The year 2020 has been the year of the unknown. It has brought about many questions on how to navigate life during a pandemic and a key Presidential election. I have always considered myself a lifelong learner and thrive on asking questions and learning new things. I recently read some of Berger’s (2014) A More Beautiful Question and it helped me reflect on the types of questions that I have been asking, or Googling. These include, what are the differences in symptoms of Coronavirus, the flu, and a cold? What are the key standing points of Trump and Biden? Berger (2014) guided me to the realization that I had fallen into a rut that “in many cases, our Google queries are so unimaginative and predictable that Google can guess what we’re asking before we’re three words into typing it” (p. 9). My questions lack any kind of imagination and innovation and are the same as many others trying to navigate safely through 2020.
While I have been trying to navigate through the unknown of 2020, I am also preparing to return to work from maternity leave. I am the Digital Literacy Specialist for a middle school and which includes running the media center and promoting literacy with our students.
Currently, my district is operating in a hybrid model. They are adding in an asynchronous learning day to allow an extra training day to help teachers prepare for if and when we must move into a remote model of teaching and learning. This leads me to wonder how I will successfully promote reading to our students and help keep them engaging with books when they are home with the distraction of games, television, and social media. While I am sure that many more questions will arise before the end of 2020, I hope they are more imaginative and reflective in nature and can help bring about change.
References:
America's Funniest Home Videos (2020, January 16). Stressed New Year GIF. [GIF]. Giphy. https://gph.is/g/Z5nd3lD.
Berger, W. (2014). A more beautiful question: The power of inquiry to spark breakthrough ideas. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
Clark, Mary (2014, August 17). Kids Reading Book. [Image]. Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/images/id-1550017/.