In an inquiry based learning environment the teacher's job is not to provide knowledge but to help students along their process of discovering knowledge.
We began with an ice breaker activity where teachers were sent a Padlet link; once they clicked on the link, teachers saw a controversial famous couple and were asked to formulate 5 questions they would ask the couple if they could. Group 1's famous couple was Bruce & Kris Jenner & Group 2's famous couple was Michael Jackson and Lisa Presley. After the questions were formulated, teachers were to rank their questions as basement, ground floor, or penthouse level questions (see their questions in the slide show below). This activity was interesting; Teachers thought some of their questions were penthouse questions because they were thinking of the level of responses they would have given if they were the couple. For example, a question to Kris Jenner was "Was Bruce more attentive than most men?" Well, this is a basement question, not a ground floor or penthouse question because it is a simple yes or no. Group 1's argument was that Kris would have probably answered yes or know with an explanation comparing and contrasting her relationship with Bruce and other men. However, groups soon realized that the question did not ask her to do such a thing; they were "assuming" she would. This was a concrete moment, because often times as teachers we expect for our students to respond in a certain way when our questions did not ask for them to do so.
Next, teachers were given a photo and asked to analyze. The photo was of a basement, ground floor, and penthouse. From this photo, it was explained that level 1 (basement) is the important information you need to have-your foundation. Level 2 (ground floor) is where you take that information and put it to use. This is where you enter the building of thinking. Level 3 is big time! This is where you make the information your own. This is where you synthesize, judge, and create. We then watched a video on Costa's Level of Questioning where he went through examples of how the rigor in questions should increase as you progress in a lesson. For example, level 1 questions are input questions (getting the facts-the answer is right in front of you). It so easy to get into like the ground floor. Level 2 is the process-comparing & contrasting, distinguishing, demonstrate, give reasons, and etc. Level 2 takes a little work to get to. Lastly, Level 3 is the output (the penthouse) where you apply the information learned to new situations. This cannot be found in the textbook. This is where you apply the information learned to new situations and make judgments (speculate, make generalizations, forecast, predict, propose, synthesize).
Penthouse questions exert more effort than the basement and ground floor questions.
Afterwards, we did a reflection activity on what they noticed, learned, predicted, questions they had and connections they made. Next, we looked at a photo below and analyzed what we saw. The photo (in the slideshow) was of a woman dressed very nice, but risky with a black eye sitting on the couch and a man standing over her. The responses generated from this conversation was phenomenal because they were thinking and the answers were not in front of them, which is what we want students to do. In the end, we watched a Socratic historical seminar where the teacher led a Socratic conversation related to an historical text about Emancipation and asked open-ended questions. The inquiry methods were effective and gave teachers a visual of what it means to put a value on students' ideas, engage thoughtfully, support their answers with evidence from the text, and overall give students their own voice in the learning process. This was all accomplished with basement, ground floor, and levels of questioning. After the video, teachers were given a house activity labeled and section off with basement, ground floor, and penthouse prompts. In the basement, they had to list their take away's and prioritize them from most important to least important. In the ground floor they had to state the reasons why they chose those take away's teaches were to propose a plan of how they would implement their take away's in their classes. View teacher's houses in the slideshows below! Overall, Collaborative Day was phenomenal and teachers saw the value through the level metaphor that our questions should matriculate from basement, to ground floor, and penthouse exerting more effort as students travel!
Memorizing facts and information is not the most important skill in today’s world. Facts change, and information is readily available. Inquiry-based learning provides students the opportunity to construct the understanding necessary to produce deeper learning. Such understanding greatly increases the chances that students will be able to apply the concept in new situations. This increases the likelihood that it will be remembered. Inquiry-based learning strategies serve as a stimulus for learning, thinking and questioning. When it comes to questioning, there are three levels, which are all needed: basement, ground floor, and penthouse questions.
We began with an ice breaker activity where teachers were sent a Padlet link; once they clicked on the link, teachers saw a controversial famous couple and were asked to formulate 5 questions they would ask the couple if they could. Group 1's famous couple was Bruce & Kris Jenner & Group 2's famous couple was Michael Jackson and Lisa Presley. After the questions were formulated, teachers were to rank their questions as basement, ground floor, or penthouse level questions (see their questions in the slide show below). This activity was interesting; Teachers thought some of their questions were penthouse questions because they were thinking of the level of responses they would have given if they were the couple. For example, a question to Kris Jenner was "Was Bruce more attentive than most men?" Well, this is a basement question, not a ground floor or penthouse question because it is a simple yes or no. Group 1's argument was that Kris would have probably answered yes or know with an explanation comparing and contrasting her relationship with Bruce and other men. However, groups soon realized that the question did not ask her to do such a thing; they were "assuming" she would. This was a concrete moment, because often times as teachers we expect for our students to respond in a certain way when our questions did not ask for them to do so.
Next, teachers were given a photo and asked to analyze. The photo was of a basement, ground floor, and penthouse. From this photo, it was explained that level 1 (basement) is the important information you need to have-your foundation. Level 2 (ground floor) is where you take that information and put it to use. This is where you enter the building of thinking. Level 3 is big time! This is where you make the information your own. This is where you synthesize, judge, and create. We then watched a video on Costa's Level of Questioning where he went through examples of how the rigor in questions should increase as you progress in a lesson. For example, level 1 questions are input questions (getting the facts-the answer is right in front of you). It so easy to get into like the ground floor. Level 2 is the process-comparing & contrasting, distinguishing, demonstrate, give reasons, and etc. Level 2 takes a little work to get to. Lastly, Level 3 is the output (the penthouse) where you apply the information learned to new situations. This cannot be found in the textbook. This is where you apply the information learned to new situations and make judgments (speculate, make generalizations, forecast, predict, propose, synthesize).
Penthouse questions exert more effort than the basement and ground floor questions.
Afterwards, we did a reflection activity on what they noticed, learned, predicted, questions they had and connections they made. Next, we looked at a photo below and analyzed what we saw. The photo (in the slideshow) was of a woman dressed very nice, but risky with a black eye sitting on the couch and a man standing over her. The responses generated from this conversation was phenomenal because they were thinking and the answers were not in front of them, which is what we want students to do. In the end, we watched a Socratic historical seminar where the teacher led a Socratic conversation related to an historical text about Emancipation and asked open-ended questions. The inquiry methods were effective and gave teachers a visual of what it means to put a value on students' ideas, engage thoughtfully, support their answers with evidence from the text, and overall give students their own voice in the learning process. This was all accomplished with basement, ground floor, and levels of questioning. After the video, teachers were given a house activity labeled and section off with basement, ground floor, and penthouse prompts. In the basement, they had to list their take away's and prioritize them from most important to least important. In the ground floor they had to state the reasons why they chose those take away's teaches were to propose a plan of how they would implement their take away's in their classes. View teacher's houses in the slideshows below! Overall, Collaborative Day was phenomenal and teachers saw the value through the level metaphor that our questions should matriculate from basement, to ground floor, and penthouse exerting more effort as students travel!
Memorizing facts and information is not the most important skill in today’s world. Facts change, and information is readily available. Inquiry-based learning provides students the opportunity to construct the understanding necessary to produce deeper learning. Such understanding greatly increases the chances that students will be able to apply the concept in new situations. This increases the likelihood that it will be remembered. Inquiry-based learning strategies serve as a stimulus for learning, thinking and questioning. When it comes to questioning, there are three levels, which are all needed: basement, ground floor, and penthouse questions.