My search for an edublogger!

So... my search for an edublogger began with a tested and true method... GOOGLE! I typed in social studies edublogger. I got lots of hit, but I quickly refined my search to include only Canadian edubloggers because I felt it would be more relevant. Long story short, I stumbled upon a blog called "Thinking In Mind." It is written by a Canadian named Neil Stephenson. He is the PD and Outreach Coordinator at the Calgary Science School. His approach to learning and teaching is focused around inquiry-based inquiry, and he has been lucky to work in forward thinking schools where technology is a priority. He taught grade 6-7 Humanities and is known for his "cigar box project." Stephenson used an inquiry based, student-centred atmosphere in his classroom. To briefly describe this project, students researched cigar box pictures as artifacts of Canadian history. They found the ones that were most meaningful to them, and then they created their own cigar boxes. This is the main reason why I decided to follow this blog, because there are lots of great resources and links to follow for good ideas to teach Social Studies (my area of interest).

After I got exploring the blog, I learned more about inquiry based learning, and it really made me excited to try this approach! In my past student-teaching experiences, I have gotten good reviews from my advisors and co-operating teachers. BUT... the comment that they all leave on my reviews is that I need to work on "projecting my voice and disciplining the students." I will admit, I am not a very loud person, and I do not enjoy disciplining students, so this is an area that I know I need to grow in. At one point, I was crying in the bathroom telling myself that I couldn't be a teacher because I wasn't loud enough! After picking myself up, I set out to make myself "louder." My attempts began with singing as loud as I could to the radio on my way to school every day (I'm serious haha) and doing as much talking in front of the students as possible. Needless to say, I lasted about a day and a half before losing my voice. I got pretty upset about my inability to project, so upset that I talked to several teachers about my problem. At the end of it all, I came to the conclusion that I was just not going to be a loud person, and I would have to stick to my strengths if I was going to succeed in the classroom. My strengths are that I am a good planner, I'm creative, and I CARE about my students. I want them to like what they are doing!

So, the point of this very long story is that Stephenson's blog has renewed my belief that I can be a good teacher based on my skills and not my weaknesses. In an inquiry based classroom, students are the centre of all of the instruction. You research and plan projects based on what they enjoy and what makes them curious.  No longer does the teacher need to be at the front of the room demanding silence from the students. Instead, they can be circulating around the room facilitating collaborative learning. I am so excited to begin this journey as a teacher, and instead of working on my weaknesses, I have decided to play to my strengths! I will continue to follow Stephenson's blog, and I have also added him to twitter where I have already gotten several excellent resources from him.

Happy blogging everyone, I am learning so much about myself and my "craft" as we go along!