Over the past few
weeks I've been reflecting on what I truly believe the purpose of Adventure
Learning is and what I envision my year 4 children being able to do by the end
of the year. I think that although there are similarities between how teachers
deliver this type of programme, individual teachers also add their own personal
flavour to it. This links back to our own personal teaching philosophy, as well
as what we believe will best meet the needs of our current learners.
Adventure Learning is differentiated to meet the individual learning needs of the children within my class. Therefore what I expect children to get out of Adventure Learning by the end of a term is often different for individuals or groups of children. However; the overall purpose is still to provide children with an opportunity to learn about something that they're passionate about and to develop a love for learning. There is also the expectation that children will learn about something that challenges their thinking, reflect on their learning, create a sharing item and present it.
For some groups of children the main focus is on developing key competency skills through a context that they're passionate about. Adventure Learning has been a successful way for my year 4 children to learn to work collaboratively, plan effectively, reflect on their learning, problem solve and take risks. A lot of learners have made significant progress in these learning areas, for others these skills continue to be a focal point. Alongside this the children are also developing new knowledge in a specific area of interest.
Adventure Learning has also lifted student engagement significantly. An excellent example of this is one of the boys in my class who is often disengaged with the core subjects e.g. literacy and numeracy. We have a Golden Bell Frog in our classroom. This particular child and his group decided they wanted to learn more about this breed of frog and what they need in their habitat. After spending a few weeks researching, the boys used the interactive whiteboard to put together a design for a new enclosure. Once completed, they set to work cleaning out the old tank and creating a new home for the frog. When asked what they plan on doing next to extend their learning, they told me that they're now going to learn how to use Scribble Press to create a book about caring for frogs in NZ. I thought this was a great next step as there is very little information online about caring for this type of frog. They've also talked about creating a movie and uploading it to YouTube. Two of the other boys in the group are achieving below their expected level in most areas. For these children Adventure Learning has not only increased student engagement, but has also enabled them to experience regular success with something that they're passionate about.
For other children it's about learning to ask purposeful questions and develop critical thinking skills. An example of this is a group of boys who wanted to learn about grizzly bears. One boy in the group then shared that he would like to learn about polar bears too. In the end the boys ended up compromising and are now comparing the similarities and differences between the two bears.
Adventure Learning also provides children with the opportunity to develop their creativity and ICT skills. One group of children are passionate about visual art. Adventure Learning has enabled them to further extend themselves in this particular area. These girls have used Pinterest to source their initial ideas, have adapted them and are now planning on creating 'how to' movies, then uploading them to YouTube.
Adventure Learning is differentiated to meet the individual learning needs of the children within my class. Therefore what I expect children to get out of Adventure Learning by the end of a term is often different for individuals or groups of children. However; the overall purpose is still to provide children with an opportunity to learn about something that they're passionate about and to develop a love for learning. There is also the expectation that children will learn about something that challenges their thinking, reflect on their learning, create a sharing item and present it.
For some groups of children the main focus is on developing key competency skills through a context that they're passionate about. Adventure Learning has been a successful way for my year 4 children to learn to work collaboratively, plan effectively, reflect on their learning, problem solve and take risks. A lot of learners have made significant progress in these learning areas, for others these skills continue to be a focal point. Alongside this the children are also developing new knowledge in a specific area of interest.
Adventure Learning has also lifted student engagement significantly. An excellent example of this is one of the boys in my class who is often disengaged with the core subjects e.g. literacy and numeracy. We have a Golden Bell Frog in our classroom. This particular child and his group decided they wanted to learn more about this breed of frog and what they need in their habitat. After spending a few weeks researching, the boys used the interactive whiteboard to put together a design for a new enclosure. Once completed, they set to work cleaning out the old tank and creating a new home for the frog. When asked what they plan on doing next to extend their learning, they told me that they're now going to learn how to use Scribble Press to create a book about caring for frogs in NZ. I thought this was a great next step as there is very little information online about caring for this type of frog. They've also talked about creating a movie and uploading it to YouTube. Two of the other boys in the group are achieving below their expected level in most areas. For these children Adventure Learning has not only increased student engagement, but has also enabled them to experience regular success with something that they're passionate about.
For other children it's about learning to ask purposeful questions and develop critical thinking skills. An example of this is a group of boys who wanted to learn about grizzly bears. One boy in the group then shared that he would like to learn about polar bears too. In the end the boys ended up compromising and are now comparing the similarities and differences between the two bears.
Adventure Learning also provides children with the opportunity to develop their creativity and ICT skills. One group of children are passionate about visual art. Adventure Learning has enabled them to further extend themselves in this particular area. These girls have used Pinterest to source their initial ideas, have adapted them and are now planning on creating 'how to' movies, then uploading them to YouTube.
At the end of the day it comes down to knowing your kids and how
to best extend their learning.
I'm always looking
for ways to further my own professional knowledge, ways to further extend the
children in my class and modify Adventure Learning to better meet the needs of
my learners. Over the past two years I've been lucky enough to visit Silverton
Primary in Melbourne, Stonefields School, GKP (Gifted Kids Programme) in
Dargaville, Island Bay School and Amesbury School in Wellington, attend the
Learning
@ School Conference both years, connect with other teachers at
EducampTT and have numerous professional discussions with staff at school, as
well as with my PLN on Twitter. After attending EducampTT last weekend there
are a couple more schools that I'm hoping to visit in the near future too. I'm
also looking forward to attending the 'It's a Learner's World' conference in
Auckland during the July school holidays. I've shared ideas with teachers who
are doing something similar to Adventure Learning, have spoken to children in
different schools to hear their personal voice and even started up a monthly #Google20timenz
chat on Twitter. I've also connected with American teachers regularly and
spoken to them about what they call Genius Hour. Alongside this, I've done my
own research online. I've read a lot written by Dan Pink and Sir Ken Robinson,
as well as watched their TED Talks. If you haven't seen 'Are Schools Killing
Creativity?' by Sir Ken Robinson it's worth watching. Ultimately I continue to
come back to asking myself where to next?
Adventure Learning continues to evolve and I've come to understand that this is okay. It's all part of teaching as inquiry. By the end of the year I am hoping that the children in my class will not only be curious learners, but independent learners. As they continue to become more confident and familiar with Adventure Learning the depth to their projects will increase. In saying this I don't want to see Adventure Learning slotted into the same box as our whole school inquiry. Although the skills are transferable between Adventure Learning and inquiry, they remain quite different. In saying that, I still see Adventure Learning as being a form of inquiry learning. The more schools I visit and teachers I speak to, the more I realise that inquiry can be a very broad term. It means different things to different people and schools.
I'm hoping that the children in my class will begin to take on more ownership of their learning and that I will continue to see kids teaching kids regularly. As the year continues I'm certain the children will begin to reflect in greater depth and that skills developed during Adventure Learning will be more evident in other areas of the curriculum. I'm also positive that we will see an increased level of confidence with the use of the iPads, especially with creating and sharing content. Our goal is also to plan and hold a sharing afternoon for family, as well as for other classes to do a walk through. The purpose of this is to celebrate the children's learning and to make them more accountable for developing an authentic sharing item.
There’s a lot to think about when considering our next steps, but also a lot to celebrate when reflecting on how far my year 4 class have come in the first half of the year.
I'll leave you with this quote.
'Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid' ~ Albert Einstein
Adventure Learning continues to evolve and I've come to understand that this is okay. It's all part of teaching as inquiry. By the end of the year I am hoping that the children in my class will not only be curious learners, but independent learners. As they continue to become more confident and familiar with Adventure Learning the depth to their projects will increase. In saying this I don't want to see Adventure Learning slotted into the same box as our whole school inquiry. Although the skills are transferable between Adventure Learning and inquiry, they remain quite different. In saying that, I still see Adventure Learning as being a form of inquiry learning. The more schools I visit and teachers I speak to, the more I realise that inquiry can be a very broad term. It means different things to different people and schools.
I'm hoping that the children in my class will begin to take on more ownership of their learning and that I will continue to see kids teaching kids regularly. As the year continues I'm certain the children will begin to reflect in greater depth and that skills developed during Adventure Learning will be more evident in other areas of the curriculum. I'm also positive that we will see an increased level of confidence with the use of the iPads, especially with creating and sharing content. Our goal is also to plan and hold a sharing afternoon for family, as well as for other classes to do a walk through. The purpose of this is to celebrate the children's learning and to make them more accountable for developing an authentic sharing item.
There’s a lot to think about when considering our next steps, but also a lot to celebrate when reflecting on how far my year 4 class have come in the first half of the year.
I'll leave you with this quote.
'Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid' ~ Albert Einstein
Agreed! "There's a lot to think about... but also a lot to celebrate when reflecting..." I had the same thing this year, as always. I decided to play with numbers... http://geniushour.blogspot.com/2013/06/genius-hour-year-one-reflection.html I still feel I need to write a narrative, as you did, but the questions and answers keep swirling, and I can't seem to get a grasp on what I think is very important.
ReplyDeleteHave you tried your own Adventure Learning? I'm sure this entire process has been one for you! But have you tried what you're asking students to try and documenting how you'd like them to document? I just started a Genius Hour of my own, and found it is tough for me. I'll keep plugging, so I can see where I need to change things up in my classes, or give students even more choice, because the parameters I set for them don't seem to work for me! ;-)
Keep reflecting - I believe that's one of the best practices we have as teachers - if it's missing, we won't be our best.
Sincerely,
Joy
WOW!!! You have really clarified your pedagogical approach and beliefs with this post Simone. With this in front of them, it would be very difficult for anyone to argue against the Adventure Learning programme operating in your classroom. The examples you give clearly demonstrate differentiation of the programme to meet the varying needs and interests of the students in your classroom i.e. personalised learning. Throughout, you address your expectations of student learning and aspirations for the progress of the kids in your class, all linked back to the school's future focus plan. There is clear evidence that you have reflected on and implemented aspects of the varied professional learning opportunities you have undertaken and your own professional reading. Fantastic, exciting stuff!
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