You always hear teachers joke about going into teaching “for the money.” Although it’s funny, it really is a profound statement – even though teachers don’t make a lot of money, they choose to teach anyway. Why? Because they are passionate about making a difference in kids’ lives. Being the only teacher in my family, I am often faced with more financial struggles than others. Although my sister makes more money than I do, she has changed her profession almost 4 times now! I am happy to say that I love what I do.
Maybe one reason why I love what I do is that I never know how each day will go. Sure, I make plans and have a schedule to stick to, but with 25 different personalities in one room, I never know what I’m going to get! However, I am the leader of these 25 little people, and I get to decide how we spend our time together – which is another reason I enjoy my job. I get to try new things every day if I want and inspire curiosity in my students as well. Thomas Friedman, an internationally renowned author, reporter, columnist and the recipient of three Pulitzer Prizes, coined the terms Passion Quotient (PQ) and Curiosity Quotient (CQ). Specifically, he says that PQ + CQ > IQ, and he urges millenials to take notice. I spent some time explaining aspects of my PQ and CQ, and incorporated questioning, per Warren Berger’s A More Beautiful Question. See my infographic below!
Infographic by Hayley Justin.
For decades, the focus has been on IQ and having the right answers. How beautiful is it that society is starting to realize that passion, curiosity, and questioning are so much more valuable.
Berger, W. (2016). A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas. New York, NY: Bloomsbury USA. Wang, A. (2016). Tom Friedman's Advice to Millennials. Retrieved from http://blog.runnymede.com/tom-friedmans-advice-to-millennials.
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In my first grade classroom, I constantly find myself conflicted between pushing on through the curriculum and teaching my students life skills, or simply giving them more time to be kids. How can a teacher make more time for thinking, questioning, and play while still fitting in all the curriculum? I know I’m not alone in this feeling, but then why is this such a tricky thing to navigate? After grappling with this thought for the last 3 years I’ve been teaching, I’ve since realized that it is a wicked problem – there is simply no single solution to the problem.
In an effort to try to begin to solve this wicked problem, I turned to some trusted resources to help me – my colleagues! I sent out a survey to the staff of my suburban elementary school to gain insight into what they do in their classrooms in relation to thinking, questioning, and playing, while also considering completing the required curriculum. I also took a look back at some books (see below) that have been recommended to me over the years, which lend themselves to solving this problem as well. Check out my video below to see my attempt at starting to solve this wicked problem!
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