“If we want our children to move mountains, we must first let them get out of their chairs.” --Nicolette Sowder Few disagree on the need for students’ educational experiences to be more personalized, and also driven by their own curiosities. The challenge, as educators charged with designing such experiences, is typically how and where to start. This interactive session will address both challenges by providing participants with the skills and tools needed to lead a learning expedition, while also strengthening their mindset towards harnessing a student’s natural sense of wonder. Using a customizable field guide of Project Zero VTRs and graphic organizers, we will (ad)venture out of our workshop space and into the community to look closely at the world, finding opportunities for meaningful exploration and engagement by learners. Perhaps we’ll be driven towards Arts and Civic Participation opportunities, or maybe opportunities to generate Agency in our malleable world. Each participant will make their expedition their own. And through that shared experience, we’ll then Collaborate as teachers to determine what our next learning steps are. By the conclusion of the workshop, participants will have had their first lap in an expeditionary flow that they can recreate with their own students.

1. Purposefully Exploring a Student's World
Through
Image Credit: Margaret Weir on Unsplash
Alex Blumencranz
Jim Tiffin Jr.
Project Zero Atlanta – April 5-6, 2019

2. Your Guides for Today’s (Ad)Venture
Alex Blumencranz
@ABlumencranz
Jim Tiffin Jr.
@JimTiffinJr

3. Sharing… It’s the new default
Tweet or ‘Gram with
#PZATL
#MVIFI
#MVIFIcompass

4. Images for Expedition at
The High Museum

5. Expedition vs Field Trip…
“Today we’re exploring the
grounds in and around the

6. “The leading art museum in the
Southest…”

7. “…surrounde
d by the
structure of
downtown
Atlanta…”

8. “…and the
organic nature of
the people that
live there...”

9. “… with a
fascinating balance
between new...”

10. “…and old.”

11. GOAL: To view to the world in order to
see the wonders that it holds.

12. Images for Expedition at
The Atlanta International School

13. Expedition vs Field Trip…
“Today we’re exploring the
grounds in and around the

14. “An immersive school with rich values
and a purposeful mission…”

15. “…that
combines the
expressiveness
of art...”

16. “...with a cultural
understanding of
the diversity of
history...”

17. “...in an ever-evolving world.”

18. GOAL: To view to the
world in order to see the
wonders that it holds.

19. “Compasses
over maps”
ImageCredit:PhotobyDaniilSilantevonUnsplash
Our tools…

20. “The Wandering
& Wondering
Field Journal”
Our tools…
ImageCredit:“FiledNotes–booksread”byAndarsfromFlickr–CC-BY-ND2.0

21. ImageCredit:“UnsureOfTheNextStep”byArielDovasfromFlickr–
CC-BY-NC2.0
Questions before we continue?

22. ImageCredits:“Think”byBrianSiewiorekfromFlickr–CC-BY-NC-ND2.0;
“rubiksbikecube”byRolfeKolbefromFlickr–CCBY-NC2.0;
“Exploring”bySabrinaCampagnafromFlickr–CCBY2.0
Into Your Field Guides!
Think Puzzle Explore

23. And we’re off!!

24. Welcome back!

25. “Reflecting on learning is
necessary for students to
cement learning in their minds
for later.”
Debrief…
ImageCredit:“mortar”byAlyse&RemifromFlickr–CC-BY-ND2.0

26. A peek behind the curtain…
ImageCredit:“TaiwanDogFashion”byGrahamRichardson
fromFlickrCC-BY2.0

27. Expedition Flow Fishbone
Jim Tiffin, Jr. & Alex Blumencranz
Mount Vernon Presbyterian School
Mount Vernon Institute for Innovation
#MVIFIcompass

28. Do your research first…
We highly recommend visiting your
location beforehand or at least doing
your homework ahead of time. You
proposed location might not look exactly
like the website...

30. Start with questions…
What are you curious about? Brainstorm
a list of questions using a Visible Thinking
Routine (VTR):
● Thought mapping
● See Think Wonder
● Think Puzzle Explore
(some examples)

31. Thought Mapping

32. See...think..wonder...

33. Think...puzzle...explore...

34. Prime the Pump…
HMW engage all of the learners’ senses so that they can
really take in everything they encounter?
● “What do you notice?” Remind learners that there is more
to notice than just what they see. Use all 5 senses.
Describe your observations in detail. Do you need to
interpret them? Do you hear the car or the engine of the
car?

35. Empathy Map

36. Round one...
Establish a “homebase” if needed…
Send the learners out for a short amount of time to wander
and wonder. Using a graphic organizer, VTR, or even just a
paper and pencil, have them write down what they notice.

37. Field Notes

38. Analyze and synthesize…
“What did you observe? What patterns do you see in what
you noticed? Cluster your observations into bigger
categories. Use another VTR to capture the thinking.

39. See...think..wonder...

40. Individualize…
Choose one of the larger categories to focus on. What are
you most passionate about? What peaks your curiosity the
most?
Brainstorm more paths to possibly explore, or questions to
investigate, based on your first round.
Use a VTR, like Spidea Web, to capture
your ideas.

41. Spidea-Web

42. Birds of a feather…
Group together like-minded passions. They might not be
exactly the same but will be under a general theme.
Let this group work through the theme(s) of the people in
their group, looking for connections. Then use a VTR, like
Adventure Grid, to plot ways they could explore them if there
was a “Round 2”.

43. Adventure Grid

44. Decision time..
Now is the the time to decide if the work is worth continuing.
Keep going? Find another passion/curiosity from your
original analysis to dive into? Maybe the observations and
wonders just aren’t that exciting to move past a simple
classroom activity. Maybe start back at the beginning with
new wonders and curiosities?

45. Reflection on Intentionality…
Reflect back on why we did what we did. Why did we choose the
expedition? Was it worth it? What curiosities and wonders came
out of it? What might the next step be? HMW further connect it to
the learning in the classrooms - language, writing, math, science,
art etc.?

46. Teach the skills needed to continue…
What skills/mindsets/tools/understandings do the learners need to dive
deeper into their passions? Equip them with what they need to
successfully continue discovering more. Use their VTRs to determine
those needs are - formative assessment-style.
Be sure not to “teach them everything”, but instead what they will need to
meaningfully engage with people/places/things on their next round. Bonus
points if they gain what they need in order to undo any misconceptions on
their
own - Learn, Unlearn, Relearn

47. Divide and conquer… (Second go-around)
If the work is worth continuing, it’s time ask more questions
about your focus and head out again for more observations
and discovery.
Consider ways of keeping the “birds-of-a-feather” groups
together for this second trip.
Again capture notes using age appropriate
methods, tools and/or graphic organizers.

48. Interviews

49. Make Your Own...

50. Field Notes

51. Distilling and Probing for Passions (Second go-around)
When the teams return, give them time to unpack their
observations using graphic organizers.
Have them generate HMWs based upon their observations
that generate opportunities for deeper learning - either as
enhancements or problem-identification (not problem-
solving… yet :-)

52. Define Distiller

53. Brainstorming...

54. HMW + Brainstorm

55. Connect to the learning…
Now with you teacher hat, guide the learners to make
connections from their discovery work to the big picture
learning.
(i.e. If in the middle of the westward expansion unit and a group of students
became interested in the rocks and geology during their expedition to Stone
Mountain, connect the learning giving guided wonders such as, “I wonder how the
geological formations in the western US affected the settlers’ travel routes and
where they built their towns?)

56. Present of Possibilities

57. For more information, please visit
mvifi.org

58. For resources from today’s workshop
bit.ly/PZATL-
WanderAndWonder