K. Trotman: Inquiry by Kerrie Trotman

What essential questions excite you? The Reflection questions

ktrotman55 — 2015-02-19 21:23:06 UTC

Backward looking

1. What process did you go through to produce this piece?

2. What problems did you encounter while you were working on this piece? How did you solve them?

3. What resources did you use while working on this piece? which ones were especially helpful? which ones would you use again?

4. Does this work tell a story?

Inward-looking

1. Did you meet your standards?

2. What were you goals for meeting this piece of work?

3. Whats the one thing that you want people to notice about your piece when they look at it?

4. If someone else were looking at the piece, what might they learn about who you are?

Forward-Looking

1. What would you change if you had a chance to do this piece over again?

2. What's one goal you would like to set for yourself for next time?

3. What things you might want more help with?

What inquiry model speaks to you?

ktrotman55 — 2015-02-19 21:36:55 UTC

John Seely Brown - inquiry as "play". Play as creative tension that exists between rules and freedom between what is know and unknown. "Just as play requires rules to keep a game going, inquiry needs structure and boundaries to be effective. As compared with more traditional delivery models of teaching and learning that focus only on pre-existing knowledge or skills, inquiry remains open to the unknown, to the ‘not yet.’ As teachers are considering inquiry in a particular topic it becomes helpful to consider how students might ‘play’ within in topic, that is, maintain an emphasis on what is already known (the foundational concepts or key-ideas) while allowing for space for the unknown where students can create, design, interpret or participate"

There were a few projects that I observed that I can see my students enjoying:

ktrotman55 — 2015-02-19 21:39:46 UTC

My favourite was the STEM project where the high school students invented their own ketchup bottle lid. I can see this being a great inquiry project where students come up with a problem - guided inquiry and the solution.

Other projects that I liked but would have to adapt to high school Science were....

1. The teaching Effectiveness Framework - Through inquiry a class came to understand the engineering principles that underpin boat design, as well as the scientific concepts associated with buoyancy, including balance, density, displacement, stability and waterproofing. The teaching effectiveness framework was used as a guide in designing the learning task, as well as a lens for pedagogical reflection. I can see myself incorporating what this teacher did at the Grade two level into my Grade 8 Science unit.

2. Submersibles Inquiry with Mr. Ricker :

*Phase 1 - Science experimentation* Phase 2 - Modeling *Phase 3 -students begin their own inquiry carrying the prior knowledge and expectations from both phase 1 and 2. I can see myself incorporated this in Science 10 with the Biomes unit and Environmental issues units.

3. Alan Colburn - "An Inquiry Primier" where do i begin as he gives Science teacher numerous inquiry projects to use. I would need to adjust them for the high school level eg. Balanced Students and Density Discoveries -both I could incorporate into Grade 8 Science

Great ways to discover essential questions

ktrotman55 — 2015-02-19 22:05:59 UTC

* Looking for questions that centre around major issues and interests that are relevant to students

* Ones that are open-minded, non-judgemental, meaningful, and invite exploration of ideas

* Questions that encourage collaboration

* They could look at the backward design and start with the end in mind

* A question that could be asked over time and in many instances

Types of Inquiry

ktrotman55 — 2015-02-19 22:14:39 UTC

Structured/Open/Guided

In high school these types of inquiry methods would depend on teaching style, the make up of the classroom and the unit that a teacher is teaching. I like the structured inquiry method because I like to give students some guidance with some parameters and procedure to get started with and then see them take off and become engaged with this type of inquiry. In Science this works best for me because of the many hands-on experiences the students get to have.

The open inquiry method would be useful after getting students use to inquiry structured learning. I could set out a problem for the students to investigate and figure out on their own and come back with the solution.

More inquiry

ktrotman55 — 2015-02-19 22:17:19 UTC

Problem based learning - theatre, literature circles, writing, understanding text, oral arguments. Problem based learning that starts with a structured problem or case-study. I would be apt to suggest this more to the English dept. or life skills such as drama

What type of inquiry would you be more apt to suggest to different members to your staff versus your personal preference.

ktrotman55 — 2015-02-19 23:09:44 UTC

This would be a tough one for me at this time because I am not a teacher-librarian. I am not knowledgeable in all areas of curriculum and subjects so I would have a hard time suggesting inquiry methods to different members of my staff at this time. I would collaborate with my Science department about inquiry based learning and designing structured/open/guided learning as often as we could.