1. Advancing the Work From Seminar to Action
Hawaii Department of Education
Honolulu, HI
October 25, 2017
Luz Santana
Co-Director
The Right Question Institute

2. To Access Today’s Materials:
seminar-resources/
Join our Educator Network for:
Templates you can use tomorrow in class
Classroom Examples
Instructional Videos
Forums and Discussions with other Educators

3. Today’s Agenda Welcome and Community Building
Collaborative Learning with the Question Formulation Technique (QFT)
The Art and Science of the QFT
Lunch
Working Groups
Closing Reflections, Q&A, & Evaluations
#QFTCon #QFT

4. Classroom Examples with Special Student Populations
#QFTCon #QFT

5. Classroom Example: Laredo, TX
One science teacher revised his lesson plan for the afternoon, and used the QFT “to show that it can’t work.” He came back and said, “I’m embarrassed to say that I underestimated our kids. I didn’t believe they could do this kind of thinking. I see now just what they are capable of doing with the right tools.”

6. Classroom Example: Elementary School
Teacher: Esther Lee, New York, NY
Setting: Sub-separate small group classroom of students with a range of medium to severe learning disabilities
Topic: ELA unit on Child Labor
Purpose: To engage students at the beginning of the unit
Setting - small group special education setting with students with a range medium to severe of LDs (sub-separate small group education setting) + grade level

7. Question Focus Note - this is an image I found online.
Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images

8. Student Questions Why are they so dirty? Are they farming?
Where are their shoes?
Why are they sad?
Are they having fun?
Where are their parents?
Why are they farming?
Why are they holding that?
Are they in school?
(Students who initially were described as struggling to maintain connections with their peers are empathizing with others)

9. Next Steps
Students complete the exam and essay for the New York State mandated ELA curriculum
Students write speeches, make t-shirts, and organize a protest on the streets of NYC

10. To Read More, Visit:
engagement-special-education-classroom/

11. Self-Organized Working Groups
Review a blog written by a first grade teacher. With your group, discuss which of her ideas, scaffolds, or tips might be helpful to your students? What are your main takeaways?
With your group, write down with a list of 6-8 ideas for how you might tailor the QFT to your students. Make your poster as artistic as possible and be prepared to present.
As many elementary teachers know, elementary educators have to be adept at breaking down a concept into the clear, distinct parts and scaffolding each part. They’re masters at the scaffolding and modifying, so even if you don’t work with this age group, she has phenomenal suggestions and rationale for why she designs this QFT the way she does. There’s a lot of information that is applicable to other age groups. If it can work this well in 1st grade…

12. Gallery Walk
As you read what other groups have written, consider which ideas might be useful to you. What most interests or surprises you about the ideas that come up? Why?
Be prepared to share out with the group.

13. Next Steps
Review a packet of tips from educators across the country. Discuss with your group.
Work on revising your lesson plan based on what you’ve learned. Continue work with the lesson planning workbook.

14. Today’s Agenda Welcome and Community Building
Collaborative Learning with the Question Formulation Technique (QFT)
The Art and Science of the QFT
Lunch
Working Groups
Closing Reflections, Q&A, & Evaluations
#QFTCon #QFT

15. Closing Reflections We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place
For the first time.
--T.S. Eliot

16. Closing Reflections What did you learn?
An “a-ha moment” or a meaningful take away from your experience today
A key question that will guide your work

17. So, where do we go from here?

18. RQI’s Vision of Professional Learning …as a two-way street
RQI’s design of professional learning experiences
Professional implementation & learning
#QFTCon #QFT

19. Making a Contribution to Democracy
“We need to be taught to study rather than to believe, to inquire rather than to affirm.” - Septima Clark
See Chapter 6 on Septima Clark in Freedom Road: Adult Education of African Americans (Peterson, 1996).