Week 7 - Reflection

 Hello readers and welcome back to my learning adventure, 

This week we took a very hands on approach to the scientific inquiry method. We were told to go outside and seek out physical things that we could use in an inquiry based learning environment. I felt this was a great way to get a real life experience for what we have been formulating in class. I found myself analyzing my environment on many different levels that I have not done before. I felt myself incorporating the knowledge building strategy of idea diversity in my inquiry. There was so many different ideas like changing leaves, rock formations, how certain plants grew, cloud shapes, and many more. This activity showed me how important it is to incorporate idea diversity in the classroom. An important part of the learning cycle is exploration which I believe was highlighted effectively through this activity. Exploration allows for students to identify and further develop concepts or skills. Through our nature walk we were able to apply our learning in a new environment allowing for a deeper understanding of the material. After this activity, we also shared our ideas with the class, and I was again surprised about how many different and unique ideas were discussed. I was very interested to hear what drew each individual to each specific items they found. There were a couple groups who talked about their interest in why certain trees leaves turn red and the other trees leaves turn yellow, but each group came up with different ideas to present to a classroom. They also each had their own individual interest in the topic at hand. This highlighted to me that every person can look at one thing and interpret it completely differently. As a future educator it is important to understand and appreciate various ways of thinking. Being open to the individuality of students is something I want to highlight in my teaching style. Additionally, this activity also made me think further about how this will be interpreted in my future classroom, as I think one important aspect of this activity was the communication aspect of it. I want to be able to develop an environment that makes students feel safe enough to take risks in their learning, try new things, and be able to take feedback. I want to create a space where students feel accepted and understood through there learning experience. This will also allow for students to have a chance to share and explain there perspective. Through this activity and the community that was created I found it very easy to be open and listen to what others personally found classes where my ideas have been listened, even if they weren’t the typical answer, to have had a positive impact on my educational journey and I would like to provide a similar experience to my future students.