Unit 2: Elements of an Inquiry Based Classroom

I am learning so much I don’t know where to begin this week.  I think the most intriguing information I learned was considering Process Skills vs. Content Knowledge.  After reading about what colleges and employers are looking for in students, I realized the importance of teaching and utilizing process skills or soft skills everyday in the classroom.  I compared it to the common saying, ‘if you give a man a fish you can feed him for one day but if you teach him to fish you can feed him for life’.  I believe process skills are like teaching the students to fish.  Mastering skills like communication, study habits, utilizing tools to gather information, analyzing material and creating innovative solutions to problems will help students reach success throughout their lives, whereas teaching them to master a specific topic will help them do well on the test you give them.  If students learn to master process skills they will be able to access the content they need and apply it. 

A great example comes from a coworker of mine.  She shared with me that her daughter is a pharmacist and she was a dedicated student but she still has trouble to this day with simple math such as calculating a tip.  Her daughter didn’t need to master this content to be successful.  She knows the tools (calculator or tip calculator on her phone) she can use to access this information and she can come to the same conclusion that people who have mastered can.  My coworker’s husband was raised in another country and she said the rigor of the curriculum and process skills there was intense.  She said her husband use to tell her kids that they did not spend enough time on their studies.  When he was in school it was very competitive and he had a great sense of responsibility toward his own learning.  It was interesting to hear about his perspective towards learning and how his process skills helped him to master the content knowledge.  I am hoping that by holding the bar high for my students and guiding them, as they use and develop these process skills, they will be able to take these skills with them throughout their life. 

Typically when I consider and plan for my students, I think of the short term goals I have for them.  I want them to master concepts for a test or prepare them for content they will be introduced to in third grade.  Through these readings I am more aware and focused on life long goals for my students.  I am thinking about what they need to be successful after high school and college.  If I can start now, in second grade, instilling the traits, habits and skills they need, I will help them be more prepared to meet success throughout their educational career and beyond.  This has renewed my purpose as a teacher and validated the time I spend using inquiry based learning.  The environment I create in my classroom is not just for this year, it is teaching them valuable interpersonal skills for the future.  The time that I spend having them make predictions about a book or a question, is helping them prepare for problem solving in the work place.  The time I spend having them write blogs is helping them build technical skills that they will use for the rest of their lives.  By giving them opportunities to lead calendar math, I am teaching them how to be leaders and be led by their peers.  I have gained a new outlook and I am forming a new philosophy of teaching from this week.