Curiosity Works
Leading & Teaching with Curiosity in Mind
A free professional learning session for principals, school leadership team members, and central office administrators
Friday, June 28, 2019
8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
McREL - Denver Tech Center
Curiosity is as powerful a predictor of student success as IQ, grit, or teacher quality. Yet, sadly, even though kids are born curious, the longer they stay in school, the less curious they become--likely the result of our efforts to ensure rigor and cover content, which tends to quash curiosity among students (and teachers).
What if we were to focus on restoring student curiosity and motivation? Might everything else get easier--and more joyful?
In this free session with McREL CEO and author Bryan Goodwin, you’ll learn about simple shifts you can make in classrooms and across entire schools to “flip the script” on improvement efforts—not by mandating changes from the “outside-in,” but rather, by changing the “inside-out,” starting with what’s inside every student (and teacher) and waiting to come out: curiosity.
Please note: This will be a "pilot" workshop, the first presentation of this new session from McREL. At the end of the workshop, you'll be asked to provide feedback on the session's content, delivery, and experience, to help refine and improve the session.
Session topics include:
- Why curiosity is an important lever for learning and how to cultivate it in students, teachers, and leaders.
- Classroom shifts that unleash student curiosity and deeper learning, as detailed in McREL's recent Student Learning that Works paper.
- The science of learning--including how curiosity drives learning and memory--and how to design learning that taps into the power of curiosity.
- How to make critical school-level shifts to unleash teacher curiosity, starting with inquiry-driven professional learning that leads to “precision without prescription.”
Free Registration! There is no charge to attend this special event, but seating is limited and reservations are required. Refreshments and a light lunch will be provided.
Questions? Need More Information?
Contact McREL International at events@mcrel.org or 303-632-5579.
Agenda:
8:00-8:30: Arrival and check-In
8:30-8:45: Welcome and introductions
8:45-9:45: The power of curiosity--Priming our brains for learning
- Learn why curiosity is an important lever for learning and life success.
- Explore the conditions that unleash it in learners, teachers, and leaders--and see how schools and classrooms often quash curiosity.
- Activity: Moral purpose world café.
- Reflection: Considering and capturing your why.
9:45-10:45: Spark, flame, and fire--Bringing curiosity to life in schools
- Learn about three types of curiosity, and explore simple classroom shifts that unleash all three forms.
- Activity: Jigsaw: Four ways to spark curiosity.
- Activity: Socratic seminar on questions from excerpts of Out of Curiosity.
- Reflection: Final word protocol. Sharing the "fire inside." What do we want to learn today?
10:45-11:45: Applying curiosity to the science of learning
- Develop a deeper understanding of the science of learning--including how curiosity fuels deep learning and memory--and how to apply this understand in their classrooms.
- Learn a model for instructional design that encourages simple classroom shifts that teachers can use unleash student curiosity as described in McREL's Student Learning that Works whitepaper.
- Activity: Use the learning model to develop a lesson plan / school improvement plan for inquiry-based learning.
- Reflection: What would it take to develop these kinds of lessons in our schools?
11:45-12:15: Lunch/Break
- 30-minute break; working lunch continues during next segment.
12:15-1:30: Changing from the inside out
- Explore research (and mindsets) on changing behavior: What makes people change?
- Reflection: What motivates you?
- Explore the effects of leaders’ mental models of change and their leadership styles.
- Activity: Three-minute debate: Directive vs. empowering leadership styles.
- Reflection: What is your theory of change?
- Explore the principles of inside-out change and learn simple shifts school leaders can make to unleash teacher curiosity, starting with inquiry-driven professional learning.
- Activity: Turning threats into challenges: Reframing teacher learning as inquiry.
- Reflection: What’s your driving question for the school year?
1:30-2:15: Better together--Unleashing the power of peer coaching
- Explore the research on peer coaching--when it works and when it doesn’t.
- Activity: Critique a teacher video.
- Explore the power of rubrics and triads for coaching.
- Activity: Critique the video in a triad with a rubric and "I wonder" statements.
2:15-2:30: Closing activity and reflection
- What three things have you learned today?
- What two things are you curious about now and want to explore further?
- What one next step you’re committed to taking?
2:30-3:00: Feedback
- Conversation with Bryan, providing feedback about session's content, activities, pacing, and delivery.
3:00: Adjourn
