School District: SD#10 Arrow Lakes

Inquiry Team Members: Jarrett Bass: Jarrett.bass@sd10.bc.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: jarrett.bass@sd10.bc.ca

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE

Grade Levels: Secondary (8-12)

Curricular Area(s): Physical & Health Education

Focus Addressed: Formative assessment

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Who do I make meaningful fitness testing in P.E. classes

Scanning: The questions I latched most onto were: where are we going? and how are we doing? I feel that is very easy to do fitness testing, but it is very hard to do it in a way that it actually gives students an idea of where to go next. I think for most involved fitness testing feels like summative assessment. But for it to be truly powerful it should look most like formative assessment.

Focus: I wanted a way to measure how my students were doing, so that I knew if my teaching techniques and activities were improving students fitness levels. I was hoping to see if my students were improving their strength and fitness.

Hunch: I think that all schools are probably struggling to some extend to measure fitness levels. I don’t think any of the structures we have are really any different than any other schools. I don’t know how much the structures of the school can help in this instance.

New Professional Learning: CBT has some good literature about physical literacy and how to measure it. Though a lot of their tests are about coordination and physical literacy which is a bit easier to measure than something like fitness which is probably the most ambiguous and hard to classify, it is a lot harder to measure than something like strength. The BC Soccer Premier league (Under 13 to Under 18) has fitness testing that they do with their athletes at scheduled intervals throughout the season.

Taking Action: I chose the following things to be tested: how long can you hold plank position, how long can you hold a wall sit, how long you can hold v-sit position. how long you can do pushups without stopping, how long can you do sit ups without stopping, as well as the beep test (a running cardio, interval, running test). We did each of these tests twice in a semester once at the beginning, and once at the end.

Checking: One thing I found hard to deal with is, because I was up front with the students at the start that we would be doing this multiple times, I think that a lot of the students did not try their hardest on the first round of fitness testing, because they knew if they did that they would be able to improve on their numbers in the second test if they just tried harder. This of course makes it very hard to track improvement.

Reflections/Advice: I have learnt that the crux of a project like this is choosing the activities to use to test each students fitness is probably the most important aspect, and needs to be planned carefully. Next year I would like to attempt to continue this work.

School District: Yukon Education

Inquiry Team Members:Michel Emery: michel.emery@yesnet.yk.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: michel.emery@yesnet.yk.ca

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE

Grade Levels: Secondary (8-12)

Curricular Area(s): Applied Design, skills & Technology

Focus Addressed: Experiential learning, Flexible learning, Land, Nature or Place-based learning, STEM / STEAM

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Can emerging technologies such as VR (virtual reality), AR (augmented reality) and 360 photography succeed in improving student engagement, foster deeper learning, and broaden students’ perspectives of the world? Can they be effectively used in Yukon classrooms (technical & logistics) ?

Scanning: A recent school survey indicated that students engagement levels were low. Students felt a disconnect between traditional education approaches and their technology rich reality. We can leverage this “easy to use technology” to bridge this gap and inspire students in their learning.

Focus: While giving various sessions to classes using diverse technology applications, I noticed that VR (Virtual Reality), AR (Augmented Reality) and 360 photography were particularly successful in raising the level of engagement and wonder in students. Perhaps these emerging tools could be successful in helping facilitate the shift towards the new curriculum and provide innovative ways of teaching and learning.

Hunch: Students as VR Explorers – Infusing a VR activity in a specific curriculum area or lesson will give student more control over their learning, generate new excitement (since VR helps users feel as if they were immersed in a new environment), encourage the effective use of student devices/phones as learning tools, and give students dynamic learning experiences that should come with the advent of a new curriculum.

Students as Contributors – Using a 360 camera and simple applications, students will have access to powerful 21st century tools that will enable them to share their culture, promote their communities, or advocate for a cause they hold dear.

Technology Challenges – Downloading expeditions on devices and using independent routers should overcome the network issues and increase the access or rich VR experiences for students in isolated communities and in urban areas.

New Professional Learning: 360 Photography – I learned to use a Gear360 camera and the application “Storyspheres”. I also learned to create a simple website using “Googe Sites” to share with staff/families/students the images and the projects we created.

Technology – I connected with an organization called “Computers for Schools” and I was able to obtain recycled Apple routers. I learned to create Wifi networks. These simple networks are just a way to enable teachers and students to connect to VR Expeditions without needing the internet (which eliminates connectivity issues we frequently encounter). I prepared 10 of these networks and distributed them to interested teacher in various schools.

Cardboard – I tested a way to use the technology which we have in Yukon Schools (iPads – or student devices) and simple cardboard goggles to successfully embark small and large group on diverse VR expeditions.

Curriculum – I explored and learned about various expeditions and imbedded them into current courses offered at my school. I accompanied classes, lead diverse cross-curricular expeditions and taught teachers how to use the technology and application.

Professional Networks – Sharing successful practice creates momentum and helps the wider education community. Last year, I wanted to demonstrate how easy and feasible it is using VR – AR and 360 Technology in the classroom. I presented my approach and findings at the BC ERAC IT4K12 conference, Prime Minister Awards Symposium, Yukon College Teacher Education Program, and at the YTA Conference. I developed and posted a VR guide on my website. https://sites.google.com/view/fhc/vr-coding for all teachers to use. All of this generated interest in Yukon Teachers and facilitated the distribution of the 1350 SESQUI cardboard googles in all Yukon schools. In July of 2019, I have been invited to present at the Geo-Technology Institute for the Royal Canadian Geographic Society.

Taking Action: Our FH team applied for the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Challenge and were selected as finalists. We received 360 cameras, Galaxy S8 phones, tablets and VR gear. With this equipment, students created a VR tour of the Gadzoosdaa residence and the FH Tech Wing. https://sites.google.com/view/gadzoosdaa/home These tours are a valuable resource used by our counsellors when their visit communities and present the residence and our programs to prospective students. This resource was also showcased to FNPP at Yukon Education and other schools. Students wanted to create a product that could be used by families to prepare for their journey away from their communities. Here is our application video created by students.

I gave several VR expeditions during this school year. All of these were connected to classroom learning and curriculum. I collaborated with teachers and added a VR experience where they saw fit. For example, in Geography 11 we explored volcanoes using an AR experience, in Spanish 11 we went to Machu Pichu using VR and explored the Mayan culture, in Social Studies 8 we learned about Ancient Rome using VR, in Applied Sciences 10 we travelled to the international Space Station, in Social Studies 11 we went to Vimy Ridge and did a Trench Warfare expedition, we explored Canada’s Senate in a Political Sciences class, …

Checking: Using the data gathered from the student forms was really helpful. It confirmed that VR and AR expeditions were successful in raising student’s engagement, understanding, inspiration, and immersion in a topic area. https://forms.gle/MjXTRkNoVkJb8SkT7

84 students completed the survey. 95% percent of students said they enjoyed their classroom experience with VR, 60 % of students identified VR as an inspirational learning tool out of a list of diverse resources, 93% indicated that they wanted to experience VR Expeditions in their other courses, 89% felt they were actually immersed in the learning environment.

VR provides the opportunity to use their devices if they wish and connects with their technology rich reality.
Some student comments about their experiences.
It was good. Felt a little sick.
It was more hands on being able to experience the world.
I liked it because the pictures seemed realistic.
I liked how I was able to learn and use my phone.
It was really cool to enter a new environment without actually being there.
It was interesting to mess with.
It was really cool but it made me dizzy.
I like it because it’s not boring.
We did Rome it was spectacular I experienced history.
I really liked all the different scenarios and the small details.

Reflections/Advice: Expeditions Collection
Explore the BC curriculum and create a list of Google Expeditions that could complement and augment the learning experience.This would allow teachers to easily find expeditions in their subject area and consider if they would be a good fit for their courses.

Expeditions Creation
I wish to continue building 360 expeditions with students. We are in the process of creating multilingual VR tours of our school facilities with our students (Tagalog, French, Indigenous Languages). We also created a partnership with Parks Canada. We will be creating a tour of the SS Klondike in the future. This makes learning real and authentic. It not only builds 21st century competencies in students, but generates products that are forward-looking and that benefit our community.

School District: SD#35 Langley

Inquiry Team Members:Victoria Woelders: vwoelders@sd35.bc.ca
Mike Morgan: mmorgan@sd35.bc.ca
Erin Milne: emilne@sd35.bc.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: vwoelders@sd35.bc.ca

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE

Grade Levels: Intermediate (4-7)

Curricular Area(s): Applied Design, skills & Technology, Language Arts – Literacy, Language Arts – Reading, Language Arts – Writing

Focus Addressed: Community-based learning, Core competencies (for example, critical thinking, communication, problem solving), Land, Nature or Place-based learning, STEM / STEAM

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Understanding Salmon Survival Through Gamification

Scanning: The four questions allowed me to see the perspective of a child. I notice that the experiences of my learners are important because they bring to us an understanding of how successful the project was. In the OECD principles of learning and the First Peoples Principles of Learning there is an importance in valuing ourselves and our community. The Salmon Synergy Project allowed students to connect with our local McClughan Park and help understand the importance of salmon in our community, province and country, as well as the challenges they face, especially in regards to pollution.

Focus: I selected this area because it was meaningful. Many of my students do not regularly explore the outdoors with their family. It is sad that we have lost a connection our backyard environment. This project was to dove tail our outdoor education experience and also to promote understanding of the destruction, pollution and predators of our local salmon.

Hunch: My hunch that the video gaming would bring a deeper connection to my students local environment were correct. There was also a building of confidence in our students who struggled socially, physically and emotionally. These project brought our students together and some of the students who struggled with social relationships were able to help other kids because of their strengths in coding.

New Professional Learning: I was able to connect with Microsoft and their rep – Toby Sheldon – and he was able to come in and do some sessions with us. We also connected with Code Jeunesse which offers free lessons from real coders. We were lucky enough to have Saju Abraham because he lead us through a six week program of using a Scratch template of the Tunnel of Doom to create a Salmon video game. When my colleagues came in to my class I was able to explain to them what I was doing and creating with the students. Some colleagues had never even seen the Scratch coding program. It was so awesome!

Taking Action: Some strategies that we used were the online classroom accounts with Scratch. I would highly recommend not using this classroom platform, yet getting the students to create personal accounts with their guardians. The classroom accounts were glitchy and there were challenging default settings that the teacher could not manipulate or change. For example, each student received an account, yet they were allowed to create endless projects. This is good, yet can be challenging as a teacher because we had the unfortunate experience of one student saying something inappropriate. After deleting some of the work, I realized one student had over 137 projects. This takes time and energy to scan through these projects. When I reached out about limited the projects to 3 only. The forum responded No. In addition, I had a student move, I wanted to delete the single account. I was told No again, and that I would need to delete all of my students accounts, if I was going to delet one. This was very challenging with my colleagues, because I spent many hours on my own time trouble shooting. In the end, I would recommend the guardians setting the child’s account up and then the child can have a legacy account and continue to work throughout the summer and into the following school years.

Checking: There was a difference in group work and attitude in my class. My students because better communicators with their peers. They loved Toby and Saju coming in. We were very satisfied. I could tangibly see attitudes and demenour change in my class when I said we were going to our Salmon Synergy Project. The answers to my four questions this month were valuable. I could see how connection to staff and positive attitudes around school improved.

Reflections/Advice: I learned that a device is a reinforcer/regulator/tool, not a reward. Some of children felt that technology was their strength. It was amazing to see those kids with low self-esteem smile and become leaders by helping other kids code. For those that are interested in a similar project, I would recommend the children creating personal accounts with their parents, and perhaps having a classroom group accounts through the teachers portal (yet have it monitored highly). I would also suggest connecting with Code Jeunesse. As I conclude, my final thoughts are that I am going to do the coding project again next year and Saju wants to start a Coding Club at our school. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to participate. It was a wonderful experience! I am grateful.

School District: SD#23 Central Okanagan

Inquiry Team Members:benita.crombie@sd23.bc.ca, trent.dolgopol@sd23.bc.ca, leeann.yapps@sd23.bc.ca, brady.ibbetson@sd23.bc.ca, jasmeet.virk@sd23.bc.ca, mariejosee.bedard@sd23.bc.ca, wendy.briggs@sd23.bc.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: wendy.briggs@sd23.bc.ca

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE

Grade Levels: Primary (K-3), Intermediate (4-7), Secondary (8-12)

Curricular Area(s): Other: Collaboration of school based administrators/educational leaders working across schools and levels focussing on innovative learning environments

Focus Addressed: Other: We could click on all the boxes as the focus was to see if the changes that we have been implementing with innovative learning environments has actually made a difference for students

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Both in our own setting and getting out of our own settings, what do we see in innovative learning environments that is making a difference for students’ learning.

Scanning: Our schools have each gone through a scanning process, slightly differently and with different levels of engagement from staff, students and parents. Three members of our group have completed Transformative Educational Leadership Program and all other members of our inquiry team are familiar with the OECD research. We have been trying to implement what we have learned across different settings to see if what we have tried is making the difference that we think it should. In our district, administrators have time within meeting scheduled time for collaborative inquiry, all based on OECD research. This is how we were able to work across schools and levels and to go outside our district to scan in other districts and countries. We were trying to determine if we could see with our own eyes that the changes implemented were making enough of a difference.

Focus: We hope that ALL our learners love learning and have opportunities for success. We know that not all settings are the same and that the same thing will not work everywhere for the ‘love of learning’. However, we were hoping to SEE with our own eyes, examples of empowered learners- staff, students, community. We were looking to observe real life examples like we had read in the research.

Hunch: Change is difficult for many. This includes our parents. We have experienced some students and parents who have challenged the changes being implemented in how we communicate and demonstrate learning and then report on it and how we regroup learners and structures. Our hunches is that we need to be very clear about why we are changing, basing it on international research and giving specific examples of positive change for learners. Our hunch was that if we could see it ourselves with our own eyes, we would be better able to explain the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ to others. We can read research and believe it could work, but we also wanted to SEE it in action.

New Professional Learning: We dug deeper into the OECD 7 Principles, the Innovative Learning Environments research and we looked at a Harvard inquiry learning lesson together. Our district also provided learning sessions for us along the way, always based on the OECD research. The manuals from OECD were very useful and it was good to have more time with these resources to dig deeper. Members of the team were able to visit each others’ schools, schools in a neighbouring district (SD 22 Vernon Community School) and schools in France and the USA (Opal) during the year. The key was that we were given the time, within our work day, to participate in this inquiry.

Taking Action: We visited other school settings and we talked to students. We also debriefed with one another. We spent time in each others’ schools and showed examples of what our learners were doing, how we were changing our communication of student learning and how student involvement had changed. We were given TIME from our district to do this, that made all the difference. We would encourage other districts to give their educational leaders the time when schools are in session to get out and observe what is happening. It makes all the difference to SEE with your own eyes what is possible. We were not looking to duplicate, we were looking at guiding principles and ideas that we could adapt in our own settings.

Checking: We do not believe that we will ever make enough of a difference! We think that this first year is not enough time to see differences for our students but our inquiry has made a difference for the team members by widening our understanding of what implementation of the OECD principles can look like, that it takes time, that we need patience and persistence and that together we can build the relationships required to be vulnerable, take risks and try new research based practices. We have challenged each others’ adaptive expertise to solve complex problems in our unique settings.

Reflections/Advice: This year was just the beginning of this inquiry. We learned that even though we were each at a different place in implementing what we have been learning from research about the most influential key guiding principles, all were in process. We recognized that there is a tipping point where enough of our school community members come on board and then significant change can take place rapidly. We know that we as leaders need support and encouragement to SEE with our own eyes and through the eyes of our colleagues that positive change is taking place and is benefiting all members of our learning communities. Having the time, space and encouragement to do what we ask our teachers to do is modelling and helping us to better understand both the challenges and benefits of collaborative inquiry across schools, districts, countries. It is important to have the kind of relationship with other leaders that we can challenge each other to continue to strive towards ALL learners having the right to dignity, purpose and options.

School District: SD#10 Arrow Lakes

Inquiry Team Members:christina.barisoff@sd10.bc.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: christina.barisoff@sd10.bc.ca

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE

Grade Levels: Secondary (8-12)

Curricular Area(s): Applied Design, skills & Technology

Focus Addressed: Core competencies (for example, critical thinking, communication, problem solving), Experiential learning, Inclusion and inclusive instructional strategies

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Increase student enjoyment of fruits and vegetables through continued involvement with the BC School Fruit & Vegetable Program and grow indoor herb and micro-greens via the use of Sun Blaster lights.

Scanning: A number of students know about gardening, a few families do garden regularly in the spring, but for the most part, few engage in any gardening practices at all. A number of students enjoy using herbs in our Home Economics Foods cooking labs but have not used fresh herbs before. Some eat salads, but it is not their preferred choice.

Focus: A high proportion of our students are in vulnerable situations for a variety of reasons, and this type of a project inclusively envelopes everyone to plant, water, trim, and taste. As B.C. Agriculture in the Classroom states, such a project allows for “direct connections to Food Science Home Economics curriculum, along with cross-curriculum connections to Life Skills, Science, Art, Social Studies, and Sustainable Resources. Growing their own food connects students more deeply to agriculture and the larger world, giving them a deeper understanding of food security …. it allows teachers to take the classroom outdoors, giving them resources and tools to initiate a school garden as a long-term project.”

Hunch: We have motivated groups of learners who can self-engage in a variety of content, have a strong growth mindset, and have an ability to advocate for other students’ need for food sustainability. Students do not always have the access to resources or opportunities for collective engagement, so this inquiry is meant to allow for more of this to occur. Enjoying fresh basil directly in their sauces and tasting the difference was a goal.

New Professional Learning: Our school is in the process of building an outdoor greenhouse, so this small scale indoor garden helped us learn how we may be able to assist in a larger scale process. Long term experiential learning goals with a variety of teachers and students is a personal goal to improve in. It creates “an interdisciplinary learning experience … less compartmentalized … that mimics real world learning … aligned with the constructivist theory of learning that the outcomes of the learning process are varied …” Wurdinger (2005), in Schwartz (2012)

Taking Action: This activity worked well with the topics: nutrition, healthy eating, the new Canada Food Guide, using herbs in cooking, and juicing with vegetable and greens. Students discovered that setting up the proper soil-water balance before planting the seeds took the longest time. Their first planting of a few trays did not work because it was to dry to begin with. From there they discovered that we started watering too much. Then at one point they were very happy that their seeds had sprouted. Soon they tried tasting watercress – something only 2 had tasted before, and then enjoyed basil.

Checking: The largest difference was students who seldom eat green vegetables or a fresh herb tried something new. Some of the students who were not motivated, actually got motivated in this, and are looking forward to participating in the larger greenhouse project. A few Science and Outdoor Ed students were able to utilize some plants in their projects.

Student responses were: “It encourages you to eat more healthy or start a garden of your own, it’s not that hard, you get to see the progress of plants, you get to use fresh basil in sauce, watercress is actually very spicy, it needs so much watering, it’s already ready for re-seeding, and I like the basil but not the wheat grass.” “If I were to grow something else it would be: tomatoes, corn, kale, strawberries, cabbage, chocolate beans, apples, potatoes, berries, asparagus, flowers, peas, hot peppers, sunflowers.”

Reflections/Advice: If the logistics of a larger scale project are difficult, then something right in the classroom can still be beneficial. Visit your local greenhouse and hardware store for lights, reflectors, trays, and soil. They take little electricity and they work great! We look forward to planting more herbs in separate trays, such as oregano, chives, mint for tea, etc. and snipping them fresh while cooking, similar to the chefs on the Food Network. The oregano and mint would not be beneficial in a large scale greenhouse as they can get invasive, so a tray indoors for cooking will work well.

School District: SD#54 Bulkley Valley

Inquiry Team Members:Eric Arpin eric.arpin@sd54.bc.ca

Ted Beck tbeck@sd54.bc.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: tbeck@sd54.bc.ca

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE

Grade Levels: Primary (K-3), Intermediate (4-7), Secondary (8-12)

Curricular Area(s): Applied Design, skills & Technology, Arts Education, Language Arts – Oral Language, Language Arts – Writing, Physical & Health Education, Science, Social Studies

Focus Addressed: Core competencies (for example, critical thinking, communication, problem solving), Experiential learning, Flexible learning, Land, Nature or Place-based learning, Social and emotional learning

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? We created a Buddy System between Elementary and Middle School students to build social connection and motivation for learning.

Scanning: We perused class lists to match older and younger students with appropriate buddies to support needs. Once together, we immediately noticed connections. How was it going? Well, the relationships were being built around fun, trust, and learning. We could tell very early on that the buddy pairs were ready to move onto some exploration learning. This occurred faster than we expected. Ice was broken immediately.

Focus: Social responsibility, communication, innovation, personal responsibility, creativity….We hoped a Buddy System would foster strong relationships to make sure every child felt important, and that every child was involved and motivated to learn. Fostering relationships between students in the two schools is one of our ‘campus’ goals. We felt our project would work towards that.

Hunch: In matching the buddies, we went with our own knowledge of our students social and academic needs. Some needed a calm big buddy, while others would benefit being paired with a more theatrical personality. Our hunches were proven appropriate as we observed the relationships.

New Professional Learning: Technology: We learned how to support students with coding with robotics. Human resources, specifically our District Principal in charge of Technology ad Innovation. He gave us basic instruction, then supported us as we explored possibilities with the program. We found that we could rely on each other for professional growth, interacting with the students, and sharing the entire exploration process.

Taking Action: Open ended learning. We had goals in mind, communicated them with the students, but then let the students drive the direction of instruction. Example: Buddy Groups were to create courses around which their Bots would travel; that we did very little direct teaching allowed for each of us to observe student interactions and progress and give regular, meaningful feedback. Our interactions with students also supported our communication and social goals. In many cases, we got out of the way to let the learning happen, but having two of us present allowed for regular feedback.

Checking: Students built relationships and were motivated to learn. After the initial get together we never had to motivate either the big or little buddies to be involved. As well, a level of caring developed between the buddies. The older students became sensitive to the needs of the younger students; they would not let a young buddy become isolated or alone.

Reflections/Advice: A Buddy System between elementary and middle school students can build relationships and motivate students to learn. We also learned that the two of us work well together; we are already starting to think about where to go next!

School District: SD#54 Bulkley Valley

Inquiry Team Members:Leslie McCurrach: leslie.mccurrach@sd54.bc.ca, Kirsten Froese: kirsten.froese@sd54.bc.ca, Alyson Garland: alyson.garland@sd54.bc.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: leslie.mccurrach@sd54.bc.ca

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE

Grade Levels: Secondary (8-12)

Curricular Area(s): Language Arts – Writing

Focus Addressed: Differentiated instruction, Flexible learning

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Our focus for this year was to increase student engagement in existing online learning opportunities (specifically English 10-12) through the development of a gamified framework.

Scanning: I noticed that students were selecting online course delivery to fit their need for flexible pacing or to fit into their bricks-and-mortar timetable, but that they didn’t always find the courses engaging or they had difficulty finishing on time. With the curriculum redesign focus on increasing student choice, I wanted to take the opportunity to build more flexibility and ownership into the online process, while also making learning visible and attainable, as students report that they find the big list of assignments present in an online course to be overwhelming at times. I have observed that students can feel distanced from their teacher and peers when working asynchronously online, so I wanted to build a stronger sense of being connected too.

Focus: This gamified focus came out of my experience as a graduate student. I had been looking for ways to revitalize my practice and increase engagement/personalization in DL courses for a number of years, and when I learned about gamification as a potential way to increase student engagement, it felt like a good fit for my students and my teaching style.

Hunch: My suspicion was that students see a traditional course outline and feel that the pathway is set in stone. By restructuring around the Big Ideas for the course and letting students find their own path to achieve demonstration of understanding, I believed that we could take the focus off of production of work and grading and put it on deeper learning instead. In my opinion, our students have been taught that teachers are the experts and should be only ones dictating the direction of their learning. This framework aims to disrupt this paradigm.

New Professional Learning: During the course of this inquiry I completed a Masters of Educational Leadership with this Gamified Framework at the centre of my applied design project and academic process paper. The graduate diploma I previously completed in Online Learning and Teaching further supported my strong basis for this professional inquiry. I had supports from my university and supervisor, my admin team via Professional Development opportunities, including the Can-eLearn conference (at which I was a presenter this year). I explored UDL, different ways of showing learning in order to diversify the quest-chains for my learners, the research behind student engagement and gamification, and synthesized this professional learning into a published paper: https://viurrspace.ca/handle/10613/11972

Taking Action: I engaged fully in the applied design process for this inquiry by creating a website to accompany my existing Moodle course. Based on extensive research, I tried to look at how to encourage student engagement using Daniel Pink’s notions of Mastery, Autonomy & Purpose
– Redesigned my course around Big Ideas rather than units to emphasize Authenticity/Purpose so students know why they are completing each assignment in connection to real life
– Allowed students to control path, pace, time, and place in their learning to emphasize Agency & Autonomy
– Restructured grade accounting to emphasize LEARNING rather than LEARNING DEFICITS
o Accrual of eXperience Points for time spent learning
o Only earn XP if learning meets expectations for the task (single point rubric – mastery learning)
o If students need to make changes based on feedback in order to meet expectations, they count the time spent revising in their XP total
– Had students create a personalized Recipe for Representation so they had a toolkit of ways they could show their learning that weren’t necessarily teacher-prescribed (Agency)
– 10% of the final grade looked at Core Competencies (self & teacher assessed)
– 20% of the final grade based on a Summative Assessment – Final Reflective Portfolio (self & teacher assessed)
– VISIBLE PROGRESS – students had access to gradebook at all times via MS 365
– COLLABORATIVE LEARNING – group quests and synchronous sessions built into instructional design

Checking: This inquiry is a process, so it will continue to be refined over further iterations of the course. The differences were massive, and I would say they were successful based on the surveys given to my students both before and after completion of the course. Before starting, I surveyed students on their opinions about online learning, teacher presence, and their confidence in their ability to be successful. By the end of the gamified course, there was a huge difference in their reported confidence and engagement, with zero students saying they disagree with statements such as “I feel confident that I can finish an online course.”

Student comments indicated that they benefited from the pacing provided through the student tracker. One commented that “Gamified English is the perfect blend of self directed and structured learning we need.” Students responded that they liked the freedom of choosing their own quests, and that they appreciated opportunity to rework assignments until they achieved mastery. Overall responses were incredibly encouraging and gives me the heart to continue creating more depth to my courses.

Reflections/Advice: I learned that gamifying my existing course was challenging, but paid off for my students in terms of their enjoyment and quality of work. My major takeaways are that maintaining a website is involved, as you need to have the bulk of your curriculum ready to go for all students on the first day of your course, and it’s a living document, so you need to maintain and work to keep links and videos current. Next year I plan to continue developing my websites for ELA 10 and 11 choices, and to refine my mid-course conferences with students to better formalize their plans and provide direction. My advice for educators who might want to try this is to look for resources, engage in your redesign over the summer or in a semester when you aren’t teaching the course, and to be brave and take the risk because it’s worth it.

School District: SD#10 Arrow Lakes

Inquiry Team Members:Tori Reid: tori.reid@sd10.bc.ca, Julia Flesaker: julia.flesaker@sd10.bc.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: tori.reid@sd10.bc.ca

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE

Grade Levels: Secondary (8-12)

Curricular Area(s): Mathematics / Numeracy, Science, Social Studies

Focus Addressed: Core competencies (for example, critical thinking, communication, problem solving), Flexible learning, Self-regulation

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Creating a thinking classroom using strategies inspired by Peter Liljedal

Scanning: Our curiosity was peaked after a professional learning opportunity with Peter Liljedal. His workshop on ‘Thinking Classrooms’ inspired us to revisit our teaching methodology and classroom environments. Our students typically work with their friends and tend to absorb what their told, rather than think about it and question why. They are happy to do the work and learn, but don’t really think about what or why they are learning.

Focus: While examining the revised curriculum, we noticed that critical thinking is a core competency. Critical thinking is easily integrated into all science and math topics.

Hunch: Our classrooms are old and set up in the traditional factory learning format. Students sit at desks for a lesson and then work at desks on an assignment. Students have ingrained habits and are comfortable working with mostly their friends and sitting in ‘their spot’. Students believe learning is being told something and then practicing what they are told.

New Professional Learning: We followed the Thinking Classroom structure outlined by Peter Liljedahl. We focused on a asking good questions to promote self thought and forming random groups every time a group activity occurs. We used vertical surfaces (windows and boards) and white boards for students to display their thinking. We “defronted” our classrooms and changed the desk arrangements. We only answered “keep thinking questions”. To determine whether these changes were successful, we measured student engagement and expected to see greater understanding in assessments. Our assessments were designed to check on thinking ability, rather than a student’s ability to repeat.

Taking Action: Defronted classroom- desks arranged in a way that their is no true front
Vertical learning- working with groups on whiteboards and other erasable surfaces while standing at a vertical surface
Randomized groups- using cards or flippity app
Identifying independent questions- focused on thinking that is relevant to individual students (independent projects in science 9, science 10, outdoor ed, social studies 9 and physics 12)
Questioning (teacher)- we avoided answering simple questions and responded with prompts to promote own thinking.
Assessment- focusing on skills. Promoting thinking rather than repeating. For example: Science 10 final exam was open book and students were taught how to use the textbook as a tool to help them utilize a resource rather than memorizing. Exam had complex questions rather that encouraged thinking and synthesizing information from a source.

Checking: We saw that this project increased students willingness to work with other students and there was a significant increase in students trying to find an answer on their own before asking for assistants. Students responded well to multiple seating options and did not react when seating was variable. Students were engaged and remained engaged in thinking based labs and activities. We saw deeper responses and more engagement during assessments. Overall, it seemed that students had more confidence in their ability to solve problems and work with others.

Reflections/Advice: Our advice is to follow the thinking classroom stages set out by Peter Liljedal. It provided framework that supported both students and teachers.
Our next step is to implement the remaining stages in the thinking classroom framework and continue this work as students progress to higher grades.
We will continue this work as it aligned well with the new curriculum and new reporting order.

School District: SD#71 Comox Valley

Inquiry Team Members:Doug David: doug.david@sd71.bc.ca, Ilana Green: ilana.green@sd71.bc.ca, Debbie Nelson: debbie.nelson@sd71.bc.ca, Naomi Radawiec: naomi.radawiec@sd71.bc.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: naomi.radawiec@sd71.bc.ca

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE

Grade Levels: Intermediate (4-7)

Curricular Area(s): Career Education, Language Arts – Literacy, Language Arts – Oral Language, Language Arts – Writing

Focus Addressed: Formative assessment, Growth mindset, Self-regulation, Social and emotional learning

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? We focused on the First Peoples Principles of Learning: Learning is holistic, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness, on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place).

Scanning: Mrs Radawiec’s Grade 3/4 class (Arden Elementary):
We interviewed students about their learning and noticed that they were not able to talk about the big ideas or reflect deeply on how they were doing with their learning, and where to go next. We noticed that some students needed a lot of support to answer the question “What are you learning?” Many said that the purpose of school is “to learn,” but they were unable to see many connections between what they are learning at school, and their lives outside of school. We noticed that students were not independently setting purposeful goals for their learning. Those that could, expressed goals that were related to our identity inquiry: Who am I? We did notice that the Independent Learning Board (where students track what they are working on using personal magnets) helped them remember and explain things that we are learning. They were able to look at the board and think about all the different learning options on the board and what we do each day at school. Students also described how they felt like they were able to “make choices all day” (noticing that they made choices on the Independent learning Board). Students in grade ¾ said that their learning is “going good” but were not able to say why.

Mrs. Green’s Grade 6/7 Class (Lake Trail Middle School):
We noticed that students in our middle school are challenged in defining their purpose of going to school and many of them are struggling to become engaged in the learning. Students are often focused on their peers and are naturally very social. Their energy tends to go into conforming to group norms that are set by the most popular students. This led us to wonder, how can we create new norms of inclusion, diversity, appreciating differences, so that all students feel respected and supported in a safe and caring classroom community? We noticed that students want to engage with the teacher as a trusted adult, but when it comes to learning, their sense of ownership is minimal. We noticed that our learners are relational and reflective by nature, and we wondered how we could involve them in deep discussions and sharing that would have an impact on their perspectives related to the interconnectedness of all they are learning and the purpose of school.

Focus: How can we help students feel connected, like they belong, and are able to see the purpose for their learning? How can we help students communicate what they are learning and why is it important?

We wondered about how to effectively communicate the big ideas and purpose behind what we are learning, help students reflect, set goals, and see the connectedness between all that we are learning. We wondered how to engage students so that they are able to take ownership over their learning.

Hunch: Arden Elementary:
Our hunch was that we were not providing enough time for discussion with our students around the purpose for learning, and we were not effectively communicating the big ideas. The teachers were aware of the big ideas but the students seemed to have a minimal understanding. Big ideas in the curriculum are often not written in student friendly language. The big ideas or inquiry questions that students did remember were short and simple. We wanted students to understand the “why” behind what they are learning, and how it applies to their lives. They need to know that what they are learning is going to add value to their lives. We also noticed that as teachers we were not drawing attention to the connections between what we were learning. Perhaps if they saw their learning as being connected, they would gain a deeper understanding of the purpose behind school.

Lake Trail Middle School:
Our primary concern in our school community is to provide our students with a safe place in which to learn. We want our students to feel comfortable and secure. There is a large focus on trauma informed practice.We have found that students were relying on teachers for their thinking. In order for students to learn they need to push themselves and feel uncomfortable. We need to find a way to make these both work at the same time. Our hunch was that by allowing students to act as guides in their learning, this will help to keep them feel comfortable and to be willing to take the risk to learn.

New Professional Learning: We collaborated with our Curriculum Support Teachers and consulted our Indigenous Support Workers to help us embed the First Peoples Principles into the learning, and to gain a deeper understanding of the first two Principles that we focused on.

We investigated literature on the core competencies and how they can be taught and embedded into our teaching.

We also looked for research and documentation on how the creation of a community of learners can improve engagement. We also read books about motivation, purpose (asking WHY), and shared our new learning with each other. We used the Positive Personal and Cultural Identity Competency Profiles from the BC curriculum.

Taking Action: Since we are in two schools and teaching different grade levels, our “taking action” looked different. Through the process, we were flexible and responsive, open to changes that needed to happen, and we were always seeking to engage students in taking ownership over their learning.

Arden Elementary School:
This year We’ve been focusing on the why (purpose for learning). Our students are often asking “why?” They are deeply curious. Instead of responding with “you need to know this for grade 3/4,” we flipped the question over to them. Why do YOU, as the learner, think this is important?

In Mrs. Radawiec’s Grade 2/4 class, we used our Independent Learning Board as a way for students to make choices, track what they are working on, communicate where they are at, and take ownership. We hoped to better communicate the big ideas, and unpack those with the students to deepen their understanding. We focused on developing the core competencies, helping students set goals, and continuously reflect on the interconnectedness and purpose of their learning.

Mrs. Nelson taught a few lessons in Mrs. Radawiecs class. These lessons really got students thinking metacognitively and reflecting on their learning. We focused on the questions: How do we view ourselves as math learners? What does a mathematician do? How are we learning as mathematicians? It’s important to understand ourselves as mathematicians, writers, researchers, readers…and to think about what it is like when things are going well with our learning. Mrs. Nelson brought in some Mindset Meerkat magnets and explained “the posture of one leaning in to discovery.” She explained the three magnets with photos of Meerkat’s that represented: 1. Learning with stillness, 2. Learning with purpose, and 3. Shared responsibility. Students explored what these magnets meant and Mrs. Nelson referred to them throughout the lessons.

We challenged students to look critically at themselves as researchers and take on the role of being a researcher. We asked questions like: What are you doing as a researcher today? What have you learned most recently as a researcher? During our time together, Mrs. Nelson taught nonfiction research skills. Students then reflected more on the purpose behind the research and the steps it took to gather the ideas. Looking at themselves as researchers and mathematicians helped them develop a learner’s mindset.

Lake Trail Middle School:
Students were invited to participate in a lesson series that became an inquiry into diversity. The inquiry began with students co-constructing ideas in response to the question, “What is diversity?” Using fiction and nonfiction text, video clips and music, our intent was to engage learners more deeply in noticing, naming and celebrating diversity in their classroom, school and community. Students explored, analyzed and reflected on messages of diversity presented in stories and songs. Lessons were competency-driven. With 48 students in the learning space, we were deliberate about naming and creating opportunities for communication, thinking critically and creatively and social responsibility; learners creating space for each other and learning from each other.

The following video shares the final celebration of our inquiry into diversity, a collaboration accompanied by the song Everyday People, by Sly and the Family Stone. Students designed placards with lyrics they felt most connected to, and actively participated in this fun collaboration.

Checking: Arden Elementary School:
Recently, six students in Mrs. Radawiec’s grade ¾ class were interviewed by two researchers from England who are looking at effective assessment practices in BC and around the world. The students were asked questions about assessment, how they know where they are at with their learning, and what assessment practices we use in the classroom. We noticed that the students were able to explain what they were learning, aside from just talking about subjects. Their responses to the questions were far more detailed and they seemed to be able to explain the purpose behind the learning and assessment practices. We were proud and excited to notice their ability to reflect on their learning and communicate our daily assessment check-ins and big ideas.

In our grade ¾ class, we also created a class book on learning in nature. We explored the question “How can we be a community of Learners who make a difference in the world?” and the Big Idea: “Everything in the environment is connected and we have a responsibility to care for it.” In this book the students reflected on learning in nature. We noticed that they were able to reflect on their learning and describe the why behind environmental sustainability. They were able to describe why this learning is important, and why it’s important to take care of the earth.

After each lesson, we reflected and shared responsibility for offering next steps in our learning journey. Reflections were holistic and looked at the broader vision and purpose for learning as well as student needs as the learning environment. We feel that a focus on the why behind our learning has helped students to take more ownership and understand the purpose of what we are working on.

Lake Trail Middle School:
Nearing the end of the inquiry, Grade 6/7 students at Lake Trail responded to the questions, “What are you learning? How is it going? Where to next? and Can you name two people in our school who believe in your success?” Student responses are attached: http://bit.ly/2L9oZA9. The reflections the students submitted were honest. Some mentioned social responsibility and extending their learning to family and home while other reflections were less in depth. As this is unadulterated evidence of thinking, student voice is clear. The timing could not have been better as there was a crisis in the school that precipitated at a sharing circle where we asked these same questions of one another as a whole group. The students reiterated the ideas that they had mentioned in their earlier reflections.

Reflections/Advice: Arden Elementary School:
We came to the realization that we need to think about where the why (purpose) comes from, who communicates it, and when it emerges. We discovered that the why is not something that should just be explained by the teacher to the students. Often the why emerges naturally through the learning process as students are discovering, exploring curiosities, and reflecting on their learning. This is critical if students are to see the inherent value in what they are learning. They need to be able to say what they are learning, and why it’s important. If they don’t know the why, then what’s the point in the why? The learning is not going to stick.

As teachers, we are learning how to embrace the uncertainty, be vulnerable, and be ok with not knowing how everything will go. Teaching is about finding balance. It’s about allowing creativity and critical thinking to flourish, allowing students to take ownership, all while maintaining a calm learning environment. At the end of the day, we have to reflect learn with and from each other, share our stories, and let go of that which we cannot control.

When thinking about the purpose for learning, and allowing students to take ownership over knowing the purpose, we noticed the need for us as teachers to let go a little. Because if we let go of control, of telling, of pre-planning and organizing the learning in a logical manner with little room for uncertainty…this letting go allows space for our learners to share their ideas, to be inspired to think differently, to discover the purpose behind the learning, to feel valued for their contributions, acknowledged for who they are, and to breathe a little more freely themselves.

Lake Trail Middle School:
There was a core group of students who led, leaned in and learned much. They engaged in the learning process in the Inquiry tasks with Mr. David and synthesized it in the creation of their final task for “Elephant Secret.” Some students chose to represent learning exactly as they had in the past without really referring to the criteria of the assignment. Throughout the year we have been working towards giving students greater freedom to enhance their engagement. Through a triangulated assessment process, we learned that although the final product may have been different than expected, the observations and conversations throughout this inquiry showed that many students were engaged and thinking critically while creating it.

Our School Connections:
When thinking about how our two schools and classes are connected, we reflected on student understanding of the purpose behind learning and how this impacts student engagement. We believe that it is important to engage our young learners in thinking critically about the why, the purpose for learning, so that this practice becomes the norm for them. Then later on when they get to middle school, they are more engaged and invested in their learning because they have a deeper sense of purpose.

School District: SD#19 Revelstoke

Inquiry Team Members:Kendra VonBremen: kvonbremen@sd19.bc.ca
Ariel McDowell: amcdowell@sd19.bc.ca
Michelle Gadbois: mgadbois@sd19.bc.ca
Graham Mackenzie: gmackenzie@sd19.bc.ca
Eric Dubuc: edubuc@sd19.bc.ca
Lori Snider: lsnider@sd19.bc.ca
Colleen Wall: cwall@sd19.bc.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Email: cwall@sd19.bc.ca

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE

Grade Levels: Primary (K-3), Intermediate (4-7), Secondary (8-12)

Curricular Area(s): Physical & Health Education

Focus Addressed: Other: Physical Literacy

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Our focus was to see if by increasing awareness and skill development of Physical Literacy throughout our District, would it increase all students’ physical activity levels?

Scanning: Our scanning process started with information from a regional survey of student’s physical activity done by the Columbia Basin Trust (CBT). We also used results from our district’s Middle Years Development Index (MDI) results. What we saw in these results was supported by years of teacher observations. First, from our intermediate teachers, who were noticing that students were either not wanting to be involved in active sports in physical education classes and/or in our district’s elementary extra-curricular sports program or dropping out of the extra-curricular program. Second, from our secondary school physical education (P.E.) teachers were seeing that many students were struggling in their secondary P.E. classes.

Focus: In general, we now know that many Canadian children are not meeting the sedentary behaviour and physical activity recommendations and that these behaviours have an effect on their health. Specifically, in our community, we were seeing that although many children are very physically active from an early age, there are also a considerable amount of our children who are not taking part in school and community opportunities, often because of a lack of adult support (time and/or money) and we were concerned about the effects of this on their health as well as the divide it was creating amongst our children. We are hoping that more children will become more physically active.

Hunch: We had several hunches:

• We were aware that many primary physical education classes were based in co-operative games and that many intermediate classes were based in traditional games such as volleyball, basketball, badminton, track and field. We wondered if the limited amount of Fundamental Movement Skills (FMS) being taught was due to a lack of training for teachers in how to teach FMS.
• This lead us to wonder:

o If children were not developing and becoming confident using their FMS’s in the primary grades was this having an effect on their participation in active sports in P.E classes and/or in the extra-curricular elementary and secondary school sports programs? “If you can’t throw a ball overhand, you can’t hit a volleyball, throw a javelin, hit and overhead smash in badminton…”

o Were children not wanting to participate because of the competitive element often associated with organized sport and the public nature of the games and tournaments that are a part of our extra-curricular programs?

New Professional Learning: • As a group we attended a Physical Literacy and FMS workshop.
• With support of the CBT we are part of a wider group in our region inquiring into Physical Literacy and representatives from our group attend twice yearly meetings to learn together with this group.
• Representatives from our group have attended additional FMS workshop’s and brought their learning back to our group.
• We learned from each other!
o Our inquiry group was made up of a variety of staff, including elementary and secondary school physical education teachers, primary and intermediate classroom teachers and our healthy schools co-ordinator. Having individuals with this breadth of knowledge and experience enriched our learning in many ways and in particular it allowed us to hear the stories of our student’s progress and participation with Physical Literacy over their years in our schools. Many of these educators are also involved in our community sports programs and their perspectives further informed our learning and the ideas for taking action.

Taking Action: • Co-teaching between a secondary physical education teacher and an elementary preparation teacher (who primarily teaches physical education). These sessions were videoed and will be available for other teachers to view. This was made possible by a combination of volunteer time and providing some district release time for the secondary school teacher.
• The newly trained elementary teacher then co-taught with other elementary classroom teachers. This again was made possible by release time being provided by our district.
• Offering a new addition to the district extra-curricular sports program which we called “All Star Gym” for students in grades 3-7 at one of our elementary schools and in another elementary school “All Star Games” for students in grades 4-7. The format for this time was that students were asked what they would like to do in the gym and we would then divide up the gym in as many ways as we could, trying to accommodate as many of the activities as possible.
• Creation of a non-competitive high school P.E. class. This allowed for many learners to learn the FMS in a safe environment and then in turn use these in skill-based games at a slower pace to allow them to find success.
• In progress – Creation of a teacher online resource for teachers about FMS. This will include the videos of the co-teaching sessions. We hope to share this resource at our first 2019-2020 PD day.

Checking: • The response by the teacher learners in the co-teaching program was “Thank-you, when can we do this again?”

• All Star Gym

WOW! For the two teachers that sponsored All Star Gym this is where a lot of inquiry wonder and learning happened! In allowing the students to be the directors and choose their activities, we learned a lot. First to say, for some reason (and we’re not really sure why) All Star Gym attracted many of the students who often struggle in their school gym classes. We think it is safe to say that many of those students would be described as the kids who don’t like gym and in extension don’t like to move – but this is not what we saw at All Star Gym because those kids love to move! We also saw the magical power of music to get us all moving and the magical power of play to provide opportunities to collaborate together as creative and critical thinkers. The children that came to All Star Gym showed us that they love to move yet we know that many of them do not demonstrate this in the context of their physical education classes and are not involved in the extra-curricular sports programs. So, we are going back to the scanning and hunch phase wondering:
• Do the children’s executive function skills have a role to play?
• Is it a lack of experience with organized sport and therefore a lack of confidence/growth mindset to try something new?
• Is it a lack of opportunity/encouragement to be physically active and learn FMS?

We’re not sure…yet! And that is why we are going back into the spiral…

• All Star Games

The element of choice allowed experimentation and thus the children increased their confidence in movement. This resulted in them being more willing to try the games and more willing to be active…hopefully for life.

Reflections/Advice: -Co-teaching and modeling are key.
-Teachers need to use it or lose it; have the teachers use the model right away again in their class so they don’t forget it and use it while it’s fresh and they feel confident.
-Get students and teachers to assess FMS and communicate these assessments to parents.
-Continue our inquiry with All Star Gym while also investigating possibilities to expand All Star Gym hopefully with the support of secondary school students and/or community mentors.