Sally Avern's Professional Journey

I have gone back to the beginning of the Inquiry cycle. The oral language activities have been working to help the students to understand the content at a deeper level and contribute to the lessons in a more interactive way. Now I need to work out what is next. I looked at their work and found my next 'Big Bang'. Soldier Brooklyn Stephone Maile Wiremu     Bronson What is happening? The students are now planning with many details and using those plans to organise sentences into paragraphs most of the time. By using quick writes and simple structured activities, I tested this out. They found the use of structure and vocabulary very easy, as well as articulating their ideas within a group and coming up with ideas. These students are able to generate ideas and build up a plan that will help them write. They are learning the different structures of things. Something that they all lack to varying degrees is the ability to consistently create sen...

Argumentation  + Bloom's Taxonomy + Teaching as Inquiry + Discussion based learning I'v started this with a reflection. My current TAI goal is to give the students more agency to work towards inquiry based learning.  I know that agency and inquiry is proven to help those students that lack engagement. I know that giving them agency normally means choice of task, choice of topic, freedom to move around the classroom, freedom the choose when they work on what task they are performing. What if agency meant freedom to THINK whatever they want.  Form opinions, make decisions. I feel like I am developing my evaluating mind around the way I give agency to my students. Yes, they need to be guided, but I can be giving them the skills they need in reading and writing to form opinions, use and discuss ideas and agree/disagree with evidence.  I am getting there with baby steps. I am seeing my practice develop. Agree/disagree is used in my class- in a beginners way. Now...