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.
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