The Sean Walker Challenge

​This October, I had the priviledge of attending the IB Global Conference in Budapest.  I was blessed to meet and reconnect with so many people that I admire.  One of those people is Sean Walker.  

Have you had a chance to meet Sean?  If you haven't, you are in for a treat.  He is one of the most humble, yet talented people I've met in a long time.  His work in the early years and the PYP is legendary.  

At the IB Global Conference, I was able to attend Sean's session on Play and Playful Learning.   The video below shines a light of the type of learning we were engaged with during our session. 

Sean shared his goal of blogging everyday his experiences with his three and four year olds.  This was an age change for him and he wanted to capture bite-sized moments of genius.  Here is his blog.  

This got me thinking about my own practice.  I am a wee late to blog from the first day of school, but I still have the chance to reflect on my class' first unit of inquiry and the lessons learned.  I think this will help me to celebrate the learning journey and identify areas of improvement.


Will you take the Sean Walker challenge with me? 
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There are multiple ways for you to capture your process.  Blogging is only one way.  You can decide to reflect on your experiences privately or share them with others.  Here are some other ways to capture your thinking.

• journaling
• sketching
• visual harvesting
• video 
• slide deck
• social media post

We all process information differently, so the end product will not be the same.  The important thing is to reflect on our progress.  It's not about making big posts, but providing snapshots of agency, inquiry, and conceptual understanding in practice.  

I can't wait to get started!

I had to share this picture of Sean Walker, Merve Korkmaz (one of my favorite people in the world), and myself at the conference.  Merve's smile reflects how I was feeling at that moment.  Full of wonder, excitement, and love for fellow educators. 

By the way, Sean and the legendary Anne Van Dam are leading a one day workshop in Berlin on January 18, 2025.  The workshop focus is on Responsive Learning Spaces: Designing Environments that Support Children's Meaning-Making.  My professional goal is to design a more learner-centered space, so I think this will be perfect.  

Here is the link about the workshop.  I hope you will join me!