D&Z Chapters 10 and 11: Inquiry, Struggling Readers, and Video Game Aggravation

Before reading this text I never really knew exactly what was meant by “inquiry” learning. After reading I am happy to say that I learned a lot. I agree with a lot that the text talks about when dealing with inquiry projects. One of the main goals of this type of learning is “ making kids active researchers instead of passive listeners”. I think that this is a common issue that is often not noticed in classrooms. Students oftentimes look like they are listening to lectures (and some of them actually are), but what is the point of learning through listening? Students do not gain many skills from simply hearing a lesson. They will always become better learners through actually participating in the learning and finding things out on their own. If we tell them everything then what is it exactly that they are doing? I think teachers too often give students the answers instead of making them figure it out for themselves. In order for students to engage with the material more and get something useful out of the content, they need to be given a certain amount of responsibility that forces them to work on their own skills.

Another section I responded well to was the section that instructs the reader on the steps in an inquiry project (immerse, investigate, coalesce, and go public). I found it very interesting how I am currently doing the same exact thing with the same exact steps for my SED445 class currently. I am working on an I-search project where I got to choose a topic I was interested in after searching through multiple topics, investigate the topic through research, coalesce around my topic, digging into it with primary sources and performing interviews, and then going public with my information by making a presentation for it on Wednesday. In that class we have to present the “golden nugget” of our research. In other words, we have to present one key idea or key piece of knowledge that we learned from our project and teach it to the class to spread awareness.  I find it so interesting how often things like this project have a formula that teachers can refer to. I oftentimes see this text as a scientific book with a plethora of teaching formulas to try. I think this is one of the most useful and priceless things I have found in this book. There are instructions and descriptions of so many things that are good for the future. 

When I was reading the thorough example that detailed the steps in an inquiry project, I had a little trouble with the “Go Public” section of the example where the students perform a puppet show of what they have learned for the parents. Though I agree that this is an interesting way to assess students and present what they have learned, I also know first hand that it is not always the best way to assess students. My boyfriend had to write and perform a puppet show in 11th grade where he was instructed to reenact a scene from a book. He refused to do the project because he thought that it was too childish for high school and, thus, he thought it was stupid. When he told his parents about the project they said “THAT’S what you’re doing in HIGH SCHOOL?” I must admit that I too find it kind of childish for students of this age. A puppet show may be something that is useful in primary school and maybe middle school, but I don’t think that it is appropriate for high school. I think students should be challenged to present their information in creative ways, but I don’t think that they should be subjected to such childish tasks. To continue the story, my boyfriend ended up writing a paper about the scene and its significance to the story, but the teacher was forced to give him a zero by the department head because it was not what the teacher asked for. I think this says a lot about how we assess students and how we constantly are forced to grade them by the rubric or by specific criteria. I think, at least in this case, the teacher should have allowed some form of choice to be allotted to students who might have wanted to present their information a different way. This was just something that stuck out to me in the text. 

I think one of the best lines of advice in this chapter is one of the shortest: “Don’t start too big!” I completely agree with this statement. We oftentimes are too busy trying to meet so many standards in our projects that they tend to become very large and arduous. We have to remember that our students do have lives outside of school. Too much work only discourages our students and stresses them out, and stress leads to an unhealthy work environment. Thus, by giving them more work, you will oftentimes see less motivation and learning. 

There were a few things in Chapter 11 that also stood out for me when I was reading. I think it is important that the text states that reading is not just something for English teachers to address. It should also be something that is covered by teachers of all content. What is the point of having students read content material if they cannot understanding it? Teachers need to be mindful that with their content also comes new types of materials: lab reports (science), mathematical word problem sheets (math), press conferences and newspapers (history), beauty and health magazines (health), manuals (computers), and so on. There are so many different forms of material that students need to be familiarized with, and it is the teacher’s job to introduce them to the form of material and help them through it. If we don’t then we are not being the best teachers we can be and we are leaving our students to fend for themselves. 

I think my favorite part of this section was the part about “Creating Supportive Relationships”. The book made a statement that I really could relate to very well. It stated “people who have repeatedly failed at something usually cope by focusing their lives elsewhere to avoid still more failure”. I think that this statement couldn’t be anymore true. When I read this I automatically related it to a video game that me and my friends play. Because I have been playing for so many years, I have become much better at it than others who have joined before. While this is true, I always am the loser out of our friend group. I find myself playing one-on-one matches with my boyfriend all of the time (who is an extremely skilled and competitive player and has been to many tournaments) and he constantly beats me. Though I put up a fight, he oftentimes beats me with 2 out of 4 lives still (which is embarrassing). I usually can play 3 or 4 games with him until I become agitated and disheartened and quit all together to go watch a movie. It has gotten to the point where I almost avoid playing him because I always lose. This reactions reminds me a lot of students. When students continuously fail and struggle with something they become disheartened or aggravated and quit all together. This is typically one of the major reasons why students drop out of high school. They feel like the work is too hard and are disheartened by their failure. Thus they avoid the embarrassment and anger and decide to just leave school all together. In order to help with this issue I think students need to be constantly aware of their strengths. Students need to feel like they are good at something and need to feel like they have the capacity to improve. If not, then they are most likely to give up. While we want to address students’ weaknesses, we need to remember to compliment what they do right and praise them for what they can do rather than berate them for what they can’t. 

Above are pictures that I took from 3 of the probably thousands of times we have played the game together. 

Overall, once again, I found the text to evoke many questions and opinions that I had.