Teacher inquiry
A friend and I are engaged in teacher inquiry this school year. She is, so far at least, just looking at her classroom practice to see where it works and where it doesn’t. I am working on differentiating instruction in one of my classes. So what? What makes this somewhat unusual, I think, is that she is a kindergarten teacher and I teach at the university. But, we are both part of the High Pains Writing Project, so we know that she has things to offer me, and I have things to offer her. We know that we can help each other become better teachers by sharing our knowledge and experience and even our questions.
This is proving to be an interesting experience. I know that Dee has helped me see my own classroom more clearly than I was seeing it before. My program is set up for students who are at a high intermediate or advanced level. But this semester, I have some students who would qualify as high beginners. I needed to do something. I had started making adjustments a few weeks ago, but now that we have started this project, I am trying to expand my efforts and create something that I can use in the future when I encounter a similar situation. It is exciting. And, as always, it is really rewarding to talk with another professional about my practice.
