Process-Orientated Guided-Inquiry Learning (POGIL)

One of my goals for next term is to be having my students working in a much more student directed/led manner.  Obviously after numerous years schooling where the traditional model is followed of the teacher directing learning this is a skill that needs to be taught.  At the moment there are processes in place whereby the students are working towards this and I am acting as a facilitator.  After some discussion with my tutor teacher about how we could further enhance this practice in my classroom we stumbled across POGIL.  It looked very similar to what we had been discussing and so I decided to research it.  After reading a 40 odd page document I am hooked and very excited to try this within my classroom - however also very aware that it may not work and may require a lot of work for it to look how I want it to look.  I have decided that taking it step by step is the easiest way to get around this and so doing the reading POGIL guide and introducing the concept of learning to my class are the two steps for this week.

The reading was related more to secondary schools and so I have taken from it what I believe to be applicable to my classroom.  Whilst there are many points made these were the ones that stood out for me:

- Students working in learning teams (organised in a very similar way to a sports team).  Whilst my students are currently in learning groups and they areal working on the same content and having discussions it is still very individualised.
- Having the students apply the notion of the learning cycle of the 4Es to each piece of work - and to evaluate themselves and each other against this at the end of each session - thereby giving themselves feedback with which to begin the next session.
 - Ensuring that relevant focus is placed upon both content and process - the process relating to how the children apply the content - and ideally the higher up Blooms taxonomy the better
 - The importance of connecting prior learning, visualising concepts, interacting with others and taking on a variety of roles and assessing themselves
 - Ensuring that tasks set for the students require them to apply their knowledge within directed, convergent and divergent discovery settings
 - The use of graphic organisers to allow students to extend on their working memory
 - For the success of one, all have to achieve individual and group success - the notion that responsibilities in a team are both to ensure you are able to be successful and that others are also able to be successful.  Interdependence between the team whilst still maintaining individual accountability.
 - That the learning process may be flipped and twisted - it does not have to always follow a linear model and in some cases it is not most beneficial to do so.

Obviously however I cannot provide the students with this list and tell them to get to work in a POGIL styled classroom.  Therefore the second step for me is how I am going to introduce this learning style to my classroom.  As I have decided this is extremely influential in how my students might learn and how much they benefit from being in my class I have dedicated tomorrow morning to exploring this concept in a fun manner - so that the students can identify what is needed for them to achieve success in child speak.

As a class we are going to watch the videos on the children's class weebly Learning Teams and discuss teamwork and collaboration before carrying out fun activities that require them to put into practice what they have observed in videos.  After this the students will think, pair, share what they found to be effective in working as a team - and record their ideas for the classroom.  The children will mark themselves on how "strong" their team was based on the following table How strong is your team? before being introduced to their 'Four E' cards that they will begin using from Monday.

Hoping the children buy into this and become as excited as it as I am!