Well that was interesting! I did my inquiry project on the woodstove installation in my garage. Things that I noticed during the assignment that I can apply to my teaching.
- I chose the topic; and because I did I found getting into the work easy and interesting. By giving my students more control about how they get their learning I believe that they will become more engaged.
- The topic has high stakes (could burn down my house). By teaching more of the why things are important rather than just “do it like this” students will come to understand the gravity of the work they are doing. (We don’t want gravity to win with airplanes)
- The largest stressor that I had during the project was that I had a difficult time find reputable sources, for my students, whom most of them are starting with next to no aerospace knowledge I would have to provide the sources for them to make sure they were not lead down the wrong path.
On reflection of the presentation format (Ignite) that we used. I found is extremely stressful. I like to pace my presentations and look for opportunities for to engage the class. With the Ignite format I felt like I was riding a horse with no reins. I think it went over OK but some of the comments that I got were that it was too distracting from what I was saying.
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