After spending a great deal of time this week simply observing how students are using the iPads, I now have a better understanding of how to structure processes that incorporate these devices. Today was my first attempt to bring formality to learning using these tools.
By chance a resource to prompt deeper critical thinking was shared on twitter this week and I decided to use it as a tool for a guided inquiry on homelessness using our iPads.
I began by asking the students four questions:
1. Who are the homeless?
2. How can you tell someone is homeless?
3.What do homeless people do all day?
4. Why do people become homeless?
Partners were assigned and given paper and a marker. They had 10 minutes to complete their discussion and task. The goal for this kind of activity is to get all beliefs out on the table and to have all learners involved in the discussion. This is feature of Accountable Talk, a high yield strategy that we are expected to use in our programs in Ontario.
After 10 minutes we regrouped, posted the papers and discussed the results. Perceptions of homeless people were consistent across the class: poor, dirty, beg for money, torn clothes, look through garbage, alcohol/drug addiction. One student proposed that the ideas we were discussing were stereotypes; several students nodded but no one took the discussion beyond that point. The class giggled uncomfortably when hobo was said aloud. When I asked why, they identified it as having a negative connotation indicating judgement and inferiority.
I next asked students to think about where their ideas about homeless people come from. They weren't born with the concept "homeless person" in their heads, after all. It had to come from somewhere. The majority of the class based their labels on experience. Only 1 student mentioned media - he had seen it in a Spongebob episode.
We then turned to the Agree/Disagree line. At one end of the classroom is the word Agree, in the middle - Not Sure and at the other end Disagree. For each of 3 statements students were asked to place themselves on the line.
1. It is their own fault that people are homeless.
2. It is easy to recognize a homeless person.
3. If a homeless person really wanted to, he could do something to improve his condition.
Many students felt that homeless people had caused their own demise and they were confident they would recognize a homeless person. At this point I didn't ask students to justify their position on the line, I just wanted them to be aware that there were varied opinions and to observe where they stood on the line.
I then showed Eve Bunting's Fly Away Home from the Reading Rainbow series. I started the video at the actual story and watched to the end. It was interesting to note the expressions on their faces as the film progressed. At the end of the film I asked what had surprised them most.
"there are many reasons why people can become homeless"
"it can be because of just something that happens. It's not their fault."
"these are people just like me - except they're homeless"
They had many questions - it was time for the iPads. We wanted more information on homelessness and to know if people really live in airports. This was true inquiry. The students knew that they had to stay on topic, other than that they were free to explore. Partners were scattered all over the room. Students read, watched and as they found information shared their learning. They went in different directions. One student found the story of a man who had lived 12 years in an airport. Another found that over 100 people live in Heathrow Airport. Another found out that people who live in airports have a greater risk of getting cancer, which led him into an exploration of cancer rates around airports.
For the entire time the whole class was engaged and the atmosphere felt very natural. Two of my students who do not perform well in a typical classroom learning environment were actively searching, reading and sharing as they constructed knowledge and gained insight.
At one point I stopped the class to have them observe how different our approach to learning is now that we have tablets. They acknowledged a difference, but one student said it best, "This is ... it's really ... this is useful!"
We regrouped one last time to close the lesson. I asked one question, "Who experienced a shift in their thinking about homelessness?" Heads nodded and all but 1 hand flew up.
By chance a resource to prompt deeper critical thinking was shared on twitter this week and I decided to use it as a tool for a guided inquiry on homelessness using our iPads.
I began by asking the students four questions:
1. Who are the homeless?
2. How can you tell someone is homeless?
3.What do homeless people do all day?
4. Why do people become homeless?
Partners were assigned and given paper and a marker. They had 10 minutes to complete their discussion and task. The goal for this kind of activity is to get all beliefs out on the table and to have all learners involved in the discussion. This is feature of Accountable Talk, a high yield strategy that we are expected to use in our programs in Ontario.
After 10 minutes we regrouped, posted the papers and discussed the results. Perceptions of homeless people were consistent across the class: poor, dirty, beg for money, torn clothes, look through garbage, alcohol/drug addiction. One student proposed that the ideas we were discussing were stereotypes; several students nodded but no one took the discussion beyond that point. The class giggled uncomfortably when hobo was said aloud. When I asked why, they identified it as having a negative connotation indicating judgement and inferiority.
I next asked students to think about where their ideas about homeless people come from. They weren't born with the concept "homeless person" in their heads, after all. It had to come from somewhere. The majority of the class based their labels on experience. Only 1 student mentioned media - he had seen it in a Spongebob episode.
We then turned to the Agree/Disagree line. At one end of the classroom is the word Agree, in the middle - Not Sure and at the other end Disagree. For each of 3 statements students were asked to place themselves on the line.
1. It is their own fault that people are homeless.
2. It is easy to recognize a homeless person.
3. If a homeless person really wanted to, he could do something to improve his condition.
Many students felt that homeless people had caused their own demise and they were confident they would recognize a homeless person. At this point I didn't ask students to justify their position on the line, I just wanted them to be aware that there were varied opinions and to observe where they stood on the line.
I then showed Eve Bunting's Fly Away Home from the Reading Rainbow series. I started the video at the actual story and watched to the end. It was interesting to note the expressions on their faces as the film progressed. At the end of the film I asked what had surprised them most.
"there are many reasons why people can become homeless"
"it can be because of just something that happens. It's not their fault."
"these are people just like me - except they're homeless"
They had many questions - it was time for the iPads. We wanted more information on homelessness and to know if people really live in airports. This was true inquiry. The students knew that they had to stay on topic, other than that they were free to explore. Partners were scattered all over the room. Students read, watched and as they found information shared their learning. They went in different directions. One student found the story of a man who had lived 12 years in an airport. Another found that over 100 people live in Heathrow Airport. Another found out that people who live in airports have a greater risk of getting cancer, which led him into an exploration of cancer rates around airports.
For the entire time the whole class was engaged and the atmosphere felt very natural. Two of my students who do not perform well in a typical classroom learning environment were actively searching, reading and sharing as they constructed knowledge and gained insight.
At one point I stopped the class to have them observe how different our approach to learning is now that we have tablets. They acknowledged a difference, but one student said it best, "This is ... it's really ... this is useful!"
We regrouped one last time to close the lesson. I asked one question, "Who experienced a shift in their thinking about homelessness?" Heads nodded and all but 1 hand flew up.
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