Table of Contents

Foreword
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Introduction
1. What Is Inquiry?
My Own Inquiry Journey
Experience #1: Inquiry Self-Survey
2. Beginning Your Inquiry Journey
How to Use This Book
Tips for Success
What’s the Role of Administration?
The Inquiry Leader Self-Reflection Tool
Staff Reflection Survey
The Importance of Balance and Harmony
3. Taking Stock of Your Classroom
Experience #2: How Do You Know If You’re “Doing” Inquiry?
Experience #3: What Do Your Students Think?
Experience #4: What Do Others See in Your Classroom?
Experience #5: What’s the Student Experience?
Experience #6: What Does All This Tell You?
4. What Does Inquiry Look Like?
The Inquiry Five Strategies
Experience #7: What Are Your Burning Questions About Inquiry?
Experience #8: Who, When, and How Should You Answer Questions?
Experience #9: How Can Questions Be Savored?
Experience #10: What Does Your “Ideal” Class Look Like?
5. Strategy #1: Get Personal
Introduction to Get Personal
Experience #11: Mad-Libs: Who Are You?
Experience #12: Who Were Your Teachers?
Experience #13: What Stories Can You Tell?
Experience #14: How Do You Tell a Story That Sticks to the Soul?
Experience #15: What Does Your Classroom Say About You?
Experience #16: Why Do You Teach?
Experience #17: What Is the Third Space?
Experience #18: Ask Me Anything!
6. Strategy #2: Stay Curious
Introduction to Stay Curious
Experience #19: What’s Your Expertise?
Experience #20: What Still Intrigues You?
Experience #21: Who Are Your Teachers Today?
Experience #22: Are You a Luddite or Linkedin?
Experience #23: What Do You Teach?
Experience #24: What Would Your Curriculum of Questions Look Like?
Experience #25: What’s Your Teaching Approach?
Experience #26: How Do You Respond to Students?
7. Strategy #3: Ask More, Talk Less
Introduction to Ask More, Talk Less
Experience #27: What’s Really Happening in Your Classroom?
Experience #28: Who Is Hiding in Plain Sight?
Experience #29: What Questions Are You Asking?
Experience #30: How Do You Teach With Your Mouth Shut?
Experience #31: How Do You Get Students to Listen to One Another?
Experience #32: How Do You Get Students to Talk Together?
Experience #33: What Are Socratic Seminars, Harkness, and Spider Web Discussions?
Experience #34: Which Questions Work Best in Inquiry Classrooms?
8. Strategy #4: Encourage Evidence
Introduction to Encourage Evidence
Experience #35: What’s the Most Important Question to Ask?
Experience #36: How Do You Get Your Students to Back Up Their Claims?
Experience #37: How Do You Teach “Crap Detection”?
Experience #38: How Do You Provoke Healthy Debates?
Experience #39: How Can You Practice the Evidence-Seeking Process?
9. Strategy #5: Extend Thinking Time
Introduction to Extend Thinking Time
Experience #40: How Do You Get Students to Think More?
Experience #41: How Can You Get Students to Ask More Questions?
Experience #42: How Do You Cede Control Without Losing It Completely?
Experience #43: How Do Inquiry and Mindfulness Connect?
Experience #44: How Can You Support Innovative Student Thinking?
Experience #45: How Do You Start Project-Based, Problem-Based, and Challenge-Based Learning?
10. Now What?
Experience #46: How Do You Plan for Inquiry?
Experience #47: How Do You Assess Inquiry?
Experience #48: How Do You Make Time for Inquiry?
Experience #49: How Do You Explain Inquiry to Skeptics?
Experience #50: What Does Inquiry Look Like to You?
11. Inquiry Resources
Kimberly’s Top Ten Lists
Inquiry Books
Inquiry Videos and Podcasts
Inquiry Organizations
Inquiry Blogs
Appendices
More Reasons to Fall in Love With Inquiry: the Inquiry Five (i5) and Alignment Documents
The i5 and Common Core State Standards
The i5 and Next Gen Science Standards
The i5 and Danielson Teaching Framework
The i5 and Marzano Framework
The i5 and Approaches to Teaching and Learning (International Baccalaureate)
The i5 and High Leverage Practice (TeachingWorks, University of Michigan)
Curriculum at-a-Glance (Southern Hemisphere)
References
Index

About the Author

Kimberly L. Mitchell teaches at the University of Washington’s College of Education and is co-founder of Inquiry Partners, a professional learning organization dedicated to promoting inquiry-based teaching strategies. She received her BA in History and Philosophy from Skidmore College and her MA in Administration and Policy Analysis from Stanford University. She lives in Seattle, WA with her husband (a middle school teacher) and two children.

Reviews

"Strategic and deliberate approaches to inquiry have been shown to be extremely helpful to educators who seek to ensure that they are meeting the needs of their students. In this important new book, Kimberly Mitchell provides practical insights and methods for how to incorporate inquiry into their practice. For educators who seek to enhance their effectiveness and make a difference for all of the students they serve, this book will be an invaluable resource and guide."
*Pedro A. Noguera, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Education*

"Kimberly has translated the latest terminology—pedagogical jargon—into lively language and useful advice that will strike a chord for classroom teachers!  She ′gets it.′"
*Deborah Meier, Author, Coalition of Essential Schools*

"This is a book that will help you become the inquiry teacher you need to be."
*Kath Murdoch, Education Consultant, University Lecturer, Author of The Power of Inquiry*

 "Experience Inquiry is an excellent book for demystifying how to promote inquiry in the classroom. It′s also a clarion call for building strong personal bonds between teacher and student. Chapter after chapter emphasizes the extraordinary opportunity teachers have and the practical tools they can use to create an environment in which students′ ideas, feelings and questions are valued."
*Dan Rothstein, Author, Make Just One Change: Teach Students to Ask Their Own Questions*

"Kimberly has given us a ′field guide′ to uncover, unpack and enjoy the nobility that is teaching. Her gift is a joyful discomfort that challenges all of us to better actualize the gifts we pledge to the students we serve… best enjoyed in the company of your colleagues."
*Don Shalvey, Founder, Aspire Public Schools*

"More than a good, engaging read, Experience Inquiry is an experiential challenge for educators and educational leaders committed to creating schools where students ′do most of the question-asking and answer-seeking.′ Kimberly Mitchell has provided a fun, accessible way for all of us to reflect on our own capacity for inquiry and in the process become better listeners and learners—which ultimately makes for better teachers."
*Susan Enfield, Superintendent, Highline Public Schools*

"Are you ready to experience authentic inquiry? Experience Inquiry takes you on a reflective, inquiry-based learning journey to bring clarity to what educators have wrestled with since John Dewey’s time: the nebulousness of ′inquiry.′ Kimberly masterfully engages you in what effective inquiry-based teaching and learning looks like, sounds like, and feels like. Finally there is a book that actually differentiates for all levels of teaching experience to provide the foundation our newest teachers need while pushing our most experienced inquiry-based teachers to the next level. This is a must read for all teachers, PLCs, schools, and districts who are working to improve inquiry-based teaching and learning."
*Bodo Heiliger, Elementary IB Principal and IBPYP Workshop Leader*

"While there is much talk about inquiry-based teaching, Kimberly Mitchell walks the walk in this highly practical, easy-to-read manual for inquiry in 21st-century teaching and learning. Unlike most other books on the topic, Mitchell doesn′t stop at how to engage in more inquiry-based teaching and learning; she takes the unique step of walking educators through their own inquiry-based self-reflections and evaluations. Some of the best (and most affordable) professional development I have had in a while can be found within these pages; this book will have a permanent place on my go-to education bookshelf."
*Alexis Wiggins, Author, Founder and Director of the Cohort of Educators for Essential Learning*

"What a thoughtful and generous book! Experience Inquiry is an amazing resource for teachers who are curious about bringing inquiry immediately into their classrooms – whether implementing w/their "beginner mind" or improving their daily practice."
*Kathleen Blakeslee, IB Coordinator, Mark Twain Elementary*

"Experience Inquiry is a ‘must have’ workbook for new teachers and teachers who want to come to the work anew. It’s refreshing to find a book that asks us to pause, think, and reflect for ourselves."
*Colleen Oliver, Vice President - School Leadership, New Teacher Center*

"The shift from ′what′ and ′how to′ to ′why′ and ′what if′ is a must for 21st century educators, and Experience Inquiry provides a powerful, but practical framework for any educator to join education′s long overdue critical thinking revolution."
*Colin Seale, Founder of thinkLaw*

"Kimberly Mitchell is a fabulous teacher and coach who has managed to create in Experience Inquiry a book as engaging for readers as the classrooms she envisions are for students. It’s a must-read if you’re looking for support on your path towards helping your students gain the curiosity, understanding, and creativity to shape a better future."
*Wendy Kopp, Founder, Teach For America & CEO, Teach For All*

"This book will help you grow your own ideas about what it means to do inquiry. It will help you learn more about yourself and your students by inviting you to work through a set of thought-provoking and practical exercises. Invite your colleagues along in this journey and you’ll find yourselves taking new steps towards envisioning and creating inquiry-based classrooms."
*Elham Kazemi, Professor, Associate Dean of Professional Learning*

"With skill and grace, Mitchell navigates the important questions that teachers – and all educators – should be asking themselves. Deeply personal, reflective, and inspirational, Experience Inquiry is a treasure-trove of carefully-crafted, eminently practical ideas for improving the practice of teaching. Bravo!"
*Ash Vasudeva, Vice President for Strategic Initiatives*

"Mitchell′s book is honest and while it could have been full of ′eduspeak′, it is not. It is real, focused, and to the point. Full of suggestions on how to implement and refine your inquiry practice, this book is inspiring and practical. As a life-long learner myself, this book helped me share in the enthusiasm kids have for learning. From the perspective of a teacher, it′s a toolkit we should all make our own!"
*New York, NY*

"Experience Inquiry is full of tangible strategies for fostering inquiry with students of any age. Kimberly Mitchell has knocked it out of the park with this book- it′s highly readable, accessible and chock full of great information. I loved the practical exercises that allow you to try as you go. This is a must read for teachers looking to use inquiry-based teaching in the classrooms. Buy this book today and read it with your team."
*Bonnie Lathram, Writer and Educator; Co-author of Smart Parents: Parenting for Powerful Learning*

"So many people fancy themselves experts on teaching, but few of them have the wisdom of Kimberly Mitchell. Her ceaseless focus on inquiry and call for teachers to ′talk less and ask more′ are some of simplest, but powerful pieces of wisdom I′ve come across in my decade plus in the classroom."
*Nathan Gibbs-Bowling, 2016 National Teacher of the Year Finalist, 2014 Milken National Teaching Award*

"Kimberly Mitchell has put together a powerful book at a key time in the evolution of how we teach, and how students learn. Central to the purpose of this book is the understanding that creating a culture of inquiry begins with the teacher. Many educators know this, but may not have had the opportunity, or the guidance, to really explore what this means for them, their habits, and their practices. This book does just that. Writing in a friendly and informal style, Mitchell invites us to be introspective and to really ponder who we are as educators in this critical time, a time when traditional teaching habits need to be rapidly replaced with those that promote student choice, decision-making, and empowerment. With a rich variety of anecdotes, examples, wisdom ,and practical-thinking tools and strategies, Experience Inquiry is a must-have for the 21st century educator."
*Sam Sherratt, Time Space Education*