Think Responsibly is an innovative online resource developed to help children grow into responsible youth and adults. The purpose of Think Responsibly is to provide distributed learning resources that support The City of Calgary safety educational programming while aligning with CBE End Statements and the Alberta Program of Studies for grades 4-7 students.

Students will explore these important citizenship concepts in an interactive, accessible, flexible and inquiry based online learning environment. It is designed to attend to multiple learning styles by offering a variety of flexible entry and exit points for all learners. Students have an opportunity to share their learning through Think Challenges.

An Innovative Partnership in Learning!

The Think Responsibly resource is the result of an exciting partnership in learning between the Calgary Board of Education, The City of Calgary and the Calgary Police Service.

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In order to get the most out of this resource, you will require the following specifications on your computer.

PC

• Firefox 3 (or higher), or Internet Explorer 7 (or higher)
• If you are unable to upgrade Internet Explorer or install Firefox on the computer you are using, Click here to download Firefox Portable and the Flash Player plugin here. No installation is required – the downloaded file will unpack into a folder where you can run Firefox directly.
• Adobe Flash Player
• Adobe Reader

Mac

• Firefox 3 (or higher), or Safari
• Adobe Flash Player

Tech Support for Calgary Board of Education Schools

Be sure to consult with your School Technology Support Specialist to have your computers updated with the necessary requirements as described here.

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What is inquiry based learning?

Inquiry is an element of all areas in the Alberta Program of Studies where students learn and use skills that may be transferable to daily life outside of their school. Teachers become facilitators of the learning process rather than disseminators of knowledge. Students become problem solvers creating new knowledge and understandings rather than merely restating the same information they researched.

Download a PDF version of Alberta Education's Focus on Inquiry.

Alberta Education has created the Focus on Inquiry document, which was created to reflect changes in curriculum, the way students learn and work, technology integration in classrooms, research findings, and the processes in the world of work. The document represents one approach toward using inquiry based learning in your classroom, and should be modified depending on the needs of students and teachers.

The Focus on Inquiry document outlines a non-linear, systematic process model that involves the following phases:

• planning
• retrieving
• evaluating
• reflection
• processing

Processes of meta-cognition become a major piece of the puzzle of education, where students learn how to learn and evaluate their process and results. As in real life, they will be working with challenges and questions that do not have a definite or easy answer, forcing them to develop and modify a procedure for their search for explanations and solutions for their problem. The development of these types of skills will assist students in dealing with problems in everyday life and prepare them for lifelong learning, further studies, and the future world outside of school.

What does an inquiry based learning classroom look like?

Inquiry based learning within a classroom is really about seeing a transformation take place in the way students learn and work together. The manner in which content is presented, the process students will work through, and how the teacher interacts with students are made meaningful and real for the learners, as compared to presenting information and testing using knowledge questions. An inquiry based classroom encourages:

• authentic problems and explorations within the bounds of the curriculum that have relevance to the real world outside the school walls
• students taking genuine ownership of the learning process
• student curiosity in asking questions that are meaningful to them, thus generating their own enthusiasm and excitement
• student findings to be discussed, interpreted, reflected upon, and deliberated upon
• teachers acting as learners also, where they collaborate right along with the students and interact more often on an individual or small group basis
• teachers facilitate the learning process through discussion, support, guidance and monitoring
• experts from the community and the greater society, such as historians or other social scientists, are involved with the inquiry
• students use ICT to approach or solve a problem in a manner that is better than it could be done without using technology
• evaluation is used as a tool throughout to increase learning, allowing students to create evaluation criteria, set new goals and directions, reflect upon the process, and re-evaluate
• learning may go in a different direction than anticipated at the beginning of the inquiry

The Inquiry Based Learning Process

Inquiry based learning is really about seeing a transformation take place in how students learn. There is no one right process that all teachers will use in their classrooms, although most have very similar elements involved. The inquiry based learning process is student-driven using open-ended, broad-based questions of study. It allows students to construct their own understandings through examining, discussing, working on challenging problems and dealing with competing notions and points of view.

Students will observe, discuss, ponder, research, measure, assess, reflect, evaluate, and communicate their new information and understandings to fellow learners, parents, and community members, and experts in the field of study. Inquiry based learning allows students to go beyond a surface examination into a deeper understanding of the issues and significance surrounding a specific topic.

Helpful Websites

• Concept to Classroom: The Inquiry Page

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Think Responsibly is a safety and injury prevention website.  The information, activities and Think Challenges that make up the six modules of Think Responsibly were designed by teachers and can be used by teachers to:

• meet curricular outcomes in the Alberta Health and Life Skills, Physical Education and Social Studies programs of studies for grades 4 – 7.
• incorporate wellness education into their core lessons, as outline by the Alberta Education Framework for Kindergarten to Grade 12 Wellness Education.
• integrate Career and Technology Foundations projects into core subjects.

Who can use Think Responsibly?

Students in grades 4 -7 are the intended users of this resource. While many of these issues are addressed already in schools and at home, the online project gives children another venue to learn about responsible behaviour and safety.

Curricular Outcomes

The information, activities and Think Challenges that make up the Graffiti Awareness module were designed by teachers to match curricular outcomes in the Alberta Health and Life Skills, Physical Education and Social Studies programs of studies for grades 4 – 7.  Successful completion of this module will help students to meet the following outcomes:

Wellness Education

According to the Alberta Education Framework for Kindergarten to Grade 12 Wellness Education (2009), “[t]he vision of wellness education in Alberta is for students to be educated, informed and contributing members of society and to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to be well in every sense of the word—emotionally, intellectually, physically, socially and spiritually.”

The information, activities and Think Challenges that make up the six modules of Think Responsibly help teachers to incorporate all five elements of wellness into core subjects:

• Emotional wellness is acknowledging, understanding, managing and expressing thoughts and feelings in a constructive manner.

Think Responsibly encourages students to reflect the emotional impact of their actions and the actions of others, form opinions on various issues and pursue issues with which they feel emotionally connected.  For example, in the Graffiti Awareness module, Learn as a Responsible Citizen Think Challenge #2 invites students to reflect upon how it would feel to be a victim of graffiti.  Students then express these thoughts and feelings in the form of a poem, story or hypertext document.

• Intellectual wellness is the development and the critical and creative use of the mind to its fullest potential.

Think Responsibly encourages students to examine problems within their communities with a critical eye and use their creativity to generate solutions to these problems.  For example, in the Park Safety module, Learn as a Responsible Citizen Think Challenge #4 asks students to assess the hazards associated with a day at a local park.  Students then develop strategies to minimize the risks they have identified, creating a safer park environment for all users.

• Physical wellness is the ability, motivation and confidence to move effectively and efficiently in a variety of situations, and the healthy growth, development, nutrition and care of the body.

Think Responsibly encourages students to adopt behaviours that will keep them healthy and safe.  For example, in the Recreation Safety module, Be Aware as a Responsible Citizen Think Challenge #1 invites students to create an infomercial promoting the many activities available at Calgary’s recreation facilities and encouraging other youth to get involved and be active.

• Social wellness is relating positively to others and is influenced by many factors including how individuals communicate, establish and maintain relationships, are treated by others and interpret that treatment.

Think Responsibly encourages students to consider the impact their choices have on their personal safety, as well as the impact they have on their peers and communities.  For example, in the Peer Relationships module, Act as a Responsible Citizen Think Challenge #3 introduces community conferencing as one form of conflict resolution.  Students discuss this strategy in groups and then create posters to educate their peers about conflict resolution strategies.

• Spiritual wellness is an understanding of one’s own values and beliefs leading to a sense of meaning or purpose and a relationship to the community.

Think Responsibly encourages students to be active, engaged members of their community.  Many of the Think Challenges contained in each module ask students to identify problems in their community, propose solutions and develop strategies to educate other members of the community about the problem.  For example, in the Fire Safety Module, Learn as a Responsible Citizen Think Challenge #5 encourages students to examine the impact of carelessness around camp fires and fire pits, and the devastating consequences of forest fires.  Students then design posters to educate their community about the important role they play in preventing forest fires.

Career and Technology Foundations

Career and Technology Foundations (CTF) is a new program of studies for grades 5 – 9.  CFT is scheduled for implementation in September 2013 and will replace Career and Technology Studies in junior high and middle schools.  The Calgary Board of Education is currently piloting this program in its schools.

The focus of CTF is the process of learning as experienced though ‘hands-on’ project work.  This learning process can be separated into four stages:

• Problem-solving – students design possible solutions to complete projects.
• Teamwork – students create a product or service.
• Reflecting – students appraise the work in progress and the completed project.
• Communicating – students articulate what they have learned from the project.

Two CTF projects have been created for teachers centred on Think Responsibly.  Visit the CTF project centre to learn more.

How does Think Responsibly fit under Teaming Up! 4 Healthy Learners?

Teaming Up! 4 Healthy Learners is a joint partnership between Alberta Health Services and various departments of the Calgary Board of Education to support schools in accessing and helping school based health teams monitor and assess actions to positively impact student health in 3 targeted areas:

• Physical activity
• Healthy eating
• Positive social behaviours

Think Responsibly is one resource that aligns with this initiative to support schools in the above targeted areas.

For more information on Teaming Up, go to http://projects.cbe.ab.ca/sss/teamingup

How does Think Responsibly connect to Campus Calgary/Open Minds?

Campus Calgary/Open Minds is an innovative curriculum-based program that moves the classroom into the community for an entire week. The experience is a catalyst for learning activities that occur throughout the year. Classroom teachers work closely with community experts to custom design a week that meets individual needs. The program length, the deep thinking about first hand experiences that transcend curricular lines and the time to reflect, transforms learning to its highest levels.

Fire School:

The Calgary Fire Department is committed to making Calgary a healthier, safer, and more vibrant community. This website offers opportunities for teachers and students to explore an essential service that assists in creating a city in which citizens and visitors feel safe and secure.

City Hall School:

City Hall school provides a wealth of opportunities for students and teachers to participate in the public realm, becoming informed and civically engaged citizens.

Examples of study topics include:

• Structures: investigating Calgary’s downtown landscape
• Discover Calgary: a sense of place, identity and belonging
• Social Issues: Who is responsible?
• Waste in our World: What happens in Calgary?

For more information visit: http://ccom.cbe.ab.ca.

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Parent and Community Videos

Check out the following videos to explore what teachers, parents and community members think about the Think Responsibly resource: