Exit Slip: Frank McCourt and teacher inquiry

This class we watched two videos about an Irish man in the mid 1900s who discovered himself in becoming an 'ordinary' teacher. My thoughts on teacher inquiry jive well with those of Frank's in that both of us feel like we should side with the students. We should be constantly learning from them as they are learning from us. This was best described when he said "if you're teaching and not learning, you're not teaching." This concept relates to how the new BC curriculum for Science is changing to be more conceptual and less of a teacher-feed-student facts type of environment. Learning conceptual knowledge involves an active classroom environment in which students and teachers are actively enriching the topic of discussion.

On the flip side,  it is extremely difficult to find the fine line of being a professional while siding with the students. Frank admits to telling students crimes that he had committed however I doubt this would be acceptable in today's schools. We can learn from this in that if you ride the right side of the line of professionalism and being a classroom citizen with your students, a lot of learning can be done that may not have been unlocked by teaching in a formal manner.

Overall, I learned a lot about how many ways there are for teacher inquiry. Finding and answering questions about myself as a teacher, with respect to Frank McCourt's experiences, has refreshed my view on the role that a teacher can play in the classroom. He has showed me that there is student's mind behind every teacher.

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