Before our Units of Inquiry started, grade-level teams inquired into “tuning in” (with the help of this post from Kath Murdoch). Many teachers walked away with a new, or deeper, understanding of the purpose behind the “tuning in” phase of inquiry. Teachers were excited to put their new learning into practice… here is how it turned out in our Grade 1 to 5 classes:
Grade 1: Peaceful relationships are created through mutual understanding and respect.
Students tuned in to problems and solutions:
Students tuned in to the concept of numbers:
Grade 2: Citizens build communities.
Students tuned in to the concepts of “community” and “citizenship”:
Grade 3: Decisions impact conseqeunces.
Students tuned in to “decisions” and “consequences”:
Students shared important decisions they made in their life:
Students tuned in to decisions made by readers:
Students tuned in to the decisions they make as mathematicians:
Students tuned in to the number of decisions they make:
Teachers tuned in to the type of decisions they make:
Grade 4: Relationships are affected by learning about people’s perspectives and communicating our own.
Students tuned in to the concepts of perspective and relationships:
Students tuned in to different representations of numbers:
Grade 5: Relationships among human body systems contribute to health and survival.
Students (and teachers) tuned in to the concept of systems:
Students tuned in to what they think they know about body systems:
I love that the students’ thinking is front and centre!
I love that the students’ thinking is visible!
I love that students were able to demonstrate their thinking in a variety of ways!
I love that teachers tuned into conceptual understandings, not just topic knowledge!
I love that transdisciplinarity is evident!
I love that teachers were acting as inquiries themselves… doing reconnaissance to find out about what their students bring to a Unit of Inquiry!
The feedback from teachers about “tuning in” has been great! Teachers are excited because they have learned about their students’ prior knowledge, their misconceptions, their interests and their questions. It has not only provided them with diagnostic assessment data, but also a road map that illuminates “where to next?” based on students’ needs and interests! I can’t wait to see where these inquires lead!
How do you “tune in” to your students’ thinking?
Making Good Humans 
Thanks for sharing this! It’s helpful to see how others have understood, interpreted and responded to the challenge to “tune in to tuning in”. They are wonderful transdisciplinary examples that help me to recognise where I do (and don’t do) tuning in well in my own practice.
What do you think “success” looks like in responding to this “tuning in”? I think I could do better at this and I’m interested in the different ways teachers might authentically respond to the outcomes of “tuning in” experiences.
LikeLiked by 1 person