May 2019 archive
Traditional education has mainly focused on linearly transmitting information, from teacher to student, with the product being an assessment of what the student “knows.” However, when the class moves in a linear A-B-C-D fashion, information and concepts which are missed may go unnoticed. In order to expose gaps in knowledge and skill a new way of digesting material must be introduced. The C3 Inquiry method proposes just this kind of change.
Ever since learning of the C3 Inquiry method, I’ve been a fan. I recently created a lesson which utilized the C3 Inquiry: “What Influenced the Creation of the U.S. Constitution?” located at http://www.c3teachers.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/C3-FINAL-Gov-Constitutional-Influences.pdf, Inquiry material created by Fairfax County Public Schools.
As I walked through the lesson plan, I began to realize, I was getting ahead of myself. Most students are not exposed to the inquiry method and if they are, I’m not sure they realize its purpose. Since I believe purposeful instruction is the key to student engagement and motivation, I began to really think through how I would introduce this method to my class. “How should I explain this?”, “Should I have a pre-review of the activity before I explain its purpose?”, or “Should I just introduce it “cold” and work through the explanation as the lesson progresses?”.
Although some of my answer(s) will come from the culture of the individual class, I came to the conclusion —it was best to begin at the beginning. I will introduce the C3 Inquiry lesson to the students by telling the students that we are going to engage in a C3 Inquiry and explain to them “why” we are going to engage in this method.
In my explanation of the “why”, I will point out that:
- C3 often takes students out of their comfort zones (because students are used to direct instruction),
- C3 stretches learning and provides many avenues to “show what you know”,
- C3 at its base prods students to ask questions and construct their own responses,
- C3 will help students think of the content in ways not before considered,
- C3 will help students learn “how” to ask their own questions, how to frame the questions, and how to ask the right questions; and,
- C3 trains students to be “question askers” and not just “question answerers”
For all of C3’s benefits it is also important to realize that even with the explanation of the process, the introduction of this foreign learning concept may give some students cause for pause.
That’s why probing students with open-ended questions, using student generated questions to drive additional thought, and forcing the use of evidence to support concepts, answers, and additional questions are keys to expanded thinking through Inquiry.
However, these techniques as well as “question asking” in isolation does not turn students into critical thinkers — this is why I will take care in being selective about the student questions I answer; to allow students to remain in the driver seat of the C3 lesson.
In addition, I will strive to share my own annotations to the Inquiry, showing students I’m learning with them, that I have questions too, and that I use the Inquiry method to help me process information.
In the end, I see myself using this inquiry method in my future classroom to deepen understanding of the various factors at play in the media both past and present, meeting SOL skills standards, and fulfilling Virginia Portrait of a Graduate requirements. I envision doing this by breaking the students up into discussion groups where they can fully apply the different thinking processes happening simultaneously during the Inquiry. Education is evolving, and a modern society deserves a modern way of thinking, a way of changing the dialogue from “what we know” to “how we know.”
A foundational premise of student success lies in parent support and involvement at the school. Often times, parents are not involved in the educational process as much as they may like and although there are a myriad of reasons why involvement may be lacking, it is important to get parents on-board.
In an effort to overcome individual difference variables and events outside of a single teacher’s control, a specific communication improvement strategy that could be employed to improve the teacher-parent partnership would be to ‘touch’ parents often.
Having accessible information is excellent and providing a weekly re-cap is equally informative, however, engaging parents briefly and individually, may be the best strategy when other methods have proven unsuccessful. Taking a small moment to send a personal, positive communication note to the parent concerning their child can go a long way. This may look like:
- A “Catching Students Being Good” e-mail,
- An e-mail praising the work of a student who was successful in a challenging area; and,
- A generalized note telling the parent the teacher knows their child, knows them, and is there for both of them during the school year.
Some parents may delete these messages, which merely means the communication was not impactful to them – and that is ok. However, for some parents, it will make a world of difference in creating a true partnership between home and classroom.
Simply stated, reach out the parents; let them know their student is more than a student name and number on your roll. Invite parents into your classroom – in whatever way your district will allow you too. Allow parents to be as involved as they want in what is happening in the classroom with their children; your students.
I believe in communication equity, classroom transparency, and parent partnership. When a parent is involved, the overreaching rewards to the school, the classroom, and the student are so fruitful, it can hardly be afforded not to invest the time to foster those mutual relationships.
There is no question that communication is important in the classroom; however, it cannot be overlooked that communication by teachers to parents is equally important to the success of the student.
In short, everyone benefits from increased teacher-parent communication.
When teachers communicate, parents are better able to understand the educational system — how the program(s) work, which allows them to craft better home strategies to support students. When parents know how things work, they feel a greater sense of empowerment. When the mystery is removed, trust is built, and parents become stakeholders and not adversaries or skeptics of the school.
Often parents are not as involved as they would like to be and there are a myriad of reasons. However, at its core, countless parent interviews have told me the answer of parent involvement lies in (1) an understanding of the environment itself and (2) resource constraints. When parents are not involved the reasons typically looks like:
- Lack of accommodation for working parents’ schedule(s) when hosting school events or meetings,
- Childcare constraints,
- Lack of understanding related to a parent’s communication style, background, or abilities making the parent feel unwelcome or isolated,
- Input has not been solicited from parents on issues within the school’s control—preventing buy-in,
- Past tensions between the parent(s) and the school/teacher(s); and,
- A shortage of opportunity for parents to be involved in upper school grades.
An overarching strategy for improving teacher-parent communication is to get parents involved—early, and often. Research has shown that when parents are involved, it is for the better—better engagement, better attendance, better attitudes towards school, and better graduation rates. Simple things such as:
- Utilizing short parent surveys to uncover the school communities needs,
- Sending out Parent Volunteer requests for parent help outside of school hours,
- Making childcare available for school events (e.g. PTA meetings and Parent Teacher Conferences),
- Utilizing technology to meet with parents (e.g. Video Conferencing and Teleconferencing),
- Hosting meetings and workshops that give parents insight into the curriculum; and,
- Consistent communication, from a consistent and reliable source.
I can not emphasize consistent communication enough. Consistent communication sends the message to parents that they are welcome, are a vital part of their children’s education, and a strong part of the parent-teacher partnership. When the school makes a concentrated effort to involve parents, its a win for everyone.
The importance of communication cannot be emphasized enough.
As humans, we use communication to transmit our wants, needs, and desires to other humans. While communication can utilize interpersonal avenues, it can also travel via multi-media paths.
It is precisely communications intricacy in everyday human interactions which makes it so important in the classroom environment.
It has been said that communication is 80%. body language and 20% verbal language. Theoretically, this means that students in the classroom received 100% of the message a teacher is communicating.
A teacher may utilize multiple methods of communication in the classroom which conveys such messages as his or her classroom expectations, providing task instructions, and relay of assignment information. While the students are present, there is also an opportunity for an exchange of information whereby the students can engage in a question and answer with the teacher for further information and/or clarification.
Although a successful classroom depends on the effective relay of information through a myriad of valuable communication techniques, the student’s parents are not privy to the daily classroom. This lack of communication can cause conflict and strife between the parents and teacher.
In an effort to help parents understand what’s happening in the classroom, proactive communication can be key. Being proactive might look like:
- Setting up a school approved website (or utilizing a district platform where available) which includes all of the basic information for the class (i.e., syllabus, contact information, classroom rules, etc.) as a static information source,
- A Friday afternoon “note” to remind students of tasks which should be reviewed over the weekend (i.e., homework and projects),
- Weekly parent classroom re-cap e-mail/update and a weekly look ahead; and,
- A standing invitation to parents, asking them to communicate early and often.
As an educator, I continue to hear that parents need to be weaned off of communication messages as students need to take more responsibility. While I do not disagree with this statement, I believe at the middle school level over communication may be better than not, especially given this stage of development.
It’s also important to make sure that the needs of all students are being met. For example, those students with ADHD, executive function challenges, or twice-exceptional students often have distinctive challenges with organization and memory which means teacher communication with parents is much needed.
In reality, parent communication is a sticky process and even the best-laid communication plans can go awry. However, embracing a communication mindset, adopting an open-door policy, and understanding that the student is one of your “many” but of the parents “only” can go a long way in re-framing parent communication. Communication is a two-way street and there should be a partnership between the parent and the teacher whenever and wherever possible.
