EDIM 513 - Inquiry Reflection

We do not fully understand situations, issues, and problems until we are able to reflect.  Inquiry was first introduced in college, and as theories were introduced I could never see myself as that 'good' of a teacher.  I did not understand the practice at the time and had very little knowledge of anything related to pedagogy.  As my education course notebooks gathered dust, so did the idea of inquiry.

Now, fast-forward 8 years. In reflection, I am not the teacher I once was, and that is a good thing.  Through collaboration, being a large part of a PLC, continuous work on my Master's degree, and overall aging and growing up I find that I am more than just a teacher of earth science - I am an educator for tomorrow and the greater good.  This career is not what I thought it would be and I am appreciative of that.  This course was meant to be my last in my Master's program at Wilkes University as it has allowed be to reflect and know that there is always growth.

Unit 6 - Fresh Look on 5Es

This unit gave me a fresh outlook on a model that I used to think was incredibly mundane - the 5E lesson plan.  While readjusting my focus on elaborating on the 5E model and also analyzing and assessing new information about it, I was able to look reflectively upon my past few years of teaching in a very affirming way.

5E lessons were first introduced to me in college.  At this time I had taught two lessons in front of a group of students, and they were not lessons that I had fabricated.  During lectures, all was theory and not really relative to my growth and development as a teacher.  They say you never know how something works until you try it, and perhaps now I can say you never know how something works until you've tried it and then reflected upon it.  

To no surprise, I really set 5E on the back burner and have been developing lessons to my districts template for 5 years now.  At the heart of everything, it really is not about the template, but your professional commitments to your students and your own pedagogical theories and styles that encourage you to develop stellar lessons.  Through the support of my collaboration team at school and many professional development sessions, I feel that even though I do not label my lessons through the 5E system, I am a product of this type of lesson fabrication.  The flow just makes sense, it is inviting for teachers and students, and produces the most enjoyable lessons.  Thanks unit 6 for reminding me to look at my roots, reassess what I have done, and realize it is all just good teaching.

As I look to the final unit of the class, I am still interested in learning how inquiry types of products and assessments and even use of Web 2.0 tools fosters and supports a development of applications that are useful in being successful on standardized test.

Images: http://www.ilovegenerator.com/i-love-5e-1773353

Unit 5 - Reflections After Midway

Over the past two units, we have been tested to place theory into practice and question what we may have thought was set in stone with tradition lesson planning.  Through unit 4 I have successfully developed a greater understanding of concepts and facts and ways to help students develop investigable questions.  The discussions on concepts and facts have developed a foundation for an inquiry unit plan on Plate Tectonics that is constantly morphing into something very different than my usual lessons.  These lessons are beginning to take shape as we develop questions pertaining to the unit that can be investigated, and are even forced to turn bad questions into those that are more suitable for a inquiry classroom.  This unit was incredibly helpful for unit planning and also gives me confidence that I can institute more inquiry lessons that are student centered into my classroom.

Unit 5 felt somewhat redundant in the things I already know category from other classes I have taken at Wilkes.  I did find several new Web 2.0 tools to introduce into the classroom and also enjoyed ways that other classmates were integrating them into lessons.  Many of their ideas were worthy of stealing and implementing into my own class.  Some of them were so inventive, I found myself saying, I want to teach that!  The most resounding information that I found during this unit was from Discovery Education's Web 2.0 15 page Crash Course.  I found their essence of these tools easy and simple to digest and helpful.  I only wish they gave more application ideas.  Here is a blurb that I found very meaningful at its core:

“Teachers must become comfortable as co-learners with their students and with colleagues around the world. Today it is less about staying ahead and more about moving ahead as members of dynamic learning communities. The digital-age teaching professional must demonstrate a vision of technology infusion and develop the technology skills of others. These are the hallmarks of the new education leader.”

— Don Knezek, ISTE CEO, 2008

Also during unit 5 we were pressed to add Web 2.0 tools to our unit plan.  I did find that the possibilities were endless, but many of my classmates had the same idea and it seems that polleverywhere provided  a good platform for introduction to new content.

It feels as if the only thing left is to plan full lessons, a timeline guide, and assessment to finalize our inquiry unit plans.  The only thing that I question is - is any assessment truly inquiry in nature and quality? and does it support the standardized testing that we as teachers are now assessed on?

Inquiry Developments - Three Units Down

Over the past few weeks of the course the idea of inquiry has 
changed. As I began to understand that inquiry looked different from teacher to teacher, lesson to lesson, and class sections and levels, I also developed the idea that inquiry could have a different definition and meaning every 80 minutes of my school day. However, at its core are questions, investigations, and curiosity. These things drive the lesson and allow students to develop a greater level of knowledge by simply following the steps like the scientific method. I felt that inquiry was taken to another level in some example lessons as students applied what they learned to real life situations or information that they already knew.  

As we looked at several case studies and categorize them based on what we learned about different types of inquiry, I could not help but critique lessons that I felt did not meet the set standards and objectives.  These flaws are easy to see from the outside looking in, but were probably difficult for the teacher to identify until the class was over.  I also worry that looking reflectively and after the classroom time allotted: are there things in the lesson that should have been diverted differently; is it too late to go back and fix these flaws; is there enough time in the school year to redo what went wrong?  The greatest thing that I learned looking at several examples of inquiry lessons is that you have to be ready to anticipate students’ shortfalls or wrong directions and be ready to redirect them, but in a way that does not give them the answer.  With proper planning and an end goal in mind, it is possible to master these skills.  Overall, I enjoyed looking into classrooms and realizing that I am an inquiry teacher to different degrees, and that is great because it provides an engaging environment for the students an also myself.  When a student is genuinely interested and engaged, it reminds us of why we became teachers in the first place.

Images:

http://www.worldpgl.com/en/inbound-inquiry-handling-solutions/inbound-solutions-multilingual-inquiry-handling-services-wpg.html

https://iarslceproceedings2012.wikispaces.com/Optimizing+reflection+as+a+teaching+and+learning+tool