1. Inquiry
1.1. What is applicable to your future classroom?
1.1.1. I think the idea of using our connections to different people and their areas of expertise in the classroom is extremely beneficial for the students. The guest would have a better knowledge on the subject than I would, and they would be able to better answer the students' questions. Bringing in guests would also help hold the students interest and help them explore how what they are learning now is applicable to their future.
2. Content/Concepts
2.1. Mary Cowhey tries to connect what they learn in the classroom to real life situations. They have guest speakers come in to discuss with the students how what the students are learning now is related to the guests' job. For example, learning about maps will be useful to a pilot or to a researcher.
3. Pedagogy
3.1. How is thinking fostered?
3.1.1. When Mary Cowhey does not know the answer to a student's question, she says "I don't really know, but how can we find out?" Rather than answering the question herself, Mary Cowhey uses her connections to experts in different fields as resources in the classroom.
3.1.2. Students come up with individual questions for the guest, and the classroom as a whole comes up with questions as well. This encourages students to take an active role in what they learn, rather than having everything set by the teacher. The teaching strategy used is student-centered with guided-inquiry from the teacher.