Working my way through a handful of emails that trickled in before the holiday break and scanned one that came from a teacher whom I coach and plan with on a weekly basis. She was following up on one of the questions I asked her to consider pondering in between now and the time next I saw her in the New Year. The question was open ended to give enough space for reflection yet specific to give direction to where we might take our weekly meetings in the next semester.

Upon opening the email, I could tell that the answer given was one she’d been wrestling with all semester. It’s one that I’ve heard her casually mention while looking at weekly lesson plans working and reworking the sequence of learning experiences. It’s a question I’ve wrestled with personally when new to teaching with an inquiry framework and mindset. And, it’s a question I continue to field in weekly planning sessions with teachers and ongoing coaching and professional learning with leaders and teams at schools.

“What’s the best placement for a learning wall?”

“How do I know what artifacts to collect for the wall?”

“Do you have a checklist to help me get started?”

“Who uses and builds the learning wall?”

I get a lot of questions about how to begin building a learning wall. From those newer to an inquiry practice, to others who have delved into the process of documentation of learning for quite some time, I love them all.

❓Generating questions.

🤔 Sparking curiosity.

💭 Planning for learning with student wonder in mind.

This list above is part of the “checklist” that teaching, leading and learning with an inquiry stance keeps tucked alongside their practice.

From rich provocations to playfully collecting evidence of learners thinking across a span of time, questions remain the foundation for planning for meaningful and connected learning.

But what happens if the students ask students that are not related to my curriculum?

Thinking routines.

A “go to”.

A “must have”.

An “essential” in any inquiry setting.

Time and time again, there’s a handful of thinking routines that I find myself returning to as I support those new to teaching and leading with an inquiry mindset, ones I circle back to to gather feedback from my learners at the end of a professional development session and routines that I lean into that gather essential reflections and tap into deeper thinking and provide a clearer picture into what connections and meaning are being made at the tail end of a provocation.

💭 How do we assess our learners while maintaining student agency and a mindset centered around the heart of inquiry?

🧘‍♂️ How do we strengthen critical thinking while slowing down for more mindful moments for ourselves and for our students?

🔎 How might we take a closer look at inquiry and examining how it shows up in all areas of our practice, including assessment?

I had such fun with the group of global educators this past February and am looking forward to partnering up with Chapters International again this fall. This offering nudges you towards immediate action and implementation, brining back what you’ve tried into your practice back to the group so we can dive deeper together as critical thought partners and friends.

Spending the month of July in Australia has been something.

The people.

The new connections and experiences.

The curiosity.

Curiosity has been a theme of this visit. The curiosity in each of the rooms has been palpable. While uniquely powering each group’s learning, it’s not just the questions that have emerged that have defined curiosity in these spaces, it’s been the engagement, the vulnerability and open mindedness that has provoked deeper thinking and meaning making towards rethinking our approach. It’s been the reflection on the possible ways we’ve become stagnant in some areas because of habits and systems put in place. It’s been the ah-ha moments and playful connections that have launched powerful action steps towards what’s next within our professional practice.

The checklist. The never ending to do’s. The pressures to perform.

Let’s face it, these are all factors that lure us towards “getting things done” and distract us from planning with a mindset and a sense of curiosity, wonder and awe.

A popular question I receive from both classroom teachers and leaders is, where do I even begin?

It’s been months of brainstorming and planning with some fantastic organizations and educators for a visit to Australia and Tasmania in July.

I’ll be partnering with Trevor MacKenzie at many of these events, bringing our range of experience and perspectives to the group while of course leaning and also learning from the fantastic wisdom in the room (If you were at the Kaleidoscope event in Vancouver this past April you’ll know this phrase, as shared by Kath Murdoch, quite well!)