Wondering at #TEDxWestVanEd

A few weeks ago I spent the day at the #TEDxWestVanEd conference in West Vancouver, BC.  It was my 2nd time attending their TEDx, and just like last year, I was left with my head filled with excitement and wonders...

As a 2nd year Faculty Associate, I am looking at things a little bit differently though--yes, it is still all about the kids--they are always at the centre of every decision we make of course, but I am also thinking about  everything in regards to how it fits into Teacher Education and our student- teachers, as they are my primary students now.

Every speaker left me with something to think about, but I want to focus in on the very first speaker of the day--Kath Murdoch.

Kath was so great!  She left us all excited to go back to the classroom and wishing that a big bug would fly through the window so we could ask our students 'what are you wondering about?' (she talked about teaching in an inquiry based way so that when a bug flies into your room and all your students run to stare at it, we could think about saying 'what are you wondering about' instead of 'get back to your seats please'--I just love this!!)  

I have been asking my grades 4-7 students about their wonderings for years now (during Genius Hour and also through some inquiry based units), but I am also left wondering about how often we ask our student-teachers and experienced teachers -- what are you wondering about?  Because we need to wonder too!  

So many of us are all about student inquiry--and I LOVE that--but Kath's talk also got me thinking about my wonders and how I need to write those down too and spend a bit more time inquiring into those as well.

Last year I completed a self study as part of my graduate work at SFU and it was an amazing experience. Honestly, I was frustrated at first because I had some preconceived notions about what *real* research was, but as I came around I found that looking inwardly at our own wonders, actions and beliefs is so important--and is research too!  

Now that I am done my Masters it would be easy to push self-study/action-research/inquiry onto the back burner but I really want to continue to make this a priority!  We know how valuable wondering is for the learning process of our students, and I need to also make time for the learner in me...and I am going to continue to think about how I can support my student-teachers with their wonders too.

Thank you, Kath, for inspiring us!

This week I have been wondering a lot about the Reggio approach to teaching. 
 Blog post about that coming soon!

I am curious though--what do you wonder about? And what do you do with your wonders?