EDIM 513: Inquiry Based Learning Final Reflection

What have you learned? What new insights have you developed? Has anything changed? How will you implement inquiry-based instruction into your classroom?

I have always been a teacher that consistently and constantly questions my students.  I want to be a teacher that teaches my students HOW to think, not WHAT to think. This class has given me more tools and knowledge in order to do so effectively.  I want my students to be critical thinkers and leave my class with the process skills needed to be successful for the rest of their lives.

The biggest thing I got out of this class is the differences between facts and concepts and taking those and developing non-investigable and investigable questions. I had no idea these existed prior to this course, but I am glad I learned what they were!  I also am glad I learned how to teach my students to develop a non-investigatable question to an investigable one. This class hasn't changed me from a non-questioning teacher to a questioning one, but it has changed my skill level in questioning. I know much more now about questioning than I did before I took this class.

I am going to use more formative assessments to check for prior knowledge before a class.  I am planning on using a pretest for my 9th Grade English class to assess what they know about literary devices. This will help me plan what to focus on for the short story units as well as the rest of the year.  I am going to start developing activities and lessons that follow the 5E model.  I find that this model is effective in teaching my students critical thinking skills. I have also learned how to use Google Docs more effectively for questioning as well as new tools like www.pollanywhere.com.

I leave this class with more tools in my teaching tool belt and I am grateful for my new understanding and knowledge regarding Inquiry-Based Learning.

EDIM 513: Unit Plan

Inquiry Based Learning Unit Plan

Here is the link to my completed Inquiry Based Learning Unit Plan

Week 6 Reflection

Create a blog entry that describes how your thoughts about inquiry-based learning have developed over the past week. What new insights have you developed? Has anything changed? Are there any "burning questions" that you feel need to be answered?

This week, I don't think anything changed in my perspective, but my thoughts have most definitely expanded.  They expanded by developing my own lesson based on the 5E's, and also exploring my peer's lessons.  I received many useful tools that I can use in my own classroom.  I learned about new Web 2.0 tools, and ways to use the tools that I may not have thought off before.  I think one thing our profession does right is collaboration.  Professionals sometimes do not want to share what they have developed.  Teachers, I have found, are so willing to share their ideas.  It really is something unique to our profession.

The 5E's was a great way to structure a lesson.  I thought it was going to be more difficult, but I found as I was exploring this lesson style, I realized that I already do many of these. Some I do on a daily basis like a journal entry to engage students and some I mix in and out of my lessons. I can't wait to incorporate these more into my lessons.

When I started this Unit Plan, I had decided to fall back on my crutch and do a History Lesson.  I am FAR more knowledgeable in this subject as I am in English.  Last year was my first year teaching English.  I decided not to do that and to challenge myself by doing an English lesson.  I am glad I did because I am leaving this class with more tools to help me understand my own English curriculum better.

I do not have any burning questions, just looking forward to completing the rest of my unit plan!