2b: Establishing a Culture For Learning

Importance of content • Expectations for learning and behavior • Student pride in work

2019-2020 School Year: SOLE (Self Organized Learning Environments)

A Self Organized Learning Environment (SOLE) is a program designed to support self-directed education. This approach was popularized by Sugata Mitra, an education scientist, in 1999.

Learners start with a big question, designed to provoke curiosity and lead to more questions. then they organize into small groups and collaborate using a single internet device to search for answers to the big question. Finally, each group presents their discoveries to the entire class.

This strategy for learning was presented during one of my PIIC (PA Institute for Instructional Coaches) meetings this year as a way to incorporate project based learning into the classroom. I have used this strategy with both my fourth and fifth grade classes this year. They used SOLE to research and present to their peers. They answered the question “What does healthy media balance look like?”

The activity was engaging for students and received well. It is a great activity to use to introduce a topic. One aspect that I added was asking the kids to take notes during peer presentations about similarities between group research. We will be able to focus instruction on these specific areas during our next class. This activity will also be a great springboard to teach learners in a future class about proper procedures for online research and citing sources.

2018-2019 School Year: Online Commenting Anchor Chart

When teaching digital citizenship classes this year, I have spent considerable time working with students on how to post appropriately both when making digital submissions and commenting on peer work. The following anchor chart is posted in my classroom and referenced often during these discussions and when applicable assignments are made. Additionally, some of our classroom teachers from around the building have photographed this chart and use the same language when instructing their own classrooms. This reinforces school wide consistency and a culture for learning.

2017-2018 School Year: Student Created Anchor Chart

Fifth grade students created this anchor chart during a lesson on digital citizenship. In partnerships, students read about the importance of protecting their personal information when online. They then brainstormed types of information that should be considered private and posted to the classroom anchor chart for reference in future assignments and discussions. If I were to do this activity again, I might extend it by having the students create service announcements for other students in the school to share what they learned. They could hang these announcements around the building for their peers.

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