Unlock Wonder in a time of Indifference

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Do you remember what it is like to sit in complete wonder? Like a child, the world around you is redefined in split second of mind bending fascination. 

Wonder like that seems to have been replaced with a wonder of how bad things are.  Questioning if the events and experiences around us will ever get better, back to the way they were.

If we were to define wonder in 2020, it wouldn't be that of a child's excitement and awe, but an overwhelming sadness and anxiety filled feeling of loss.  It is a feeling so overwhelming, that the default is to become indifferent about what is happening around us. 

As a teacher, there are even more challenges that are happening in the classroom.  Online teachers are limited with resources, experience, training.  Concurrent teachers are doing an almost impossible task of balancing students in the live classroom and in a zoom. A school day is becoming less and less like a place of learning and more like a large checklist that has to be completed each day.

The quote says "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results."-Rita Mae Brown
This insanity has grown and created a callus of indifference that is getting tough and tougher to break through.

Indifference tempts the wonder to fade away, but it is wonder that is the only thing that can unlock the indifference in our teachers and students. 

The definition of learning is roughly "knowledge acquired through experience". 

Creating wonder is not experience built on powerpoints.  Nor is it related to how many worksheet pages your 3rd grade student can complete in a day.  

Creating the wonder worthy of unlocking the indifference is curious.  It is inquisitive.  The freedom to wonder like this can only be fostered in an environment of freedom, excitement, and curiosity.  

How do we unlock wonder?  We must create.  

In creating, we will make mistakes.  

In making mistakes, we will learn. 

In learning we will start to wonder. 

In wondering, we will unlock the indifference, shedding the callus skin like butterfly drops it's cocoon.  

We are experiencing a challenge, and each one of us has the choice to embrace wonder or lay down to indifference.