Inquiry Based Learning 1

     When I first thought about inquiry based learning I had one main misconception. This misconception was that to foster inquiry based learning in the classroom all that was needed was to encourage students to ask questions and to be curious about the world around them. I did not think about the theory that surrounded inquiry based learning and why inquiry based learning was beneficial to the young learners. Through the first week of this course I was able to gather a better understanding of the benefits of inquiry based learning and learned ways to foster inquiry based learning in my classroom.
       I was able to learn of the variety of ways that I can foster inquiry based learning in my classroom. Being a 6th grade science teacher, I am able to create a learning environment and curriculum centered around inquiry based learning. Inquiry based learning can be weaved into class discussions, labs can be centered around a question and research projects can be centered around inquiry.
     One of my main takeaways from the content in this week is that inquiry based learning is student centered. The teacher is there to guide students. It is important that the structure of inquiry based learning changes in regards to the students and how they change. I take this as not doing the same thing year to year or class to class, but rather really thinking about how the students will respond and changing the lesson or activity in response to the students.
      The last takeaway that I had was that an inquiry based lesson is fluid. The teacher needs to change in response to what the students are doing and what they need. Which means, we will not be able stick to a set lesson plan for each class. If we wish to teach inquiry based learning it is important to be organized enough to be a guide to students, but flexible enough to change in response to what they are doing and how they are doing. Victoria