Week 7 Inquiry-Based Learning

 When I began this course I thought that inquiry-based learning was a non-structured method of teaching. I imagined a classroom with groups of students at various stations learning about their choice of topic while the teacher circulates and answer questions with ambiguous responses. I learned that I was only partially correct. Inquiry-based learning can involve the teacher circulating as a guide on the side. The teacher can help the students come up with their own investigable questions about a concept and assist them with the process skills needed to research the answers. What I did not imagine is that the teacher can also use direct instruction to teach concepts. I learned that direct instruction is beneficial after the students have had time to explore their questions. I have learned that inquiry-based learning can be implemented in small ways as well as for entire units.

I plan to implement the 5E Instructional Method in my classroom next year when possible. I think that my lesson planning style might change, as I will think more about how the students can be involved, rather than just planning and implementing the whole lesson. I would also like to use the unit plan website that I created around the holiday of Day of the Dead. I think that my students will really appreciate the choices of activities and the the self-guided learning. I plan to place more emphasis on explicitly teaching the process skills as well. After reading the articles about the importance of process skills after high school graduation, I realized that my high school students would greatly benefit from learning them. I created a list of Web 2.0 tools that I learned about from the course and would like to incorporate throughout the year. I plan to check the list when I feel like my lessons are getting stale. 

Overall, I felt like I learned a lot from this course that I can use in my classroom this school year. 

Week 6 Inquiry-Based Learning

 This week I added a lesson plan using the 5E's Instructional Model to my Day of the Dead Unit website. Learning about the 5E Instructional Model, looking at examples, and incorporating them into a lesson plan helped me to think about how I would actually use inquiry-based learning in my classroom.

The 5E's are something that I sometimes use to guide my lesson planning without realizing it. I normally have some sort of engaging activity to begin a unit, then I normally skip right to the explain portion. After some direct instruction I then allow my students to explore and then elaborate. In the 5E model, the students explore before the teacher explains. I like this type of lesson plan because it incorporates more inquiry into the lesson. The students get to take time to formulate their own questions and try to find the answers. Allowing the students to explore first also gives the teacher a chance to observe the students to find out what they already know and are currently learning about a topic. The teacher can then take the time to teach about the specific concepts that need clarification. This saves precious time in the school year while allowing all of the concepts to be covered through inquiry-based learning.

I also appreciate that the evaluate phase of the model can be formative or summative and it includes a reflective piece. I often forget to allow the students to reflect on their learning and performance. Reflections are a powerful way to help the students to see what they could improve on and what concepts they still might be unclear about. It also allows the teacher to see if anything needs to be retaught. I strive to incorporate more formative assessments and reflections next school year.

The incorporation of Web 2.0 tools into each phase of the 5E Instructional Model and our lesson plans allowed me to see how the technology that I already use could be made inquiry-based. I also learned about some new tools that I hadn't heard of. I plan to think critically about how I'm using technology next school year in relation to inquiry-based learning.

Overall, I don't have any burning questions. I look forward to using the website and lesson plan in my classroom next school year. 

Week 5 Inquiry-Based Learning

 Most of my previous questions related to how to actually incorporate inquiry-based learning into a language classroom. I have taught Spanish for 11 years and will be teaching ESL next school year, so I appreciate having some more strategies to effectively incorporate inquiry-based learning. The past two weeks in this course have provided examples of and opportunities to create inquiry-based lessons. 

The idea of facts vs. concepts is an important concept that we try to teach at the secondary level. The activity of sorting the facts vs. concepts cards is similar to an activity that I currently do in the classroom. I have students respond true or false to common misconceptions about hispanic culture and language. I realized that I could adapt this activity, as well as many other activities, to make it more inquiry-based. 

I also found that investigable and non-investigable questions are often asked in my classroom. I feel more confident through this course to guide students through researching their questions. I also like the idea of changing a non-investigable question to an investigable one. Sometimes it can be difficult to answer all of the questions that secondary students have, and it could be time consuming. Allowing the students to modify the questions and do the research, with our guidance, empowers the students and reduces the teacher’s workload.

I do not currently have any burning questions. I am looking forward to using the website that I have created to correspond with my Day of the Dead unit. I hope that I can come up with more ways to incorporate inquiry-based learning in my lessons to engage my students next school year.

Week 3 of Inquiry-Based Learning

Completing the third week of my graduate course at Wilkes University, I feel like I have a better understanding of what inquiry-based learning is and how I can start to implement it into my language classroom. In my last post, I wondered how I can use inquiry based learning with my low proficiency level students. I also wondered how to slowly work inquiry based learning into the classroom to engage students. Throughout the course so far I have picked up some ideas to help answer those questions. 

I have learned about the abilities that students need to have in order to engage in inquiry based learning. The students also need to have certain understandings about inquiry (Wilkes University, EDIM 513, Unit 2, Topic B, n.d.). The teacher can encourage the practice of these abilities and can foster the understandings. The process skills related to inquiry are also an important factor when designing an inquiry based lesson. The process skills are sometimes referred to as ‘soft skills’ (Wilkes University, EDIM 513, Unit 2, Topic C, n.d.).

Through comparing several organizations’ findings of the most important process skills needed by high school graduates, I concluded that the mastery of process skills is more important than curriculum knowledge. Almost every person is able to learn more content when they go to college or begin a new job, but the process skills can be more difficult to learn because it is something that oftentimes needs practiced in a real world setting. Teachers can provide opportunities for the practice of process skills by incorporating them into our classrooms and our curriculum. 

I was able to see some real world examples of how to use inquiry based learning through reading about classroom lesson scenarios and designing my own scenarios based on video segments. I also learned about the three types of inquiry based lessons, teacher-directed, teacher-student shared, and student-directed (Wilkes University, EDIM 513, Unit 3, Topic C, n.d.). Reading the scenarios helped me to see that I am currently doing some inquiry based learning activities in my classroom. I also realized that most of the inquiry based learning that is occurring is either teacher-directed or teacher-student shared. Watching video segments on the Discovery Education website and creating lesson scenarios using the different types of inquiry helped me to brainstorm new ideas for lessons. I also liked reading other people’s lesson ideas for those video segments. I realized that there are a lot of tools that I just forget about using such as FlipGrid, jigsaw discussions, discussion forums, Jamboard, and more. 

Some questions that I still have are:

What are the best ways to incorporate student choice in an inquiry based learning lesson while continuing to guide the students through the curriculum? I remember reading that it’s important to stick to the main points in the curriculum and that the students’ inquiry will help to fill in the gaps, but I would still have anxiety about not covering all of the material.

How can I justify inquiry based learning to administration or parents that might be concerned about the teacher not following a strict curriculum? Our district has had a lot of push back from parents and board members about the exact books and materials being used in our classroom. Next school year we are required to keep a daily running record of exactly what resources we use (even if we just show a website example on the screen for a few moments). I suppose if I were to answer my own question, I would try to incorporate inquiry based practices such as encouraging the practice of the process skills. 

I look forward to learning more about inquiry based learning and thinking of ways to include it in my classroom next school year.

References

Wilkes University EDIM 513 (n.d.). Unit 2, Topic B. Retrieved on July 2, 2022 from 

         https://live.wilkes.edu/d2l/le/content/300264/viewContent/3494160/View

Wilkes University EDIM 513 (n.d.). Unit 2, Topic C. Retrieved on July 2, 2022 from 

        https://live.wilkes.edu/d2l/le/content/300264/viewContent/3494161/View

Wilkes University EDIM 513 (n.d.). Unit 3, Topic C. Retrieved on July 2, 2022 from 

       https://live.wilkes.edu/d2l/le/content/300264/viewContent/3494167/View

Inquiry Blog Post #1

I came into this week knowing what the basic premise of inquiry based learning is, but I wasn’t really sure if I use it in my own classroom. The biggest takeaway for me this week is that as an educator, I should view my classroom as an environment that fosters questioning and problem solving, not just a place for students to acquire knowledge. In today’s world there is instant access to information, not all of which is correct or trustworthy. I have found at the secondary level, a lot of students think that as long as they found it on the internet, it is true. Inquiry based instruction can help students to question what they are reading, listening to, and watching.

 I also learned that direct instruction, explicit instruction, and guided learning can still have their place in an inquiry based classroom and can help students on their path to inquiry (Capacity Building Series, 2013, p. 2). This is encouraging because I think that teachers would be more interested in incorporating inquiry based learning if they’re able to slowly work it into their classroom. Working at the secondary level, I see inquiry based learning as a way to encourage students to take ownership of their learning and to engage them beyond the use of their devices. The teachers at my school are constantly trying to find ways to get students to use their devices for a better purpose than gaming or social media (although I would argue that both of those activities have their time and place and can be used for education).

One question that I have is how can I use inquiry based learning with my low level proficiency students (Spanish and English proficiency)? When I am observed by my principal, they often say that in Spanish level I we are not using enough higher order thinking questions with the students. I explain that they fact that we are speaking 90% Spanish and all questions are in Spanish is encouraging them to think critically, even though the question may be simple when translated to English. I could see these same types of questions and criticisms when trying to implement inquiry based learning in a language classroom that is trying to stay in the target language. 

References:

​​Inquiry-based learning. (2013, May). Capacity Building Series, Secretariat

Special Edition(32), 1–8. https://ontariosummerlearning.org/wp-

content/uploads/2015/02/CBS_InquiryBased.pdf