​Kath’s work around personal inquiry emphasizes the importance of fostering curiosity, independence, and critical thinking skills in learners. To challenge our thinking, let’s begin by considering the following reflection prompt:

• Reflect on a recent experience where you felt a strong sense of curiosity or wonder. What sparked your interest, and how did you pursue your inquiry? 

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• Consider the ways in which this experience pushed you outside of your comfort zone or challenged your existing beliefs. 

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• How might you replicate or build upon this process in other aspects of your life or work to continue stretching your thinking and fostering a mindset of ongoing curiosity and inquiry?

Model

• Something that has piqued my interest has been the journey from primary/elementary school and the things we need to put into place, so each phase is smooth and easy for learners to navigate.

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• To push myself out of my comfort zone, I participated in the IB DP Math Symposium in Stuttgart, Germany.  With a wonderful team (Taylan, Merve, Shannon), we presented our project on scaffolding the MYP command terms into the PYP through math and science.  

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• I am implementing the use of command terms to drive my workshops and teacher consultations.  I want to model the process directly and implicitly with everyone I come into contact with.  Let’s do this!

Now, it’s your turn to complete step 1 of our challenge!

Explore and Wonder
Describe the initial spark or curiosity that led you to choose a particular topic or question during your personal inquiry. What fascinated you about it?

Investigate and Inquire
Share the steps you took to explore your chosen inquiry. What research methods did you employ, and how did you approach the inquiry process independently or collaboratively?

Create and Present
Reflect on the creative aspects of your personal inquiry. How did you express your understanding and what did you create or present to showcase your learning?

Reflect on Challenges
Identify challenges you encountered during your personal inquiry. What obstacles did you face, and how did you overcome them? How did these challenges contribute to your learning experience?

Connect to Personal Growth
Consider the ways in which your personal inquiry experience is connected with your personal interests and passions. How has this experience contributed to your personal and intellectual growth?

Extend Your Thinking
Explore how your personal inquiry extended your understanding beyond the initial scope. What new ideas, skills, or perspectives did you gain, and how might these extensions influence your future inquiries or projects?

Future Inquiry Planning
Based on your personal inquiry experience, outline specific strategies or approaches you might adopt in future personal inquiries. How can you apply the lessons learned to continue stretching your thinking?

​We have known for quite some that the internet is the depository of information and we are the facilitators of meaning making.  Our role will require us to know how to engage with the technology to gain the maximum output.  With this in mind, we are going to explore our new relationship with ChatGPT in this episode and challenge ourselves to start using it tomorrow. 

Before we begin, I want to be clear that our goal is meaning making.  More is not more.  For ChatGPT to be effective in our practice, we need to know how to engage it successfully.  Here is my attempt in modeling the process while making some mistakes along the way.  I will present my prompt, ChatGPT responses, and my commentary of the answers.  

Let’s get started!

My Prompt
What is a good prompt to start a search in ChatGPT for teachers who are new to the process?  Many teachers get frustrated, because they often do not get the answer they are looking for, because the prompt is not detailed enough.  What suggestions do you offer? 

ChatGPT Response
Creating effective prompts for ChatGPT, especially for teachers new to the process, involves providing clear and specific instructions. Here are some suggestions:

Be Specific About the Request
Instead of a general query like "Teaching tips," try something more specific like "Effective strategies for teaching mathematics to elementary students" or "Classroom management techniques for elementary school teachers."  Think about what is the heart of what you want to know.  More is not always more, so watch your words.

Use Descriptive Language
Include relevant details in your prompt. Instead of "Teaching resources," try "Online resources for creating engaging science lesson plans for elementary."  The more you can describe what you need, the better the system can give you an output that is in alignment with what you want. 

Ask Open-Ended Questions
Encourage detailed responses by framing questions in an open-ended manner. For example, instead of "How to teach science," ask "What are innovative approaches to make science lessons more interactive and enjoyable for elementary students?"  I love open-ended questions, because they allow for more possibilities for exploration.  The only problem is being too open, because then you will receive answers that go beyond the scope of your research. I would use a variety of factual, conceptual, and debatable questions in my prompt.  For more info about those, check out the Plan for Inquiry guide on my website. 

Provide Context
Briefly explain your situation or context to get more personalized responses. For instance, "I am a new elementary teacher seeking strategies to motivate students during remote learning."  This helps the system to differentiate what information it will give you, so you are not overwhelmed.  Pretty smart, eh? 

Use Multiple Sentences
Break down your request into multiple sentences or bullet points to make it clear and organized. This can help avoid ambiguity and improve the chances of receiving relevant information.  I do this all the time and it’s amazing what it will spit out. This is perfect for words within a unit of inquiry.  If you are struggling to know how to connect them, I ask ChatGPT to sort the list using related concepts, so I can see the relationship between the words.  It’s such a time saver!

Specify Grade Level or Subject
If your query relates to a specific grade level or subject, include that information. For example, "Effective teaching methods for introducing Shakespeare to 9th-grade students."  I received this answer, because my original prompt was not focused on elementary students.  I’ve had to modify all of the answers to be more specific to elementary. Something to consider. 

Request Examples
If you're looking for practical examples, explicitly mention it in your prompt. For instance, "Can you provide examples of play-based learning activities for fifth-grade students while exploring migration?" This allows for detailed search, but also specific to the content you are teaching.  I’m lovin’ it!

Mention Constraints
If there are constraints or specific conditions you need to consider, mention them in your prompt. For example, "Teaching strategies for a classroom with limited technology resources."  This will help to limit

Remember, the more details and context you provide in your prompt, the better the chances of getting a relevant and helpful response.

Lu Prompt
What is a good prompt to start a search in ChatGPT for elementary teachers who are new to the process?  Can you share it in the voice of Lu Gerlach, the host of Confessions of a PYP Teacher?  I revised this, because I wanted to see if I was missing anything and see if it could mimick my voice. 

ChatGPT response
Certainly! Crafting a detailed and effective prompt is key to getting the information you need. Here's a suggestion for elementary teachers who are new to the process:

Be Specific About the Request (Lu's Touch):
"Hey amazing educators! Lu here, venturing into the world of elementary teaching. Any secrets on making math an adventure for our little ones or tips for taming the energy in our vibrant classrooms?"

Use Descriptive Language (Lu's Style)
"Calling all science enthusiasts! I'm on the lookout for online gems that can add a spark to our elementary science plans. Any fabulous resources to create lessons that leave our kiddos wide-eyed and full of wonder?"

Ask Open-Ended Questions (Lu's Curiosity)
"Picture this: elementary science that feels like magic. What are your favorite, out-of-the-box methods for turning 'How to teach science' into 'Wow, science is awesome!' for our young learners?"

Use Multiple Sentences (Lu's Clarity):
"Hey awesome educators! I'm a fresh face in the teaching world and could use your guidance. Specifically, I'm curious about effective strategies for introducing storytelling to my lively 2nd graders. Any tips or engaging activities you've found success with?"

Specify Grade Level or Subject (Lu's Precision)
"Calling all storytelling enthusiasts! I'm in need of your brilliance. What are your favorite teaching methods for bringing the magic of stories to life in a 2nd-grade classroom?"

Now that you are done laughing about how ChatGPT perceives my online voice, I want to take a moment to be serious.  How are you using the platform to enhance your teaching practice? 

Wasn’t this humorous yet telling at the same time?  Now it’s your turn to practice and make your own voice with ChatGPT.  Let’s start slowly and go from there.  

I want you to go onto the platform and type in 2-3 prompts as suggested above and be sure to include:
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• Your context
• Your learner needs
• Your curricular and unit objective
• What you need in the end

Evaluate the responses and create follow-up prompts to refine the answer to where it will be useful.  Be sure to share with us your prompts and ideas on X @thinkchat2020 and LinkedIn @lugerlach. I’m curious to see how it goes! 

By the way, I asked ChatGPT for the first time to help me write this episode and all of the application series.  If you are specific and thoughtful in your prompt, you will get some amazing ideas.  Will it be perfect?  NO.  This is where the human has to make sense of the outcome and create meaning. 

​Hey there, wonderful people! It's your host, Lu Gerlach from thinkchat, and I am beyond excited for today's episode. We're going deep into the heart of the PYP philosophy exploring how learners visually represent their unit of inquiry journey. So, buckle up for Confession #122, where we'll dig into the nitty-gritty of shifting from showcasing finished products to emphasizing the process and giving every student a chance in the spotlight.  This will be the final episode of our PYP classroom success criteria series. 

A big thank you to Siba Shekhar, the PYP Coordinator at the GEMS Modern Academy Kochi for providing the inspiration for this episode.  

“By displaying our learning to our school, we make a great impact toward changing our educational landscape” (MacKenzie, 2016).  This quote really has inspired my thinking about the unit of inquiry wall that is so highly coveted in most PYP classrooms.  

I remember focusing on a fourth grade unit on Sharing the Planet through the lens of ecosystems, our classroom walls, desks, and work areas transformed into living records of exploration. Particularly, there were sketches, mind maps, and snapshots of the process that adorned the space. The unit wall became a dynamic narrative, showcasing the collaborative teamwork, problem-solving, and critical thinking that unfolded throughout the unit. Student’s added reflections capturing a moment of initial misunderstanding and how their thought process expanded over time. It was truly wonderful to see the thinking come alive on the unit wall. 

During that time, I wondered if the thinking should leave a fixed wall space and permeate the rest of the classroom to reflect authentic thinking across the curriculum and unit of inquiry.  In short, the answer is yes.  In Confession #116, I spoke in-depth about the unit wall and how to create a dynamic display of learner work and thinking.  

In a recent chat with my PYP mentor (someone who writes courses for the IB), I discovered that the unit wall is actually a myth.  We need to have elements of the PYP in our classrooms, but it doesn’t need to be on one wall.  When we remove the constraints of a fixed wall space, we are more open to show natural connections across learning experiences.  This allows the process of thinking to be made a lot easier, because we walk away from constantly displaying works that show a finished product.  Something to consider.

Inclusivity is not just a term that we post on a wall.  It is a way of making international mindedness come alive into our classrooms.  A big part of this process is allowing for learners to demonstrate agency of what is visually represented and how it looks.  It’s allowing all learners to voice their opinions, making some choices about design, and being allowed to take ownership of the redesign process.  

Zaretta Hammond states in her book, Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting authentic engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students,  “Think carefully about what visuals are displayed on the walls. They send a nonverbal message about what and who is valued in the classroom.  Unconsciously, we pick up clues about affirmation and validation from our surroundings” (Hammond, 2015).

This quote makes me think about the purpose of each display and has it been designed for our needs or our learners or our own?  I remember a teacher once told me that she was designing her classroom to best fit her needs.  Shouldn’t it be the other way around?  How are we curating visual displays that represent the learning journey of all of our learners and not just the gifted and talented ones?  

To be honest, I have been guilty of it in my practice.  We need to finish a unit and we filter through the pretty ones and put them up front and center. The less desirable products go on the fringe.  What message does that send unconsciously to our learners of who is valued and who is not?  Yikes!
None of us purposefully allow this practice to happen, so we need to be more conscious of our choices, so we don’t repeat it. 

In Dive into Inquiry, Trevor MacKenzie reminds us, “Public displays of learning are powerful tools in the classroom to further the connection between how student learning is meaningful and important to the world around them” (MacKenzie, 2016).  This quote resonates, because this is our goal as educators to create meaningful connections for our learners.  How are our visual displays representing the entire learning journey within a unit of inquiry and beyond? 

In 2014, I had the fortune of visiting Frankfurt International School, Wiesbaden while going through my first IBEN development.  One thing I noticed was a classroom with past unit spotlights that were referred to during the current unit.  The spotlight had the key language from the unit: theme, central idea, and key/related concepts.  The most powerful component was the reflections and interactive tools that were used to unpack the big ideas from the unit.  

This display stayed with me for nearly a decade, because the intention was to provide a means for learners to spiral back to prior learning and connect it to the present.  This is powerful, but it shows the relationship of learning over time and allows learners to transfer what they knew from the past into their current unit.  This is powerful.  

In essence, the walls of our PYP classrooms become not only visual representations but living stories of inquiry, collaboration, and growth. Embracing the PYP journey involves creating a space that reflects the program's core values – inclusivity, diversity, and a commitment to continuous inquiry. 
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Thank you for sticking with this series with all of the breaks due to my crazy schedule.  I’m excited to go back to the beginning by completing an application series for local and global inquiry and the PYP classroom.  I hope you are ready to transfer your knowledge in a new way!