Creating A Culture of Curiosity

Many students don't feel comfortable being curious at school. They've learned that asking a question might make them look foolish, slow down the class, or even upset the teacher.

So if you want curious students, you have to retrain them to be curious again. You have to spend some time creating a culture of curiosity. This mailing list will give you the resources.

Each week, you'll get a list of five free links to fascinating images and intriguing videos to share with your class.

What Do I Do With This?

Take a few minutes once a week, show your favorite puzzlement or two, and simply let your students be curious.

Use these two prompts:

1. What do you notice? - Psst. Most people rush (or skip) this step. Give kids lots of time to notice things. Noticing is a pre-req. You cannot wonder if you haven't spent enough time noticing first.
2. What do you wonder? - No pressure. No expectations. This is a chance for you to establish four key traits:
   1. Routine: students come to expect a time to be curious.
   2. Safety: they know they can ask a question without being hushed or sidelined.
   3. Novelty: the puzzlements are fresh, interesting, and unexpected.
   4. A chance for you to praise and (most importantly) model curiosity -- you should be wondering along with the class.

DO NOT: assign homework or create classwork out of these questions or you’ll quench the fire.

Now it's time to sign up!