From: Betsy Kean (keanb@educserver.educ.csus.edu)
Date: Wed Mar 29 2000 - 09:12:06 PST
Message-ID: <6F5461B88EF7D211BD2200E02906D1372D4CDA@educserver.educ.csus.edu> From: Betsy Kean <keanb@educserver.educ.csus.edu> Subject: RE: Beyond Guided Inquiry Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 09:12:06 -0800
Hi John -
A group of teachers and I confronted this question also a number of
years ago. They found it was possible to set up some sets of interesting
phenomena around the room that students could access when they had time to
spare. The trick here was to find things that were inherently interesting
and open ended that could be manipulated easily. Some teachers simply made
them available and let students socialize around them. Others set up "extra
credit" of different sorts, targeted questions to answer, asking students to
generate questions and providing more extensive time for them to explore
them. Others had a series of tasks that students could engage in, e.g.,
setting up the next activity, taking their turn at feeding the classroom
animals, watering plants, etc. Perhaps the most interesting option we found
was the establishment of major projects that kids were doing that this time
could be used for, e.g., a yearlong study of a tree on the school ground
that could be visited, observed, etc. The key here is that the students had
some choices in how the classroom operated, and their work tended to be
"authentic," that is had a purpose in the students' eyes. In other words,
they had something they wanted to do, so they often pushed with intensity to
finish the teacher controlled tasks so that they could get to their work.
In a classroom in which all the tasks are controlled by the teacher, what
benefit is there for students to finish their work "early?"
In case you think I am describing an affluent classroom, I'm not. These
were middle and high school classrooms in an urban midwestern school
district of which nearly a half were students from poverty. The teachers
were part of an NSF teacher enhancement grant that helped them create
curricula and teaching practices to engage all students in learning science.
Betsy Kean
Special Assistant to the Dean for K-18 Initiatives
College of Education, 207 Eureka Hall
Professor of Teacher Education
California State University, Sacramento
6000 J Street
Sacramento, CA 95819-6079
(916) 278-5524
FAX (916) 278-5904
E-mail: kean@csus.edu
> ----------
> From: John Cafarella
> Reply To: IFI listserv
> Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2000 4:24 PM
> To: ifi-list@exploratorium.edu
> Subject: Beyond Guided Inquiry
>
> Hi folks,
> During a post-observation meeting with an 8th grade teacher, we discussed
> what to do with students who finish a guided inquiry activity before the
> critical mass of the class does or before the 12 minutes (or whatever)
> for the activity have elapsed. We discussed journal entries, more
> in-depth components to the activity, and worksheets.
> Any other ideas would be welcome.
>
> Thanks
> John Cafarella
> Newburgh, NY
>
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