If I hadn’t gone into teaching music, I definitely would have become some sort of STEM or science teacher. I looked at Ms. Frizzle as an icon who took experiential and discovery learning to a whole new galaxy. Students crave independence and are more engaged when they have the freedom to get their hands a little messy.

If I hadn’t been a music teacher, I would have been the classroom teacher that constantly had her kids out exploring the community, we would have gone everywhere I could have taken them. Giving students all the opportunities to discover new things, find things they get excited about, and be encouraged to dive in further lights that fire in them that could lead to years of innovation.

Discovery learning is about choice, it’s about flexibility, it’s about motivation, it’s about opportunity, and it’s about collaboration. Learning can be more than instruction, it can be time to work together or work separately to explore what interests them.

So,

1. Give them opportunities to steer their own ship. Doesn’t have to be all the time. Just give them the opportunity to choose when it’s right.

2. Ask for the minimum, motivate them to give the maximum. Motivate them to give 100% even though you might only ask for 70%. Everyone will get there a different way too, and that’s ok.

3. Give them grace and yourself flexibility. It won’t always go the way you want or hopped it would, but that’s ok. They are going to make mistakes and get messy, but sometimes, the best lessons come from the mistakes we make.

Be ready to guide, counsel, and push, all your students won’t take the same road to get down to the same place. But, you can help them navigate those roads whether they be straight or windy to get to the end.