Home with stomach virus

Hey everyone I am home today with some yucky stomach thing. Hope to be in later.
Mary An

Surprisingly good.

Well, I must say that I was surprised by the concept of starting work on the final paper before finishing the current one but I understand why now. Even though my brain feels like it is stretched to the max right now it was good to start the discussion. I was a little leery when I saw the papers going up but I liked the activity. It was good to see everyone's starting point. I also liked the fact that we were able to brainstorm questions beforehand. All of that was very helpful...which makes me wonder...what does Sherrie have up her sleeve next?

Day 2, Week 2 FEAR REARS ITS UGLY HEAD AGAIN!

Oh dear lord, I left here yesterday feeling pretty good about this class only to have FEAR prickle throughout my body yet again! When Sherri brought up that we needed to start thinking about our Research Project when the Narrative is not yet complete "ARE YOU KIDDING ME???" But, yet now as I think back to Phase 1 and trusting Sherri yet again I feel better about the process. I loved the activity! I found it so interesting that not one single person in the room chose the same idea! However, the ideas that we did choose were spring-boarded with questions for us to ponder as we embark on this journey. This was not only reaffirming that perhaps we did choose a topic that has potential, but also gave me some different avenues to look at it. TRUST, TRUST, TRUST something that I need to actively embrace. Wow how must my students feel when I give them some of the assignments I give them? Thank you for the reminder!

Brainstorming Charts

I thought the brainstorming charts we did this afternoon was such a good idea. Getting feedback gave me another perspective on how to look at the question. I also felt that I was making an important contribution when I commented on each of the charts. Some comments were suggestions of what I thought would work while others were ideas of what I've learned in professional development or my own classroom experiences themselves. I'm so surprised that the scented ("smelly") markers were such a huge hit in class today :). I use these on a regular basis in my own class when we do projects that lend themselves to the markers. They are fun to use.

Question activity

This activity helps to get different perspectives on the questions we presented. I appreciate this concept because it allows us to think about about our own question via another avenue. I could see how this could be beneficial in my science class. I was thinking I could use this method when students are trying to generate a problem for their science fair project.

Collaboration!

I loved the activity today and I will be taking it back to the classroom. Teaching research papers is hard. And even though I am referencing the traditional type of paper, this activity can still be applied. Should be, applied. One of the early stages that I teach is to create questions to guide your research. Students have a hard time digging in and getting started. I have students who agonize for hours over their thesis. I liked that Sherri forced us to put it down in writing. Yes I felt rushed, but it made me make a decision. It may be the decision of the moment; it may look very different later in the process but it was a place to get started. Then the collaboration was brilliant in two ways. First, each student is getting multiple ideas to get started on this process that is very murky in the beginning. Thirteen different perspectives have already weighed in on my inquiry project and are giving me insights on how to get started and what are the different type of angles that this paper may need to consider. Secondly, I liked getting a feel for the assignment by seeing what my classmates are doing. Felt like another good exercise in community.

Inquiry Question

I was very intimidated by this concept of forming a question for inquiry rather than traditional research, not because of the overall task, but how to frame the question correctly (whatever that means)--that need to "get it right" is strong, even when comfortable with the community we've established. I was ambivalent about writing questions/concerns for each person's question, but having read mine, I have a better idea about how I might frame my inquiry. Thank you all!