Neale Donald Walsch Archives

Dive Into Inquiry With Our Flipgrid Book Club!

To be honest, I’ve struggled with the traditional book club model. Reading a book because I ‘have’ to, planning a meetup, bringing snacks, making it to the book club night on time…it’s not because I don’t WANT to talk about books. I love reading! It just always seems that life gets in the way…and most times, the book club turns into a drinking club (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but when you’re an English teacher and you love analyzing writing…well, not many people want to skip their Chardonnay to get into the intricacies of plot development and character dynamics.

I’m trying again, anyways. This time, I’m making my own virtual book club using Flipgrid. Wanna join my Dive Into Inquiry book club?

See, last summer I joined an online book club for Inquiry Mindset, the new book by teachers Trevor Mackenzie and Rebecca Bathurst-Hunt. It was AWESOME! We used Flipgrid to virtually share our thoughts, experiences, and lessons about developing an inquiry mindset in our classrooms – and within our own way of thinking as educators. I loved reading a chapter a week, thinking about Trevor and Rebeca’s chapter provocation, and then sharing QUICK thoughts with the Flipgrid group. Not only did I learn about how to promote an inquiry mindset, but I also met lots of new thinkers from new locations and backgrounds.

It’s also a perfect introvert kind of thing…

So…I decided to create my own Dive Into Inquiry book club to share the love with my middle school teaching staff in California as well as all of you! I’d love to have you join us for the next several weeks as we read and discuss Dive Into Inquiry.

The book is available in Kindle or paperback format…it’s 117 pages of thoughtful reflection on how to ‘amplify learning and empower student voice’ and I am POSITIVE you will love it. I’m not earning anything from this – I just love Trevor’s ideas and his clear, easy way of making me think about pushing my students to engage in their own thinking processes and create meaning in their own way.

Check out the author’s website: TrevorMackenzie.com.

If you want to join our Flipgrid book club, all you need to do is jump on our Flipgrid and share your first welcome post! I’ll be adding the Chapter 1 provocation and it’s all fun from there!

There’s even a Flipgrid app so you don’t have to use your computer…and remember, you can show up in your jammies for this PD – and no one has to know you’ve got your Chardonnay on your bedside table!

And honestly, if you’re scared to record yourself and would rather just watch from afar…well, it’s better than nothing. But PLEASE – step out of your comfort zone and join! If nothing else, you’ll read a great book and learn how to use Flipgrid in your classroom….but I have a feeling you’re going to get much, much more!

Come on over and join us on Flipgrid! Hope to see you on there today!

Jennifer Wolfe

Jennifer Wolfe, a writer-teacher-mom, is dedicated to finding the extraordinary in the ordinary moments of life by thinking deeply, loving fiercely, and teaching audaciously. Jennifer is a Google Certified Educator, Hyperdoc fanatic, and a voracious reader. Read her stories on her blog, mamawolfe, and grab free copies of her teaching and parenting resources.

“To the degree we’re not living our dreams, our comfort zone has more control over us than we have over ourselves.”

~ Peter McWilliams

From angelvillanueva.com

What is on the other side of change? How often, when we find ourselves happily cruising down the road of life, do we stop and think about what’s next? The superstitious among us might not want to jinx a good thing-why think about what might be around the next bend? Why not just keep on chugging forward? Don’t rock the boat? The grass isn’t always greener on the other side, right?

I’m wondering if maybe it actually is.

As Peter McWilliams, author of Do It! Let’s Get Off Our Buts and Life 101: Everything We Wish We Had Learned About Life in School—But Didn’t says, if we really want to live our dreams, perhaps we should think what’s just beyond the horizon or around the corner. Pushing ourselves outside our comfort zone means a momentary loss of control-scary for some of us, exhilarating for others.

Living in our comfort zone is safe. We know what to expect, and we often feel guaranteed of the outcome. That is, well, comforting. Whether it’s the salary we earn from a job we don’t feel passionate about, or a relationship we are used to, a weight we feel is ok, or a dream we think we’ll never achieve, staying put is only a guarantee that the part of life that is comfortable will likely stay the same.

But is that living our dreams? Are we simply designed to be content, with only the renegades among us willing to take a risk?

Last summer, I traveled to Indonesia-a place I never considered as part of my life travel itinerary. That experience propelled me to take dozens of risks, including getting incredibly cozy with a Komodo dragon. I remember the palpitation of my heart, the baby steps I took, first touching the back, the tail, and them finally getting close enough to his face to brush my lips to his scales. Recently, the Jakarta Globe’s story of a Komodo attack that left two people in the hospital prompted discussion among our travel group: were we courageous, or simply stupid? I say, courageous.

I think of the pioneer women who traveled across the west without any clue of what lay before them. They stuffed their wagons full of all the comforts of life, sure that their china, linens, furniture and even their beloved piano would not only safely make the trip, but also provide the much desired civilization they left behind. Leaving their comfort zone often meant following their husband’s dreams, not their own. But they went anyway, knowing they might never go back. I’m sure komodo dragons weren’t on their worry radar, but undoubtedly the fear of the unknown, the fear for their children, and their second guessing of their decision as they huddled over a campfire for the hundredth time must have seriously tested their strength.

The curveballs life throws today’s women is similar. Many of us follow expected gender roles, marry, have children, and put our careers second to raising the family. Others forgo the traditional route, choosing instead to follow their dream job at the expense of what our mother’s generation could barely fathom. Still other women try to balance both, exhausting themselves between juggling babies, bosses and never feeling wholly present in both worlds. Like the pioneer women, we ruminate over our choices, wondering if we’re on the right path.

Stepping out of our comfort zone, regardless of our social, marital or work status, requires a leap of faith; sure that our future can be more than this, that our life is ours to create. It requires courage, determination, and often, a bit of impracticality. Taking calculated risks that push us towards our boundaries, to find out what is on the other side of change, is scary. Like a rocket shooting off into the darkness of the universe, sometimes we must trust that the plans have been laid, but the process might bow,flex and bend us into places we least expected to land.

Power-shift (Photo credit: Brett Jordan)

With all our feminist advances, women today have no guidebook to navigate motherhood, marriage and the myriad of opportunities in front of us. I say that’s a good thing.

Consider that your comfort zone is perfect for where you’ve been and where you are right now. Consider going at your own pace, placing opportunities in front of you like a master chess player, sometimes hoping that the risky move won’t be noticed by the opponent and will propel you to the win. Prepare for the setback, the capture, and the ultimate possibility that the grass really is greener on the other side. Think of the words author Neale Donald Walsch wrote, “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” Where do you want your life to begin tomorrow?