoughts and ideas. This brief experience served as a great reminder for me as to how important it is to create space for all questions, as they provide insight and a window into the processing and learning. This is not always easy, but I think just the awareness and recognition helps to open up that space.
At the incoming information nights for families, I shared some of the statistics that we have discussed as a staff about ‘skills drop off’ and the downward trend that students share through the trajectory of their schooling experience. Some of these findings are highlighted in Brad Latzke’s post Do Schools Really Stifle Creativity?
** Key finding that school structures and teaching practices limit children questioning
- What is contributing to these trends?
- What do students say when we show them these graphics?
- Are we surprised?
- What practices should we ‘sunset’? What practices should we foster?
- How can questions help shift the trend upwards for enthusiasm and engagement?
I know there are many more questions and I would love to engage in conversations and action steps to explore them in a collective manner. One challenge is finding and making (and that challenge always will be true), but as noted above, the awareness and recognition of the need helps me. And I hope that others can help remind me of this as well - and with the ‘open-ended’ reality of the educational landscape, questions are and will be critical. The post and podcast episode below espouse and support the role questions do and should play and - hoping to foster and open up that space for learning and growth…
Is It Better to Ask Questions or Listen Carefully?
by Lory Hough in Harvard Ed. Magazine
…question-asking shows promise for enhancing children’s motivation to learn and equalizing academic disparities.
The mind is naturally predisposed to get reward from building models of the world, but there is not a lot of reward in memorizing facts. So this focus in U.S. schools on facts over discovery might quash curiosity.
… curiosity is sparked by uncertainty, but many schools believe there is a “right answer” and that teachers must always appear knowledgeable. By not modeling intellectual humility and noting our own uncertainty about the world, we pass these curiosity-killing beliefs onto children.
…questions help the teacher see where confusions are arising to allow more effective lesson building. But questions can also build interest, curiosity, and even support learning directly.
Questions are a great way for students to practice thinking about the broader connection of what they are learning. Questions also help a learner identify areas where they still have uncertainty and require resolution. Questions are a means of “learning by thinking” — by framing knowledge as a question, learners help focus their own thinking.
…simply asking a question might help a learner discover an answer they didn’t know they had all along!
How to Use Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas with the Author of A More Beautiful Question & The Book of Beautiful Questions with Warren Berger
(48 minutes)
from the Partnering Leadership podcast
In this episode of Partnering Leadership, Mahan Tavakoli speaks with Warren Berger. Warren is the author of multiple books on innovation and the power of questioning in leadership and everyday life. The conversation focused on Warren Berger's books A More Beautiful Question and The Book of Beautiful Questions. Warren shared thoughts on his study of the world's foremost innovators and creative thinkers, revealing what he has learned. Warren Berger also shared his insights into the natural tendency of questioning as a young child, the connection between curiosity and questioning, and why we suppress our questioning ability as we get older. Warren shared what leaders can do differently to encourage a culture of curiosity and tap into the power of inquiry. Finally, Warren Berger shared thoughts on developing the questioning skills critical for innovation, collaboration, and leading through uncertainty.
Sampling of Responses from Last Week’s ‘Question of the Week’: Where do you find inspiration? What inspires you?
- I find inspiration from previous thinkers and future creators!
- Nature, the sunshine, seeing kids engaged in learning, kids laughing, kids working together
- I enjoy looking at art, especially objects crafted or handmade. This helps me think about what different people are interested in.
- Music, I get inspired a lot when listening to music I like
- I find that certain people can inspire me by their actions
- I find inspiration from people. What they are doing, how they act, what they look like, their personality, the list goes on.
- I find inspiration in books and what inspires me is great stories.
- I find inspiration in my grandparents. They are very smart and have been through a lot of challenges. Through this, they have still persevered.
As Women's History Month comes to the end this week, the two quotes below are ones that I came across this week that spoke to me…
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Take care.
Nat