Year 2: Week 2 at Havelock North Primary

This week has been my second week at my new placement school. I love the environment at Havelock North Primary School. Despite being in the same area as my last school it is very different. They are very inquiry focused in their teaching and I am enjoying the challenge of trying to implement inquiry more into my teaching.
Today I took a lesson with a group of year 6's with a science/mathematics focus. We were testing whether the height of a ramp would affect the distance and speed a toy car would travel. I went outside my comfort zone and let the students have a lot of control in the lesson by giving them the materials and letting them decide how they would test their hypothesis and how they would record the information they collected. It was extremely interesting to take part in this and watch the way they problem solved together and the way they thought. It also gave me an indication of where I would go next with my teaching. It was difficult to do but I think it was beneficial for myself and the students. However next time I think I would allow myself a little more input if only to allow some more clarification for the students. I also actively concentrated on using wait time in this lesson which caused there to be a lot more discussion. It is great when the methods we  read and talk about in class work in the school classroom.

The students recording the data gathered and measuring the ramp. We used multiple tools to measure including a tape measure, metre straws and metres of string.