I can honestly say that I have learned more in these past four weeks of social studies methods than I've learned in my entire college career. There is so much I still have to learn as a future teacher! It makes me both nervous and excited.
One thing that both Dr. Clark and Dr. Parker have both taught me is that questions in a lesson are crucial. Dr. Clark stressed in EDUC 410 how important great essential questions are. This week in SSED 307, we have learned about guiding questions. We have learned about the three different kinds of guiding questions and how each one has an important role.
I am going to be totally and completely honest with you right now, and I hope that you won't judge me (you probably won't, because you probably are right there with me)......... While I was in elementary school, middle school, high school, and much of college, I never once paid attention to the essential questions. Looking back now, HOW SAD IS THAT?! I am sure that I got the basic point of the lessons or learned what was required, but I never cared to read the essential question.
Knowing now what teachers can go through to come up with the perfect essential question, I feel pretty guilty about that. On the other hand though, why didn't my teachers stress those essential questions? Can those questions not set the entire mood of a unit/lesson? Can those questions not guide us into the generalizations and directions that we need to be going?
In a Scholastic Article by Jeffery Wilhelm, he talks about what an essential question is, why it is important, and how to create an effective one. He gives a specific example from his daughter's first grade class. This teacher's essential question for her habitat unit was "What makes a good home?"
So simple, yet so thoughtful. This makes students think, "what DOES make a good home?" and "just because it is good home for me doesn't mean it is a good home for someone else." This question was broad enough to give students the opportunity to think outside of the box and use critical thinking skills, but specific enough to lead them in the right direction.
This teacher took this one question and did so many things with it! The students started by talking about homes for humans. Then they read books about homes for different kinds of animals. In the end, students created habitat exhibits with various aspects added in to show what they had learned. This teacher had such creative and also fun ideas that really got the students interested and involved! All it took was that first essential question "What makes a good home?"
I often find it difficult to come up with that one perfect essential question. Wilhelm gave these 3 points to take into consideration when making an essential question:
"(1) The question should be interesting and compelling to your students right now! (2) It should invite them into the ongoing disciplinary debates and conversations that create knowledge in the first place. (3) It should require students to learn—and to use—the same understandings and strategies as the real experts in the field"
Great essential questions can connect to a few different NCTCS including, "teachers recognizing the interconnectedness of content areas/disciplines." However, ultimately this all leads back to "teachers helping students develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills." The right questions can help students think outside of the box and develop their critical thinking skills.
I want to be sure that when I finally have my own classroom, I am not only creating great essential and guiding questions, but that I am using them! I don't want my students to look back over their student careers and not remember looking at the essential questions. I want these questions to guide them in a positive direction and get them engaged and excited about learning. I simply want to make a difference in the classroom. Don't we all?
Read Jeffery Wilhelm's article at:
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/essential-questions
Right on Lauren! I agree that essential questions are very important in lesson design. The ability to get students thinking about the "so what" is truly an important part of teaching them how to think critically in life. Essential questions are going to encourage students to wonder or find out for their own interest. It is not as simple for them as answering a question for a test but finding out what they believe about a certain topic. Reminds me of the upcoming election. Many people have their candidate picked out either by emotional connection or the way they were raised. Some don't take the time to research what the candidate is about or what they have done. The same could be said with students. They may give an answer just to be right without knowing why it is right. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree, Lauren! I too did not pay attention to essential questions, but now, I am able to see just how much thought the teacher has to put into forming those questions. It definitely gives you a greater appreciation of those teachers. You are right, though. It makes me think why those questions weren't stressed. I actually used a quote from Jeffery Wilhelm as well!I loved his seemingly simple question that lead learning into many different areas of learning. As it is said, a great essential question leads to other questions. I hope that I will be able to think of great questions like that and use them effectively in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteLauren,
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you said! I also have learned more this semester than I have my entire college career. Growing up I never payed attention to the essential questions either and looking back that is very sad. As a future educator I want to emphasize how important essential questions and guiding questions are to my students. I really like how you connected this concept to the teacher candidate standard "teachers helping students develop critical thinking and problem solving skills". I think this ties in perfectly with this concept.
Lauren,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the personal connections in this blog. These connections will help you to develop lessons where students can be more successful. We, myself included, shouldn't let a lesson go by without requiring our students to think.