Where the Idea is Born

Aiming

Key Ideas, Tips, & Tools

Key Ideas

• Inquiry-based
• Clear expectations/criteria of challenge and student roles
• Teacher provides resources and supports, while acting as a guide
• Planning contains student interests/passions
• Teacher plans for content AND process
• Planning is built off of previous learning experiences and adjusted to meet student learning needs.
• Assessment guides planning
• Understand scope and sequence of a unit
• Foresight is built in to include “end goal” and reflective process
• Lessons are student centered
• Centered around skills and dispositions

Tips

• Quinn’s Six Questions: What am I teaching? Why am I teaching it? How am I teaching it? Why am I teaching it that way? How do I know my kids are getting it? How do the kids know they are getting it?
• Guiding students through questioning/”boomeranging”
• Gather formative data for next lesson to “Aim”
• S-M-A-R-T-E-R (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time Sensitive, Emotionally Resonant)
• Understanding by Design
• Incorporating Multiple Intelligences (Where is the creative part? When will they be active? What kids will excel at this)
• Assigning roles can create clear expectations

Tools

• Fist to Five Check (to be sure students understand the task/challenge): I completely understand, I mostly understand, I understand pretty well, I could use more practice, I need help, I don’t understand at all.
• Learning Logs- https://www.everylanguagelearner.com/blogs/teaching-tips/6209718-learning-logs
• Checklists that support assessment (you can create your own on this site) - http://pblchecklist.4teachers.org/index.shtml
• Tips for creating challenge questions- http://learninginhand.com/blog/drivingquestions
• Padlets can be used to create expectations/criteria for challenges- https://padlet.com
• ClassDoJo can be used as a coaching and assessment tool - https://teach.classdojo.com/#/login?redirect=%2Flaunchpad&_k=49sio2

Aiming Key Resources

Authentic Education - What is UbD™? (n.d.). Retrieved March 14, 2017, from https://www.authenticeducation.org/ubd/ubd.lasso

• Why did you select this?

This source was selected because Understanding by Design is a wonderful place for beginning facilitators to start. The emphasis on UBD is finding one’s end goal, which can be integrated with Quinn’s Six Questions, and working backwards to make the learning purposeful and geared toward the end goal. When a facilitator understands what their objective is in learning, they can make authentic tasks that help drive their work forward in a meaningful way.

• How do you think it could prove useful at this stage?

At this stage in facilitation, the idea is just beginning to come to fruition, so by utilizing the UBD model, teachers are able to plan a unit or a lesson effectively. However, while this is a good place to start because of the methodology, it needs to be stated that the whole Aiming stage should not just be about the teacher. It should be subject-centered to include both the teacher and student in the planning process.

• What facilitation problem does it solve?

UBD is a method that helps avoid the pitfall of teaching without context and disconnected learning. By having the student and teacher engaged in the process of planning, the learning becomes more intentional.

Inquiry-Based Discussion. (n.d.). Retrieved March 14, 2017, from https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/inquiry-based-discussions-for-text#video-sidebar_tab_video-guide-tab

• Why did you select this?

This source was selected in order to model the idea of inquiry-based discussion. This not only gives a clear understanding of the benefits of inquiry, but it also allows those who need a visual a more concrete example to use to guide his/her own teaching.

• How do you think it could prove useful at this stage?

At this stage, many teachers may want to engage in inquiry-based discussion or learning, but they may be unsure of where to start. This video allows teachers to see the actual process of building a learning community, using inquiry with students. This can also help teachers see how they can start to make the transition from being teacher led to student driven.

• What facilitation problem does it solve?

This source helps to quell the need for a teacher to always focus on the right answer while focusing on the process. It moves away from teachers leading students to cultivating curiosity and encouraging critical thinking. It also avoids the difficulty in planning wait time, and allows “boomeranging” rather than answering to happen, affording the students the opportunity to feed off one another.

Quinn , J. (n.d.). Quinn's Six Questions . Retrieved March 14, 2017, from

http://schoolreforminitiative.org/doc/quinns_six.pdf

• Why did you select this?

Quinn’s Six Questions allow for a teacher to plan purposefully. By answering these questions the teacher can provide clear expectations of the skills and dispositions. The teacher will understand why they are doing a task and the students will too. These questions are useful in the aiming phase, but they could also be used as a form of reflection by the teacher to assist in future planning.

• How do you think it could prove useful at this stage?

These questions assist the teacher in the planning process to ensure the challenge is purposeful and that learning targets/goals are clear to the students. The questions also help the teacher understand the content and the process of the challenge ahead. Students will know what is expected of them.

• What facilitation problem does it solve?

If Quinn’s Six Questions are answered thoughtfully, teachers will be able to plan with the end goal in mind and students will understand expectations. They will also be able to make connections between learning experiences.