How to use student's questions in AP Biology to drive learning

By Mark Heintz, Krista Glosson, Avi Patel, and Alexa Fontanetta




I had the pleasure of going into Krista Glosson's AP Biology class.  In the class I came to visit, she used the Question Formulation Technique to foster students connections between topics.  The students were into it.  They worked collaboratively, were inspired, and wanted to learn more.  Krista was able to walk around and see the learning taking place.  The students knew what they learned and they knew that their teacher did too.  What follows is a reflection of a post-visit discussion I had with Krista and what her students felt about the process.

Teacher: Krista Glosson

Now that we have a working definition of learning and some values behind it, how are you putting your beliefs into practice?  

I am giving students an opportunity to determine their own beliefs about my statement, then to branch out in a direction that interests them while they construct their knowledge around their belief.  It was refreshing for all of us to give them a challenge that did not have a right or wrong answer.

What were the students learning?  

The students were researching specific examples of cell signaling pathways to apply the information we had previously covered in class.  The process allowed them flexibility and an opportunity to stretch themselves to answer a challenging question while we worked on asking good scientific questions.

How do you know they learned? 

I talked with each group and they were excited to share their new information with the class the next day.

How do they know they learned?  

They were able to make a connection between the material we learned in class and the information they chose to learn.  They were confident in sharing their interpretation with the class.


Student: Avi Patel

Now that we have a working definition of learning and some values behind it, how is your teacher putting the beliefs into practice?  

She beats the knowledge into us! Just kidding! For real though, she connects with us on a level further than just academic. She understands and communicates with us, and that I think is the best values a teacher can have; Connection, Communication, and Understanding


What were you learning?

We were learning whether or not a fault in signaling pathways causes diseases or not.

How do you know you learned?

I walked out of class knowing more than what I knew walking in.

How does your teacher know you learned?

By noticing my responses and answers to questions she asks, and also me asking her questions.


Student: Alexa Fontanetta

Now that we have a working definition of learning and some values behind it, how is your teacher putting the beliefs into practice?  

Mrs. Glosson understands that though we chose to take this class, we are all taking biology for different reasons. She has taken the time to get to know us on a personal level. By incorporating relatable examples into the lessons based on the things that interest us, she has conveyed the “integration of values, or importance to the individual.” Therefore, because of the connections she's formulated, the curriculum has become more valuable for all of her students.

What were you learning?

If faulty pathways always cause disease.

How do you know you learned?

I know I learned because I left the room with more knowledge than I had before. I also felt challenged throughout the lesson and accomplished at the end.

How does your teacher know you learned?

Mrs. Glosson knows I learned because she allowed time for us to brainstorm before fully understanding the topic. After brainstorming, she encouraged us to have meaningful conversations on the topic to gather any additional ideas from our peers. The questions we couldn't answer as a group was researched. Mrs. Glosson also gave her attention to each individual group to clear up any further confusion. Consequently, due to the structure of the lesson, Mrs. Glosson knows we learned.

A Year in Learning at Elk Grove: Mathematics - Living our Values

By Dave Dompke, Evelin Cortez, and Mark Heintz

This is part of a blog series intended to document and define learning at Elk Grove High School throughout the 2018-2019 school year in order to increase student learning, give professionals autonomy, increase trust in our learning community, and foster a sense of personal-intellectual collegiality within the building across departments. You can read all of the previous posts here.  I am going into each teacher's class four times and then they are reflecting alongside their students on the learning that took place and what they hope for.

Dave is part of a group that came together and defined learning.  Part of that group's goal is not only to have a definition but to live its values.  In other words, try to create conditions to represent the values stated in the definition.  I visited Dave's class and met with him after.  Here is our group's definition and his reflection on how attempts to live his values.

Learning is the integration of values, or importance to the individual, and beliefs with new and relevant information, skills, and/or abilities for long-term application in life outside of the immediate task.

The process of learning is an evolving journey that includes engaging tasks and processes, emphasizes voice and shapes meaning and authenticity.

The product of all of this is an ever-evolving worldview, the development of skills and awareness to continually evaluate and reflect upon themselves and the world around them.

Now that we have a working definition of learning and some values behind it, how are you putting your beliefs in to practice? 

I continue to focus my work on the individual.  Students are not going to learn from me until they are comfortable with me.  I continue to use time during the period to engage with the students, not about schoolwork, but about what’s going on with them personally.  I feel getting this knowledge will help me with their background and build a better relationship.  Once that relationship has trust, then I feel the student will be open more to learn from me.  Sure, students will learn something regardless, but with trust, they can learn more.

What is holding you back and not letting you live your values?  

Time is the biggest obstacle.  It is tough to reach each student every single day.  I want to make sure our conversations have value and aren’t simply scripted and rushed.  I want to value their time and work together.

Evelin Cortez

Why do you like school?  

I like school because I feel comfortable and feel supported.  I also like how teachers are nice to me and help me.

What is it about Dompke’s class that you like or makes it especially good?

He makes the class fun comfortable and is supportive of all the students.  Anytime someone has a question he helps them and helps them understand.

S1E8: Bruce Janu "Moving away from the traditional classroom"

By Mark Heintz



In this episode of School Chat, I sat down with Bruce Janu, a history teacher at Elk Grove High School. We both recently watched most likely to succeed and have since been inspired to try new approaches to our classes. Bruce started a project in which students could choose to create a podcast on World War I as an alternative to the traditional assessment. Our conversation pushes the boundaries of what a traditional classroom could be and how do we engage all of our students. I hope you enjoy.

Bruce Janu's Wikipedia page can be found here.   And you can watch his documentary on Amazon here! 

A Year in Learning at Elk Grove: AP Spanish Literature and Culture - Living our values

By Dean Burrier-Sanchis and Mark Heintz

This is part of a blog series intended to document and define learning at Elk Grove High School throughout the 2018-2019 school year in order to increase student learning, give professionals autonomy, increase trust in our learning community, and foster a sense of personal-intellectual collegiality within the building across departments. You can read all of the previous posts here.  I am going into each teacher's class four times and then they are reflecting alongside their students on the learning that took place and what they hope for.

Dean is part of a group that came together and defined learning.  Part of that group's goal is not only to have a definition but to live its values.  In other words, try to create conditions to represent the values stated in the definition.  I visited Dean's class and met with him after.  Here is our group's definition and his reflection on how attempts to live his values.

Learning is the integration of values, or importance to the individual, and beliefs with new and relevant information, skills, and/or abilities for long-term application in life outside of the immediate task.

The process of learning is an evolving journey that includes engaging tasks and processes, emphasizes voice and shapes meaning and authenticity.

The product of all of this is an ever-evolving worldview, the development of skills and awareness to continually evaluate and reflect upon themselves and the world around them.

Now that we have a working definition of learning and some values behind it, how are you putting your beliefs in to practice?  

I believe the process element of learning is something I am really integrating well, in particular in this lesson. I strive to have student voice and to allow for more authentic applications of course objectives and goals. I think I need to develop more on the product end here. Students were engaged in skills of writing and editing, and working on evaluation, but I don’t know how encompassing of a world view or how much this lesson allowed students to reflect on themselves and the world around them, particularly because our analysis of the song at the end was limited to the final minutes. That said I think there were poignant messages that connected to students and will connect more in future classes.

What is holding you back and not letting you live your values?  

I do feel at times the urgency, sometimes as an afterthought, to do real, hard test prep. Some of our higher level students feel more drawn to and motivated by that practice, others do not. I try to disguise this and makes this as relevant and engaging as possible, but I also feel the need to expose them to the difficulty of the exam and feel like they are developing the confidence they need to be successful in May. I worry that if they are not confident heading into the exam, or not adequately prepared for the rubrics, the requirements and the nuance of the exam, they will not be successful, or worse not register for the exam. I think a lot about how this year, class and experience will shape the way they look back on the experience of this year and their 4 years at EG. These pressures sometimes keep me from taking more risks and confronting objectives in goals more freely.

S1E7: Jessica Maciejewski "My journey as a learner"

By Mark Heintz

Jessica had a non-traditional path to becoming a teacher.  Her unique path of Elk Grove has lad her to embrace that mentality that teaching will constantly evolve.  She says in the podcast, "Teaching will be refined for the rest of my life."  She is an amazing educator and is passionate about her students and viewing them as learners.

School Chat S1E6: Patrick McGing "Students as learners and leaders"

By Mark Heintz

Patrick McGing is a Career and Technical Education teacher at Elk Grove High School that learns with his students.   His students remodel an entire house that the district purchased from start to finish.  He constantly focuses on learning and pushing students for them to find their passion.

School Chat S1E5: Anthony Furman "Change the mindset"

By Mark Heintz

In the fifth episode of School Chat, I sat down with veteran physical education teacher, Anthony Furman.  He is ever-evolving and has made some incredible changes to the physical education program at Elk Grove High School this year.  His reflection will inspire you to change your mindset about traditional practices to focus on the student and learning.  As a bonus, Kerry Frazier from Grove Jr. High joined the recording of this episode.

A Year in Learning at Elk Grove: Intro to Health Careers - How do you define learning?

by Krista Glosson and Alyssa Trausch

This is part of a blog series intended to document and define learning at Elk Grove High School throughout the 2018-2019 school year in order to increase student learning, give professionals autonomy, increase trust in our learning community, and foster a sense of personal-intellectual collegiality within the building across departments. You can read all of the previous posts here.  I am going into each teacher's class four times and then they are reflecting alongside their students on the learning that took place and what they hope for.

Learning is:

• risk-taking.

• trying.

• application.

Learning occurs best when:

• it's repetitive. 

• people are involved in the process. 

• people collaborate.

How do you define learning?

Krista Glosson (Teacher): I define learning as the willingness to try new things and take risks in the classroom.  When students try (anything at all in the classroom) they will find an end result.  The end result could be positive or negative for them, but even a negative experience could end up contributing to success later on if they continue to try.  For example, in the microscope lesson, all of the students tried to use the microscope.  Some students enjoyed the process more than others and had varying levels of success.  All of the students left the lesson with new information and some left with a new career to think about pursuing.

I always tell students that I expect to see attempts and failures when we start an inquiry lab in class.  Time is built in for students to have at least one failure in their investigation so that they can re-evaluate their approach and try again.  Assignments that require them to try to explain big phenomenon are assignments that I assume I will provide feedback on and they will try again to get it right.

Ultimately, as teachers we are still learning by trying new things sometimes they are successful and we learn to keep going in that direction or we fail and try again.  If we can provide an atmosphere where failure is safe (to an extent) we can help them build a tolerance for momentary failure while keeping the end goal of success in focus.  If we can teach them to learn this way, then I think we have had a significant impact on their success as an adult after they leave us.

Alyssa Trausch (Student):  I would define learning as getting information that is remembered and applied throughout your life. I may be a skill, an emotion or even just a fact, but it’s something that you will use again.

How do you believe people learn best?

Krista Glosson (Teacher):  Since I believe that trying is a big part of learning I like to make sure that the students are involved as often as possible.  They should be creating and contributing to the class material and discussions as often as possible.  I like to have them developing material for their classmates, completing activities in the lab, designing, running, and explaining their own experiments as well as having multiple small group discussions.

Alyssa Trausch (Student): An example would be a skill like writing which you learn at a young age. Writing is something that was consistently done over and over and over until we learned how to do it. It wasn’t one of those things where we “learned” it for 3 days took a quiz and then maybe a final later and then never use it again. That’s what I think learning is.

A Year in Learning at Elk Grove: AP Spanish Literature and Culture - Defining Learning

by Dean Sanchis, Jackelyn Campos, Daniel Salgado-Alvarez, and Mark Heintz

This is part of a blog series intended to document and define learning at Elk Grove High School throughout the 2018-2019 school year in order to increase student learning, give professionals autonomy, increase trust in our learning community, and foster a sense of personal-intellectual collegiality within the building across departments. You can read all of the previous posts here.  I am going into each teacher's class four times and then they are reflecting alongside their students on the learning that took place and what they hope for.

In this second visit, I asked the teacher and the student two questions: how do they define learning? Under what conditions do people learn best?  In an attempt to have all stakeholders have a similar definition of learning, the teacher and the students answered them, publish them, and then have conversations surrounding their beliefs on learning. This is what they came up with:

Learning is:

• personal.

• solving problems.

• applicable to new situations.

Learning occurs best when:

• people collaborate. 

• it's hands on. 

• it's repetitive.

How do you define learning?

Dean Sanchis (Teacher Dean Sanchis): Cuando añades algo de valor y relevancia personal y colectiva a tu ser.

When you add something of value or personal and collective relevance to your personal life and identity.

Jackelyn Campos (Student): I define learning as the process is where we gain knowledge or skills on a particular subject and then apply them to real-life or theoretical situations. It is the process where we are able to solve problems with the knowledge that was taught to us or which we acquired by reading.

Daniel Salgado-Alvarez (Student): Gaining knowledge and being able to interpret and apply it to various situations. While you might not know everything, you are able to use previous knowledge to understand unknown topics.

How do you believe people learn best?

Dean Sanchis (Teacher Dean Sanchis): In collaboration with others, pursuing personal interests,  and self-discovery.

Jackelyn Campos (Student): I believe people learn best by learning hands-on, for example in science courses through labs. Repetition is also a major key to be able to learn something thoroughly and clearly. However, repetition doesn’t always mean making students memorize things, this approach can be taken on by presenting students with the same subject in different ways.

Daniel Salgado-Alvarez (Student):  I think people learn the best when they are exposed to the material in multiple formats and repeated exposure (reading, lecture, discussion, etc…).

School Chat S1E4: Natalia Habas "What I love about school"

by Mark Heintz

In the fourth episode of School Chat, I sat down with current sophomore, Natalia Habas.  She has an amazing perspective on school culture and how she takes advantage of everything the school has to offer her.

A Year in Learning at Elk Grove: Art Survey

by Mark Heintz and Cindy Pacyk

This is part of a blog series intended to document and define learning at Elk Grove High School throughout the 2018-2019 school year in order to increase student learning, give professionals autonomy, increase trust in our learning community, and foster a sense of personal-intellectual collegiality within the building across departments. You can read all of the previous posts here.  I am going into each teacher's class four times and then they are reflecting alongside their students on the learning that took place and what they hope for.

There are certain classes in the school that are close to what I hope schools could be.  Really, what we should all aspire to be.  Art is one of those places.  I loved to draw a kid. As I got older, I didn't make time for it since I had more "academic" subjects to focus on.  Art didn't fit into my schedule.  I'm making room for it now.

I went into Cindy Pacyk's art class and was blown away by the atmosphere.  Students worked at the own pace on their projects.  It was a lunch period and students were dropping in and helping kids who aren't even in their class.  Freshmen through seniors are mixed in and working together.  Cindy pulled small groups together to show them a technique and answer questions.  There was a calm and ease to the class that is hard to create.  It was amazing.

I had to know more.  I wanted to know what her definition of learning was and what conditions she felt people learned best under. This is what she said:

How do you define learning?

Cindy: Learning is the ability to master the basics of a subject matter and use them appropriately to find one’s own voice.  It is the acquisition of problem-solving skills that allow a student to be flexible in their approach to different scenarios.  This level of mastery helps students develop a portfolio of meaningful and individual artworks.



How do you believe people learn best?

Cindy: I believe people best learn by making mistakes with the understanding that this is a tool they have gained or an understanding.  If the mistake is seen as only that, a mistake, a greater lesson is not learned but if they view it as a way of gaining insight they have learned.  In making that “mistake” they know one way something did not work that is knowledge gained.

The Power of a Snow Day

by Mark Heintz

Last night, after much anticipation, we finally got the call...  School was canceled: SNOW DAY! Thirteen years of teaching and many more of being a student, I STILL get excited by a snow day. I have great memories of putting my snow gear on and heading out for an epic day of building forts, snowball fights, and sledding.  Growing up, I would wake up, turn the radio on, and listen eagerly for the school closing announcements.  These days, there are much quicker means of sharing the news of a school cancellation.  And, that sharing of information works both ways.  Teachers can post updates and answer questions easier than they ever have been before.  Because of that, days off are no longer quite so free.

Earlier today, I sent out a request to my current and recently former students to tell me what they are doing with their "day off."

Some students read and annotated.  Let me rephrase that.  They actually got to read for a lengthy period of uninterrupted time. They could process and enjoy the assigned reading because they actually had the time to do so.

Other students got to work on projects they were interested in.  One student used the research for Debate Club. She's researching nine bills and this is what she had to say, "There's the background showing what the bill is about, there are pros of why we should affirm this mock piece of legislation. I am currently working on is why we should negate this mock piece of legislation. There are 8 contentions on each of the argument, following the format in one of the screenshots.

Another student spent his day reading a book written by a man imprisoned in 10 concentration camps while also improving his Polish! 

Others used it to get ahead on physics and collaborate with others when they needed help.

Others, like myself, used the day to shovel themselves, their family, and neighbors out the snow.  Some students were needed to watch over younger siblings while their guardians went to work.

And, probably best of all, kids used their time to play.  Research and evidence continues to show that even high school age students greatly benefit from unstructured, freeform play.  It's awesome to see them not only taking advantage of the day to finish work and passion projects but also, to see them just plain being kids.

School Chat: S1E3 Kate Glass "Literacy is my passion"

By Mark Heintz

In this third episode of School Chat, I sat down Kate Glass a longtime educator sits down with me to discuss the changes she has seen in her career, the direction she is motivated by, and how changing the mindset of literacy can refocus schools to an institution of learning.

A Year in Learning at Elk Grove: Introduction to Strength and Conditioning Defining Learning

By Anthony Furman, Daisy Crus, Jaina Pfister, and Mark Heintz

This is part of a blog series intended to document and define learning at Elk Grove High School throughout the 2018-2019 school year in order to increase student learning, give professionals autonomy, increase trust in our learning community, and foster a sense of personal-intellectual collegiality within the building across departments. You can read all of the previous posts here.  I am going into each teacher's class four times and then they are reflecting alongside their students on the learning that took place and what they hope for.

In this second visit, I asked the teacher and the student two questions: how do they define learning? Under what conditions do people learn best?  In an attempt to have all stakeholders have a similar definition of learning, the teacher and the students answered them, publish them, and then have conversations surrounding their beliefs on learning. This is what they came up with:

Learning is:

• having a vision.

• decision making.

• new concepts.

Learning occurs best when:

• people collaborate. 

• people are comfortable. 

• through feedback.

How do you define learning? 

Anthony Furman (Teacher):  I believe students are truly learning when their approach or vision about school is not just as a “grade” but as a stepping stone and source of preparation for their futures. There is a natural progression of this as students mature and move through each year, but there are so many ways for students to develop, enhance and catapult this progression as they make decisions for their future.  Our guidance, teaching, reflection, and challenging of students can put them in a position to recognize and embrace this opportunity.  It is not something that is done alone.

Daisy Cruz (Student):  Learning means adding more knowledge to what you already know.

Jaina Pfister (Student):  I define learning as understanding new concepts and adding new information to your brain.

How do you believe people learn best?

Anthony Furman (Teacher): I truly believe that students learn best when they recognize that we are all in this together as one team.  Students need to know that they can be themselves especially as they begin recognizing who they really are and what they believe in.  Within this comfort and recognition lies a place with unlimited opportunities for learning, support and involvement.

Daisy Cruz (Student):  People learn best by observing and listening to the feedback you get so you can improve.

Jaina Pfister (Student): I believe people learn best by working hands on. Throwing yourself into a situation that may put you out of your comfort zone is the best way to really learn.

Freshmen P.E. Reflection

By Anthony Furman

Anthony wrote a lesson reflection a few months ago.  He again is reflecting as he tries to build a student-centered physical education course that is responsive to the diverse needs of each student.

What do you hope to do for the next time? 

I will be looking to see that we are practicing our “Building a Culture to be Proud Of” statements. That will come from teacher to student as well as student to student.  Exercises learned will be practiced and then given was to be made more challenging.  Ideally, we begin to build an atmosphere where class expectations are maintained by all students and we continue to build on the program focuses set each week.

What aspects of your hopes came true? 

I do believe we are making progress in our practice and work each day.  Whether it be in the weight room or in other areas we continue to talk about the importance of taking pride in how one accomplishes a task and then attempt to practice that skill during class.  The form is getting better and kids are starting to understand the process of making things challenging in order to see results.  We continue to stress the importance of being prepared and then having high expectations for our effort.  I have noticed several students beginning to challenge their own classmates to improve, try or something simple like listen. 

What did learning look like in this lesson?

As we move further into the second quarter we continue to challenge our students to learn the value of completing work in a way that they will genuinely see the benefits of their efforts.  Within our lifting segment we are looking for students to continually work on the form and understanding of how to complete lifts, and as they continue to get better at that process begin to add more resistance that will create an environment of forced or quality sets of work. 

We continually drive the conversation for the need to do things a certain way to see the benefits.  As different students progress and improve at different rates, we challenge some to take on roles of leadership and example in class, their groups and within different activities.

The focus of today was to complete 4 sets of squats, 4 sets of jumps on the plyo box, 4 sets of quality spotting of their partners and then introduce a self/peer assessment activity they will complete in the near future.  This assessment involves two components.  A “BUY-IN” component in assessing your level of work and then a “preparation” component that assesses how you come to class each day.  The combination of these two represents what the student brings to class each day.  The goal of this assessment is to truly look at how you utilize your time in class and recognize the need for improvement, maintenance or the ability to help others succeed.   It is important to remember that where you fall on the two-part assessment represents what we need to work on for success in the future.

A Year in Learning at Elk Grove: Psychology - Part 2 Defining Learning

By Melissa Curtis, Devin Peterson, Paige Hermann, and Mark Heintz

This is part of a blog series intended to document and define learning at Elk Grove High School throughout the 2018-2019 school year in order to increase student learning, give professionals autonomy, increase trust in our learning community, and foster a sense of personal-intellectual collegiality within the building across departments. You can read all of the previous posts here.  I am going into each teacher's class four times and then they are reflecting alongside their students on the learning that took place and what they hope for.

In this second visit, I asked the teacher and the student two questions: how do they define learning? Under what conditions do people learn best?  In an attempt to have all stakeholders have a similar definition of learning, the teacher and the students answered them, publish them, and then have conversations surrounding their beliefs on learning. This is what they came up with:

Learning is:

• lifelong.

• not memorizing.

• not random facts.

Learning occurs best when people are:

• experiencing.

• excited.

• wanting to learn.  

How do you define learning?

Melissa Curtis (Teacher): Students being able to discuss a topic intelligently with each other and defending their thoughts, applying the concepts we learn in class to a real-life example, students generating thoughtful questions, proving their knowledge on summative assessments.

Devin Peterson (Student): Being able to process new information and then applying the information.

Paige Hermann (Student): I define learning as processing new information and being able to understand it.


How do you believe people learn best?

Melissa Curtis (Teacher): Multiple exposures to the material (in-class, on their own, review), testing yourself, discussing the material with others, applying the content to your own life, spacing out the studying over several days instead of cramming.

Devin Peterson (Student):  I believe people learn the best when there is a positive environment and there is some type of reward or punishment when learning and applying what was learned

Paige Hermann (Student):  I believe people learn best when they actually see it and they can see how it's done.

School Chat - S1E2: Alyssa Trausch "What I Want School to Be"

By Mark Heintz

This is this second episode of School Chat, I sat down Alyssa Trausch a current sophomore at Elk Grove High School.  She wrote an amazing piece on what she wants school to be.  Here is an excerpt:

I want school to be a place where I love to go to every day. A place where learning is new, innovative, and exciting. When learning feels natural and not like all the content is being forced into my brain I have a tendency to remember it more.  Truthfully I think what I really want school to be is a place where I can learn new things without being worried all about what score/grade I’m going to get and rather worrying about how I can use what I just learned to make my life (or someone’s else’s) better.

It's a message everyone should here and we should strive to make happen in our classrooms every day.  Have a listen.     

A Year in Learning at Elk Grove: Pre-Calculus - Part 2 Defining Learning

By Dave Dompke, Kesha Patel, Alyssa Cobb, and Mark Heintz

This is part of a blog series intended to document and define learning at Elk Grove High School throughout the 2018-2019 school year in order to increase student learning, give professionals autonomy, increase trust in our learning community, and foster a sense of personal-intellectual collegiality within the building across departments. You can read all of the previous posts here.  I am going into each teacher's class four times and then they are reflecting alongside their students on the learning that took place and what they hope for.

In this second visit, I asked the teacher and the student two questions: how do they define learning? Under what conditions do people learn best?  In an attempt to have all stakeholders have a similar definition of learning, the teacher and the students answered them, publish them, and then have conversations surrounding their beliefs on learning. This is what they came up with:

Learning is:

• lifelong.

• not memorizing.

• not random facts.

Learning occurs best when people are:

• experiencing.

• excited.

• wanting to learn.

How do you define learning?  

Dave Dompke (Teacher):  Learning is gaining knowledge through experiences.  Those experiences can be with teachers, friends, or by themselves.  It doesn’t have to be in a classroom setting.  Learning is not some quick fact that can repeat to you, but something that will stay with them longer than a day.

Kesha Patel (Student): I define learning as exploring new topics and gaining an understanding for them. It’s not really learning if you’re just memorizing a formula and using for problems that are written differently but based on the same idea. It’s more understanding why a formula works the way it does and being able to apply it to a problem that barely has anything to do with what I already learned. I think that’s when I can say I truly learned the concept.

Alyssa Cobb (Student): I define learning as acquiring new information whether school related, life/career related or simply a random fact. It can be something completely new or taking old information to better master it.

How do you believe people learn best? 

Dave Dompke (Teacher):  I believe people learn best when they experience it through activities they enjoy.  When they come across new ideas or concepts and are learning new things, they are excited to learn about it.  They want to know more.

Kesha Patel (Student): I think people learn best when they’re understanding what they’re learning. I feel like with all the math formulas I generally just memorize them and I don’t get how it was created and why it works every time. If I get why something works the way it does, I can work out problems with needing to memorize a formula.

Alyssa Cobb (Student): I believe people learn best when they get to pick the environment they’re expected to learn something. If you’re distracted or not able to focus and you’re not the one choosing how you’re learning or studying it really isn’t your fault if you’re not able to understand the concept, but with that, the learner has to be mature enough to pick a good place to learn. Also, a person with a mindset of wanting to learn will generally learn better than those who don’t have that same mindset. If you’re focused and willing you will be able to learn overtime time whether that’s quickly or a longer period of time.

A Year in Learning at Elk Grove: Dual Credit College Composition Part 2

By Emily Mikuzis, Madison Reed, Jake Mizialko, Alexandra Glinski, and Mark Heintz


This is part of a blog series intended to document and define learning at Elk Grove High School throughout the 2018-2019 school year in order to increase student learning, give professionals autonomy, increase trust in our learning community, and foster a sense of personal-intellectual collegiality within the building across departments. You can read all of the previous posts here.  I am going into each teacher's class four times and then they are reflecting alongside their students on the learning that took place and what they hope for. 


In this second visit to Emily Mikuzis's class, Emily and her students reflected to see if what they had hoped for in my first visit came true.  We are attempting to build a reflective culture, where teachers and students come together to create the school they hope for.  The teacher and student are honest and collaborative.  We are fostering a sense of personal-intellectual collegiality.

Emily Mikuzis 

What do you hope to do for the next time?

Through the comparison of three engaging texts with very different structures and purposes, I hope to give students options for attacking their first writing assignment, Narrative as Argument. My hope is that students will begin to build confidence to make their own stylistic and structural choices in writing assignments. I hope to, throughout the semester, continue to create opportunities for students to work together to build understanding and hopefully begin to develop their own writer's voice through greater investment in our writing tasks.

What aspects of your hopes came true? This is a work in progress, but I think we are getting there. In each unit, I am trying to scaffold experiences that will allow students to dig into the real work of writing - the ruminating, the thinking, and the connecting that happen away from the computer. In each unit, we are working through choices, rather than prescribing them. Currently, we are working on evidence awareness to determine which kinds of support work best for which kinds of claims. As we build our argumentative essays, students are challenged to argue (almost) any claim. I want them to have a real investment in getting a reader to accept their claim and in choosing the evidence that is most effective, compelling, and convincing.

Madison Reed

What do you hope to learn for the next time? 

I hope to learn more about the other types of writings that are out there. Writing is one of my favorite things to do in school. I love the freedom of ideas and creativity it allows us as students to have most times. Also, I hope to learn how to better my writing abilities. So far in my senior year here at EGHS, College Composition has been one of my favorite classes and generally my favorite English class I've taken.

What aspects of your hopes came true? 

My hopes completely came true. We are on our third writing style/essay now and I have definitely learned more about the writing styles we have covered. I have also learned some tips and strategies to really rock writing in such styles.



Jake Mizialko

What do you hope to learn for the next time? 

For the next lesson, I hope to learn how you can you words, phrases, and sentences to help you learn more about the message that the author was trying to get across to his readers. I hope that students will be able to branch off of those three things and be able to incorporate it into their own writing. By practicing this task, this will allow students to strengthen their writing abilities and easily identify key parts to a story.

What aspects of your hopes came true? 

Students were able to use what they wrote in the planner in order to make a strong argument when the class was split.

Alexandra Glinski

What do you hope to learn for the next time? 

In the next lesson, I would hope to find a style of writing/narrative the best suits me. Trying and testing different essay structures will be a big part of finding out what I like. I want to be able to write an effective essay that not only has a good narrative but also gets my argument across. Hopefully, in our next few writing assignments, my best style of writing will become more clear to me.


What aspects of your hopes came true? 

Since we have been able to pick out topics for this next essay, I think it will be easy to experiment and find what really is the best style of writing for me and many others.

A Year in Learning at Elk Grove: Dual Credit College Composition Part 2 - Defining Learning

By Emily Mikuzis, Madison Reed, Jake Mizialko, Alexandra Glinski, and Mark Heintz

This is part of a blog series intended to document and define learning at Elk Grove High School throughout the 2018-2019 school year in order to increase student learning, give professionals autonomy, increase trust in our learning community, and foster a sense of personal-intellectual collegiality within the building across departments. You can read all of the previous posts here.  I am going into each teacher's class four times and then they are reflecting alongside their students on the learning that took place and what they hope for. 

In this second visit, I asked the teacher and the student two questions: how do they define learning? Under what conditions do people learn best?  In an attempt to have all stakeholders have a similar definition of learning, the teacher and the students answered them, publish them, and then have conversations surrounding their beliefs on learning. This is what they came up with:

Learning is:

• for everyone.

• transferable.

• thinking deeply.

• growing.

Learning occurs best when people are:

• invested.

• around others that want to learn. 

• comfortable.

 

How do you define learning? 

Emily Mikuzis (Teacher):  Learning has happened when new information or skill is transferable. For example, in my own writing instruction, I have often focused on practicing the skills needed to perform a particular writing task. In the past, I might have given students an outline or sentence stems or templates for embedding quotes. I have noticed that these supports can help students succeed on a product, but do not support the transfer of skills. When I instructed this way, students were in danger of becoming overly reliant on prescriptive assignments. They may ask things like how many paragraphs do I need? How many citations are required?  By reflecting on rhetorical choices along the way, thinking deeply about purpose and audience, my hope is that students are better prepared to make these choices about writing in writing situations across disciplines.

Madison Reed (Student): I believe that learning could be a few things on a few different levels. Learning is discovering or being taught a new topic or thing. Learning is also finding out more about something you may have already known or learned everything about something.  Learning defines so many different things. Learning could be gaining knowledge of something physical, or just an idea. Learning can also be positive or negative. Learning involves the future, present, and past. It involves everything on the planet. It’s amazing all the different things that are learnable. And, the best thing is that it’s for everyone. Learning is power.

Jake Mizialko (Student): I define learning as anyone, doesn't matter the age, that gains a better understanding of a certain subject. These subjects can be actual school subjects, lessons about how to improve your job, or even social skills. Learning occurs on an everyday basis multiple times a day and is the biggest factor in personal growth. Learning can be seen in all different aspects of life and it will benefit you greatly if you learn something new every day.

Alexandra Glinski (Student): I would define learning as acquiring knowledge about certain things that you experience. This could range from your everyday things to the curriculum that you learn at school. Everyone learns and processes new information from the second that they're born and continue to learn for the rest of their lives. Learning involves expanding the mind and adding additional information and strengthening what the mind already has. One of the most important things that come with learning is allowing yourself to not only explained your knowledge but actually grow as a person too. How do you believe people learn best?

How do you believe people learn best?

Emily Mikuzis (Teacher):  I believe people learn best when they have invested in the process and the outcome. Students learn best when they know exactly what they are supposed to do and how doing that will help them. If the usefulness of the targets are in question, even if those targets are clear, it can be difficult for students to be invested enough to truly learn.

Madison Reed (Student): I think that everyone learns in different ways. For example, some people are more visual learners, while some are physical or verbal, etc. as well as people’s learning styles that way, everyone also learns best in different environments. For example, some people learn best one on one and some people learn best being with other students. Personally, I do not think that there is the best way to learn.

Jake Mizialko (Student):  I believe that people learn best when they are surrounded by the environment that will be the most beneficial to them. If everyone around you wants to learn and improve on a topic that will subconsciously drive you to do the same. Motivation and determination are two key factors when someone is deciding how much of a certain subject they want to learn and how much of that they will use later in life.

Alexandra Glinski (Student): I believe people learn best when they're in an environment they're most comfortable in. I think this plays a huge role in learning because being at ease and somewhere where you aren't under stress can completely change your mindset and how you perceive everything that you're taking in.