Developing a Sense of Exploration, Wonder, Curiosity and Adventure in your Classrooms

I am privileged to have been a mentor for the National Geographic Educator Certification program for the past five years. Each quarter, I have the amazing opportunity to meet, learn with, mentor and guide educators from around the world who are both inspiring and courageous. They are outside of the box thinkers who are truly passionate about about developing attitudes, knowledge and skills in both themselves and their students to empower them to be difference makers in our world.

This morning I posted the following message on the Discussion Board within the Nat Geo Education Certification Community:

Hi Everyone!

I am inspired by all of your teaching missions! Common words I am reading are “exploration”, “wonder”, “curiosity” and “adventure”.

I agree wholeheartedly that the best learning happens through “real” and “authentic” learning opportunities. Often times, as with any adventure, the best learning is unplanned and happens “in the moment”.

My advice to you is to allow room for adventure in your classroom. Don’t become so tied to the curriculum and constrained by the textbook that great learning opportunities pass you by. Be flexible, be creative, be innovative and be courageous! Make the curriculum fit the learning. Stray from the text, the schedule, the lesson plans, the tests and the classroom walls; you will be amazed by the learning adventures that await.

***I think I’m going to turn this into a blog post and share examples of how doing the above brought upon some incredibly powerful and impactful learning opportunities to both my students and myself.

Enjoy the course everyone! You are in for a wonderful learning adventure 🙂

I’d love to get your input! How do YOU allow for adventure in your classroom?

-P