I feel that the most powerful component that has emerged this year is the pure joy I have seen in those going through inquiry this year. They all felt so empowered and enthusiastic about their own inquiries and those of fellow inquirers that the happiness in tackling their own wonderings stood out the most to me this year-more so than in the past.It is fulfilling to see this project "light teachers up."

I know that in the case of the elementary school inquirers, their study has greatly impacted students because they focused on specific students and were trying to improve performance in a specific way-only one student out of about 19 was considered less better off than before the inquiry began. I am sure that as far as the high school participants the students derived some benefit from the teachers enthusiasm and "open stance" not to mention how the findings changed practice for the greater good.

I guess the most important thing I learned was the necessity of a support system while going thru this process of inquiry-inquiry has it's own life cycle in a way and when energy is low or data is OVERWHELMING that support is vital. In other words  we can not minimize the value of the sounding board /coach role in inquiry. I also learned that communication is a necessity as well. If inquiry takes place in isolation with inquirers working through their own wonderings without the time designated to share them aloud then the process and "stance" are weakened and feeble.

Guiding others through this process has been invaluable to me as a person and a teacher.It has allowed me to get to know on a professional basis teachers in my district that I would not get know at all otherwise as we all rush though our various responsibilities every day.Of course listening to them all offered me ideas and led me to "wonderings" (plenty) of my own that could branch off from their research. I have felt a sense of accomplishment both of the years I have served as a coach!

Where do I go from here?

I would love to continue assisting teachers in this process and I feel I have been given the tools to do so but most importantly I have carefully watched a most graceful example of how to lead others in inquiry by watching Nancy Dana lead our group along this road.I would always choose to have her with us still if that is possible because her support has been constant and unwavering! Thank goodness we have her voice within her books!

Have a great summer! 

I will miss you Nancy and Chris and Katie!

Hello Fellow Bloggers,

 It was nice to run into some of you at the NEFEC textbook expo yesterday! 

I am off to 3 individual meetings this afternoon after school at our elementary school. All is going well -seems to be picking up speed as far as inquirers eager to share findings .My own inquiry is moving along and offering insights that lead to .......MORE wonderings!Thanks for attachments!

What went so well with second meeting is I had a few new faces show up which tells me word of mouth is positive here about inquiry.One of the attendees is committed to going through the process and simply couldn't make it to Gainesville for the kickoff.I am excited by the group I am working with and I used Jack's practice of placing a big piece of paper up and outlining Wondering, Procedure, Timeline etc so each member could take this with them along with sticky note responses from other group members about their inquiry.This went very well,just seemed to run out of time!

If I had to choose one word to describe my feelings about participating in inquiry this year the word would be "sustaining" because this practice is sustaining my enthusiasm for teaching.In a year when so many redundant demands are placed on us inquiry is like an escape to remind me what I love about the classroom.It is refreshing and so valuable because it is all my own.