My inquiry topic is how to motivate students who are not motivated at school. This inquiry question focused mainly around one student because I saw that she was consistently unengaged and not motivated. I believe that there are several important tactics to increase students motivation.
SEL- When I first came into my practicum classroom, this student did not want to work with me or listen to any instruction that I gave her. Right away I began to focus on building a relationship with her. I strongly believe that if I did not have a relationship with her things would not be easy between us. Now that we have a good relationship we work well together, and she is much more positive and hard working.
Autonomy- This student really surprised me several times when she had her own initiative of what she would do during a lesson. For example, she was one of the most creative poets during our poetry unit because she got to choose what she could write about. During art lessons she usually tends to lean away from the norm and also takes initiative to do her own thing. She really enjoys being different, and she takes pride in her unique creations.
Collaborative learning- This student becomes much more engaged during collaborative work time. Especially if she gets to choose who she will be working with. Students were to make their own fairy tales with a partner or their choice, and her partner and her were getting so much done together. She usually struggles very much with anything that has to do with writing or reading, so this was a big hurdle to tackle during the fairy tale writing process. They were on task, and having fun with the process.
Technology- This student really enjoys working on laptops in the classroom and enjoys viewing things on the projector screen. She is much more motivated to do any reading or writing when it is on the laptop. When it comes to picking up a pencil and writing on paper, it is frequently a struggle for her. However, when writing is done on the laptop she is much more motivated.
I also think inquiry based learning is a good way to motivate students because they are often exploring topics that they are more interested in, it is more hands on (inquiry of objects), and it gives students autonomy. I strive to work towards incorporating a strong inquiry based model in the classroom. Therefore, in order to extend my inquiry project, I want to improve my teaching practices by strengthening my abilities to teach through an inquiry framework. I hope to encourage students not to simply look for immediate answers but enjoy the process of thinking critically, investigating and exploring different possibilities.
During my practicum, I planned two activities where students used controlled inquiry (teacher chooses topics and identifies the resources students will use to answer questions). The first one was for Science. Students were given a nocturnal animal and were told to research the animal and find out its nocturnal adaptations. I gave the students resources/ websites to use to answer their questions and find additional interesting information about their animal. Students also used websites that they found on their own. Students put their information into Google slides and each group shared their findings with the class. The other activity was for Social Studies. Students were researching Canada joining confederation. Again students used the websites provided by the teacher to get their information. Students then held a teacher led debate whether or not confederation was a good option or not.
To help students inquire, educators should pose open ended questions. Asking open ended questions provide students of all ability levels and from different backgrounds with an opportunity to participate in discussions (Alvorado & Herr, 2003). These questions require more than a yes or no response which can catalyze further discussion as more ideas and opinions are introduced. In my teaching, I have learned to use higher level questioning on Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy. Higher level questioning is important because it helps expand students thinking, and gets them to think deeper about a topic.
Furthermore, when students are able to develop their own inquiry questions it is important to provide students with open topics so they can choose a question that is of interest to them. Self generated topics are pursued more deeply and with greater interest than those that students perceive as imposed on them.
Strategies for implementing IBL
Many strategies can be used to implement IBL. The list below is a non-exhaustive list of strategies that can be use in IBL based on my experiences and research:
Experiments
KWL charts
Journals
Forming and evaluating predictions
Wonder walls
Visual representation of findings
Thinking maps
Object analysis
Field trips
Guest/expert speakers
Group work
Allowing students to struggle (within reason)
Demonstrations
Active learning
Use of technology and research
Communicating results
For my mini inquiry, I looked into fair assessment for a classroom with many levels of learners/ abilities. Basically my findings were that teachers should try to give the same assessment to all students but make it open ended so the student can give as much information as they can depending on their ability. Such assessments may be KWL charts, learning journals, exit slips, 3-2-1, and minute papers. Using these type of assessments students can either write a lot or a little bit. Students should also be given a lot of choice when it comes to representing their learning. Not all students do well during testing. Having other assessment strategies like posters, oral presentations or PowerPoint slides work great too.