{"id":57,"date":"2018-11-16T17:16:04","date_gmt":"2018-11-16T17:16:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/lisabelanger\/?p=57"},"modified":"2018-11-16T17:17:46","modified_gmt":"2018-11-16T17:17:46","slug":"3-minutes-of-questions-provides-a-goldmine-of-information","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/lisabelanger\/2018\/11\/16\/3-minutes-of-questions-provides-a-goldmine-of-information\/","title":{"rendered":"3 minutes of Questions Provides a Goldmine of Information"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Being the rebel that I am I looked at our Cohort 21 homework and thought “I can see the value in this, but it’s not quite lining up with my struggle right now.” I was being asked to identity 3\u00a0 the three most urgent needs of my students. I couldn’t seem to really narrow it down. Mostly because I wasn’t sure that I did really know my students as learners. In fact, I DIDN’T know them as learners at all.<\/p>\n

A few I’ve taught before I had an idea of their strengths and growth areas but the rest of my class was new to me. So instead of using the script provided I decided to go rogue!! I started the class by telling them I’d be talking with each of them for a few minutes about their learning, and that I was collecting the data for a course I was taking. I pulled each student aside and asked them this:<\/p>\n

“Think of the class that you feel you are learning the most in. What is happening in that class that helps you learn? What is the teacher doing that you feel works best for how you learn?”<\/p>\n

I also made sure to tell them that I wouldn’t be insulted if they didn’t mention my class … wink wink.<\/p>\n

The answers I got were as varied as my students, but I felt so empowered and excited after speaking with each of them. I had been worried that my class was too content heavy and not hands-on enough. What I learned was that they wanted an easier way of collecting that content and the opportunity to discuss it. Mind blown.<\/p>\n

I was over thinking the problem and in doing so was missing\u00a0 the real needs of my students. Turns out it’s a super easy fix that I can immediately start to implement.<\/p>\n

If you’re curious to know what they said here are my big takeaways from my grade 12 students:<\/strong><\/p>\n