Inquiry-Based Study

I have been involved with student learning for the past 14 years. I have experience with a wide spectrum of students in traditional and alternative settings. I have proven success engaging and teaching all types of students, particularly with at risk students.

Classrooms are becoming more diverse than they were several decades ago because so many people are migrating from their country of origin to seek for better living opportunities, in search of a safe place and because the United States of America is a super power. Therefore political, economic, and social-cultural reasons are the causes of migration which results in families remaining in the country causing classrooms today to be more diverse than they were decades ago thereby rapidly changing the demography of the United States and its classroom (Vacca et al, 2014, p. 62). To confirm this point for instance, at my school, there are a total of 354 students and the percentage of Hispanics: 41.5%, Blacks: 40.1%, Whites: 13.6%, Multicultural: 3.7%, other: 1.2%, Asians: 0.9%. Students from these different cultural backgrounds have different values, attitudes and experiences.

Changing demographics might impact children and the way they will learn. Children learn and start to develop a sense of the world at an early age. How does a center meet the needs of these new families when they come from a demographic where those households were the norm at their center. Children and families rely on the facilities to create and welcome their diversity. Centers and Schools are realizing that demographic trends are changing and that working together with families in creating a welcoming environment in order to embrace their diversity to protect the children’s well-being.

The Chinese Proverb, “Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand”, applies to the 21st century skills that students need to have to meet the global challenges. Inquiry is a process of active learning that is driven by questioning and critical thinking. The understandings that students develop through inquiry are deeper and longer lasting than any pre-packaged knowledge delivered by teachers to students. Inquiry-based learning follows a process that progresses through phases, but is recursive and reflective throughout (Library of Congress n.d). Furthermore,

Understanding a community is essential when planning for instruction. My current placement is at Kofa High School which is a located in an urban community –Yuma, Arizona- with an estimated population of 93,000 people. It is fundamental to recognize that Yuma’s population mostly consists of Hispanic and White people. Although English is mostly spoken in this area, Spanish is commonly heard in the community due to the high Hispanic population.

The challenge that individuals from the group will bring to the education environment is one that directly impact their learning. It is well understood that children cannot learn until their most basic needs are met. Yes, we offer free breakfast to students, but many arrive too late to receive this service and often one muffin is not enough to address their hunger. This plunge made me aware of the challenges many students will face in my

blended, and independent study learning options for students. Graduating more than 600 students each year, our schools have recently

Let’s imagine a school with small group classroom sizes, preparing students for college and careers after high school. Also with diverse AP and honor classes by creating a program to help aid students to learn about these classes and the benefits. Since they haven’t created a program to prevent students falling into the government system. In my eyes this is an ideal school that can help and benefit students and the future way of learning. Although Denver South High School is doing well in the areas of diversity and culture, south could improve on preparing students for future careers, enlightening students on the benefits of AP and honor courses provided at the school and also creating

In New on the Job: A School Library Media Specialist’s Guide to Success, Ruth Toor and Hilda Weisburg present a one-stop manual for first-year school library that details numerous aspects of what it means to be a successful school library media specialist. The authors, both of whom are veteran former school librarians, outline everything from the job interview to the last day of school, sharing years of wisdom and practical insight into the ins and outs of the profession. Special attention is paid to developing relationships between the various members of the school population and associated individuals, including students, teachers, administrators, school board members, parents, and volunteers. The authors remind school librarians to keep

Currently, I am student teaching at Alfred E. Zampella PS #27 School in the district of Jersey City. The school is located in a busy city, next to John F. Kennedy St. which is especially busy in the morning and during rush hour. This results in several late students on a day to day basis. On the other hand, this school is also highly accessible and as a little over a thousand students. The school has grade levels from kindergarten to 8th grade, and has a mix of general, special, and inclusion education classrooms. Typically, families that enroll their students into this school are of lower-middle socio-economic class, and tend to be majority Hispanic, Indian, and African American, with few Caucasians and Asians. This school provides a variety of special programs for their ESL students and special need students. Students may be offered speech language pathology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, ESL programs, reading recovery, and counseling.

The findings lead us to determine the largest potential audience will be female students attending classes’ full time. Furthermore, we can target the audience in segments based on ethnicity. White students make up the majority; however the large Hispanic presence is something that should be considered in the formulation of the business.

Making this plan possible funding will be used from existing accounts from non-profit and philanthropic organizations. Also, different steps need to be taken into consideration for implementation of a different curriculum. Special programs for students need to be done to integrate programs into a culture-based curriculum rather than as add-on curriculum. Appropriate training for teachers also needs to be taken into account to ensure the experiences that occur in the community and correlate that in to the classroom. Decreasing the native student dropout rate, lessons need to be more academically interesting with updated textbooks, and a strategic plan to make things more interesting than boring; which has constituted too many students leaving. Records have shown that students that disrupt and fail are allowed to continue attendance without any alternative put in place; a system needs to be developed to separate and reform. Development of dropout prevention programs which track students and provide community based intervention, support, and treatment programs along with mental guidelines will need to be

Early education into inquiry based learning approach encourages children to be inquisitive, and helps children make sense of their world through the humanities and social sciences. Notably, inquiry constitutes to effective lifelong learning which Murdoch (1998) explained that inquiry pedagogy for developing comprehension about the world remains as effective tool and continues to modern classroom settings. The inquiry method indicates a notion that active participation on behalf of students builds on their knowledge and is vital to a positive and effective learning environment. As an illustration, the Early Years Learning Framework (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations for the Council of Australian Governments [DEEWR], 2009, p.33) identifies inquiry as an active involvement and an essential element in learning to build children’s perceptions and knowledge. Another key point in this pedagogical approach specifies in the Learning Outcome Four (DEEWR, 2009, p. 35) that children are confident and involved learners where they acquire the ability and technique to solve problems,

The school is a private co-educational school from Kindergarten through to Year 12, located in the region of Sydney's Northern Beaches. The class is composed of year 8 English students, of whom approximately 25% are identified as being from an Indigenous background, while 3% are of LBTOE. The major ethnic groups represented, are composed of students from Anglo-Saxon, Aboriginal or Torres Strait islander and East Asian backgrounds. EAL/D students are “…those whose mother tongue is a language or dialect other than English…” while English L1 learners

Positive collaborative relationships can go far and “Having professional relationship with the people who make a difference” (Bryan, 2015) can only lead to success. Together the librarian and staff should share the same vision and goals. Each partner fulfills a carefully defined role; comprehensive planning is required; leadership, resources, risk, and control are shared; and the working relationship extends over a relatively long period of time (Callison, 1999). The teacher brings to the partnership knowledge of the strengths, weaknesses, attitudes and interests of the students, and of the content to be taught. The media specialist adds a thorough understanding of information skills and methods to integrate them, helping the teacher to develop