Think. Chat. Create
Welcome to thinkchat. This is a place where you can find a wide-variety of resources that can help you as a learner of any age to figure out who you want to be and how you want to learn. I am so happy that you are here.
Let's take a moment to reflect what it was like to be a young learner. Magical is what comes to mind for me. It's a time where our curiosity and wonderings shape our daily learning and engagement with others. At thinkchat, our primary goal is to help educators create learning experiences that inspire wonder every day. Isn't this is the reason we became educators?
Take a moment to think back to your own elementary/primary school experiences. What are the moments that instantly come to mind? What educators shaped your understanding of the world? What ways did you learn best?
Those moments that come to your mind were mainly driven by the amount of agency you were given as a learner. What is agency? It's the power to explore, wonder, and connect the learning process. If your memories were instantly positive, it means you were given the space to exhibit these skills regularly while you navigated the world around you. This is what all learners should experience as they go through their formative years.
Let's take a moment to reflect what it was like to be a young learner. Magical is what comes to mind for me. It's a time where our curiosity and wonderings shape our daily learning and engagement with others. At thinkchat, our primary goal is to help educators create learning experiences that inspire wonder every day. Isn't this is the reason we became educators?
Take a moment to think back to your own elementary/primary school experiences. What are the moments that instantly come to mind? What educators shaped your understanding of the world? What ways did you learn best?
Those moments that come to your mind were mainly driven by the amount of agency you were given as a learner. What is agency? It's the power to explore, wonder, and connect the learning process. If your memories were instantly positive, it means you were given the space to exhibit these skills regularly while you navigated the world around you. This is what all learners should experience as they go through their formative years.
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What does it mean to explore? Learning is so provoking you desire to learn more through in-depth exploration. This is why throughout history, humans have hungered to explore the earth, space, technology, and human capabilities. We inherently want to know more, be more than we were before. How is this different than wondering? As we explore the world around us, we naturally come up with wonderings that perplex and challenge our thinking. These wonderful questions stretch our thinking and help us to explore into different avenues. What connections do we make? As we engage with exploration and wondering, we begin to make connections to our prior learning and build upon those experiences. We re-shape our misconceptions and gain a broader generalization of bigger concepts |
How does this translate to different learning systems? It's about intentionally planning for exploration, wondering, and connections. I've worked in all types of educational settings and the same thing is true. All students are hungry to learn and apply new understandings. How are we planning to make it happen authentically?
Consider this model and prompts as you design your next unit or lesson plan.
- Are there enough opportunities for learners to THINK on their own?
- Are learners engaging in meaningful CHATS throughout the process?
- Are learners CREATING to express their connections regularly?
As we pivot towards a new educational reality, let's consider how we will bring about more thinking, chatting, and creating into our curriculum.
As the founder of thinkchat, I wanted to create a consultancy firm that represented these ideals that reside at the heart of learner-driven curriculum. To this end, I have designed learning resources and professional development that represent my passion and the desire to help fellow educators who were struggling with the planning process.
As we pivot towards a new educational reality, let's consider how we will bring about more thinking, chatting, and creating into our curriculum.
As the founder of thinkchat, I wanted to create a consultancy firm that represented these ideals that reside at the heart of learner-driven curriculum. To this end, I have designed learning resources and professional development that represent my passion and the desire to help fellow educators who were struggling with the planning process.
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For nearly two decades, I've been working as an educator within the United States, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates. During my time abroad, I discovered a curriculum framework that has greatly shaped my views about learning and teaching. It's called the International Baccalaureate (IB). The framework brings about agency, inquiry, conceptual thinking, skill development, and transdisciplinary learning. In a nutshell, it is a curriculum framework that focuses on creating learner-driven experiences that supports the whole child. My type of learning. |
As you venture through this website, my hope is that you will find resources that support your learning development and ease your planning process. There are materials for every learning style: videos, podcast episodes, guides, and professional development opportunities. My hope is that you find some materials that spark your curiosity and wonderings, so you can move towards a learner-centered classroom too.