Learning is Part of Teaching

Part of what I have enjoyed most about teaching a completely different grade this year is that I have had to be open to learning new things. As a teacher it has always been important to me but I admit there have been times where I have coasted a bit in my teaching practices. When you move from upper intermediate to primary that is not an option. It has been a refreshing change for me to have to completely re-evaluate my ways of teaching. For this blog post I want to think about how I can continue to learn, grow, and develop a personal learning network.

There are many ways to approach this. I am going to look at three: Social Media, published books, and blogs.

Social Media

The first thing I did when starting my discovery journey for this course was reach out to my Kindergarten Connections Facebook group. They were able to identify many people, blogs, and organizations that would be helpful for me as I investigate Inquiry Based Learning in early primary. This group consistently posts ideas, questions, and discussions which help me grow as a teacher. By seeing what works or doesn’t work for others I am encouraged to try new things myself. I am also becoming more familiar with Twitter, noticing articles that are being posted by fellow students and colleagues.

Published Books

When looking into the suggestions from my Facebook query I was lead to the book Inquiry Mindset by Trevor Mackenzie and Rebecca Bathurst-Hunt. Rebecca is one of the first people suggested to me as someone to watch on Twitter for Kindergarten so I was very curious to read a book which focused on primary students. I struggled with whether or not to include a traditional book resource but I think it is going to make a huge impact on my teaching (once I finish reading it). Along with the book I have access to webinars and printable copies of the Sketchnotes* included in the book. I now have a copy sitting here beside me and am looking forward to giving it some attention.

Blogs

I love looking through blogs. For me it is always easier to try something once I have seen it in action. It’s like taking a virtual visit to another classroom. There are endless numbers of blogs that I could follow and I think it will be important for me to narrow it down to the top 5 for now and then add more as I become more familiar with each blog.  Here are three that I was immediately drawn to:

1. The Curious Kindergarten by Alexis McDonell

2. Fairy Dust Teaching founded by Sally Haughey

3. Inquiry Teacher Blog by Rebecca Bathurst-Hunt

Each of these blogs give concrete examples of how inquiry can be incorporated into kindergarten classes. They are also full of photos and links to other resources.

*Sketchnoting is a way of taking notes using pictures and doodling. For more information try this video.

Works Cited

MacKenzie, T. and Bathurst-Hunt, R. (2018). Inquiry mindset. Irvine: EdTechTeam Press.

Baughcum, C. (2017). My Pencil Made Me Do It. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNJyuJl5LKk [Accessed 3 Jun. 2018].

McDonell, A. (n.d.). The Curious Kindergarten. [online] The Curious Kindergarten. Available at: https://thecuriouskindergarten.blog [Accessed 3 Jun. 2018].

Haughey, S. (n.d.). Home - Fairy Dust Teaching. [online] Fairy Dust Teaching. Available at: https://fairydustteaching.com [Accessed 3 Jun. 2018].

Bathurst-Hunt, R. (n.d.). Inquiry Teacher Blog. [online] Rbathursthuntblog.wordpress.com. Available at: https://rbathursthuntblog.wordpress.com/ [Accessed 3 Jun. 2018].