Inquiry based

I'm reading this book: Engaging Readers & Writers With Inquiry by Jeffrey D Wilhelm. There has been a lot of talk about Inquiry based teaching since our new curriculums came out. That's it though....a lot of talk. At out convention this year, not a single session was about teaching with Inquiry.....although if I was a coach or needed some new math ideas and games I had ample choices! I've been complaining about how horrible the sessions for convention were since the sheets came out - and something I read in that book put another point into my argument about their crappiness. The book said that teachers can easily identify which classroom discussion models best show the inquiry process taking place. We can quote research and explain our understanding of inquiry to support our argument that those are the best models, yet that kind of teaching rarely happens in our classrooms! We aren't getting the support we need to correctly teach with Inquiry. It's all about asking not just any questions....but the right questions. Already in the staffroom today, when I made mention of what I had read - people were getting defensive and saying that we try but basically we can't do it because of the kinds of students we have. I disagree. It's the same defeatist attitude I've been hearing a lot of lately. I think that if done right - our students would succeed better at learning the curriculum than what we are doing now. I don't think what we are doing now is working....and I don't think it's all the students. I think we need a new way to approach it. We're doing the best we can with what we are given.....so are they.....and if it's not working, we the teachers need to be the ones doing something different. We need to be given some better tools, and shown how to use them. So I'm looking forward to the the conference I'm attending where the author of this book is speaking. I want some new tools. I want to be shown how to use them, and then given the opportunity to actually use them. Just like we would do with our students - why would teachers have to learn any different?!

I wonder if I could work in a French Inquiry unit where we would discuss the social implications of having disorder and uncleanliness in a house, and the final project would be to organize and clean my house?!!!
I like it!!

Reflections.....

I'm getting evaluated at a teacher this year - they have a fancy name for it....Enhancing Professional Practice. One of the "Components" on a rubric is "Reflecting on Enhancing Professional Practice". So I thought...hmmm...I do have a blog already set up. I don't post on it as often as I should. Could this be a way to Reflect for me? Even though it's called A-Musing Mom, the fact that I'm a mom, isn't always separate from me as a teacher. So I could use this space to reflect on my teaching, technology, Teacher-Librarian position.....and of course being a mom.

What I've learned today.........
Today I learned that Bibme.org is not a good site for Gr. 4 to use to make bibliographies for their Heritage Fair projects. Easybib.com might have worked out better. No matter how confident you are in your technology skills, teaching it to students will always shatter your confidence! Either they won't get it and it's more stress than it's worth, or something goes wrong! Today something went wrong, and I should have known better to check it before hand. Hindsight!
Today I learned that even the most defiant student will surprise you sometimes! I got an apology today I never would have expected....I'll take it. Even though she might do the same tomorrow, right now - I can enjoy it!
Today I learned that the door to the time out room for the TEAM (behavior mod program) class is very sturdy! It's been kicked / punched a number of times today in protest.....but it keeps hanging on! Better the door than an actual person! I wish and pray with all my heart that someday that kid can wake up and start his day the same as my son every morning.....with a snuggle, a kiss and a smile! That might make all the difference in the world someday to my son as he starts school....something so simple......