InquiryJourney

=**Where are you in your Inquiry Journey?**=

**"What our students need is not pre-packaged knowledge, but classrooms that are sites of Inquiry where the teachers themselves are constant learners." - Konrad Glogowski** Promoting [|Teacher Inquiry] is one of the first and most important steps for educators to embark upon when building competence within collaboration groupings who undertake the inquiry process. There are many different questions that come to mind when we are discussing this topic.
 * 1) How do you build a community of educators who want to challenge themselves to keep the idea of Inquiry at the center of all that is done?
 * 2) How do you build a community of educators who fearlessly, rigorously, and in good faith, challenge themselves to investigate, discover, and uncover how issues play out in the classroom to promote learning, and then do something about it?
 * 3) How do you build a community of educators who consistently strive for innovative practice that will assist and support in the betterment of student achievement?
 * 4) How then, do we begin to define the concept of Teacher Inquiry?

[|The Reflective Educator's Guide to Classroom Research] has taken a look at this very idea and has provided the necessary information and research to back the questions that we have been asking. Are there easy answers? We think not. Tim Feeney, Project Director of the New York Neurobehavioral Resource Project, would agree as he has said, "that most ideas which are conceptually simple, tend to be procedurally difficult" It is however, this procedure or process of learning, that when embedded is far more powerful and long-lasting for both teacher and learner.

Konrad Glogowski, Coordinator of the Teaching Mastery program at Teachers Without Borders, has presented an online Videocast entitled [|Self-Driven and Classroom-Based: Professional Development in the 21st Century] which addresses the idea that in order for us as educators to promote inquiry learning we must first become inquiry learners ourselves. He discusses how important classroom-based teacher development and reflective practice are to this process. This Videocast is approximately 30 minutes but well worth the time spent as a staff or a PLC group to have some great conversation and discussion. If nothing else, it may get some people thinking a little differently about classroom practice.

**Educator Self-Assessment Rubrics to Support the Journey**
The Galileo Educational Network Association has put together an which allows educators to conduct some self-assessment and self-reflection regarding their own teaching practice. The is a great tool for whole school reflection regarding the implementation and embedding of the Inquiry-Based Teaching and Learning process. It outlines and assesses the four key areas of Purpose and Practice, Collaboration and Communication, Rigor, and Leadership Development. School leaders have used this tool to guide discussion and reflection with teaching teams on their Inquiry Journey.

**A School Commits to Academic Rigor**
Project learning, integrated studies, and comprehensive assessment support a drive to achieve high academic standards. This video is a great example of what many different Professional Learning Communities are beginning to do as they collaborate together.

media type="custom" key="5610391" align="center"

Continuing Education Adds Up Despite large class sizes and economic challenges that plague many schools, Fullerton IV Elementary School has improved test scores dramatically by focusing on teacher training and support, including a math coach and summer workshops. http://www.edutopia.org/magic-of-math media type="custom" key="5610401" align="center"