@PENathan through inquiry…because honestly….nothing in my teacher prep program taught me how to teach through inquiry #pechat
— Adam Howell (@adamphowell) February 17, 2015
@BillyB_PE I definitely have some brain discomfort myself…it’s hard to admit that #pechat
— Adam Howell (@adamphowell) February 17, 2015
Inquiry is not something you DO, it’s a way of thinking…
@NicholasEndlich learning because they learn how to ask questions like HOW and WHY …they learn to be reflective #pechat
— Adam Howell (@adamphowell) February 17, 2015
How do games CHANGE? What is your RESPONSIBILITY on a team? What does it look like (FORM) #pechat
— Nathan Horne (@PENathan) February 17, 2015
@PENathan #pechat Ah missing link for me, exploring variety of games through these lenses. Of course! Of course! huge ahha moment happening!
— Lynn Burrows (@Lovepeme) February 17, 2015
@pe4everykid Too often we have teachers driving the thinking in classrooms and students are just inactive passengers #pechat @donbartalo
— Adam Howell (@adamphowell) February 17, 2015
But where do I begin? What does it look like? Won’t It Be Chaotic?
These are the most common questions that are asked by teachers who have not used or do not have an understanding on meaningful inquiry based learning. The absolute guru on inquiry based learning in my mind is Kath Murdoch. She wrote a fantastic blog post on How do Inquiry Teachers…Teach? which is an absolute must read as a starting point for those unfamiliar or not quite sold on inquiry based learning.
In her blog post she suggests that teachers who subscribe to the philosophy of inquiry based learning:
– Talk Less
– Ask More
– Relate to their students
– Let kids in on the “secret”
– Check in with their students constantly
– Collaborate with their students
– See the bigger picture
Kath Murdoch, justwonderingblog.com, Feb 2014
@adamphowell @NicholasEndlich true inquiry is give them the tools and they go isn’t it? Im not that free in my class. #pechat
— Justin schleider (@SchleiderJustin) February 17, 2015
@adamphowell Absolutely.Anyone can give student choice, true inquiry based learning is a result of careful planning and provocation #pechat
— Nathan Horne (@PENathan) February 17, 2015
What about my Learning Outcomes? Standards? Benchmarks?
Then I had the AH-HA moment….
In other words, if you know the outcomes and your scope and sequence…is that really inquiry? Or are we mixing up terms? #pechat
— Adam Howell (@adamphowell) February 17, 2015
@Lovepeme @adamphowell @reema_kahar Outcomes/Standards/Benchmarks govern the WHAT? Students inquire into the HOW and WHY? #pechat
— Nathan Horne (@PENathan) February 17, 2015
I will be blogging further about how I use our Learning Outcomes and Benchmarks within our inquiry based PYP setting in another post soon. To do this I will reference the work of Terri Drain’s How to Design a Standards Based Lesson and Joey Feith’s Great Unpacking.
Beginning Your Inquiry Journey…
Although it may seem foreign and confusing to you or you may question it’s validity, to me inquiry based learning is simply good practice. Wouldn’t you want your children to ask Why? or even more importantly Why Not?In the coming weeks I will be continuing to blog about Inquiry in #PhysEd so please check back soon for more ideas and information about how you might use inquiry based learning in your program. I was also been lucky enough to be invited by SPARK to present a free Webinar on Inquiry Based Learning in #PhysEd and #Afterschool Programs.You can watch a replay of the webinar here.