And welcome to another episode of blooming curious.
As we head towards the end of the year, I thought we would analyze the top
five or six episodes of the past year since I started the podcast on the 28th
of November and looking back at the most popular and downloaded episodes,
it was quite an eye-opener for me.
Not so much in terms of the most popular, but more so in terms of the least listened
to episodes that have been recorded.
Listeners didn't show much interest in episode 17 Why Curiosity is
Declining in our Classrooms.
Nor in episode six, The 10 Tips to Get Kids Off Screens.
Nor episode four How to Minimize Technology in Children's Lives.
Nor episode 46, How to Better Engage our Students.
And looking at these stats actually made me quite despondent because
it appears that the very thing that I see happening in classrooms, the
things that are most detrimental to children's learning and development.
No one else appears to be bothered by.
So that begs the question.
What am I doing this for?
Do I even continue along this path highlighting the dire straits that
our children are in or do I just pretend it doesn't matter and focus on
the things that people want more of.
And so instead of getting my knickers in a knot and having sleepless nights
about the mental wellbeing of other people's children, I'm just going
to focus on what you actually want.
So without further ado, let me tell you about the most popular episodes
that have been on blooming, curious since it started in November last year.
Episode one was my very first episode when I introduced blooming curious.
And why I felt that curiosity is so important for children.
I highlighted that before we can even begin teaching kids to read and
write, we need to cultivate a burning desire in them to want to know more.
And to be curious.
And of course I created an easy guide for you, on how to develop
natural curiosity in children.
I'll leave a link for you in the show notes, as well as a link to the great
blog post that talks all about how we as adults and educators can help to
nurture and keep kids curious since we're all born with that natural innate
curiosity, but it wanes over time.
Episode 36 was the next most popular episode.
The Most Effective Strategies for Student Learning.
These are 10 instructional practices that reliably increase student learning.
And they emerged from the studies and findings across Australian and
international schools and the work of John Hattie and Robert Marzano who took these
findings and ranked them by their level of effectiveness in student learning,
otherwise known as their effect size.
And I unpacked those top strategies in episode 36, and highlighted
how the driver of all these strategies is actually you and me.
We teachers make the difference.
And to be really effective, it all starts with the right mindset, having
an inquiry and a growth mindset,
and trying new strategies
when we see our students be disengaged and not being afraid to fail and
allowing our students to see us fail.
So that they become better at taking risks.
In this episode, I linked my Eguide Inquiry 1 0 1, which takes you
through the step-by-step process of integrating curiosity inspired
lessons into your existing lessons.
I'll leave a link for you in the show notes.
The next most popular episode was number 26, which was an interview
with the amazing Jessica Vance.
Jessica is the author of Leading With a Lens of Inquiry, which is a
publication aimed at school leaders.
But in this episode, we talked about learning walls.
And Jess talked about how the walls in our classrooms, actually the third teacher
and that it would be a missed opportunity if we did not leverage our walls as
an opportunity to be able to support
and co-construct the learning alongside our learners.
Jess walked us through the process of starting a learning wall
and how a learning wall becomes an interactive space where our
learners can connect with a learning journey across the curriculum.
She also spoke about learning walls, helping children to make
connections between subject areas.
Because so often children have difficulty making those connections between say
English and science or maths and science.
So the learning wall is a visual tool that helps children make those connections.
Jess also encouraged us not to do teaching alone.
That we need to be vulnerable
if we want to grow as educators.
To be open to feedback, and she suggested, we all have a critical
friend, someone that can help us see the blind spots and our biases.
Teaching can be very lonely.
Especially when you're perhaps doing things that no one
else is doing in your school.
So we all need to have a sense of belonging.
So I would recommend you sign up to get curious my weekly newsletter,
where I share strategies and tips, and generally give you a pep talk
and inspire you as an educator.
So join a group of like-minded people and sign up to get curious, I'll leave
a link for you in the show notes.
Now setting up an outdoor environment for children was the topic of episode 12.
And here I spoke about providing children with opportunities
to play and to learn outdoors.
And that it is a real opportunity for teachers and schools to provide,
play and learning experiences for children that they might not
be getting in their own homes.
In this episode, I talked educators through the process
of setting up an outdoor space.
Where children can play.
Where they can have opportunities to move and be physical.
And also opportunities where they can be creative or even quiet.
I also offered you some advice and examples of how we can set up an outdoor
learning environment on a budget.
And how to connect the learning experiences outdoors.
To our curriculum.
I also provided links to websites where you can learn more about planning,
an outdoor learning experience as well as to my lesson plan for the
picture book, The Curious Garden written by Peter Brown, which is a
perfect picture book and a lesson plan
if you intend to plant a garden in your outdoor space and really why wouldn't you.
Episode 24 was another big hit.
And it was my interview with a queen of outdoor learning.
Dr. Claire Warden.
Claire is a font of knowledge when it comes to planning, learning
experiences for children to connect them with the natural world.
She talked about risk and how we navigate that.
She talked about curiosity.
And how children have become emotionally fearful and unable
to engage in problem solving.
She spoke about how children are increasingly finding curiosity difficult,
because they're worried about failure.
Claire spoke about her findings and our research on how the unpredictability
of nature and the outdoors is such a powerful catalyst for curiosity.
And she also gave us lots of actionable and practical advice on how we as
educators can plan learning experiences using the outdoors and loose parts.
As well as how we can plan and document learning using flow books.
Claire Warden really is such an inspiration.
If you work with young children or you're raising young children in
this episode, you really must not
miss.
Claire was such an inspiration for me.
And the reason that I changed the way that I taught and hand on heart, it's
made such a difference to children's learning to their creativity and their
curiosity and their overall wellbeing.
So when you have finished listening to this episode, then do yourself a favor
and go to the show notes and click on the links to listen to these popular episodes.
My very first interview was with my friend Ash Sharp.
And this was episode 13.
Ash is an early childhood educator who started a loose parts play business
in Geraldton, Western Australia.
We spoke about the powerful benefits of play and particularly loose parts play.
Where children can be creative, where they can take risks and where they
can learn in their most natural way.
And Ash shared her story of why she left the classroom to pursue her passion
of encouraging children to play more.
Hence the name of her business.
We spoke of the limitations and the frustrations that we as educators often
experience in schools and classrooms.
And how, ultimately, as educators, we sometimes have a difficult decision to
make, when our jobs don't align with our values and what we know about what is
best for children and the way they learn.
And lastly, episode 25, my interview with playground designer, Marcus
Veerman who is also the designer and founder of that little nifty toy you
might be seeing on social media called the Nudel Kart and the Nudel Pod.
We spoke about how Marcus' playgrounds have brought joy to millions
of children around the world.
And how his new inventions, the Nudel Kart and Nudel Pod are replacing all
those annoying plastic toys that just end up in landfill, with something that
is not only sustainable and beautiful, but also creative and allows children
to build their critical thinking and their problem solving skills.
Marcus really is a super passionate person, but when it comes to play
and how children learn through play.
And honestly, if you or your school are thinking about purchasing loose
parts or resources in the new year, or you're considering redoing your
playground or your outdoor space, I would urge you to listen to this episode
before you go off and spend money.
So that's a wrap for the most popular episodes so far
on Blooming Curious.
And before I sign off, I want to let you know that I will
be taking a break in December.
So no new episodes will be appearing then, so I urge you to click on that
follow or subscribe button, so you get notified when a new episode is published.
And also, make sure you sign up to Get Curious, my inspirational monthly
newsletter, with practical, actionable steps that you can take, not only to
get the best out of your students, but it's also a little bit of a pep talk
to help you stay on top of your game.
So check out the show notes for all the links, including
our to sign up for Get Curious.
Thanks for listening today.
And remember, curiosity is not just a trait, it's a superpower.
So until next time, stay blooming curious.