LIBE 477B Reading Review: Part A
This if my official first blog post! I am really looking forward to using a platform like this in hopes that blogging becomes another tool I can use with students.
Reading Why School has been very inspiring to read and really affirms why I wanted to go back to school to get my Teacher Librarianship Diploma. This particular quote from the book from Stephen Downes confirmed what I am inspired to learn more about. “We have to stop thinking of an education as something that is delivered to us and instead see it as something we create for ourselves.” -Stephen Downes
To me, Stephen is describing the idea of inquiry based learning. I believe this type of learning is essential for students to be engaging in today. Inquiry isn't just about kids telling us what they want to learn about but inspiring them to be curious, ask those rich questions and figure out how to navigate the vast amount of information out there to find answers.
My dream role as a teacher librarian would be to work with other teachers to plan and facilitate inquiry projects their students are working on. I want to continue to find safe, relevant online resources that children can use to pursue interests and curiosities as well as inquiry planning resources to use with teachers.
I would also like to continue to spread knowledge and learn more about a particular type of inquiry that I have had the wonderful opportunity to learn about and practice using in my classroom when I taught internationally. Word inquiry is a practice that supports all strands of language arts. It helps children learn about the structure of words through inquiry which helps them develop a deeper understanding that they then can apply to reading and writing. It focuses on having students understand the structure of words through their own questions rather than memorize spelling patterns. These are the kinds of teaching practices that I see as being especially relevant today. I've done some inquiry based teaching in science, social studies and now language arts. But I am also wondering about inquiry based learning in math. I am curious to see if there are resources or examples out there related to this idea as I think it would be really rich to have students follow some inquiry based curiosities in math.
So far as a TOC the biggest downfall is not being able to work with children on inquiry projects when I am only there for a day or two. I have gone from having my own class for 6 years to being with classes for one day here or there. It is definitely a strange transition for me and I would love to use my research to plan small scale activities that I could do with children in one day and make an impact rather than just fill time when their teacher is away. Because I am struggling with these changes I am trying to find the positives and maybe sparking curiosity in classrooms all over Victoria is my path in this new role.
I am really looking forward to finding and compiling resources related to these interest topics of mine.
Reading Why School has been very inspiring to read and really affirms why I wanted to go back to school to get my Teacher Librarianship Diploma. This particular quote from the book from Stephen Downes confirmed what I am inspired to learn more about. “We have to stop thinking of an education as something that is delivered to us and instead see it as something we create for ourselves.” -Stephen Downes
To me, Stephen is describing the idea of inquiry based learning. I believe this type of learning is essential for students to be engaging in today. Inquiry isn't just about kids telling us what they want to learn about but inspiring them to be curious, ask those rich questions and figure out how to navigate the vast amount of information out there to find answers.
I would also like to continue to spread knowledge and learn more about a particular type of inquiry that I have had the wonderful opportunity to learn about and practice using in my classroom when I taught internationally. Word inquiry is a practice that supports all strands of language arts. It helps children learn about the structure of words through inquiry which helps them develop a deeper understanding that they then can apply to reading and writing. It focuses on having students understand the structure of words through their own questions rather than memorize spelling patterns. These are the kinds of teaching practices that I see as being especially relevant today. I've done some inquiry based teaching in science, social studies and now language arts. But I am also wondering about inquiry based learning in math. I am curious to see if there are resources or examples out there related to this idea as I think it would be really rich to have students follow some inquiry based curiosities in math.
So far as a TOC the biggest downfall is not being able to work with children on inquiry projects when I am only there for a day or two. I have gone from having my own class for 6 years to being with classes for one day here or there. It is definitely a strange transition for me and I would love to use my research to plan small scale activities that I could do with children in one day and make an impact rather than just fill time when their teacher is away. Because I am struggling with these changes I am trying to find the positives and maybe sparking curiosity in classrooms all over Victoria is my path in this new role.
I am really looking forward to finding and compiling resources related to these interest topics of mine.
A good first blog post for your topics, interests, goals and wishes for your future role as a Teacher-Librarian. Your connection to Downes and the greater message of Why School came through very strongly as well as your goals for students to fully embrace inquiry based learning that can support their own growth and learning moving forward. A good point to bring up the challenges of being a TOC and missing the consistent availability for your students in their research. Hopefully a position comes along soon. A good start to your reading review.
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