Core Instruction Through Inquiry
Collegial inquiry provided the foundation for our proposal to attain three goals: 1) build capacity for effective collaboration, 2) deepen knowledge of thematic instruction, and 3) develop authentic technology experiences for students and teachers. These are worthy goals that our team and other educators across the nation are seeking to develop, add to, and lead.
INTRODUCTION
The activities within our plan promote self-directness, group development, and sustainability. The plan also includes modeling and guided practice for problem solving, inquiry, and planning. The largest portion of our proposal provides a strengthening of core instruction through inquiry-based and thematic development of curriculum. We focus on quality instruction through increasing academic engaged time. We are creating a handbook called Core Instruction through Thematic Inquiry with our units, samples of student work, and progress monitoring data including reflection on our practice using Cognitive Coachingsm tools. We will continue to present our findings at our schools and provide an LAUSD-based salary point course. We also present at local, state, and national conferences to share the outcomes of our learning.
TEAM BIOGRAPHY INFORMATION
We are a team of educators originally located at Wilson High School who came together and are passionate about thematic based inquiry lessons. Click on our biographies link to learn more about us!
WHERE WE WORK
When we started this project, we all worked at the same campus. We developed our collaborative skills through a variety of meetings and trainings. Then, we had significant changes in our roles, supervisors, and locations. Mylene became a district-level administrator and Tracey moved to a neighboring school district. Even though we were no longer on the same site, we persisted with our individual and collective growth as inquirers and collaborators. With this project, we hope to share our story and inspire others to collaborate for student achievement.
Tracey is an English teacher at La Canada High School in La Canada, CA.
Mariela teaches social sciences and Samira teaches art at Woodrow Wilson High School in El Sereno, CA. Wilson is an International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme School that integrates specific instructional pedagogy for international mindedness and critical thinking. The units provided by Mariela and Samira are on an IB template.
Mylene provides instructional support as the Secondary Literacy/English Language Arts Coordinator for Educational Service Center-East in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
NAVIGATING OUR PROJECT
The purpose of this project is to intersect theories of collaboration, inquiry, and lesson design with field-based implementation and reflection. Although we have attended a variety of professional development opportunities to enhance our craft, our on-going reading and writing workshops have provided our most powerful learning. Some of our collaboration took place in on-line, asynchronous environments. We used Edmodo and Dropbox via our iPads to access and share files with each other. Each of us has engaged in leading meetings, projects, curriculum development, and trainings at our school and district sites. The following categories and links offer a glimpse into our learning, leading, and reflecting.
Learning About Inquiry, Thematic Instruction, and Tools for Collaboration
Thematic Based Inquiry in the Classroom
Supporting Inquiry School-wide Through Professional Communities
- Professional Development Led By Our Team
- Resources and Links That Will Support Professional Communities
