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Tag: Essential Questions

Jul142021

Until you Make it, or Become it? (Day 3 and 4)

Day 3 and 4 of the Leadership and Public Speaking course centered on the importance of a coach/mentor. In the process of becoming a leader and effective communicator, it is essential to have trusted and supportive individuals to provide honest feedback based on our specified goals. Students worked with each other and identified the feedback they sought to improve nonverbal and verbal queues they considered problematic. The following is a broader summary of our learnings, a continuation from day 2, which can be accessed here.

Leadership and Public Speaking:

  1. Students introduced each other and constructed the most positive and energetic introduction which included the name of their partner. Their partners had the opportunity to share what they would like the audience to know about them—Leadership skills have emerged!!!
  2. Students recalled what they learned during the week! Unbeknownst to them, this was in preparation for a pop quiz.
  3. Pop quiz—I expected nonverbal attitude when I announced this; instead, I saw eagerness and readiness in body language—They’re showing off a little bit, now; I love it!
  4. Pop quiz review: Students graded their own quizzes. I asked them to reflect on the knowledge they’ve gained and how the assessment was reflective of this.
  5. Students completed the Amy Cuddy talk. Elaboration was placed on the idea of either “faking it until you make it,” or “faking it until you become it.”
  6. Students resumed their mini presentations by sharing responses to the interview questions while listeners wrote questions for the speaker. Every student was assigned a coach/mentor who will work to help bring the best of them before their next presentation.
  7. Homework: everyone earned an A+ for homework submission. For next week, students must bring a poster board and note-cards to begin working on a component of their presentation. I asked each student to consider the following: color, firmness of board, creativity, price (no poster boards over the price of $3.19), and intentionality. E.g., students should consider a tri fold board if they wish to have their hands free for expression during their presentation. Additionally, if one anticipates trembling/shaking while presenting, opt for a more solid board, not a flimsy one.

Takeaway from day 3 and 4: While evolving into our fullest potential in life, do we fake it until we make it, or do we fake it until we become it? What is the difference? Students shared an in-depth discussion about the idea of comfortability in oneself during the sometimes-uncomfortable transition into becoming our perceived idea of greatness. (It’s okay to read this section a few more times to fully grasp the subject we grappled with during our sessions). As always, I welcome any thoughts and questions regarding the summary of the course and the takeaway.

Sep142018

Why is the Essential Question Essential?

Why is the Essential Question Essential?

What is an essential question? I remember when I was in my capstone course at Temple University when my professor posed this question to my cohort and me. He said the essential question is essential for framing a unit. You can “hook” students into whatever stories you read in the unit by connecting all of these stories to a question that they will continue to investigate.

I didn’t quite understand how one question could possibly address all of the texts read in one unit at the time. I initially considered this one question to be quite limiting. I thought, why should we create the same question for reflection across texts? Why not investigate different questions and ideas?…

While reflecting on the challenges I had with constructing an essential question, the jazz tune “I Can’t Get Started (With You)” by Ira Gershwin, sung by Ella Fitzgerald, came to mind; I simply could not understand how one question could apply to all readings. I had difficulties getting started myself.

Today, I understand more than ever before why the essential question is dynamic. The essential question allows for:

  1. Purposeful reading: Students read with intention and use the question as a guide for deeper understanding
  2. A starting point for further investigation: While students are learning how to formulate their own questions, the essential question is a starting point
  3. Higher order thinking: The essential question should be an open-ended question. This creates a space for students to begin investigating other aspects of a given text
  4. Transfer of Learning: The essential question transfers from one reading to the next. Considering this, students have the opportunity to critically think about how this question applies in different contexts
  5. Interdisciplinary connections: Students understand how to apply the question across disciplines for a more dynamic learning experience

Michael Smith (my professor in the capstone course) and Jeffrey Wilhelm both agree in Going with the Flow (2006) that for an essential question to work, it must be debatable and most of all, it must be meaningful. To provide you with an idea of what makes an essential question, the following are five questions created according to the aforementioned criteria:

  1. How can literature serve as a vehicle for social change?
  2. How does conflict lead to change?
  3. What is truth and who defines it?
  4. What is reality and how is it constructed?
  5. What does it mean to be invisible?

Overall, these questions are created while backward planning and reflecting on what is essential for students to know and understand in a unit. Most importantly, these questions help when guiding students into more critical areas of inquiry. What essential questions do you and have you used in your classroom? In what ways have these questions changed the way you approach a unit? I’m looking forward to your comments….