Let's focus in the coming year more on bringing
joy to our students' lives and also to our own.
Let's embrace those strategies that give us a
break and make teaching and the facilitation
of learning not just fun for kids, but for us
too. Hello and welcome to Blooming Curious. a
podcast that's all about nurturing that natural
curiosity in our earliest kids and students.
I'm Edwina, your host from the Ed's Lessons blog,
a passionate advocate for play and inquiry, and
on a mission to keep children curious and questioning.
The days of talk and chalk are over. We're diving
into the world of integrated inquiry and nature
-based learning. and exploring the strategies
that create lifelong learners. So if you're a
classroom or homeschool educator or even a curious
parent, then this is the place for you. Happy
Christmas, everyone. I hope you enjoyed your
celebrations and traditions yesterday. I know
I certainly did, having the whole family around.
But today we're going to reflect on what was
and what could be as we plan for the next teaching
cycle. Have you ever taken a moment, or do you
ever do this, to consider the impact your actions
have on those around you, especially on the children
you teach and care for? Do you ever wonder about
the direction of your life and whether what you're
doing has any meaning? I must say that these
are the things that I think about a lot and they
bother me and I think about them often. Am I
doing enough or not enough? Have I actually contributed
something positive to someone's life? Am I actually
doing myself any good? And very often, I think
not. And then the end of the year comes around
and we have just experienced, I get calls from
kids that say, thank you, you've been the best
teacher ever. You're one of the best teachers
I've ever had. I miss you when I'm not there,
et cetera, et cetera. And then I think, oh, geez,
golly, what I do really does make a difference.
And you know, we can't touch the lives of everyone
we meet or teach. But I think as long as we touch
the lives of some, then we can look back and
say, we made a difference in someone's life.
And that's really pretty cool. I recently heard
someone say, when you meet someone, it might
be the only time ever you have to make an impact
on their life. So we really do need to be aware
of our actions and our words on other people.
And so I want to say that yes, some of us spend
a lot of time in our heads and others perhaps
not so much and perhaps not enough. But the world
needs more curious people who embrace learning.
People who embrace thinking and wondering and
questioning because this is the way we improve
our own lives and the lives of those around us.
And we can't just be these people with blank
expressions and nothing behind the eyes and they
just go you know, through the motions every single
day. We need to stop and think, is what I'm doing
good enough? Am I happy, really truly happy doing
what I'm doing or doing the same thing over and
over again? And this is really the reason why
I started my blog, it's lessons and this podcast
so that I can have greater impact. to teach more
people so that more children can hopefully be
taught and raised in a way that celebrates curiosity
and wondering and questioning so that we don't
simply just accept things blindly and just sit
there, but actually take the time to say, hang
on a minute, how can this be? And is this the
way we make a positive impact on others' lives?
So as we come to the close of 2023, I encourage
you to start pondering how you as an educator
truly impact the lives of children in your care.
Did you give them this past year opportunities
to wonder? Did you give them opportunities to
express themselves in some form or other that
was truly individual and unique to them? Did
you provide opportunities for them to have some
choice and agency in how they learn? What about
you? Did you grow? Are you going to do the same
things next year as you did that past year? Or
are you going to challenge yourself this coming
year to try something a little different, to
take a bit of a risk, to have a go and get a
little uncomfortable? Just the same way we want
our kids to do. We cannot grow or learn without
some discomfort. We all know how challenging
learning something new can be, but also how rewarding
it is. You know, since starting the blog, Ed's
Lessons, and now this podcast and simultaneously
teaching, my learning curve has seriously been
vertical. I've had to become acquainted with
new ways of doing things and learning all about
digital entrepreneurship and it's pretty daunting
and it's full -on but it's also kind of exciting
and even when I just get one email or one positive
message it makes my day and I think yep it's
all going to be worth it eventually hopefully
before I die or before I turn 60 which is by
the way not too far away you know how kids have
the internet at the finger at their fingertips
they can find out anything they want they really
don't need us to give them information anymore
but they do need us to teach them how to sift
through the information and how to ask good questions
and how to find the answers to those questions
and how to present their knowledge in ways that
show their own growth and understanding and of
course how to apply what they learn to new learning.
So I want to tell you a story about one of my
students. Let's call him G. Now G really struggled
and still does to some extent with expressive
language and reading and writing. G really found
school difficult. And of course, school is not
a fun place. Actually learning is not fun. When
you see other kids around you reading and you're
still struggling identifying and reading single
words. And I remember the first few weeks in
year two, G was not a happy chappy. He stood
at the door each morning clinging to his mom,
tears running down his cheeks, broke my heart,
but By the second or third week, I can't remember
now exactly, I told the students that we were
going to be spending two days every week doing
investigation. It's going to be every Thursday
and Friday. And I explained the process and I
put up all my learning intentions on the board
and I told them they could learn about anything
they wanted and present it in any way they liked,
as long as it met our learning intentions. Smiles
erupted all around. Kids jattered eagerly about
what they wanted to learn more about. Now I'm
not going to go into the whole process here,
that's for another day, but you can download
my new e -guide that's all about getting started
with inquiry by going to resources .edslessons
.com forward slash inquiry 101. I'll put a link
in the show notes. Anyway, to carry on, Thursday
rolled along, and I presented the lesson, and
I walked the students through the process and
the steps they need to take, and also gave them
the option to work in small groups if they so
wished. Now, little G loved sharks. And of course,
somehow or other, it met our learning intentions,
and so I scaffolded and helped him find out more
about the specific shark he wanted to study,
because I wanted him to experience joy in his
learning. We watched videos about the topic instead
of reading. And I took some simple notes for
him. But interestingly enough, he remembered
all the details. Once he had gathered the details,
I asked him how he wanted to present his learning
and he decided on a slideshow with images. And
then he recorded his voice instead of writing.
And he was able to re -record parts where he
made mistakes as many times as he wanted until
he was happy with the final product, which he
presented to the class. Now, as soon as we started
investigation time, Little G's tears dried up.
He started coming to class with a spring in his
step and a smile on his dial. This whole inquiry
experience made all the difference to his learning
and his attitude towards school. Of course, reading
and writing was still challenging, but he looked
forward to Thursdays and Fridays, and somehow
he realized that all the other work that he was
doing and the stuff that he was learning was
also benefiting his inquiry. the whole process
of inquiry and I have so many stories like this
I can't tell you and even gifted kids feel such
a sense of personal accomplishment because they're
working on their own projects they don't have
to wait for the others to catch up they're working
at their own pace or with a friend who's at the
same stage as they are and they really appreciate
this experience and so for next year I invite
you to join me in embracing a brand new challenge
Let's not be so hung up about sticking to curriculum
programs because let's focus more on the strategies
like inquiry that really excite children and
give them ownership over their learning. Inquiry
is such an exciting way for kids to learn. Don't
worry, it's not about throwing out explicit instruction.
Kids still need explicit instruction to learn
all those mathematical concepts and phonics and
spelling rules and how to construct sentences
and Also, the skills of inquiry. Inquiry runs
in tandem with your explicit instruction lessons.
And by the way, the better you know your curriculum,
the easier it is to integrate inquiry into your
lessons. Let's focus in the coming year more
on bringing joy to our students' lives and also
to our own. Let's embrace those strategies that
give us a break and make teaching and the facilitation
of learning not just fun for kids, but for us
too. And with that, the challenge for the rest
of the holidays is for you and me to just ponder.
and wonder and think about how we want to make
a difference in the lives of the kids we teach.
Are we just going to give them more worksheets?
Because I swear, I do not remember anything I
learned about at school when I was filling in
worksheets. I remember the things that I did,
the doing. And I'm telling you now, the kids
now also remember the things they do. They do
not remember a thing about those worksheets that
they fill in day after day. So we've got to think
about how do we want to impact their learning,
their curiosity, and how do we also want to make
a difference in our own lives as educators. And
it all starts with listening to podcasts. just
like this one, and reading inspirational books
that can help us on our journey and create a
mind shift for ourselves. Now I've written a
blog post where I list my top inspirational resources
all for educators. So take a look at that in
the show notes below, or just go to edslessons
.com or to bloomingcurious .com for the latest
post. Full disclosure, I am an affiliate for
Booktopia and will receive a small commission
at no extra cost to you if you decide to buy
any of the books I recommend through my link.
And with that, my friends, my New Year's wish
for you is that you will give inquiry a go. I'm
right here if you need me, just send me an email
or DM. My contact details are in the show notes
below. I know how overwhelming and scary it can
be to try something new, especially in a classroom
where you're herding a thousand cats, but I can
take you step by step through the process until
you feel comfortable and confident. So this is
something you would be interested in learning,
how to easily start inquiry learning with your
students this coming year. Then email me at contact
at edslessons .com and just say, I need help
with inquiry. And so next week is 2024. That's
unreal. That's the year that my son is going
to turn 24. Gee whiz. We'll start the new year.
with a series which I'm going to be calling Getting
Started. So the Getting Started series, which
starts next Tuesday. So look out for that. And
finally, why don't you please share this episode
with someone you think might find it useful.
And if you enjoyed it, consider subscribing and
leaving a review. Thanks so much. So I'll catch
you next Tuesday. And until then, don't forget
to wander and stay blooming curious.