This post is copied straight from my facebook page. A brief reflection….
"And that led to...." I realised today that this phrase "and that led to" is one of my favourite things to hear when I am in collaborative planning conversations with teachers. It is so simple - but it reveals a lot. It suggests that the teacher has been going WITH the inquiry and that the inquiry is a connected series of experiences...each one feeding the next (all the while pausing to reflect). It also suggests the unexpected and a preparedness to follow the needs and interests of learners rather than a prescribed plan. On the way home today, I thought about some of the other phrases that reveal deeper understandings about the process of inquiry....
" the kids have become really interest in....so I am thinking about how we might...."
" when I read/looked at/listened to the students' thinking about...I realised that...."
" there are are a lot of questions about.....so I think I need to find a way to help the learners go down the path"
" Our big idea is...."
"The skill we are really working at the moment is...."
When I go back to the curriculum, I can see how we have attended to ....."
And, similarly, there are probably some phrases that feel less at home around the inquiry table, such as...
"We did this last year so let's use that planner"
" What portfolio task will we do?"
:"yes but we have to cover the curriculum"
"How do I find the curriculum standards?"
"What will they do at the end?"
"They are just not interested in this"
"The parents expect us to...."
"They loved that activity"
What phrases do you long to hear around the planning table?