Abundantly Charged
Abundantly Charged
Dr. Grant A. Chandler & Jill E. Lewis
As we begin to think about life on the other side of a global pandemic, we realize that everything in life is forever changed. We are all in the midst of creating new routines in all aspects of our lives, from how we shop, to how we socialize, to how we travel, and spend our free time. We are contemplating new ways to think about how we integrate work and home, and even how we educate our children. We’ve learned… (1) our children cannot and should not be measured on high-stakes tests alone; (2) there are multiple ways to connect with our students and we need to move away from a one-size fits all approach to teaching and learning; (3) we need to engage our students in pedagogy and experiences that respect each student’s human desire to learn; and (4) that the cultivation of curiosity and wonder in our curriculum and in our instruction invites each of our students to experience profound relevance and connection to the people and the world around them. Join us as we mix in-depth conversations and interviews exploring how to cultivate wonder and curiosity in Abundantly Charged classrooms.
Recalling Paradigms:  Season Finale
In this episode, Jill and Grant wrap up season 3 with a synthesis of the paradigm shifts they've talked about that help us prepare to cultivate curiosity and wonder.
Mar 7, 2023
18 min
Time:  Like Sand in the Hour Glass
Time seems to be the variable that we often hear about. I could do this is if I only had the time. I don’t have enough time. I would love to do that but wow, the time. Time, Time, Time. We may not have any control over how much time we have but we have almost total control over how we use it. Our paradigm shifts this season all take time. It takes time to cultivate curiosity and wonder. We touched on this paradigm shift last week. We thought it was so important, we wanted to devote an entire episode to this issue of time.
Feb 21, 2023
23 min
The Power of Experience
Authentic experience connects what is being learned in the classroom to what happens in the world where decisions are made without the support of a classroom and its teacher.
Feb 14, 2023
14 min
Using Mystery, Suspense, and Exploration to Minimize Rote Learning
Curiosity and wonder are filled with mystery, suspense, and exploration. We cannot have a vibrant classroom filled with curiosity and wonder without these ingredients. Mystery always begins with a question. Suspense allows us to build the excitement before reaching the climax, and exploration continues as more and more questions are asked and answers are found. These 3 can hook our students sending them into that space where they are so engrossed in the subject matter, time ceases to exist and focus is unmatched. 
Feb 7, 2023
17 min
It's Bigger than Just Eliciting a Response
Today, we explore another in our series of paradigm shifts that provide the foundation for our work to cultivate curiosity and wonder.Fewer is better:  Using deeper questions to provoke thinking not just elicit responsesShift – Get the questions to come from the student; they ask what they really want to know more about . . . The ShiftAvoid rapid fire; ask questions that matter.Ask questions that take more exploration to answer.Ask questions not just to check for understanding but to engage more deeply in content. Ask fewer questions; get students to ask the questions and pursue the answers because they are exploring what matters and is of interest to them concerning a specific topic.
Jan 31, 2023
25 min
Who's the Star?
Grant and I are very excited to welcome you to this Abundantly Charged episode, Who’s the Star: When to Move off the Stage to Facilitate. This particular paradigm shift is one that has immediate effects in shifting the culture in our classrooms as it creates a student-centered approach where curiosity, defined as the strong desire to explore something that is interesting, challenging, and relevant to your life, and wonder, defined as the way to think about to study, and explore something interesting, challenging, and relevant to your life, permeate learning throughout the day. Recently, the saying Sage on the Stage vs Guide on the Side has become this catchy slogan of placing educators in camps of what is right and what is wrong. If I am lecturing and imparting knowledge like an IV drip, a simile to the sage on the stage - then that is wrong. If I am the guide on the side, then students have too much power – this is wrong. Which is why we need to ask ourselves the very question that is the title of this episode: Who IS the Star: When to Move off the Stage to Facilitate. 
Jan 25, 2023
19 min
Pace - We Don't Have to Be in the Same Place at the Same Time
Let's think about time as a new and powerful variable - Subject to negotiation and responsive to each student.
Jan 17, 2023
24 min
Shifting Paradigms
We simply cannot return to those pre-pandemic ways of educating our children that if we are honest with ourselves were just not working. We are called to change. It is our duty to change. But what we know about change is that it is hard. Paradigm shifts are hard not just for an individual, but for an entire system and institution. In this episode, we will explore four responses to change and steps leaders should take to make change smooth and sustainable.
Jan 10, 2023
29 min
Are We Ready?  Let's Go!
What is Vibrant Learning? It's the combination of academic content plus the appropriate level of depth of knowledge combined with social and emotional learning. It's the foundation needed to cultivate curiosity and wonder.
Jan 3, 2023
21 min
What Happened to Curiosity and Wonder?
In this episode Jill and Grant talk about common instructional practices which seem to be in opposition to cultivating curiosity and wonder.
Jun 23, 2022
19 min
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