Wednesday 18 November 2015

#Peel21st Blog Hop - What Has Been Your Most Memorable Moment This Fall?


My most memorable moment this fall happened yesterday - and it wasn't planned, and it wasn't something that I was expecting to happen until much later on in the school year. The day before I began a writing and reading workshop with my students about inquiry questions. We have done some open ended inquiry within the class, but this was the first time I am asking my students to do some "research". I gave them the prompts of "I want to learn about...."  and "My question is...."  I then helped each student to narrow his/her question down to something that was attainable and that we knew there was information on.  The students got books from the school LLC and some of them have been able to ascertain some information to answer his/her question.

The next day, during our Morning Meeting, the topic of snow came up. We looked at a map on my laptop of Denver and the Rocky mountains where they were in a middle of a blizzard. All of a sudden, the inquiry questions came flying at me. "Why do we have snow?" "Why do we need rain?" "Why are there seasons?" "Why is the sun hot?" "Why do we have celebrations?"  (not sure how that one has to do with snow, but we take all questions!)  It's like the parents of my class gave them all a copy of the science curriculum and said, "Go and ask your teacher these questions." I was blown away. With only one example to go by, they gave me 5 or 6 great inquiry questions that we can work on as a class, that are all related to the grade 1 and 2 science curriculum. It made my heart sing to realize we may have some critical questioners in my class. And that can lead to some critical thinking and some 21st century learning. 

And that's why I teach. For those memorable moments!!  

Check out these other #peel21st bloggers to find out about their memorable moments of Fall 2015!


Jason Richea - http://beyondangrybirds.blogspot.ca/2015/11/best-moment.html








Shivonne Lewis-Young - https://slewisyoung.wordpress.com/

3 comments:

  1. Don't you just love inquiry? It allows students to grasp the concepts at any level. Thanks for sharing your journey.

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  2. It must have felt like you were being pranked! Were you looking for the cameras? I agree that it is these amazing moments that make teaching the best.

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  3. Sounds like a great moment for both you and your students.

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