What I learned from the Inquiry Presentations

Homework:

• Pros- fosters responsibilities and improves understanding of class materials; increases study habits; allows parents to be more involved with what their child is doing at school.
• Cons- increases anxiety and stress when the child does not understand their homework. Lack of help from parents (they might not understand it either) and students may not have available resources such as the Internet to use.

Teachers Support Grieving Children in the Classroom:

• As teachers, we should support students who lost someone close to them. Therefore, look for resources that can educate us about this sensitive topic and be there for our students. Most importantly, we should respect all grieving styles and be aware of different cultural traditions with grieving.

Flipped Classroom:

• Flipped classrooms can increase interactions
• Frees up class times
• Khan Academy for math is an excellent resource that helps students understand math and give them extra practice.
• Con: Mandatory use of technology and internet

Strategies for Maintaining Anxiety

• Anxiety can take in many forms like generalized anxiety, separation anxiety, selective mutism anxiety disorder, specific phobias and social anxiety disorder.
• Teachers can help students by:
  • Seating them close to you
  • Being clear and repeat, so giving students a sense of direction
  • Cool- down
  • Answering questions

Music and Education

• Singing can improve communication
• It’s emotionally arousing
• Helps students calm down and stay on task.
• Music can be cross-curricularà math (fractions) and science (using different vegetables to create sounds)

The teacher candidates did a phenomenal job and discussed all important inquiries that we should be prepared for, when we leave the program. Some of the inquiries that stood out to me were how to have a creative education, how to motivate students, how to support ELL in the classroom, how to address combination classrooms, and how to help students with various subjects. These are all great inquiries! The strategies that I really enjoyed were allowing the classroom to be a community and not only be teacher focused. Therefore, allowing each student to feel included, and helping him or her to succeed. If students were to have a conflict with the teacher or another student, they can use strategies like cool down, go for a walk, describe the conflict, describe how they feel, and try to brainstorm and find a solution. Overall, I had a great time observing everyone’s inquiry presentations. I learned so much and I want to make sure that I will implement all these skills in my classroom, in order for my students and myself to be successful.