Think back… When was the last time you failed to ask a question because you thought knew you were the only one that did not know?

At Trinity, we work every day in everything to make our thinking visible and to help our learners make their thinking visible too.

We use learning progressions to make our thinking visible, to chart trajectories of learning, to convey ways to deepen and strengthen learning, and to ask targeted questions.

If a [community] is going to encourage questioning, it must teach people to do it well— or risk being besieged by nonproductive questions. (Berger, 171 pag.)

How do you finish this sentence?

I thought I was the only one…

Here are some of the answers we have collected this week:

• • • I know it is my allergies, but they keep describing the  symptoms I feel. I do not have a fever, but I my throat feels weird. I thought I was the only one worried about being sick.
    • I think I am letting all of you down. I am the only one having trouble with time manangement. My family needs me. My students need me. My team needs me. Until this moment when offered permission to share, I thought I was the only one. I am so grateful that you shared too.
    • Technology is fighting me, man. The Internet is slow. My headphones work about half the time. I nail the read-aloud video only to learn that you can see me read, but you cannot hear me. I thought I was the only one having to record and re-record, again and again.
    • I love all of the people in my house. I sat in the closet yesterday afternoon for 45 minutes just to be alone.  I thought I was the only one who needed a break.
    • I am desperate for my people, my classroom, my students, my team. I know I see them in “the matrix” every day, but it is not the same. I thought I was the only one that needs more connection…well different connection than we have now.

Now, this parallels what we hear in class.

• • • I am the only one who has a question.
    • I am the only one who does not know how to add fractions.
    • I am the only one who does not have a phone.

No one is the only one.

Just think about it… It is so important to share both your concerns and your strategies. Bravely sharing will let others know that they are not alone.

Kindly ask a productive question to learn, because no one is the only one.

Together and apart.

Call on me.

Berger, Warren (2014-03-04). A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas . BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING. Kindle Edition.