Techniques and strategies that allow students to become better at collaboration and deep thinking.

1. Facilitating Inquiry
Heidi Siwak
Prepared for: Reform Symposium 4
Saturday, October 11, 2013

2. The Big Question …
As students develop questions,
explore ideas, construct
knowledge, test assumptions,
solve problems and share learning
in ways meaningful to them …
how do we help them become
better thinkers and
communicators?

3. The Trust Factor
How do you build a culture of
trust so students become open to
each other and the deep
exploration of ideas … and willing
to take intellectual risks?

4. Low-Risk Conversation

5. World Cafe
Idea Diversity
Conversation
Activate Schema
Low Risk
http://www.theworldcafe.com/meth
od.html

6. Solve problems collaboratively
Discuss with your group the best way to
insert a sheet of paper into a duotang.
Duotang
Discuss with your group the best place on
your sheet of paper for a title, a subheading, the date …

7. Conceptual Understanding
How do you transfer a 3-D space to a 2-D surface?

8. Create Flexible Thinkers
The Value Line
Strongly Disagree
See that others have different
opinions.
See that your place shifts as you
hear other ideas and think in
depth.
Learn to question your position.
Strongly
Agree

9. Where Do You Stand on the Value Line?
Mark Your Shifts and Explain Why You Shifted
Oct 3: Parents wouldn’t have to worry
about their kids being sent off to war.
Oct 2: It would be too dangerous.
Robots could be hacked and turn on
you.
Strongly Disagree -_________X_____________________X_________________________________________________________Strongly Agree
Moral Machines by Gary Marcus
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/11/google-driverless-car-morality.html

10. Rules of Engagement
Plan for conflict
After each session groups assess
the dynamics and the usefulness
of the task and set goals.

11. Use content to develop learning skills.
Reflect
Share what you as a teacher
observed.
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/do
cument/forms/report/card/ElemR
eport_PublicGr7to8.pdf

12. Knowledge Building Circle
Natural Curiosity
Idea Diversity
Constructing Knowledge
Listening to others
Learning the Language of
Collaboration
“I’d like to build on ______’s idea.”
http://www.naturalcuriosity.ca/

13. Theory Building

14. Confirm or
Disconfirm?

15. Neutral Stance
Tell me more …
5 whys
Yes … and

16. .

20. Empathy
Sympathy vs. Empathy
Why Empathy?
http://twentyonetoys.com/toys/

21. Integrative Thinking
Roger Martin
I-Think
Rotman School of Management
University of Toronto

22. Opposing Ideas
Traditional School
Unschool

23. Mental Models
We observe this.
But “see” this.

24. Ladder of Inference
Data Pool

26. Confirming and Disconfirming
Evidence

27. Complexity
A+B=C
How do I get to the store from your house?
How do we solve world hunger?

28. Causal Models

30. Story Analysis

31. Shallow
Thinking
All Summer in a Day
Ray Bradury
http://staff.esuhsd.org/danielle/English%20D
epartment%20LVillage/RT/Short%20Stories/
All%20Summer%20in%20a%20Day.pdf

33. Thank you!
Heidi Siwak
Teacher
Dundas Central Public School
Heidi.siwak@hwdsb.on.ca
@heidisiwak
http://www.heidisiwak.com/