{"id":104,"date":"2026-10-03T14:25:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T18:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/michaelwobowsk\/?p=104"},"modified":"2026-10-03T14:25:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T18:25:11","slug":"student-led-learning-a-year-of-intentional-inquiry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/michaelwobowsk\/2026\/10\/03\/student-led-learning-a-year-of-intentional-inquiry\/","title":{"rendered":"Student-Led Learning: A Year of Intentional Inquiry"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Looking at the Eisenhower Matrix gave me a way to consider how I\u2019m thinking about the year ahead. While I managed to fill the “Important\/Urgent” and “Important\/Not Urgent” boxes quite easily, I struggled to fill the other two boxes; but the “Imporant\/Urgent” items were all student-focused. The direction I want to take is clear: prioritizing student-led learning<\/mark>. When I categorized this work, I placed it under \u201cimportant and urgent.\u201d I think it’s extremely important and effective. That feels like a meaningful starting point\u2014not because every detail is settled, but because I can name what I want to make space for.<\/p>\n

The most urgent and important insight for me is that student-led learning needs to reach beyond a single activity. My hope is to embed it into all areas of the curriculum at some point throughout the year. That is a broad intention, and I want to approach it through a concrete first step rather than leave it as an idea.<\/p>\n

This month, I\u2019m initiating a cross-curricular inquiry activity with my class. I\u2019m interested in how inquiry could connect students through their own interests and passions. To help that happen, having a suitable lesson plan would be useful. Its purpose would be to give students a starting question that gets them engaged\u2014not to decide in advance where every student\u2019s thinking must go.<\/p>\n

The proposed starting question is: \u201cIf all matter is made of tiny pieces too small to see, how do they team up to make a hard rock versus a flowing river?\u201d It gives students a shared point of entry while inviting them to think about a question that reaches across areas of the curriculum. From there, their interests and the questions they bring can help shape the inquiry.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m hoping this activity will increase student engagement and self-awareness. I don\u2019t know in advance exactly how that will unfold, and I want to stay curious as students respond. The question, the lesson plan, and the cross-curricular connection are ways to begin; the purpose is to make room for students to take a more active role in their learning.<\/p>\n

My intention for the year is to prioritize student-led learning and, over time, embed it throughout the curriculum. This month\u2019s inquiry activity is a first step toward that direction. It matters to me because it connects learning with students\u2019 own interests and passions, while giving them a starting point from which to engage. I\u2019m resolved to begin with this activity, pay attention to what it makes possible, and keep that larger intention in view.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Looking at the Eisenhower Matrix gave me a way to consider how I\u2019m thinking about the year ahead. While I managed to fill the “Important\/Urgent” and “Important\/Not Urgent” boxes quite easily, I struggled to fill the other two boxes; but the “Imporant\/Urgent” items were all student-focused. The direction I want to take is clear: prioritizing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":538,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/michaelwobowsk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/michaelwobowsk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/michaelwobowsk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/michaelwobowsk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/538"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/michaelwobowsk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/michaelwobowsk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/michaelwobowsk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104\/revisions\/106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/michaelwobowsk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/michaelwobowsk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/michaelwobowsk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}