Saturn Saturday (Maybe)

I was inspired by some 3rd and 4th grade writers that I have seen in the last two weeks.  They have been developing narrative writing pieces so I thought I would try writing in a narrative voice for this blog.  

A: I think we could see Saturn tonight.

Me: That would be cool.  I'd love to see Saturn.

A very generous friend gave my boys a powerful, complex telescope a couple weeks ago.  The gift has let to evenings on the porch gazing at the moon in incredible detail.  Last week, I asked the boys if you could "see planets with this thing."  Their response was "do you know how HARD it is to even zero in on the moon??!?

So, Saturday, A, O and I headed to Retzer Nature Center for a bit of a night hike and some hopeful planet gazing.  There is an observation area at the top of the prairie patch, south of the main building.

A: I think that's Saturn.  Pointing to a speck in the night sky.  The book said it is in the South/Southwest sky, not far above the horizon.  I'll try to find it in the telescope.

Owen ran laps around the prairie path, working off anxious energy and defying the requests to be still.

10 minutes later.

A: I can't find it in the telescope.  Maybe I'll just position it on the moon.

Me: But you really wanted to find Saturn.

A. Looks in a book. I think what we see is in the right direction.

I lay back, curled under a blanked, and look at the sky, watching the Milky Way stretch above me.

10 minutes later.

Me: Is Saturn the one they crashed the satellite into?

O: Cassini.  It was called Cassini.

A:  Yea...that's Saturn...I just can't find it.

Owen found his zen and sat for awhile.

20 minutes later.

A: Owen, stand by this light and move it when I ask you to.  Places latern on a fence bordering the observation area.  Move it farther to the left...more to the left...a little more.

10 minutes later.

A:  Ahh...Mom.  I found it!  At least I found what I think we were looking at.  I think this could be Saturn.

Me: Wow.  That's amazing.  I can't believe you found that.

O: Dancing to watch his moon shadows.  Let me see!

We paked up and moved back down the hill.  The moon lit our path until we headed into the forest.

A: You know, that may not have been Saturn.  I think I'm going to ask Q to bring me in the morning some time to see Venus.

Me: What time to you have to get up to see Venus?

A: 2 or 3. AM.

I couldn't help but think about learning.  I thought about how we are all wired to learn.  Everyone finds ways to navigate the world around them and that requires a sense of wonder and agency in your space.  Aidan worked for an hour to try to find a speck in the universe.  He's never taken a course or relied on someone to teach him what to do.  He developed a strategy for finding what we thought was Saturn and he accessed resources to self-direct his learning.  Propelled forward by his own inquiry, he filled in the blanks of information and applied the information independently.

I think about a learner working to understand a problem or unlock how the letter "a" works in language.  I continue to be struck by how we are born to learn and grow, we break through limits that are put on us as we surprise ourselves with what we are capable of.  This is our role as educators...to help uncover the learner in each student.  To help empower them to find things they are passionate about...and then get out of their way.  My childre have grown up with a lot of opportunities.  As a school community, we become and equalizer to ensure these opportunities are extended to all.

We are fortunate to work in a district that believes this about learners.  Our instructional approach for all subjects asks us to set the stage for inquiry.  It asks us to set students up to discover and construct their understanding of the content and solve problems related to the world around them.  Learning is life as the tools they develop support them long after they leave us.  This is also the challenge of what we do.  We know, for learning to be transferrable, we need to engage learners in this type of learning.  As per Kolb's learning cycle, learners need the concrete experience followed by periods of questioning, applying, adjusting and reflecting.  All of these components activate all of the areas of the brain required for deep learning to take place.

I look forward to growing my toolbox for inquiry as we continue to learn together.  They won't always have us next to them walking them through the problems that life throws at them.  Our world has created even more complext problems that our students will struggle with.  This just strengthens our "why" for our work at Hillcrest.