This post is meant to accompany two presentations I'm giving today about what I've learned so far as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow in Washington, D.C.  Please reach out to me if you have questions. 

Lessons from the District...(Prezi for U.S. History with Mr. Jenkins)

Presentation on the Question Formulation Technique for South Warren High School Faculty on Wednesday, February 19, 2020. 
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Other QFT Materials (Google Drive Folder)

So a couple of years ago my school administration and faculty decided to make questions a focus for improvement.  We were to examine what types of questions we asked of our students and also those asked by students.  My first question was "What does Google have to say about questions in the classroom?"  After some searching, I ran across the Right Question Institute and their Question Formulation Technique (QFT).  Thankfully for me, the website had a video example of the technique being used in a high school physics class and after watching it while home on a snow day, I immediately began planning to use it in my classroom the next day!  The QFT is a simple process to help students engage in divergent thinking by brainstorming questions about a topic, meta-cognitive thinking by reflecting on the questions and what they have learned already, and convergent thinking by discussing and agreeing on priority questions that they want to investigate and learn more about.  

As an Albert Einstein Fellow (AEF) these past five months I've had the opportunity to gain more practice with the QFT.  In October and November I took a course from the Harvard Graduate School of Education on the QFT and in December I introduced my fellow AEFs to the method at one of our First Friday professional development sessions.  In January I presented on the QFT at the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) Winter Meeting in Orlando.  This was my first time presenting at a conference and I was a little worried that no one would attend my session since it was opposite the talk of Keynote speaker Dr. James Gates of Brown University.  Despite my worries, the QFT room was filled to capacity with physics teachers eager to learn how to get their students to ask their own questions!

February provides another opportunity for me to present the QFT to the faculty of South Warren High School.  I look forward to the presentation and to reconnecting with colleagues and friends who I've been missing while "on assignment" in Washington, D.C.  If you're a teacher or teacher leader I certainly recommend checking out the QFT.

So I'm not used to blogging, but I'm going to experiment in reflecting publicly on my teaching and learning.  As an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow for 2019-2020 I have many opportunities to learn about teaching, STEM education, and public policy.  SO many opportunities that I feel the need to write about them in order to help me process my learning and record ideas that I wish to return to.  This is my place to do that.