Blogging is something completely new for me. In a class that I am taking this semester entitled Technology for Teachers, we are exploring a lot of new tools that could possibly be use once we become teachers or just for our everyday life. This is excellent for someone like me who is pretty much computer illiterate. We have been doing a few assignments that tie in together and this is how I ended up here with this blog.
On one assignment I had to choose some questions that eventually I think will lead to some kind of lesson plan. I chose to use the question "How does music affect our lives?" I chose this question because music along with art is not used as much as it should be. I believe everyone can relate to music in some kind of way so this question broad enough to answers. Along with this question I had to choose a few other questions that a student could find some further insight along with doing some inter-curriculum. The questions I chose were "What can music teach us about history?", "How does music inspire people today?", “What does the music of today tell about us?", "What does the music from the 60’s or any era say about its time period and culture?" and I chose these because I think theses can help students developed an open mind towards music, life, cultures or just an open mind in general. These questions help look back in time as well as the present. Students can compare and contrast music or their way of living. Most importantly I think students should be encouraged all the time.
This is where I want to tie in one of our other assignments which were to view the difference of inquiry and project based learning as well as ways to use them. I think both learning’s are necessary because not everyone learns the same just the way not everyone may not like olives on their pizza or what ever it may be. Inquiry based learning touches base on way we learn in every day life on our own. It is also more like hands on learning. Joe Exline says, "Inquiry implies involvement that leads to understanding. Furthermore, involvement in learning implies possessing skills and attitudes that permit you to seek resolutions to questions and issues while you construct new knowledge." (Exline, 2004) The way learning used to be was more of the teacher reading out of a book and students expected to memorize and learn? This doesn't give students much of a chance to ask questions. Also it is not being able to always answer a question but understand it. Project-based learning is where students learn while doing projects. These types of abilities help students communicate, organize and understanding themselves as well as others opinions with confidence. Students work together in groups while working on a project. This helps student because the find other ways of learning other than their own. Right now it is a little scatterd but it will eventually come together.