I am a first year teacher. At almost 45 years old, I have just now found where I am supposed to be and what I am supposed to do…well, kind of. Like any new teacher, I am trying to drink from a firehose and be everything to everybody. My age and prior professional experience as a paramedic have helped me with keeping a good perspective on things and keeping my head above water, as well. It has also reminded me that once habits set in, they can become very hard to break. This is why I am moving full steam ahead with the Inquiry Design Model (IDM). I want IDM, and the concepts that drive it, to become my habits as I move forward in my career.
I learned IDM while pursuing my Master’s in Arts in Teaching. The experience had a powerful impact on me and shaped the way I view learning and education. At present, I am a 9-12 social studies teacher (US History, World Geography) within the New Tech Network program at JL Mann High School in Greenville, SC. New Tech uses Project Based Learning and prioritizes relevance, authenticity, student agency, collaboration, written and oral communication, and above all, guiding students in exploring, assessing, and addressing real world problems. I am going to experiment with melding IDM and the C3 principles with the New Tech Network structure and philosophy.
I have more than a few butterflies in my stomach about integrating this structure, particularly as a brand-spanking-new teacher. When I was in paramedic school almost fifteen years ago one of my favorite instructors told me that it was normal to have butterflies while working on a 911 call, “just make sure they fly in formation” was her advice. Well, we are rolling down the runway…
Today we introduced the “Who has the Power?” historical and literary Inquiry. I adapted this inquiry in collaboration with my colleague in English, Elizabeth. I teach US History and Elizabeth teaches English 3, providing us space to collaborate and blend our disciplines in meaningful ways. She and I paired the inquiry with the reading of Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. This is our first blended project, so we anticipate some hiccups, but are hoping for positive results.
The content focus is to look at power and federalism through a historical and current events lens. The IDM Blueprint for this inquiry thoughtfully uses sources to guide students through the concept of federalism, while also challenging them to examine the constitutional origins of power. The inquiry considers expert and layperson opinions about the balance of power in America. It culminates in students taking a position on the issue by making a claim supported by evidence from sources. While we proceed through the inquiry, my co-teacher will be teaching the students Of Mice and Men. She will cover her required content benchmarks, but with a view towards the relationship of power between George, Lenny, and Curly.
Our collaboration led me to read the book again, considering it in terms of power themes. I felt as though George could easily represent state governments. He is close to Lenny, “knows him best,” and you can argue that he should be the one to end Lenny’s life after he murders Curly’s wife (Spoiler Alert!) He’s “local” in a sense. On the other hand, there is Curly. He is the boss’ son on the ranch, a big power guy. He is cold and removed and wants to administer justice to Lenny the same way he would if anyone had committed the crime that Lenny did. His power is larger in scope and affects more people than George’s power does.
State vs. Federal
George vs. Curly
Similar relationships?
We want the students to not just explore the content, but to also examine enduring themes around power and the struggles around it within different contexts.
State vs. Federal
George vs. Curly
Similar power dynamics?
Furthermore, we wanted students to have the choice to express their arguments in creative forms. Creative and multimodal expression are central to both social studies and English education. I believe that arguments exist all around us and can easily be found, or created, in artistic expression. Our students are going to be tasked with creating an artistic expression that represents their argument in response to the compelling question. Their expressions will be accompanied with artist’s statements explaining the intent behind their work. In essence, the statement will be a supportive document for their argument. It will describe their claims accompanied by the supporting evidence found in sources.
And, this is group work, so another issue we have is the manner in which students come to a consensus about a group position in their argument/artwork. We recognize that the groups are going to not operate as a perfect collective where each member feels precisely the same way. But my thinking is that this a great space for considering alternative viewpoints and counterclaims. For the group to function, they must work together, listen to each other, argue, and come to some place where they are able to produce a creative expression that each member has a part of.
Isn’t this what we mean by Civic Readiness? Isn’t this what we want our students to be able to do? Disagree and create at the same time? In fact, isn’t that what the Founding Fathers did so long ago?
I hope they can handle this kind of thinking. I believe that they can, but time will tell. If successful, this inquiry project will provide a critical first scaffold in my goal of getting my students to produce, as group projects, their own inquiries in the Spring. Right now we are testing the boundaries of the summative products. The next step will be to assess questions, or alignment and sources.
My goal is to enable my students to create their own multidisciplinary inquiries and then each group will progress through the other group’s inquiries.
I consider myself very lucky to be able to challenge myself and my students like this during my first year of teaching. This may be my first year, but I am excited to think about what the future holds.