Evaluation Of My Inquiry

What is student inquiry?

This very question has taken me on a journey of much discovery from readings to understanding more clearly 'What is inquiry?' but furthermore 'Where does the learner fit into this?' And 'How this benefits the learner.'

Weaknesses

Teaching inquiry this year I've observed students who are below or well below struggle to understand the concept of inquiry.  More importantly the learner has not yet developed the necessary key competencies to be able to inquiry.  

There are many actions to teach around inquiry and trying to do all of this at once can overwhelm the learner as they do need plenty of practice to feel confident to do inquiry learning independently.

First and foremost it starts with having the confidence to pose questions, and the learners need to be immersed in these.  For example posing questions could be a reading focus for small groups and as a teacher you're giving explicit teaching around this.  Students will start to see the connections of how these transfer to their own inquiries, and know we are always posing questions across the curriculum.  As a teacher I'm always praising my students by saying comments like "That was a great question you posed!" And this example could be during mathematics.

Good Points

I have come to the conclusion that there are five important points I've observed in my class while my students inquiry...

• Students have more ownership in their learning 
• Creates more curiosity for all learners
• Empowers the learner to set and achieve their own goals
• Improves their research skills by using key words
• Students are engaged in the learning

Where to next?

• Modelling good and relevant lessons - reading/writing workshops
• By continuing to be motivated and engaged
• By showing a continuous interest in my students investigation inquiries - giving good feedback/feedforward, praises and continue to display relevant inquiry learning walls.
• Continue to support and guide my students to have inquiry minds