Inquiry Celebration

I found the celebration of inquiry much more meaningful my second year. I was looking for things I could implement in my intern year of teaching. Furthermore, I feel like I had a much greater appreciation for the work the interns put into their research compared to when I was viewing this research as a tutor. I now know that I'm one year away from presenting my own research. I found the three intern presentations I viewed on mathematics instruction to be particularly interesting. One of the presenters was an intern from my PDS. He talked about the use of tools and manipulatives for mathematics instruction. He was implementing these tools at an 8th grade level. His studies found that the vast majority of students enjoyed the use of these tools and found them helpful. I would definitely consider the use of tools for my mathematics instruction next semester. I hope to instill the same enthusiasm for math that I myself feel with my 5th graders. I really want to have engaging and meaningful mathematics instruction, especially because tomorrow's jobs will require this knowledge. Overall, I think I learned a lot. I'm looking forward to conduction my own research next semester. I would strongly consider doing something mathematics related myself. However, one of the interns presenting data on mathematics instructional techniques mentioned that math was a subject he wasn't comfortable in but he decided to conduct his research in that field anyways. I think next year could provide a good opportunity to reach out of my comfort zone with my research.