The intent of the Wonder Journal was to allow
me, the classroom teacher, access to the critical
thinking that was going on inside of the learner’s head. As an educator I
needed to know:
·
Was the student engaged?
·
Did the student connect any of their new
knowledge to prior knowledge?
·
Was the student making connections across
the units, and across the curriculum?
·
How did the student’s biases and personal
mores influence the objectivity their thinking?
At the end of the first week of class, each student
was given a standard three-hole notebook, the kind we used to call scribblers
or exercise books back in the day. They were simply instructed to write down what they were wondering about
as a result of what they had learned in class this week. There was no word
limit or topic given. It would be fair to say that all of the students struggled
with what it was I wanted, they were eager to please but not being able to “look
up the answer” or “copy” someone else’s was very difficult. “What am I
wondering about? What kind of a question is that?” Eventually everyone managed
to get something down and their Wonder Journal passed in.
As I read through the journals following the student’s
first entry I wrote a lot of anecdotal comments and probing questions aimed at
drawing the students’ thoughts out. When I returned the journals I gave the students
time to read and consider what I had written in their journals. Then I told
them:
1. We
would be writing in our journals on a weekly basis:
2. It
would be a good idea to keep a running list of things they may want to write
about in their journals rather than try to come up with something on the spur
of the moment;
3. Journal
entries would be assessed and evaluated as part of their “application” mark:
4. The
questions they posed in their journals would become the basis of the knowledge
and understanding evaluations that we would be researching for each unit.
Reading the student’s weekly entries into their Wonder
Journal quickly became my favourite prep activity. Not only was I gaining
an insight into the students’ critical thinking and communicating with them on
a personal level but I was also able to use the journal as an instrument to assess
for, as and of learning.
Assessment for learning
In their journal entries students would often muse
about content that we had not covered and of which they had no prior knowledge.
Sample student entry for learning:
“Are
there other types of cystic fibrosis that doesn’t take place in the lungs? If
so, what kind of effects does it have and how much can it be treated? Does this
type of cystic fibrosis still cause earlier death? If it is caused by a mutated
gene, is this type of cystic fibrosis in the same gene that effects the lungs?”
(sic)
Assessment as learning
Any misconceptions the student had regarding curriculum
became apparent through the way they retold or made connections.
Sample student entry as learning:
“Many
people say that plants will respond to sound stimuli, this seems very far
fetched unless it was very loud music in the same spot for a very long time
since sound is just a difference in preasure, is this true?” (sic)
Assessment of learning
Initially assessment
of learning was the objective I expected to achieve with the wonder
Journals. The fact that assessment for
and as learning also occurred was an
added bonus that increased the students engagement and understanding during the
course and, for me, demonstrated areas of my lessons that needed further improvement
and clarification.
Sample student entry of learning:
“I
wonder if there is still fungi in my plant. Your comment about the cap made me
think. Maybe there is a parasitic fungus at the base of my pen cap, and the
mould I saw before is under the soil. This would explain the ridiculously slow
growth of my plant. Just a theory I got after doing my writing on fungus and
your comments.” (sic)
This is the rubric that I developed to establish a
mark for each journal entry.
Level
|
Criteria
|
R
(remedial)
|
If
the student had done their readings these questions would have been answered.
Example: Is moss a nonvascular plant?
|
One
|
Questions
show no insight into the curriculum.
Questions
could easily be answered with a google search.
Example: Are spores produced by
meiosis or mitosis?
|
Two
|
Questions
are adequate, yet simple.
Example: Why are there twice as many
species of moss as mammals?
|
Three
|
The
Provincial standard, that is, it is the least that is expected of you!
Questions
are based on the curriculum as presented, but show little evidence of
critical thinking.
Example: What kind of moss is the
dominant species in a peat bog?
|
Four
|
Questions
are profound and deep. There is evidence that the student has thought about
the subject content and extrapolated it. The questions may be phrased to
express background knowledge and/or make connections.
Example: Since Sphagnum moss is so
absorbent and was traditionally used as diapers by Aboriginals, I wonder what
commercial use is currently made of its absorbent properties. Is it the same
“paet” that is dried and burnt in peat-fires in Ireland? How economically
important is the harvesting of peat moss? Is harvesting peat moss
sustainable?
|
Despite time constraints forced upon us by the
timeline of a semestered course, when a student felt to rushed to make an entry
or was not satisfied with an entry they had made previously they were always
afforded opportunities to rewrite, reconsider, resubmit or have an extended
deadline. Some things cannot be forced to fit an artificial timeline and
wondering about the nature of the universe and then putting these musing into
words are one of them!
I encourage all science teachers use the Wonder
Journal strategy. By making it a routine expectation of your course you are
not only allowing your students to develop their critical thinking but their
writing process will also benefit, as will your personal connections with each
one of them.
If you are interested in learning more about this
wonderful inquiry based experience I will be presenting a workshop based on our
experiences at: http://smarterscience.youthscience.ca/news/you-are-invited-inquiry-bay-2012
