Inquiry and Design: Essentials for Teaching and Learning
Resource Center Professional Development Workshop Series Sept.-Dec. 2014
Inquiry and Design: Essentials for Teaching and Learning
Student learning depends on the quality and quantity of student involvement, yet teachers dominate 70% of the conversations in the classroom. Inquiry and Design places teachers in the position of coach while inviting students to take the lead in their learning process. Inquiry and Design promotes active learn- ing, and requires students to read and evaluate a variety of texts around an essential question. Inquiry and design challenges students to ask questions and take ownership of what they are learning. It promotes intellectual curiosity and offers a structure for kids to practice and hone necessary research skills. Join us for this workshop series in which we explore the Inquiry and Design process, and consider the many ways of doing inquiry.
Session ID1
Doing Inquiry: Experience the Cycle
Tuesday, September 23, 4:30-7:00pm - 2.5 CPDUs
Presenters Jennifer Crall and Susan A. Garr
Participate in this workshop to uncover what it is like to be a student doing inquiry. What does a student of inquiry do? How does a teacher facilitate the process of inquiry? Using a CCSS inquiry-based unit focused on heroes of the Holocaust, participants will experience the inquiry cycle. Using fiction, nonfiction and primary sourc- es, participants will ask questions, gather information, and construct knowledge as they grapple with essential questions and uncover courageous acts.
Session ID2
Doing Inquiry: Experience the Cycle
Saturday, September 27, 10:00am-1:00pm - 2.5 CPDUs
Presenter Lynette Emmons
Participate in this workshop to uncover what it is like
to be a student doing inquiry. What does a student of inquiry do? How does a teacher facilitate the process of inquiry? Using part of a CCSS inquiry unit called 7 Billion! We invite participants to play the role of student as you are taken into an inquiry on our population explosion. After you are immersed in this topic you will select the piece that peaks your interest and have time to delve into your own question. There will also be time for you to plan ways to integrate inquiry into your own teaching.
Session ID3
Inquiry Essentials: The All Important Inquiry Notebook
Tuesday, September 30, 4:30-6:30pm - 2.5 CPDUs
Presenter Germania Solórzano
Keeping a notebook and maintaining a sustained con- versation with oneself about an inquiry topic as well as sharing discoveries and new trains of thought with colleagues is part of an artistic and scientific process valuable in the classroom, in the business world and in life. We will explore the ways that scientists, scholars, artists and educators have used journals and notebooks as a part of their inquiry process. We’ll consider ways to bring notebooks and journals into the process of inquiry, and engage in a range of activities which could include: lists, maps, letters, sketches, diagrams, family trees, flow charts, stories, poems, parodies, dreams.
Session ID4
Inquiry and Design Nuts and Bolts
Monday, October 6, 4:30-7:00pm - 2.5 CPDUs
Presenter Susan A. Garr
In this workshop we will establish a shared definition of inquiry, explore examples of inquiry, examine the role of teachers and students during the inquiry process, as well as experience a trip through the inquiry cycle.
Session ID5
Doing Inquiry: Experience the Cycle
Tuesday October 14, 4:30-6:30pm - 2.5 CPDUs
Presenter Germania Solórzano
Participate in this workshop to uncover what it is like to be a student doing inquiry. What does a student of inquiry do? How does a teacher facilitate the process of inquiry? In this workshop we will use The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, by William Kamkwamba to further examine the inquiry cycle. Forced to drop out of school in Malawi because the family could not afford his school fees after surviving a horrible famine, William began to spend his time at a library. Here he discovered a picture of a windmill that inspired him to create his own. We will use William’s learning as a model for inquiry and look at the processes by which he was able to create a working wind- mill of his own. We will focus on inquiry, specifically gather- ing data, identifying patterns and constructing knowledge.
Session ID6
Doing Inquiry: Using Stations to Promote Practice, Collaboration and Curiosity
Tuesday October 28, 4:30-6:30pm -2.5 CPDUs
Presenters Susan A. Garr and Christine Johnson
Inquiry stations provide students time to practice their in- quiry skills, as well as verbalize what they are learning and thinking about with others. Inquiry stations provide student choice and support intellectual curiosity. Participants will explore inquiry stations to experience what it is like to be a student doing collaborative inquiry. We will share assessment ideas and ways to hold students accountable for their new learning. Time will be given for participants to plan and create inquiry stations for their classroom.
Session ID7
Managing Inquiry: Building and Maintaining Inquiry Theme Teams
Tuesday November 18, 4:30-6:00pm -2.5 CPDUs
Presenters Jeremy Babcock and Susan A. Garr
This workshop is created for those of us who are sold on inquiry and design, but are unsure of how to manage a classroom full of 30 plus students. Managing inquiry can seem daunting enough to not even try it. What structures need to be put into place so that everyone can have a suc- cessful inquiry and design experience? Strategies on how to build students collaboration skills as well as teach content-area-learning while doing inquiry will be introduced and practiced. We will also share ideas for organizing inquiry notebooks, inquiry mini-conferences and assess- ment, both group and individual, formative and summative.
Inquiry and Design Presenters
Jeremy Babcock believes in the importance of play and incorporates this belief into his work as an Experiential Learning Specialist at the Center for College Access and Success.
Jennifer Crall works closely with the professional development team at the Center for College Access and Success. She teaches 7th & 8th grade Reading at Hurley Fine & Performing Arts Magnet School in Network 10, CPS. She is a National Board Certified Teacher in English Language Arts, Early Adolescence and has Masters in Elementary Education, Reading and School Leadership.
Lynette Emmons works in partnership with the Center for College Access and Success through our GEAR UP Grant. She began her teaching career at Nettelhorst School in Chicago in 1988. She has been the Director of the Center for City Schools in the Urban Institute at National-Louis University for several years.
Literacy Specialist and Coach, Susan A. Garr earned an MA in Education from DePaul University. As a GEAR UP PD Specialist, she has co-planned a variety of workshops to inspire teachers to teach with a focus on building students’ metacognitive reading, writing and thinking skills.
Chris Johnson is the Professional Development Manager at the Center for College Access and Success and has worked with the GEAR UP program and theYAL Conference for more than 10 years.
Germania Solórzano is Literacy Specialist at the Center for College Access and Success and is an educator with over 20 years of experience teaching at the secondary and post-secondary levels. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia College Chicago.
Other Professional Development Workshop Series offered through the Resource Center include:
Teachers as Writers: The Story Workshop Approach to the Teaching of Writing
Creating Classroom Community with Improv
Thinking in Frames: Better Comprehension Through Visual Inquiry
All workshops are held at the Center for College Access and Success. Fees for each session is $25.00 but will be reduced to $10.00 for this initial series. CPDUs and related materials are included. To see other workshops or to register for these sessions, go to pd.centerforcollegeaccessandsuccess.org
