This is a little clip from one of my favourite videos online, that shows the sheer joy and wonder of a child.
One of the goals of my work is that kids never lose that curiosity, and we fan that flame. To do this, our own love and excitement for learning as educators should look like this:
What I love about this clip is how the excitement becomes contagious. I have watched new parents look at learning through a totally different lens when they have children. They ask questions, point out wonder, and just have an excitement that their own child exudes.
I was fortunate enough to spend the year with Winnipeg School Division, and I end my year with them full of excitement, as we focused on a renewed view on the power of learning for the educator, not just the student. When educators are excited not only about teaching, but more importantly, learning, their passion becomes contagious.
Yesterday, I listened to the awesome George Pearce share that instead of spending his nights aimlessly looking at social media streams, he now spent his time seeing what his colleagues were sharing of their own learning on a shared hashtag. It was truly inspiring.
This great post from Stephane Gautron last night talking about his own shift in thinking this year really resonated with me:
Having had my head in the sand for so long, it was a steep learning curve but one that has helped me love and get excited about teaching and connecting with students again. One that has allowed me to share, encourage, ask questions, find inspiration and perhaps inspire. One that has allowed me to reconnect with students at a time where I thought humanity was doomed.
…To learn about Twitter was to become more technologically literate at the least. At best, it summed up and made use of the most recent and important developments in social media and technology from the past 10 years. It allowed me to speak and experiment with this new language. It also meant free professional development anytime, anywhere. The upside seemed appetizing, so I dug in. (Read the whole thing.)
Slowing down to go fast is sometimes important, but only if we are focused on deep and powerful learning. To watch the journey of so many educators over year become really excited about their own learning has been something that has increased my enthusiasm for my own work.
As it says on the side of my blog, “I believe we need to inspire our kids to follow their passions, while letting them inspire us to do the same”. Kids should read “learners” as I have been moved by the passion of learning of so many through this project. If we can be excited about teaching that’s great, but if we become excited about our own learning, the differences we can make in schools moving forward will be immeasurable.
