To me, this quote was a showstopper.
 
I can honestly say I've said it myself - that we need to prepare our students for the real world.
 
But in reality, most of them are experiencing a world we will never understand.
 
We need to prepare them the best we can to fit into a world where technology is at the forefront.
 
Where life changes in a blink of an eye.
 
Where new jobs are being created that people 50 years ago never thought of.
 
I get frustrated when I see popular Instagram accounts where picture after picture is a cute new worksheet or activity that you can purchase off TeachersPayTeachers for your students to do.
 
Yet, those “activities” do not instill creativity.
 
In fact, they limit it.
 
Let’s look at education and see how we can change it for our kids.
 
I’ve said this once, and I know I’ll say it again, create small changes.
 
Take it step by step.
 
Put away the old worksheet you’ve brought out year after year and allow students to live in a world of creativity and innovation.
 
Where they are guiding their learning.
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Filling their minds with possibilities by collaborating and researching.
 
Where they do not have to fill in the blank.
 
That is preparing them for the future
 
That is creating a better tomorrow for our youth. 

As a learning coach, I asked the girls I work with what they wanted to learn more about. The request paper! They wanted to find out how paper is made. To begin our journey, we watched a youtube video from National Geographic Kids. It was all about how paper is made.

Out of the many things I'm passionate about - inquiry is one that is close to the top of my list - it's a big list but it's up at the top. The whole idea of  encouraging students to question and wonder is so exciting to me. Or maybe it's because I didn't always find that policy, "No question is a stupid question" to be true as a student.

Regardless, I have always held inquiry at the top of my list. So when I began my second year teaching young 5s, I knew I wanted to integrate inquiry even more into our curriculum. I just was not sure how. However, I watched my students closely and used them to guide my inquiry exploration. 

You may ask, "How did you do that?"