School Name: Dorothy Peacock Elementary

School District: SD#35 Langley

Inquiry Team Members: mchui@sd35.bc.ca, sdavids@sd35.bc.ca

Inquiry Team Contact Name/Email: mchui@sd35.bc.ca

II. Inquiry Project Information

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE

Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Intermediate (4-7)

Curricular Areas Addressed:

• Applied Design, skills & Technology
• Arts Education
• Career Education
• Language Arts – Oral Language

Focus Addressed:

• Core competencies (for example, critical thinking, communication, problem solving)
• Experiential learning
• Growth mindset

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Students will build and strengthen their core competencies, experiential, and growth mindset skills through collaborative and independent learning with Minecraft Edu.

III. Spirals of Inquiry Details

Scanning: Students were engaged when they drove their learning in a medium in which they were interested in, thus creating greater student ownership for their learning growth. Students had the opportunity to develop new skills, reaffirm learnt skills, and peer support each other through creating Minecraft worlds that built their grit and perseverance. By working collaboratively in creating their worlds, students went through trial and error in their designs and collaborations, and in building expectations for guests to enter their world. Collaboration provided an opportunity for students to build on their communication skills through active listening, sharing and compromising on differing ideas, and in taking constructive feedback.

Focus: As a first year teacher librarian, I was interested in learning opportunities that integrate technology and connect to students’ interest in Minecraft Edu, with the support of our district literacy coach. Through this learning experience, I gained greater familiarity with Minecraft Edu, as well as teaching through digital games/opportunities and having students drive the learning progress forward, while taking feedback to help facilitate and support their passion. Students were both leaders and learners as we had a diverse range of student familiarity with Minecraft. The combination of high interest and interactive learning opportunity fostered an engaged and collaborative learning environment for all participants, staff and students alike.

Hunch: Staff and students had opportunities to lead, learn, discover and facilitate our class and individual progress in creating our homes through Minecraft Edu. By facilitating the learning, it provided the space for different “expert” students to take on leadership and mentoring roles to peers who were less familiar with Minecraft. Students do well when they are interested and engaged, and when we provide opportunities for them to demonstrate their knowledge. This was evident through our Minecraft unit.

New Professional Learning: I explored a new avenue to deliver learning: gamifying the learning experience. There are many opportunities to engage learners to create and interact through facilitating game experiences. My instructional coach was a great resource in supporting the facilitation of the learning experience, but also modeled how we do not need to be experts to teach a new experience. Often, students can also contribute to the development and learning processes.

Taking Action: We scaffolded the learning experience and checked-in on students progress before teaching the next steps. This helped ensure we are all equipped with the basic skills to navigate the tasks. Experienced students were able to provide support to their peers and further clarify any Minecraft queries. We went through the Minecraft modes in which we will guide our learning through, and invited students to a teacher created world first, before tasking them to create their own world and then visit it.

Checking: I feel that we have a lot more learning to experience and build upon. Minecraft Edu has already created worlds that can facilitate learning for different content areas, and teachers can have students demonstrate knowledge through their creative builds in Minecraft (ADST, Science, Socials, etc.).

Reflections/Advice: I would encourage colleagues to not be afraid of the learning curve that may occur in trying something new, as students and staff are a team navigating through new endeavors. It’s also a great opportunity to model life-long learning, perseverance, and grit when we struggle and make mistakes. Experiential learning can have unknowns, but it also honours the potentials and avenues in which learning can happen or be demonstrated.

School District: SD#35 Langley

Inquiry Team Members: Ashley Ross: ARoss@sd35.bc.ca, Tamara Brenie: TBrenie@sd35.bc.ca, Brooke Leary: BLeary@sd35.bc.ca (Brooke is a new addition to the team).

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

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE

Grade Levels: Secondary (8-12)

Curricular Area(s): Other: AVID Strategies in Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization, and Reading (WICOR).

Focus Addressed: Universal design for learning

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? To develop competency-based learning pathways for skills that can be used across disciplines to support school-wide AVID and literacy goals; however, to engage the school community to increase their sense of agency with these tools, staff in-service on AVID WICOR+ strategies would be needed.

Scanning: The four key questions were provided to a sampling of grade 12 students, including those students in our AVID program. From scanning we discovered the AVID students tend to be more connected to their learning community, implementing and valuing the strategies they are learning. We want to leverage these strategies and experiences in a school-wide approach to benefit all learners. To do so, we must build capacity within our staff to use the strategies used in the AVID program.

Focus: To be college and career ready after high school, all students need to develop a variety of skills. WICOR+ strategies – WRITING and READING-to-learn strategies, engaging in learning with each other through INQUIRY and COLLABORATION structures, improving ORGANIZATION, and developing STUDENT AGENCY and OPPORTUNITY KNOWLEDGE, can be used across disciplines to develop those skills.

Hunch: The strategies used in the AVID program classes, are simply good teaching and learning strategies, and should be used school-wide to benefit all students. Our hunch is that many teachers are already using some of the strategies. Slight differences in terminology or process can confuse students; therefore a coordinated and consistent method taught to students can have a significant impact on their learning. We also have a hunch some teachers are not deliberately using any specific strategies to develop college, career, and life-ready skills, and they can easily be implemented in any curriculum.

New Professional Learning: AVID Centre has prepared 90-minute Professional Learning Modules covering a variety of WICOR topics. Some of our staff were trained on February 9th to be able to facilitate these modules. The modules were offered during staff professional development days on February 12th and May 21st. The facilitation of the modules utilized WICOR+ strategies and encouraged staff participants to consider their own practice and use of these and similar strategies with their students.

Taking Action: We offered six 90-minute sessions for staff this past spring. We specifically chose the module Using Collaborative Study Groups in the Content Classroom to connect with the work we did earlier in our inquiry, to create a competency-based learning pathway for collaboration to be used across disciplines. The other modules were selected by staff: Socratic Seminars; Using Inquiry to Increase Rigor; WICOR Workshop; and Cognitive Organization by Discipline. The modules were delivered in small groups, face-to-face or remotely via Microsoft TEAMS. A total of 33 staff participated voluntarily, many joined in on multiple sessions.

Checking: We were successful introducing some new strategies to our colleagues while identifying the WICOR+ strategies they are already using. School-wide implementation of common strategies can have a powerful impact on student learning. The discussion with staff during the sessions helped us realize we are closer to school-wide implementation of AVID strategies than we thought, as the sessions allowed for staff to share the strategies they implement.

Reflections/Advice: Our staff want to participate in more AVID Professional Learning Modules. The strategies complement the new curriculum and the school’s focus on improving literacy, so many staff are keen. Some staff who have not been able to participate thus far are asking when we will offer more workshops. Offering smaller, more intimate professional learning opportunities like we did this past spring seemed to have more of an impact than staff-wide Pro-D offered in the past. When the staff volunteer to participate, they are more invested, the discussions are richer, and it seems participants are more likely to feel supported to try new things. We feel our goal of AVID strategy use school-wide will grow with this approach and we will further develop competency-based learning pathways for college, career, and life skills used across disciplines.

School District: SD#35 Langley

Inquiry Team Members: Melanie Dewitt: mdewit@sd35.bc.ca, Lisa Methven: lmethven@sd35.bc.ca, Natalie Wise: nwise@sd35.bc.ca, Sarah Allin: sallin@sd35.bc.ca

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

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE

Grade Levels: Intermediate (4-7)

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

Focus Addressed: Community-based learning, Differentiated instruction, Growth mindset, Inclusion and inclusive instructional strategies, Land, Nature or Place-based learning, Self-regulation, Social and emotional learning, STEM / STEAM, Universal design for learning

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? How can a school garden facilitate a richer form of inclusion and hands-on learning with a group of students with special needs and our school community?

Scanning: In the scanning phase, we focused on a specific group of students with special needs. We met with this group of students once a week during term 1 and 2. This targeted JK Kids Company is focused on how we, as a community, can explore and inquire in our community and the environment around us. Every year the children are thrilled about growing food in our school garden. They enjoy cooking and making things for themselves and others. I noticed throughout the year a development of a thoughtful and reflective spirit for all the children, despite the challenges. Many of the students who have sensory aversions to certain foods, were taking risks and eating new food together. In previous years we have had our Occupational Therapist come in and do a group activity with some of the children, to support them in this need. It was evident that through problem solving and critical thinking, they sparked each other’s curiosities and built community in the process. The Principles of Learning continue to be integrated into our inquiry. There are two First Nations children within our group, and times when our Aboriginal Worker has joined us during our gatherings. Through our two terms, I was aware of and tried to embed Aboriginal principles into our program so the learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential and relational.

Focus: Even though this was a unique year for us, we made time to focus on allowing the students to explore their curiosities. We believe that throughout this, we actually came out of the experience with more questions like: How can we embed the First Nations Principles of Learning into our program; How can we collaboratively, all our children, innovate to solve problems (i.e. accessibility issues, etc); How can a child’s voice about shaping their learning promote their interest and intrigue their learning; How can we provide a richer sense of inclusion during Term 3 where learning is remote?

Hunch: Throughout the school year, which was incredibly unforgettable, we were on a journey of collaboration, inclusion and inquiry. We tried to step into our hunches such as: How do we embed problem solving and critical thinking skills into our gardening and cooking? This whole concept of “from garden to table” is such a beautiful opportunity to share with our vulnerable students, and shows them that there is a process in getting our food to our tables. We wanted to allow these vulnerable students to flourish within a richer sense of community. Together we believe that when educators see the long-term benefits of providing children platforms for collaborative innovation, there will be an opportunity for others in our community to celebrate and also explore their own creativity.

New Professional Learning: This year has been one that I will never forget. It was wonderful to be able to invest in the garden at the beginning of the school year, and since we came back in June, harvest the potatoes we grew in the fall. As well, as a school we were able to get soil and replenish our gardens. They are looking beautiful. This year there was a lot of exploration on how do we teach life skills to vulnerable students, especially in the season of Covid-19. In term 3 especially, I tried to focus on taking time to listen to others. I realized that we needed to provide a place for these vulnerable pupils, where we could connect them to the land and to themselves. Various resources that were helpful to us in various ways, were the Healthy Schools website and some BC ‘gardening’ teachers that have posted information on various social media accounts. In June, there were lots of collaborative opportunities for my colleagues to engage with the garden, especially as it was encouraged that we do more outside time. As well, our community reaped the harvest of our potatoes — I’m sure lots of JKE dining room tables had potatoes on them in June!

Taking Action: A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust — Gertrude Jekyll (2011). We grew a lot this year. Things changed in term 3, and so specific goals around our garden changed. In the end, we were able to prepare our garden for the fall. We are hoping that more pumpkins, sunflowers, squash and flowers will bloom throughout the summer. Overall, this whole year was a powerful learning experience. Usually we have time to ask students on how they would like to shape the garden for the future, throughout the whole year. Even though there were times where trying to implement ‘everything’ made it very difficult. We have dreams for the future to rebuild our garden. There are lots of collapsing plots which have become ‘run-down’. Our dream is to build a bigger and better school garden in the future.

Checking: Have we done enough under our circumstances? I realized that throughout this unique year, the most valuable reflection I have had on our experience is connection with our vulnerable students. Our vulnerable children struggle with connection and many of them come from homes that are disconnected. Throughout the progress of the four questions, the journey was monitored through their growth in conversation and connection.

I saw connection definitely improve, and they felt connected! In this Covid-19 season espeically, it was important to connect with our students in whichever ways we could. I believe things grew in unique ways, maybe not the ways that I thought it would… but beautiful things grew!

Reflections/Advice: Wow! What a year! We learned that even when things don’t go as planned, there is still connection through inclusion and innovation. When we connect with our students and allow them to take on leadership opportunities, it can strengthen us all together. In the future, I would like to explore how we can integrate more opportunities to explore nature and build our garden. Even with social distancing and spraying down our equipment, it is important to remember our students are at the heart of our program. Our advice to other schools is that allowing students to enjoy the great outdoors and get their hands dirty!

School District: SD#35 Langley

Inquiry Team Members: NLuteijn@sd35.bc.ca
ARoss@sd35.bc.ca
TBrenie@sd35.bc.ca

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

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE

Focus Addressed: To work on the scope and sequence for successful transitions of students in AVID from grades 9 to 12, continue to align AVID Centre curriculum standards with BC curricular competencies and Aboriginal world views, and build on that synergy of literacy strategies with AVID strategies to a school wide literacy plan to prepare students for a successful transition to college, careers and life.

Inquiry Story: Attempting to familiarize ourselves with the phases of the Spiral of Inquiry and the scanning phase, some current AVID and non-AVID students were asked the four key questions. A greater sample of student responses in September would provide us with a better idea of what is going on with our learners. Teaching all students how to learn and setting them up for a successful transition for life after high school, is the drive behind developing a school wide literacy plan leading towards achieving an AVID site of distinction. The refined scope and sequence of AVID 9 to 12, is another starting point for determining the strategies taught to all students. In September, all grade 9’s will focus on organization and time-management strategies with the use of an agenda book. The collaboration of the English and Social Studies departments in June resulted in, the agreed use of universal literacy strategies with the teaching and use of focused notes, text annotation, paragraph structure, and common essay outlines — for grade 9; identifying source reliability, textbook deconstruction, Socratic discussion, and Costa’s Levels of Inquiry — for grade 10; and writing to a deliberate audience, identify bias, incorporate quotes and presentation skills — for grade 11. The leadership and collaboration of these two departments will hopefully have a ripple effect in other departments.

Scaffolding collaboration skills was also identified as a need. District staff provided some assistance referring us to Erkens, Schimmer & Vagles’s book Growing Tomorrow’s Citizens in Today’s Classrooms: Assessing Seven Critical Competencies Teaching Strategeis for Soft Skills and 21st- Century – Skills Assessment Methods (2018), and specifically to a sample collaboration rubric.

School District: SD#35 Langley

Inquiry Team Members: Shawn Davids – principal
Dawn Driver – vice principal

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

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE

Grade Levels: Intermediate (4-7)

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

Focus Addressed: Community-based learning, Experiential learning, First Peoples Principles of Learning, Flexible learning, Growth mindset, Self-regulation, Social and emotional learning

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Creation of podcast episodes centred around critical thinking and communication, to build social awareness and responsibility.

Scanning: The four questions were an important part in reflecting on my first steps in this project. Podcasting is challenging, and this type of communication is one that many educators have not explored because of its complexities. I had an Empathy Tales podcast for the last year, and was using this podcast in my classroom with my students. When the pandemic hit, I took the stories from that podcast and put them into a new podcast called the Covid19Ed podcast, which included activities and assignments. So, my students used the Covid19Ed podcast – that I created – to learn remotely. There were episodes launched Monday thru to Saturday, from the middle of March until July 1st. I had to create the podcast episodes, and then I received some feedback during the beginning, middle and end, of the remote learning. My learners had a wonderful experience with listening to my homemade fairytales and doing the literacy activities. I used the OECD principles of learning and the First Peoples Principles of Learning, by allowing the students to connect with their feelings and be self aware. Every episode Tuesday thru to Friday had a mindful moment for the student to reflect on a virtue.

Focus: I selected this platform because this was a new way to teach. Podcasting is challenging, yet it allows students to listen in different locations and at different times. I have received good feedback. I was hoping that students would develop more empathy and focus on positive virtues. Each episode had a Listen, Create and Innovate part. The students would: 1) listen to a mindful moment, 2) be given a fairytale story where they would have to do an activity focused on creating, and 3) do an innovate part where there was an extension lesson.

Hunch: In the fall my hope was to have the students actually create some episodes, yet due to district app and platform approval issues, as well as our pandemic, I found that I was the only one that could create the episodes. My hunches along the way were that the podcast episodes were meaningful, and that podcasting was a platform that embraced a diverse amount of needs in my classroom; however, one piece of feedback was that it may have been too repetitive. By adding others into my podcast to do an episode, there was such a benefit for everyone. We included a counsellor, an author, a science teacher and round table discussion episodes, as well as Happy Parents of BC contributed a weekend family activity. It was very cool to take the hunches and change the direction of the podcast.

New Professional Learning: I learned about feedback from listeners and also about the importance of collaboration, because it was good to bring others into the process. I am part of a North American Edupodcaster group on Voxer, and this group helped me the most. My job share partner, my own kids, and some of my colleagues, used my Covid19Ed podcast; they gave me some ideas and samples that helped me mould my podcast to be better. I had a colleague in Saskatoon use my Covid19Ed podcast, and she gave good feedback to use the stories separately, rather than with lessons attached to them.

Taking Action: It was challenging to work as a team due to our pandemic, yet Dawn and Shawn were aware of my daily plans that had the Covid19Ed podcast in them. The podcast was targeted around critical thinking and communication to build social awareness and responsibility. This did happen. When I returned back to school in June with 8 students from my class, I could tell that there was definitely students who grew in their understanding of social awareness and responsibility. By having episodes Monday thru to Saturday, my students were exposed to many different aspects of social awareness.

Checking: I think I made a difference with my students. I had hoped to have them create episodes, yet I was unable to do that, so I created the episodes. I was satisfied with the product of the Covid19Ed podcast that can now be found on any major podcast platform. My students have grown to learn more about themselves and explore their creativity. It has been a good experience. One of my students said she liked listening to the podcast episodes at night when she couldn’t get to sleep.

Reflections/Advice: The podcast creating experience was valuable. This has made me realize the importance of how we need to provide alternate opportunities for kids, for their learning. Learning does not need to be done in front of a screen, yet can be done by listening. I have learned about feedback and the importance of learning on this journey. The process of moving from in school learning to remote learning has been challenging for me emotionally and professionally. I think the podcast grounded me in my content creator abilities. I think it allowed my students to experience something different than what they had ever encountered before. I plan to create new episodes, yet have them focused on virtual field trips. I do virtual field trips through Skype in the Classroom, and I want to build on those speakers for my remote learning schedule for the next school year. My advice is that you should tap into a group of people who have like-minded aspirations. The Edupodcaster Voxer group has really helped me feel connected during this remote learning experience. Their advice, input and thoughts have been really powerful for me to keep creating and pursuing my passions on content creation.

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#35 Langley

Inquiry Team Members:Ann Pimentel: apimentel@sd35.bc.ca; Jake Main: jmain@sd35.bc.ca; Andrea Liske: aliske@sd35.bc.ca

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

Type of Inquiry: NOIIE

Grade Levels: Intermediate (4-7)

Curricular Area(s): Applied Design, skills & Technology, Language Arts – Literacy, Physical & Health Education

Focus Addressed: Community-based learning, Differentiated instruction, Growth mindset, Inclusion and inclusive instructional strategies, Inquiry-based learning, Self-regulation, Social and emotional learning, STEM / STEAM, Universal design for learning

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? Collaborative innovation with children with special needs can develop a richer sense of inclusion for all.

Scanning: The scanning phase, we inquired with the targeted JK Kids Company group (a small group of Special Needs students who are a part of a Life Skills group) what we as a community can do to explore and inquire. Many of the students were excited about the ideas of cooking and making things for themselves and others. I noticed throughout the year a development of a thoughtful and reflective spirit for all the children. It was amazing. Children that had sensory aversions to certain foods were taking risk and eating new food together! It was evident that through problem solving and critical thinking they sparked each other’s curiosities and built community in the process. The Principles of Learning continue to be integrated into our inquiry. We have two First Nations’ children within our group and there has been times were our Aboriginal Worker has join us during our gatherings. The principle that was richly embedded into our program was that learning is holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational. The hands on experience our students engaged with made a rich learning experience for them and us!

Focus: Exploring the students’ curiosities was important for us. We believe that through this all we actually came out of the experience with more questions like: How can we collaboratively all our children to innovate to solve problems (ie accessibility issues, etc)? How can a child’s voice about shaping their learning promote their interest and intrigue for learning?

Hunch: Our hunch was that when the exploration and inquiry were integrated into a learning program that problem solving and critical thinking skills would flourish. As well, the thought that through collaborative innovation would allow these vulnerable students to flourish within a richer sense of community. We believe that when educators see the long-term benefits of providing children platforms for collaborative innovation there will be an opportunity for others in our community to celebrate and also explore their own creativity.

New Professional Learning: The learning was great this year. This year there was a lot of exploration on food sharing, social building opportunities and innovation. I really enjoyed focusing on taking time to listen to others. I learned that social games were a powerful tool for building social skills. At the beginning of the year, I asked the group how many played board games at home with their families, only 2 out 12 said they did. I realised that we needed to provide for these vulnerable pupils a place where they could develop their social skills and feel cared for… which I believed we did. As colleagues, we collaborated a lot on how to support our vulnerable students. Our collaboration highlighted the importance being reflective together.

Taking Action: “Genuine inquiry needs space to take risks, make mistakes, and try again- and again.” We made a lot of mistakes and we took a lot of risks. Overall it was a powerful learning experience. One strategy that was powerful was asking the students on how they would like to shape their learning, which was exciting. There were times were that strategy of trying to implement ‘everything’ made it very difficult. There was a student who wanted to lead our group on how to make a ‘Sushi Bowl’, he has given me the list of ingredients. Unfortunately, when I arrived, I had made an error on a couple of ingredients. Yet, the young boy had a great mindset and was open to accommodating the error. His mother speaks about it in her blog: http://innovativelearningdesigns.ca/wordpress/?p=2136

Checking: Have we done enough to make a difference? I realise that throughout this year the most valuable reflection I had have on our experience is connection. Our vulnerable children struggle with connection and many of them come from homes that are disconnected. Our group allows for connection. One tangible way that is evident of our inquiry is the attendance of one boy in particular. This boy had terrible attendance. He would miss a lot of school. When he joined our group we realised that his attendance increased… especially on the days we would run our group! This is powerful evidence of the ‘difference’ our inquiry made.

Reflections/Advice: We learned that connection through inclusion and innovation is powerful. When we allowed the students to innovate and take on leadership opportunities within a group this facilitates a stronger depth of belief in oneself and allowed us all to strengthens community with each other. We would like to explore how we can integrate more opportunities to explore nature as well as literally ‘dig in’ to our school garden more. Our advice to other schools is that allowing students to connect with each other through allowing for them to innovate and inquiry can deeply enrich any school community!

School District: SD#35 Langley

Inquiry Team Members:Ann Pimentel: apimentel@sd35.bc.ca, Michele Gore: mgore@sd35.bc.ca, Jake Main: jmain@sd35.bc.ca

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

Type of Inquiry: NOII (focus on core competencies, OECD learning principles, etc.)

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

Curricular Area(s): Applied Design, skills & Technology, Language Arts – Reading, Matahematics / Numeracy, Science

Focus Addressed: Community-based learning, Core competencies (for example, critical thinking, communication, problem solving), Differentiated instruction, Experiential learning, Growth mindset, Inclusion and inclusive instructional strategies, Inquiry-based learning, Self-regulation, Social and emotional learning, STEM / STEAM, Universal design for learning

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? To use robotics and other inclusive technologies to facilitate a richer inclusion for all children.

Scanning: During the scanning process it was important to have a deep conversation with the selected students on the process of this journey. We wanted to allow an open conversation about using ‘critical thinking and problem solving’ tools to provide opportunities for inclusion. The two students that were a part of the journey had many interesting opinions about the experience. Here are some quotes that I pulled from our interview with them. During my interviews, asking the four key questions to the two selected children, it was fascinating to hear their thoughts about delving into inclusion and innovation. The first question they answered, they both named teachers that promote innovation and creativity in their classrooms. We found it amazing how teachers that are open to innovation have a kind of ‘magnetic glow’ for children. Both of the children were fascinated with learning more about drones and exploring their complexities. The children reflected that there was a deep joy in learning about robots and that it was ‘fun’. They wanted to learn more about drones in the future. What I found interesting was that whenever a child explores with their own curiosities they bring up the word ‘fun’. Yes, as educators we have to place a to provide framework and tools, yet when a child explores out of their own curiosities … the ‘joyful’ sky is the limit!

Focus: We want to allow our community to think ‘outside’ the educational box of learning. A team of us looked at being able to reach our larger school community so we invented ‘Books and Bots’. This program allows for students to be able to take robots, paired with a book, home for their families to enjoy the wonders of coding, innovation and problem solving. This made everybody a ‘learner’ which made this experience not just about kids and educators, but also about the families of our community getting involved and learning. As the famous saying states, ‘You’re never too old to learn.’

We also realized that our learners became more flexible and able to take risks. That these children were growing in their critical thinking. This was amazing to be a part of throughout the year. The students grew in their independence, wanting to explore this and that. It was amazing to watch these children change within the year and be confident innovators.

Hunch: We really tried to facilitated a growth mind set throughout this process. There were some members of our community that would say that they are not ‘techie’, but I realized that the language they were speaking was creating obstacles for innovating and exploring. We tried to provide opportunities through a “Coding and Innovation Club” and “Inspire Showcases”, where we invited the Langley community to come and see, as well as play with our robots. It’s allowing those who feel that they are ‘not techie’ to see that it’s about having a growth mindset and a willingness to try and explore. Another hunch, we had was that it would be the children that would bring the conversations to the adults. This was true, children were the main ‘passionate’ instruments in bringing innovation into the classrooms and their homes. We realized our roles changed from being facilitators to being cheerleaders, which was so important. Creating an encouraging environment was vital for our project to grow and strengthen.

New Professional Learning: The new areas of learning were providing the opportunities and making it a part of our culture. When we were able to build these tools into our culture than it was just ‘normal’ to have robots in the classroom. It was a familiar tool where teachers, children and families members all had a similar language. This year, I designed an ‘easy’ sign out for the robots and the tools. In previous years, I had had a written booklet which caused some confusion but now staff are able to sign out the resources on-line which is easier and a better mode of communication. It was important to focus on learning that is motivated by and connected to opening up new experiences for learners and educators. This focus allowed us to explore other aspects of the spiral-like scanning, which contributed to a richer conversation. We wanted to see that the understanding was deeply rooted in facilitating inclusion. If these opportunities provided conversations and opportunities for students to be included then we believe that new professional learning had a occurred. We believe this year that this conversation has become rooted in our James Kennedy culture which was been beneficial for all in promoting Universal Design for Learning principles.

Taking Action: The strategies that our team pursued were to ‘tread lightly’ and to ‘speak with heart’. If we worked from those two platforms then we felt that in our conversations with kids and educators that the learning was more deeply rooted in exploring new ways because we were journeying together and there was a genuine willingness. I see it, like us opening our hands to our community. Showing our willingness to take their hand in this journey of using ADST and other technologies to provide a richer conversation about inclusion for all students. We acknowledge that it is difficult to step into new ideas and that as a team we were early ‘adopters’ and that everyone is on their own journey. There were many times were there were opportunities for feedback and conversations which I believe enriched this process even further. To have open hands and these conversations promoted a richer source of community to James Kennedy school where I believe there was a foundation of “vulnerability and building conditions of trust”. We are so grateful for this NOII experience and the opportunity for reflection.

Checking: There is so much more to do, yet we have come so far. The NOII grants for the last 3 years have built a foundation and richer opportunities for furthering our journey through this conversation. We believe that this conversation will continue, as a beautiful oak gets stronger and stronger over the years … our journey continues. The differences we made were significant and children had more opportunities to be included. There were two students with Special Needs that were in Mr. Main’s classroom who were reclusive and reluctant to converse with others. We took a risk, and purchased some Bloxels coding kits. These kids were in heaven! The conversations we were having with them was beyond what we had ever had with them before. It was so encouraging. This is just one example of these robots and tech being a ‘middle-man’ for conversation and community.

Our baseline at the beginning of this year was to see if more educators and students could open themselves up to conversations and opportunities of robots in their classroom. There has been more classes this year that have opened their doors to these inclusive tools.

Our learners have delved deeper into inquiry and innovation which is evident through their thoughtfulness in answering the questions.

Reflections/Advice: We learned that just allowing open hands to other educators and children regarding inclusive tools is a conversation starter. It seems that years ago, it was a pushing and pulling, but that is exhausting. Truly it is about open hands and saying, “I’d love to have a conversation about how robots can bring more inclusion into your world.” I plan to open my arms wider. To enrich our school culture will a safe environment to explore and innovate. I would like to be able to see our Science room filled with robots and that just like the microscope it becomes a natural part of our learning. I would like to provide more opportunities for our students with Special Needs to be leaders in the school to showcase their talents (that may not be otherwise seen) through robots and other inclusive tools.

My advice is open your hands. Just like when you are in a forest and your have bird seed. When you put your hands out … the birds will come. You just need to be peaceful and still … being frantic will not draw others. It’s about creating a beautiful culture with others who will journey with you. Find your village and others will join … I promise you.

School District: SD#35 Langley

Inquiry Team Members:Dawn Driver ddriver@sd35.bc.ca
Joanne Rempel jrempel@sd35.bc.ca

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

Type of Inquiry: NOII (focus on core competencies, OECD learning principles, etc.)

Grade Levels: Intermediate (4-7)

Curricular Area(s): Applied Design, skills & Technology, Arts Education, Career Education, Language Arts – Literacy, Language Arts – Oral Language, Language Arts – Reading, Language Arts – Writing, Matahematics / Numeracy, Physical & Health Education, Science, Social Studies

Focus Addressed: Aboriginal understandings (for example, Traditional Knowledge, oral history, reconciliation), Community-based learning, Core competencies (for example, critical thinking, communication, problem solving), Differentiated instruction, Experiential learning, First Peoples Principles of Learning, Flexible learning, Formative assessment, Growth mindset, Inclusion and inclusive instructional strategies, Indigenous pedagogy, Inquiry-based learning, Land, Nature or Place-based learning, Self-regulation, Social and emotional learning, STEM / STEAM, Transitions, Universal design for learning

In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? To improve a better understanding of Environmental Place Based Learning we worked on appreciating our local environment, in turn developing their Social and Emotional skills.

Scanning: The four questions helped gain more insight into how the students are connected to staff in the school and their outside environment. Talking to the students allowed me to understand their feelings and emotions. The four questions were important. The environment is important because it makes us realize we need to make our community a safe and liveable environment. When I referred to question one with the students today (the end of June) they were eager to share their thoughts. Talking to the students about spending time outside and in the school, they said the following: “They encourage me to do well in school” and he continued to say that the success makes him feel good. “They keep me safe. Whenever they got hurt they gave me a bandaid or an ice pack.” “Everytime she sees them they say, ‘Hi’ and they encourage me”. The First Peoples Principles of Learning is important in my studies, because the principles emphasis the importance of connection between people, place and learning.

Focus: I selected this area of focus because our school is surrounded by a beautiful natural environment. We have green spaces on the south and east sides of our school property. It is beautiful to see the children playing around in nature, as well as connect with their peers and staff members while they do this. Walking in nature is an important part of a healthy lifestyle and I felt my focus helped me build a greater understanding of our school community and our natural environment surrounding it. The three students I interviewed in the Fall shared some thoughts with me. The students appreciated that we have good food, good shelter, animals, trees and weather that makes us appreciate nature. One student talks about the importance of animals, water and trees in our local environment. They have come to appreciate the community, teachers and nature, and that each teacher celebrate different aspects of our community and local environment.

Hunch: My hunch included the understanding that developing sustainable goals such as Good Health and Well-Being (UN Sustainable Goal #3) brings a better understanding of our connection with each other and nature. The salmon did not come back this year, as we thought they would in my hunch. However the students gained a deeper understanding of their local environment still and developed connection with the “land” and their community of people. In addition, the students talked about how the Olympics Assembly and outdoor activities – such as walking field trips to the McClughan Park and other local places. Celebrating the nature around you helps you appreciate our community and our school.

New Professional Learning: I explored the idea of Mindfulness and the idea of using different lighting this year. I found the resources that were most helpful was quiet music; outdoor walks and also spending time with other classes (i.e. buddy classes). I used the design of the United Nations Sustainable Goal #3: Good Health and Well-Being. Bringing a global goal into our school through this process has been inspiring to me. I was also able to bring about a Hiking Club with staff, as well as Mindfulness Workshops with Randy Persad (a speaker focused on breathing and silence in the classroom). Through this initiative I have been able to branch out and use my focus on nature to help others.

Taking Action: Some strategies we developed was the importance of Recess and Lunch outside. Other than poor weather days, there was an encouragement to be in our local environment and the students to be playing outside. There was also support to do a full open yearly walking field trip permission. Our administration approved of any class that was interested in doing walking field trips in the neighbourhood. By the end of the year, an additional 4 classes joined local walking field trips down to McClughan Park with nature walks. There was talk among teachers about the importance of being outside and the idea of nature affecting Social and Emotional development. There is awareness of the importance of nature, community and healthy living.

Checking: The differences we made were amazing. I found that students being outside in the environment for Recess and Lunch; going on walking field trips down to the local parks and emphasis on staff healthy activities (i.e. Mindfulness Workshops and Hiking Club) made a difference with our students. When we became more aware of the important of our own Social and Emotional development through encouraging activities that promote Good Health and Well-Being, then the whole community benefited. I was satisfied. Our base line was primarily the level of engagement with students, as well as staff to talk and be interested in Nature. Language used in the classroom, as well as language used in our hallways and outside, often would be positive when we talked about being in our local natural environment. We developed awareness through this initiative. We developed motion and more of a flow towards our local environment. We developed curiosity to learn more about our local natural environment.

Reflections/Advice: We have started to talk more about developing outdoor education curriculum, as well as an educational shelter by our local park. There has been a deep curiosity developed about our McClughan Park and more teachers are interested in bringing their children down to this wonderful park with Yorkson Creek flowing through it. The three students I interviewed in the Fall, were interviewed again today and this is some of their thoughts:
“My body feels good when I exercise outside.”
“I have learned that it can be really hot and really cold. Make sure you include everyone and being outside makes everyone feel include.”
“Nature is the most delicate thing on our planet. Some things are super strong and others are fragile. Everything in nature is so diverse.”
I would give the advice to other schools that it starts with curiosity. We also need to appreciate motion. The motion to curiosity, then through curiosity and then past curiosity to embracing a new mindset. Allowing our students to be part of our local environment and embrace the beautiful of the living and non-living things around us can add value to our lives. It increases gratitude and appreciation. It develops connection and relationships to each other, but also to our land. We are transforming and it is beautiful to see how we are celebrating and enjoying the process. In the end, our Social and Emotional development grew in a positive direction, and I think moving forward I really believe that their can be more done with our local environment. I am considering connecting with the Township to do more initiatives – such as environmental panels or building an educational shelter. It is an exciting place to be and it will be neat to see where it takes us in the coming years. Thank you for this opportunity.