Ongoing Inquiry
As described throughout this paper, implementing this inquiry project has had various implications for the future and has produced further questions. At the end of each section, you read about specific consequences and learnings from the activities. In this section, I will describe general learnings and thoughts for the future.
If I had the opportunity, I would have analyzed many more projects and assignments that we did this semester to better inform my inquiry question. It should be noted that almost all of my research and data for this inquiry question is qualitative based. It would have been interesting to see if giving students autonomy actually increased student performances on a traditional test. However, it would be extremely difficult to carry out that research because so much of the projects were skills based and project based, which are hard to quantify.
Over the course of the semester, I have thought about the amount of individual work and group work that I have assigned. There are benefits to both and it is important for students to be able to work alone and with others. Because I received such mixed reactions from my students, I was unsure how much I should encourage them to work together because I did not want to turn my students away from learning completely. In the future, I would be interested in completing an inquiry project about how group work can affect student learning. I think that it would be insightful and help me to better understand classroom dynamics.
One of my primary concerns this year has been my classroom management skills. When I began implementing this inquiry project, I thought that by giving the students greater autonomy, it would also help them to become more engaged in activities and helped dissipate any discipline issues. However, while the students were engaged in their work, I found that many of my students came in to class rowdy and noisy and were sometimes disrespectful to me and their classmates. I would hope that in my future classes, I can find a way to decrease the disruptions, while still giving the students as much autonomy as possible. Perhaps I can establish the idea that the students' level of autonomy is conditional on their behavior. However, I do not like this method of punishment and reinforcement. I do think that when they completed activities on their own, they were better behaved and more interested in their work. Therefore, I am hesitant to restrict their freedom and am sure that more teaching experience will help me with classroom management. I think it would be better to encourage my students to continue to work hard and find ways to use my students' interests to formulate my lesson plans.
Although I gave my students autonomy in many assignments, it was also important to push them past their comfort zones and challenge them both academically and socially. Therefore, there were times where I chose the types of presentations that the students had to give and times where we focused on a specific academic skill. At the same time, it's crucial for students to have the space and opportunity to develop and express their talents. On a related note, even when the students have very high levels of autonomy, it is important that teacher has the ability to step in when necessary and help mediate between the students. The teacher is also an important guide for the students as they are working to complete their projects. I will admit that coming from a traditional schooling environment, I am still learning about my role a a teacher in an autonomous classroom. There are many ways that I can improve by developing better relationships with my students, further differentiating my lessons, and making the lessons relevant to my students. Nevertheless, I am glad that I was pushed past my own comfort zone this semester and that I have had the chance to expose myself to different teaching styles. I hope to continue this in the future and not be afraid to try new things. This will help make me a successful and innovative educator.
If I had the opportunity, I would have analyzed many more projects and assignments that we did this semester to better inform my inquiry question. It should be noted that almost all of my research and data for this inquiry question is qualitative based. It would have been interesting to see if giving students autonomy actually increased student performances on a traditional test. However, it would be extremely difficult to carry out that research because so much of the projects were skills based and project based, which are hard to quantify.
Over the course of the semester, I have thought about the amount of individual work and group work that I have assigned. There are benefits to both and it is important for students to be able to work alone and with others. Because I received such mixed reactions from my students, I was unsure how much I should encourage them to work together because I did not want to turn my students away from learning completely. In the future, I would be interested in completing an inquiry project about how group work can affect student learning. I think that it would be insightful and help me to better understand classroom dynamics.
One of my primary concerns this year has been my classroom management skills. When I began implementing this inquiry project, I thought that by giving the students greater autonomy, it would also help them to become more engaged in activities and helped dissipate any discipline issues. However, while the students were engaged in their work, I found that many of my students came in to class rowdy and noisy and were sometimes disrespectful to me and their classmates. I would hope that in my future classes, I can find a way to decrease the disruptions, while still giving the students as much autonomy as possible. Perhaps I can establish the idea that the students' level of autonomy is conditional on their behavior. However, I do not like this method of punishment and reinforcement. I do think that when they completed activities on their own, they were better behaved and more interested in their work. Therefore, I am hesitant to restrict their freedom and am sure that more teaching experience will help me with classroom management. I think it would be better to encourage my students to continue to work hard and find ways to use my students' interests to formulate my lesson plans.
Although I gave my students autonomy in many assignments, it was also important to push them past their comfort zones and challenge them both academically and socially. Therefore, there were times where I chose the types of presentations that the students had to give and times where we focused on a specific academic skill. At the same time, it's crucial for students to have the space and opportunity to develop and express their talents. On a related note, even when the students have very high levels of autonomy, it is important that teacher has the ability to step in when necessary and help mediate between the students. The teacher is also an important guide for the students as they are working to complete their projects. I will admit that coming from a traditional schooling environment, I am still learning about my role a a teacher in an autonomous classroom. There are many ways that I can improve by developing better relationships with my students, further differentiating my lessons, and making the lessons relevant to my students. Nevertheless, I am glad that I was pushed past my own comfort zone this semester and that I have had the chance to expose myself to different teaching styles. I hope to continue this in the future and not be afraid to try new things. This will help make me a successful and innovative educator.