Last week I attended the 2012 Inquiry Celebration where the interns presented their action research projects. Last year as a tutor, I attended the celebration simply just to check it off of my list of things-to-do. This year the presentations were much more meaningful. I think this is due to the fact that I am beginning to think about topics for my own action research.
The first set of presentations I viewed focused on language arts. The presentation that stuck out to me most out of all three was a study conducted on word walls. Though I have never been placed in a classroom that utilized an actual word wall, I find them to be a great strategy to implement new words and spellings.
The second collection of presentations I watched pinpointed diversity. I thoroughly enjoyed these presentations because I believe educating children on cultural diversity at a young age is extremely important. Students need to be exposed to different cultures so they are used to seeing differences and unique qualities among their peers. Next semester I am interning in a preschool classroom and this is a topic I could implement with the young children. For my action research I would like to expose the students to a variety of cultures around the country and around the world. It would be excellent if I could find a class from another part of the United States to participate as our pen pals. We could write letters as a class describing our culture in West Virginia and discus how it differs from theirs.
Overall, the Inquiry Celebration was a success for me. I found a topic on which I could possibly conduct my action research. It was enlightening to witness all of the research being presented because it shows the inquiry that is currently being conducted in just one college. Imagine the amount of action research going on around the world! It is great to know education is constantly improving.
