IBI Lab

IBI!  IBI is inquiry based instruction, which is a way teachers can teach students.  If done properly, it can be a highly effective and efficient way to teach.  It is when you set the lesson up where the students have to come up with the questions and think critically about the subject to understand it and that in turn allows them to learn.  I was lost and confused for the longest time about it. We went and saw Mr. Clark use it in his classroom and then he came and shared about it to our class.  We even got to do an activity  using it which was really fun because it was hands on and allowed us to learn about batteries.  If a long question and answer section of do's and don'ts on using it to teach, I started seeing some clarity on it.  I will admit, I am nowhere close to being a master at it but I feel at least fairly confident in using it to teach.  The main way that I and the rest of the cohort know how to introduce to lesson though it through a reading article about the lesson subject.  That is something we should work on in variability.  I did my lab on the solubility of fertilizers.  I brought in different types of fertilizers for the student to mix in water to see if they were soluble.  Some were, and some were not soluble when stirred with water. It allowed the students to carry out the scientific method on their own and see what was more soluble.  It went fairly well, but there could be a lot of changes made in order to refine it so its better for students to learn.  It will take a lot of trial and error practice, but if we keep working at it and trying it, we will get there!