Final Vision Project- Rationale

Why inquiry based learning?

 “We have to stop delivering the curriculum to kids. We have to start discovering it with them.” (Richardson)

This statement has stuck with me since reading Will Richardson’s book Why Schools? Students need to be prepared for the world after school and simply memorizing facts and listening to teachers deliver curriculum is not going to motivate and engage students in their learning.  They need “to engage in questioning that provoke authentic exploration with the characters of academic rigor typical of real work with real ideas.” (galileo.org) I feel like this is so important in today’s education system.  I see so many students going through the motions and never experiencing the excitement or sense of pride in discovering something new.  Inquiry based learning is an approach that can help teachers and students accomplish this goal and create rich and engaging work.

With the creation of my inquiry based learning website I hope to provide a place that will have explanations, links, resources and videos that are easy to use and access.  I want the teachers to easily find what they are looking for and to be inspired to continue their own research.     

“Schools ought to be communities where students come to do rich, engaging work–work that inspires, develops insight and stirs the imagination.” (galileo.org)

With this website I intend to provide links, information and sample lessons in the following areas:

• What is Inquiry? Why is it important?
• BCTLA Points of Inquiry
• Inquiry Literacy Skills (Non-fiction reading and writing)
• Inquiry Resources and Links
• Tools for Inquiry
• Assessment rubrics
• New BC Curriculum- to assist teachers in making the transition while looking through the lens of inquiry based learning 

Target Audience

Since this website will be the starting point for introducing inquiry based learning in my school, it is important that this website is made for teachers.  Once they have an understanding of inquiry based learning then they will be able to transfer the knowledge to the students.  The main goal of this website is to make the learning process as easy as possible with practical resources.

In May, the teacher librarians of my school board have a professional day together and will be meeting to discuss inquiry based learning. I plan on sharing this website with them so that they have a bank of resources and information to assist their staff members in exploring this approach.

Now it’s time for me to get to work and start creating!

Works Cited:

Richardson, Will (2012-09-10). Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere (Kindle Single) (Kindle Locations 414-415). TED Conferences. Kindle Edition.

"Why Inquiry?" Galileo Educational Network. Web. <http://galileo.org/>.

Final Vision Project- Post 1

Since the beginning of the course when I read through the syllabus and saw what the final project would be, I have known that I wanted to focus on inquiry based learning.  It is something that I am exploring myself as a TL and I would like to help the classroom teachers learn how to use it in their classroom. 

I have wanted to explore inquiry based learning with the staff at my school for a number of years.  It is something that most teachers have not explored yet and I would like to create a website that will guide them through the process of discovery and help them unpack the layers.  Since the teachers are busy and not all find it necessary to explore websites for hours finding new ways of teaching research, I want to create a space where they can get most of their questions answered along with sample lesson plans, how-to videos, curriculum links, etc.  Most importantly I need to find resources in French since we are a French Immersion school and it is always a challenge finding French resources.  When I want to present a mini workshop or have a discussion I can simply refer to the website and this also allows the teachers to explore the links on their own.   

My goal is to personalize this website by meeting the needs of each teacher and hopefully include information that specifically relates to their curriculum.  The new curriculum has a new focus on inquiry and since we will be required to make changes to the curriculum I think this would be a great opportunity to integrate both the new curriculum and inquiry based learning as the change is being made. It can be harder to change something that you've been doing for a long time but when you are forced to make changes hopefully it will be easier to explore different ways of teaching this new curriculum.

I plan on using the BCTLA Points of Inquiry as a guide and throughout the last few months I have found a number of very good sites that I look forward to exploring further. As I do my research my main focus will be to make sure that all links are easy to use and easy to understand.  

Sometimes I feel like my staff can be a bit spoilt and they want everything clearly laid out for them to simply follow, so that’s what I hope to give them!  I hope to create an inquiry based learning website nicely gift wrapped and ready to be opened and explored!

Reflections and Impressions

The inquiry phase of this course was very useful and got me thinking about some of the big topics that are important in being a TL.  I always enjoy researching and finding all kinds of new and interesting approaches to teaching and managing a library.  Reading other classmates blogs was also very helpful in getting ideas and seeing things from a different perspective.    

During the inquiry of fostering a reading culture in our school I took a lot of time to really reflect upon my strengths and weaknesses and I realized how little I do to include families.  Family literacy plays a vital role in developing life-long readers yet it’s something that wasn't on my radar.  What made me really stop and think about what I could be doing was in reading blogs from classmates and reading how they stay in touch with parents and include them in the school literacy program.  Since that inquiry, I have continued to look into ways to reach out to parents and give them suggestions on how to encourage reading at home.  I have already found a few activities that I would like to do after Spring Break such as books for breakfast, give a short presentation on literacy and the library at the new Kindergarten orientation meeting held in May and I plan on adding a page to my library website to provide links, book lists and activities to help parents encourage summer reading. 

Another takeaway for me is not to be afraid to be a leader in my school.  I often feel like I need to be an expert before I can start giving presentations or suggesting resources but throughout the inquiry process I discovered that it is not possible for me to be this expert in all things.  One of the key things I learned in this article was when an environment that encourages respect, sharing and teaching among staff members is created then the pressure of being seen as an expert diminishes. A good starting point is to plant seeds and to gently guide my colleagues in the right direction and take the lead when necessary.   

This photo really spoke to me and reminds me that deep down I am a leader and I need to let that shine!  Teachers are similar to students and respond differently to my teaching.  Each teacher will need some guidance in something different and I need to look at what they need instead of only focusing on what I think they need.

Learning about the use of mobile devices and eBooks in developing countries was something that I had not heard about or even thought about.  It was nice to do some research that had a more global perspective and was designed to bring awareness to other ways of promoting literacy.   This has even helped me reflect on what our school could do to help the students that are in this city that have no books at home and who never have the opportunity to go to the library or buy a new book. 

The one big topic that really resonated with me was creating a PLN.  Taking this diploma program has lit a spark in me and I have a constant desire to explore and learn new things.  In a month I will be done this journey and I now feel confident in how I can maintain this interest in learning.  One of the big eye openers for me has been Twitter!  It had never occurred to me that it can be used as a way of sharing professional information.   Now I check in from time to time and I always find something new and interesting to read.  Staying organized with all the new information is another potential challenge. I opened a Delicious account a few years back but I have not been using it.  Instead I have links all over the place and I can never find what I need when I need it. It is time to use the technology that is available to me and to get organized. By choosing a few ways of staying connected with blogs, twitter and TL networks I feel that I will be able to stay connected and get the support that I need as I continue learning how to be an effective TL.

Overall this inquiry phase was very helpful in exploring aspects of being a TL that I had not yet thought about in great depth.  I was able to discover things that will help me right now and much later in my career. I look forward to putting all this research into action and to continue to explore new avenues.