Pique Your Student’s Curiousity

I really enjoyed watching this TEDTalks video featuring a high school chemistry teacher.
 
Ramsay Musallam is a remarkable man with a profound passion for teaching. His life lesson has taught him the best approach for making learning meaningful. 

Ramsay Musallam is making a noteworthy difference in the lives of his students. Watch to learn more.

“Student questions are the seeds of real learning.” 
~ Ramsay Musallam

3:20 A life-changing situation for Ramsay
The surgeon’s curiosity drove him to ask hard questions about the procedure, about what worked and what didn't work. He embraced and didn't fear the messy process of trial and error, the inevitable process of trial and error.

Through intense reflection he gathered the information that he needed to design and revise the procedure and then with a steady hand he saved my life.  
~Ramsay Musallam

4:00 ~Ramsay Musallam
3 rules of my own that I bring to my lesson planning still today:

Rule #1 Curiosity comes first
Questions can be windows to great instruction but not the other way around

Rule #2 Embrace the mess
We’re all teachers. We know learning can be ugly and just because (it’s all set out in specific order) trial and error can still be what we do day after day (in our classrooms).

Rule #3 Practice reflection
What we do is important, it deserves our care, but it also deserves our revision.  ~Ramsay Musallam

5:58 

"If we as educators leave behind the simple role as disseminators of content and embrace a new paradigm as cultivators of curiosity and inquiry we just might bring a little more meaning to their school day and spark their imagination."  
~Ramsay Musallam