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Teaching is becoming more difficult. There is no doubt about it. Children are becoming less curious and engaged, and they’re also finding it more difficult to focus and remain on task. So how do we teachers manage disengagement and ensure that both our students and ourselves remain inspired to learn? What are the top inspirational resources to keep teachers at the top of their game?
Inspiration for teachers
Think about all the inspirational speakers on line that help people reach their goals or improve their lives in some way. They’ve done the hard work, and now they challenge others to do the same. All the great entrepreneurs out there spend time improving themselves and their businesses. They look at data and then brainstorm ideas to improve marketing and sales to achieve greater success. Schools organize Professional Development opportunities for teachers, to inspire us to try something new, or to give us the tools and resources to improve our teaching practice.
Holidays, are the perfect occasion for us educators to spend some time taking stock of our practice and pedagogy and to think about, and plan for making some changes to achieve greater success not just for ourselves and student outcomes, but also for improved curiosity and engagement, so that everyone can have more fun!
As educators, we have one of the most important jobs – to inspire the next generation of kids to find learning exciting, to be curious, and meet their full potential. We can only do this if we aren’t stagnating.
Einstein said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
Set a learning intention
I’m assuming that none of us here are insane, because if we are doing the same thing year in and year out, and not seeing engagement levels increasing, or children’s curiosity improving then perhaps we are losing our minds. So, before that happens let’s set ourselves a learning intension for the new year:
To read, or listen to something or someone inspirational every day.
My new year’s wish is that we influence more children to remain curious, love learning and become real world thinkers and problem solvers, inspired by teachers and educators like you and me that are passionate and curious not only about the world around us, but how we can ensure that our children and students grow in curiosity and become lifelong learners.
Become curious and model your own love for learning
To help you start the new year off with a bang, I have created a step-by-step guide to help you get started with Inquiry-based learning. This is Inquiry 101 to take you from fearful and unsure to becoming an advocate for empowering children to explore, inquire and construct their own understanding of the world around them. This guide incorporates the steps that I have personally taken in my own teaching practice to take kids from being disengaged to loving learning!
This is a quality guide, that you can download right now and use to start planning for next year. For less than the price of a cup of coffee and a muffin, you can have your very own professional development opportunity and confidently plan your next unit of work to get kids engaged, curious, and learning how to take responsibility for their own learning.
Inspirational Resources for Educators
For our own inspiration, I believe it’s really important to ensure we are reading and following people who are inspirational, so that we’re always trying out new things and keeping ourselves and our teaching fresh and up to date. Here’s my list of top inspirational learning and teaching resources for early childhood teachers.
Inspirational Books
Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
Boundaries with Kids by Dr Henry Cloud and Dr John Townsend
Inquiry Mindset Elementary Edition by Trevor MacKenzie with Rebecca Bushby
Getting Personal with Inquiry Learning by Kath Murdoch
Green Teaching by Dr Claire Warden
Planning with and for Children – A practical guide to inquiry-based learning through Floorbooks by Dr Claire Warden
Leading with a Lens of Inquiry by Jessica Vance
My website has affiliate links with retailers such as Booktopia which means I may receive a commission for a sale that I refer, at no extra cost to you.
Inspirational Podcasts
Parental as Anything – Maggie Dent
The Inquiry Teacher – Matt Fletcher
Truth for Teachers – Angela Watson
The Cult of Pedagogy – Jennifer Gonzales
Loose Parts Nature Play – Dr Carla Gull
That’s Child’s Play – Kide Science (only a few episodes but all really interesting)
Outdoor Classrooms Podcast – Victoria Hackett
On line Inspiration
https://thinkingpathwayz.weebly.com/
https://www.trevormackenzie.com/
https://au.mindstretchers.academy/
https://www.kathmurdoch.com.au/
I hope that you will find some value in these resources too.
Do you want to learn more about starting inquiry-based learning in your classroom or homeschool? I am considering running a webinar or short course to help educators get started with inquiry. If this is something that interests you, click on the image to register your interest. You can also read this blog post in which I discuss the inquiry process.
Would you be interested in attending an online workshop, webinar or course to learn how to get started with, and integrate inquiry based learning into your lessons? Would you appreciate the support of other like minded educators and have weekly check ins to support you as you begin your learning journey with inquiry-based learning? If so, leave me a voice message below to register your interest.
