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Learning Log #1

  

Task #1: Place-based Learning:  

Download the iNaturalist app from the Google Play store or Apple iTunes. Go for one or more nature walk(s) and use the app to identify some plants/trees native to your area. On your walk(s), wonder, and at the time or after, develop a few questions around possible traditional uses of the land including for the plants/trees you identified. Next, identify a resource that could help you to learn more and try to answer some of your questions. 

 

These are some questions that I generated as I went through this process: 

·      What makes a plant interesting? Why should I choose one over another (I based this on my background knowledge and selected some because I wanted to see if I was correct, and then I selected others because they looked new to me) 

·      How can I tell if a plant can be used for things such as healing or eating? 

·      Are these plants safe to touch? 

  

As I began to read more in the iNaturalist app, and explore resources to use after, I expanded my questions: 

  

·      Where else are these plants located? Are they just local to this area? How far does the ‘local area’ span? 

·      How can I tell if plants are dangerous to people? Animals? Is there a difference in health benefits and harm for people versus animals? (I did find out answers to these questions when I investigated snowberries) 

·      Who first discovered how plants can be used to help or harm? How could they tell? 

  

After I explored the outdoors and the app, I sought out resources. 

Listed below are a variety of resources that I used to explore my questions more deeply. These are all resources that I would use when exploring this topic further with my students.

  

• Before consulting Google, I conferred with my school’s Indigenous Education teacher, who provided me with activity cards for student use. They are fantastic and I can see how some students would be immediately engaged. There are many ways these can be used, both by students exploring individually and in more structured lessons. There are two separate collections of cards and they are pictured below: 

  

 

Plant Knowledge Cards, 2010 written by Jen McMullen and John Bradley Williams

Indigenous Plant Memory Matching Card Game, Strong Nations Publishing Inc. 2016

• The Royal BC Museum is an excellent resource for learning about plants located in the South Coast of BC. The website is user-friendly and aimed at students and educators. Included are books, articles, videos, maps and visuals. This is a resource that will be added to my list and shared with my colleagues.                  

• Cowichan Valley elder Della Sylvester: Della is a community elder who has a wealth of knowledge about indigenous plants in our community. She shares her expertise and knowledge in a variety of ways. She is an excellent resource for students to learn about and from. She has many online platforms to seek information.

• This is an example of a resource that I would provide to students as an option for use. I like that it is well laid out, and teaches students how to use a different kind of resource (as it is a guide). Click here to access

• This website is a good resource for students beginning to search for information about local plants and how to forage. The writing is simple and easy to follow, and I can see how questions can be generated by exploring this website. 

  

Part 2 of assignment: Next, you have two questions: 

1. Discuss your "Invitation to Inquiry" experience including answers to the following: 

• What did you do? What were your conclusions? 

I used this app in three different locations in my community. It is straightforward and easy to use. In most cases, I agreed with most of the species that the app identified, although in one case, I was quite surprised. I assumed that I found a type of berry when, in fact, it was roses! At first, I thought it was an error, but I continued to read and was able to view other images and learn about the Genus Rosa, which helped further my understanding and see how my initial prediction was not correct. The process was quite interesting and helped me enjoy the app more. I noticed early on that I was using the app in a “predict and check” method, which is a way I envision as useful and engaging for students. 

  

Here are some of the images that I took to upload into iNaturalist: 

 

As Barbra Stripling asserts, “Every inquiry learning experience should start with a challenging problem or question.” (2008). Play-based learning is a term that I am quite familiar with, and I am lucky to see it in practice in the Kindergarten-Gr 2 classrooms in my school. While I did not initially connect play-based learning to an app such iNaturalist, I began to see how it could be used to spark curiosity. Especially, if it is used as a prediction type tool on an outdoor nature exploration. The Kindergarten classes that I work with walk frequently through nearby trails and marsh areas and this would be a great addition for adults to use in a show-and-share type experience. 

Similarly, this could be used well with intermediate grades. Pairing the app with the cards that I showed above would provide many valuable opportunities for inquiry-based learning to occur. The ability to explore firsthand with classes coupled with tangible information cards, student-oriented websites, and chances to hear from community elders, is an incredible way to expose students to new information and to generate inquiry questions for personal learning. I think that each student has an opportunity to bring genuine background information and experiences to this topic, which can be discussed and shared through the “connect stage” of inquiry. (Stripling, 2004) 

• How is the activity that you undertook inquiry-based learning, or, how was inquiry-based learning incorporated? 

This activity is inquiry-based learning because:

·      It involved active engagement and I (the learner) used background knowledge to ask questions, investigate answers (through locating new sources of information), construct new understandings and share my thinking with others. I was able to reflect upon my thinking as I went through the following phases: connect phase, wonder phase, investigate phase, construct phase, express phase, reflect phase.  (2004, Stripling) 

·      Following the “rule of thumb” outlined by Kristin Fontichiaro (2015), I was able to include criteria from the hallmarks of inquiry into my experience. While the topic of a nature walk may have been assigned by the teacher, the direction that I took, and the questions that I asked to drive my learning, was authentic. This is an enormous topic, and the possibilities for learning and presenting learning, are endless. Also key, is that as Donham describes, (2010), authentic researchers begin by observing and wondering. She suggests the following questions: 

*What does this make you wonder? 

* What questions does this raise for you? 

These are helpful questions to expand thinking and ask deeper questions. 

·      After completing the readings from module 2, I kept reflecting back to concept-based teaching vs topic-based teaching, which helped me focus more on the inquiry possibilities. I am beginning to see the relationship between the two, but more importantly how I can look beyond topic-based teaching to propel me further into the inquiry process 

·      A meaningful opportunity for inquiry was provided by the teacher, and accepted by the learner. In this activity, local choice that occurred within the local community, and which was based on interest and experience, (Module 2) was provided within the assignment parameters. While this may be more of what Trevor Mackenzie (2016) refers to as “Guided Inquiry” it still gave me freedoms to choose the direction and presentation of my learning

•     How could the school library learning commons be inserted into this kind of activity?  

“…library media teachers build solid connections between inquiry and literacy…” (Stripling, 2004)

The Library Learning Commons (LLC) can play a central role in an activity such as this. Ideally, the teacher-librarian (TL) would accompany students outdoors as they explore their natural surroundings and experiment with the iNaturalist app. This helps the TL become fully immersed in the learning, it cements the collaborative processes with classroom teachers, and it shows students how learning is multifaceted. We don’t just access information from books or through online text and images, we use a variety of experiences, senses, and discussions with others. Furthermore, it demonstrates how we can take questions to the next stage. For example, a next step may be going from outdoors to the LLC to access resources for learning. All of the aforementioned resources can be explored and facilitated through the LLC and teacher-librarian(s). Sharon Coatney (2015) lists many valuable ways in which teacher-librarians can be the “bridge” for teachers, as we can model the inquiry process, show the connection to the curriculum, and share meaningful resources and technology options. 

  

2. List and comment on three personal learning objectives that you have for this course.

There is much learning to be done around inquiry-based learning.

I have narrowed my personal learning objectives to the following:

1.     Creating a resource list that I can access as I continue learning about inquiry. This will include books and articles, lessons and unit ideas that I can file to adapt for later use, as well as websites and videos. This list will reflect things I feel that I can use personally. I am hoping to see realistic examples that I can adapt and implement.

2.     A log of personal connections that I have made, either through readings or through discussions with peers throughout the course. To help myself follow through with this objective, I aim to share one connection monthly with my staff during my time to speak at our staff meeting. 

3.     Exploring realistic ways for me to introduce and support inquiry-based learning with my students. A high proportion of my school’s student population is considered at-risk in literacy and we have identified many young learners who struggle with oral language. As a result, we need to target language and introduce more experiences to develop and express language. This must be considered when planning inquiry-based learning and I want to ensure that I am using this lens as well. How will I "nudge" myself into introducing inquiry lessons to my K-7 students? Keeping a journal of thoughts will help keep me focused on this objective. 

  

  

Thank you for taking the time to read this week’s lengthy post. Lots of learning to process and digest! 

References