Week 5

In reading chapter 5 and 6 from the Interdisciplinary Inquiry book, I found it most interesting choosing the right resources for the age group that you teaching. especially considering the age group that you are teaching, one would not want to use a resource that a student cannot grasp or understand. For example, using an article out of the Atlantic Monthly would not be a good idea to use for students in 8th grade, as it is meant for reading of a higher grade level. But using newspaper article would be more appropriate because its writing style is more geared to those who are of that grade level's comprehension.

I also liked the list of habits of the mind and the thinking processes. These ways of exploring a topic use different parts of a student's thinking ability and is a great tool in forming a well rounded approach to helping a student form their ability to question.

The different resources in learning was one of some of my fondest memories growing up. Of the different way to research, those being textbooks, reading documents, using libraries, using artifacts, field sites, experiments and personal interviews, I remember my best and most impacting way of learning was through interviewing. I was fortunate enough to interview a holocaust survivor in high school and it was since changed the way that think of history and the way that I think about plight of those in hardship all over the world. But I see using this resources for learning gives the student so many avenues to explore the theme and connect with the topic, much more than sitting in a classroom and only reading a book while listening to a lecture every could. Though it is good in a classroom to teach from a book, using different resources broadens the mind to seek information in many different ways.

Using media and technology as a resource in learning is something that we have become so familiar with in this generation. And I feel is one is one the best ways to teach a student how to explore a topic. Especially with the advent of the internet, a student has a many ways to seek information in which they explore their topic. And as one in a classroom, though not a teacher, the one skill that many students in my school do not have is the ability to effectively research on the internet. These student can easily find facebook, or sites that are given to them on tv, but they do not know how to search sites for themselves. Its funny how the autistic students that I work with are extremely good at finding anything they want on the internet yet their classmates in a general education class cannot. One of the skills that teachers do need to start teaching is using the internet to find information, in a smart, safe, factual way, and to be able to discern what is a legitimate source of information.

And using media is such a great way to keep the interest of students in the classroom. in regards to our group ITU topic of the BP oil spill, there are so many sites, graphs, video clips and articles that a student can easily get a grasp on what is going on and why it is important that they care.

Media and technology are great assets to us who each but they must be used in such a way that it causes the student to really think and inquire about the topic covered in class.