Week One
The brain is a muscle that can grow and change
Introducing the Question Formulation Technique during the Ask phase of a STEAM challenge
Student Experience
I began the week by administering a preassessment on growth mindset to my students. They completed a simple page that asked questions about being smart. Students were introduced to the idea that the brain is a muscle that can grow by watching a video on the classdojo website. In this video, students are introduced to a child named MoJo who is usually successful in school, but suddenly finds himself struggling in Math. MoJo decides he is just not smart enough and wants to leave school. Luckily, his friend Katy explains to MoJo that his brain is a muscle that can grow though challenges and hard work. It explicitly addresses that intelligence is not fixed, and that challenges can only make us smarter.

The following day, we read the book Your Fantastic Elastic Brain; Stretch It, Shape It by JoAnn Deak and Sarah Ackerly. I asked the students to reflect upon the question I had left for them the day before, What kind of self-talk do you use when you encounter something difficult? I told the students that we would be learning more about how our brain is a muscle that can grow and flex while reading this book, and encouraged them to look for times when the characters could use self-talk to help them. As we read the book, we made multiple stops to partner share our ideas of how self-talk could help you continue on even when something is difficult.
Throughout the week, the students continued to notice times when they were flexing their brains during school, and one student even suggested keeping a list on their desk. Many students were able to first identify when a partner was flexing their brain during group work, but later became more able to identify it in themselves.
Throughout the week, the students continued to notice times when they were flexing their brains during school, and one student even suggested keeping a list on their desk. Many students were able to first identify when a partner was flexing their brain during group work, but later became more able to identify it in themselves.

Mid-week it was time for our STEAM challenge. The challenge asked students to create a 12 inch tall building that could withstand a simulated earthquake. I began by asking students what we had learned about our brains this week and how they would use that during our STEAM challenge. All students were able to tell a partner that the brain is a muscle that can grow through challenges.
It was then time to begin the STEAM challenge, using the Engineering Design Process. This is a familiar routine in our classroom, with students having completed a challenges each week. During the Ask phase of the Engineering Design Process, I posted the following statement for the Question Formulation Technique:
Some materials are stronger than others.
I then taught my students two simple rules about asking questions when using this technique. First, all questions are welcome. Second, you can build off of someone’s question, but not repeat it. Once these ground rules were in place, I modeled for the students my thinking around this statement, and generated questions about the idea first on my own, and then with the children. I modeled questions about what types of materials are stronger than others, what makes a material more or less strong, and if hard or flexible materials did better during an earthquake. Although we had completed a great amount of reading and web research around earthquakes, I was using this as a technique that encourages students to reflect upon their learning for the given challenge.
Students chimed in, asking questions such as; How can you tell if a material is strong? Do all strong materials look the same? Can strong materials also be flexible? Once all of the questions had been asked, I demonstrated how I would organize the questions into like groupings. From there, I modeled how I would prioritize the questions for the current STEAM challenge. With this framework laid out, the students set forth to complete their STEAM challenge.
The day after the STEAM challenge, I administered two reflection pages.
The first was a post assessment about intelligence
The second was a reflection about the QFT in the STEAM challenge.
It was then time to begin the STEAM challenge, using the Engineering Design Process. This is a familiar routine in our classroom, with students having completed a challenges each week. During the Ask phase of the Engineering Design Process, I posted the following statement for the Question Formulation Technique:
Some materials are stronger than others.
I then taught my students two simple rules about asking questions when using this technique. First, all questions are welcome. Second, you can build off of someone’s question, but not repeat it. Once these ground rules were in place, I modeled for the students my thinking around this statement, and generated questions about the idea first on my own, and then with the children. I modeled questions about what types of materials are stronger than others, what makes a material more or less strong, and if hard or flexible materials did better during an earthquake. Although we had completed a great amount of reading and web research around earthquakes, I was using this as a technique that encourages students to reflect upon their learning for the given challenge.
Students chimed in, asking questions such as; How can you tell if a material is strong? Do all strong materials look the same? Can strong materials also be flexible? Once all of the questions had been asked, I demonstrated how I would organize the questions into like groupings. From there, I modeled how I would prioritize the questions for the current STEAM challenge. With this framework laid out, the students set forth to complete their STEAM challenge.
The day after the STEAM challenge, I administered two reflection pages.
The first was a post assessment about intelligence
The second was a reflection about the QFT in the STEAM challenge.
Week One Reflection
Growth Mindset:
I was surprised by the number of students who did not know that you could grow your brain. I think the use of the video about MoJo was especially helpful for this grade level, as they were much more capable of identifying when someone else could grow their brain than they were with themselves. This is complex idea for young minds, and the concrete sorting of sayings helped solidify the difference between a fixed and growth mindset for many students. The class enjoyed identifying times when they or others were growing their brain. Still, they were much more successful in identifying it in their peers initially, which leaves me to wonder how reflective they are as learners. Overall data this week shows that students understood that intelligence is not fixed, as proven by their post assessment about mindset.
QFT:
The use of the QFT during a STEAM challenge was a shift for my learners. As students who were already familiar with a set routine, deviating from this routine frustrated some of the children. Those who were fully engaged in the process used the thinking to drive their imagine and planning phase. One student even stated, “I was going to build the strongest building I could, but then I thought about flexibility. I decided to use a mix of stuff……flexible and not so that my building wouldn’t fall.” The reflection page backed up the observation that a majority were engaged in the process, but there were still some outliers who needed help finding the value in this technique. Insert graph here
I was surprised by the number of students who did not know that you could grow your brain. I think the use of the video about MoJo was especially helpful for this grade level, as they were much more capable of identifying when someone else could grow their brain than they were with themselves. This is complex idea for young minds, and the concrete sorting of sayings helped solidify the difference between a fixed and growth mindset for many students. The class enjoyed identifying times when they or others were growing their brain. Still, they were much more successful in identifying it in their peers initially, which leaves me to wonder how reflective they are as learners. Overall data this week shows that students understood that intelligence is not fixed, as proven by their post assessment about mindset.
QFT:
The use of the QFT during a STEAM challenge was a shift for my learners. As students who were already familiar with a set routine, deviating from this routine frustrated some of the children. Those who were fully engaged in the process used the thinking to drive their imagine and planning phase. One student even stated, “I was going to build the strongest building I could, but then I thought about flexibility. I decided to use a mix of stuff……flexible and not so that my building wouldn’t fall.” The reflection page backed up the observation that a majority were engaged in the process, but there were still some outliers who needed help finding the value in this technique. Insert graph here
Week Two
There are different areas of learning, and you can practice any area to make it stronger
Review and practice using the QFT during the Ask phase of a STEAM challenge
Student Experience

This week began with the administering of a pre-assessment about different learning styles. I then went through a learning style activity via PowerPoint with the students over a two-day period. The interactive PowerPoint introduced students to the different learning styles, and gave both examples and non-examples. The PowerPoint was very interactive, and the students were highly engaged. The students then completed a learning style quiz to determine which learning style they preferred and which learning style was difficult for them.

We also read the book Exclamation Mark by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld. This story helps students see that even though it can be difficult to be different, there is a place for all types of learning. I helped the students connect the story to the different learning strengths we all have, and asked them to reflect about a time when they felt confident about their learning, and a time when they were unsure about their learning. They then shared their thoughts with a partner and found they had a great amount in common. As a class, we had a meaningful conversation about the importance of knowing yourself as a learner, but still understanding other learning styles. One student stated, “It’s like when a group has all these different ideas and everyone wants their own ideas. Sometimes you are saying the same thing, but differently.”
It was then time for the weekly STEAM challenge. As we continued our learning about slow and quick Earth changes I asked students to create water collection system we could use in our school garden. During the Ask phase of the Engineering Design Process, I posted the following statement for the Question Formulation Technique:
We can reuse some of the Earth’s natural resources.
I then began by reviewing the steps of the QFT:
It was then time for the weekly STEAM challenge. As we continued our learning about slow and quick Earth changes I asked students to create water collection system we could use in our school garden. During the Ask phase of the Engineering Design Process, I posted the following statement for the Question Formulation Technique:
We can reuse some of the Earth’s natural resources.
I then began by reviewing the steps of the QFT:
- Create questions
- Group questions
- Pick the most important questions for the task

I began by modeling two questions before the students joined in. During this second attempt at the QFT, students were much more successful with the grouping of questions. As well, the students more efficiently agreed upon the questions that held the most importance for the STEAM challenge.
The day after the STEAM challenge, I administered two reflection pages.
The first was a post assessment about intelligence
The second was a reflection about the QFT in the STEAM challenge.
The day after the STEAM challenge, I administered two reflection pages.
The first was a post assessment about intelligence
The second was a reflection about the QFT in the STEAM challenge.
Week Two Reflection
Growth Mindset:
I was happy with the way the work around intelligences went this week. The students not only enjoyed understanding themselves better as learners, but it also introduced them to the idea that their peers may think differently than they do. It is clear that one week was only enough time for an introduction to this idea, as many of the students struggled with putting this idea into their own words. On the post assessment about intelligence, the students could easily identify their own learning strengths, and understood that people learn in different ways. Still, when asked how they could help themselves strengthen their weaker learning areas, many students were unable to answer the question, or gave only limited responses such as, “practice” or “never give up”. This shows me that they only have a surface understanding of the concept, and the idea needs to be revisited to teach to a greater depth of knowledge.
QFT
It was clear that another week of teacher modeling was important, as the support helped students become more successful both grouping the questions and identifying the ideas that would best help them with the STEAM project. One student reflected that the QFT helped her realize that she could create an opening at the bottom of the container to get the water out, instead of just taking it out of the top.
I was happy with the way the work around intelligences went this week. The students not only enjoyed understanding themselves better as learners, but it also introduced them to the idea that their peers may think differently than they do. It is clear that one week was only enough time for an introduction to this idea, as many of the students struggled with putting this idea into their own words. On the post assessment about intelligence, the students could easily identify their own learning strengths, and understood that people learn in different ways. Still, when asked how they could help themselves strengthen their weaker learning areas, many students were unable to answer the question, or gave only limited responses such as, “practice” or “never give up”. This shows me that they only have a surface understanding of the concept, and the idea needs to be revisited to teach to a greater depth of knowledge.
QFT
It was clear that another week of teacher modeling was important, as the support helped students become more successful both grouping the questions and identifying the ideas that would best help them with the STEAM project. One student reflected that the QFT helped her realize that she could create an opening at the bottom of the container to get the water out, instead of just taking it out of the top.