Welcome to the teachers on fire podcast where I profile agents of growth and transformation and education today each guest shares their highs their lows their passions their goals and the resources that are shaping their thinking and inspiring their practice for show notes and links from each episode visit teachers on fire dotnet. You can also connect with the show at teachers on fire on Twitter Instagram and Facebook. And of course, please do subscribe to the show wherever you are listening right now. Now, I'm your host Tim KV. Let's meet today's guest today. I'm speaking with Trevor Mackenzie Trevor is a learner teacher speaker consultant and outdoor enthusiasts. He is also the author of dive into inquiry and a co-author of enquiry mindset published by Elevate books. Follow Trevor on Twitter at Trev underscore Mackenzie Instagram at TNT Mackenzie and at his blog at Trevor Mackenzie.com. Trevor thank you so much for coming on the show today. Are you ready to talk education? Absolutely. Let's do it Tim. Thanks for having me. Well, this has been too long. We talked a little bit on Twitter. We're both BC residents and we've actually been in each other's company briefly. And so now here we are finally talking and I finally get to share your value with my audience. So I am super pumped Trevor about that. Why don't you start by telling us a little bit more about that local context? What does your education? Situation look like on a daily basis. Thanks. Em. I appreciate it. Yeah, so I'm from Victoria British Columbia Canada. It's about as far west as you can get in Canada and I teach at Oak Bay High School. I'm an English teacher mostly senior levels 10 through 12 and obeys a pretty diverse Community. You know, we've got some really thriving programs Arts Athletics languages academics a lot of community engagement and currently also as you mentioned I'm an author so I do a lot of work supporting schools and implementing inquiry, so I tend to Save my International work and it's just crazy to even talk about that. So, you know, I never thought becoming a teacher I would go around the world supporting schools and implementing inquiry, but I tend to save my International Partnerships for Spring Break and summer break and my school district here. They support me by giving me about 10 or 15 days of unpaid time to go and support schools across North America and and you and I share a really exciting opportunity here in British Columbia. We have a redesigned curriculum. So I'm working a lot with British Columbia schools. But also, you know No, I was just in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Illinois, and they all have inquiry learning objectives invented in their curriculum. So it's a fantastic time to be in education. And that's a little bit about my local context. But also a little bit of my Global work as well. Well, I'm glad that you mentioned the unpaid days Trevor because that's been a question for me. How does this guy manage it and how does his district enable him to do everything that he does. So you've obviously made that commitment you've made that sacrifice and just like my last Guest Andrew Arevalo talked about sometimes it is worth it to give up those paid days in order to be able to share ideas and learn from others Be Inspired in other contexts and it's been a lot of fun to follow your for example your Asia tour to see you connect with one of my former guest carrying Caswell and of course so many others. Well Trevor we start the show at story time. So before we get into your wheelhouse, would you share with us about a low moment or an Variants of adversity that you face somewhere in your teaching or education journey and describe how you overcame it. Yeah, you know, I think the first kind of five years of my career were probably the most challenging and you know, if I had to kind of figure, you know, I think I've had low moments throughout my whole career, but I think that that first those first five years really shapes who I am as a teacher today and there are many Forks in the road where I was questioning. Do I want to commit to this? Is this something that I'm really going to see myself doing for the next 30 Years? Is it was so challenging, you know, the workload the marking load the lack of a full-time gig, you know, I was living out of what I thought was a briefcase. I'm substitute teaching what felt like four years and you're really I struggled with a lack of relationship both with students and with a staff, you know, you're constantly changing schools each and every day and then you slowly build up enough seniority that you get that contract somewhere. But even then it's really challenging to keep all those balls in the air You Know lesson design unit design. Let alone assessment communicating with parents and you know, I love coaching. So I found a lack of being at a the same school consistently, you know didn't allow me to coach but you know, I think if anything saved me throughout those first five years, I think it was the power the power of the pln and the pln then is quite different than it is today. You know today I have this magical network of teachers via Twitter or other social media platforms that I learned from and I connect with and back then the pln was literally thus a firm, you know going The staff room at lunch and and kind of asking questions of teachers who had been at the school for a lot longer than I had been it was standing at my door when the bell went and and my neighbors on either side of my classroom. My colleagues we would chat shop about what I was going to teach and what I could do to make it better to better meet the, you know, the needs of my kids and those kids are coming in and we're saying hi. I'm also getting this little tutorial on lesson design if you will and then it was also just staying after school with my colleagues and marking. Together and getting a better handle on the assessment side of being a teacher. So I think you know those first five years were incredibly challenging. I think, you know teachers listening. I think they would agree that the first five years are the hardest, you know, if you make it past the first five years, I think you're going to make it as a teacher and I'm just so thankful that you know, they shaped how powerful how powerfully I believe in collaboration right like relying on teachers in the building back then has brought me to a place now where I really do rely on my pln to connect with Burn from to share ideas and bounce ideas off of and as I said, it's just a beautiful time to be a teacher to be so hyper connected to teachers around the world. You mentioned Karen's work over in Brisbane Australia, you know just to be you know, so far away from one another but be so intimately tied to what we're doing to better meet the needs of our students. So yeah, I think that undeniably the first five years were the hardest and I'm just so thankful. I had colleagues that I can lean on during those five years. Well, I think one of the takeaways I hear there is that you did stick with it. And I guess one of the blessings or maybe a faint silver lining of the substitute teacher circuit is that you do see a whole lot of different contexts, right? You you get a sense for what works what doesn't what you like what you don't like and I'm sure you were able to build as you say a few local relationships, even before you started to collect the following that you have today. So that speaks to your perseverance and I think there's something there for those teachers. You are in those first five years and are considering leaving the profession and that is that it really does get better and I can underline enough what you've said about the pln and the role that that place so Trevor, let's start right at your wheelhouse with dive into inquiry. And of course the book that you co-authored with Rebecca Bathurst hunt inquiry mindset nurturing the dreams wonders and Curiosities of our youngest Learners. I love how you begin both books with very human examples and case studies. Of disaffected Learners from where I sit you have become the resident voice for IBL and I don't know if anyone would dispute me on that. So for the unfamiliar, why don't you start by giving us your inquiry stump? Speech what is inquiry-based learning? And why are you so passionate about moving education in this direction? Thanks and well first and foremost. I never proposed that teachers need to do things quote unquote my way. You know, I think teaching is an art there's incredible nuance and subtlety and there's simply no lock separate. Right, you know what makes a good teacher nor is there like a prescriptive framework at how we should teach but that being said inquiry is where my heart is. It's in my bones. I think it's in my DNA and all I could do is share with the audience here what's worked for me? What's true for me? And if that inspires anybody or resonates with anyone, you know, I'm here to answer their questions by all means reach out via Twitter or my contact page on my website. You know, I think as we know the abundance of information at our students fingertips, it's just intense, you know what has changed so much. Over the course of my career what students are bringing into the classroom with them and not just the phones but that prior knowledge right that they just are coming in with such a vast understanding of the world and it's no longer a matter of what you know, but what you can do with what you know, and so I think inquiry really does challenge Us in the classroom as teachers to facilitate experiences to help our students explore content and explore questions. And and then of course create something that hopefully has an impact on others whether it's a community around us or Learners around us or even you know the world, you know, the global landscape. I think inquiry challenges students explore quote unquote what I love the call ungoogleable questions, right those big broad overarching questions that hopefully, you know, they can't just go up and ask Google when they get home to help them with their homework. They're chewing on these really big vast broad questions that allow us to chew on some of those clones closed-ended questions. If you will to allow us to get to the deeper own open-ended stuff, but I Really, you know if content is so readily available. You know, what are we doing with content? And how are we having our students experience something by getting to that content? And I think inquiry encourages the sharpening of competencies, whether it's collaboration or communication or creativity and undeniably those are competencies that are really really necessary. Today's Workforce, right? You know, we can't have students who are just you know complacent in their learning. We want them to be active. We want them to be problem solvers and for me, I found inquiry as a Work has really been the space and the language that allows me to do kind of everything that I've just shared with you and especially better meet the needs of students right really get to the heart of who they are as human beings what strengths they bring into the classroom what challenges they are facing as barriers in their learning and how could we really tailor The Learning Experience towards each individual student and that's a big challenge, but that's one that's been at the Forefront of my work for quite a number of years. Now Tim for a long time Trevor. I like to think about the four C's as really foundational and we're of course talking about collaboration communication creative and critical thinking but I've started to use the five seas and adding that v c of curiosity. And of course, we've got Sir Ken Robinson and George crows and others who keep that at the top of the radar and so in my mind isn't that one of the strengths of IBL is that it amplifies and promote curiosity instead of killing. Yeah, you know absolutely and I know your father and you know, I have two sons 10 years and seven years and and both of my kids entered our educational system highly curious. Right like just really chomping at the bit to learn to read to play to interact and you know, I'm a high school teacher and so I see the opposite end of the spectrum where you know students are really close to leaving our educational system and for the most part and this is a broad stroke. So forgive me, but for the most part kids are entering my class A lot. Lot less curious than when they entered our educational system and I do think that's problematic. You know, I think there are certain things that students need to learn of course certain standards and even content if you will that is kind of must know for every student but at the heart of the of learning is curiosity, you know and having that burning question that high interest piece and maybe one day turns into a passion or vocation if some students are lucky they get to explore something in school that turns into a career but You know curiosity is at the heart of how we can better meet the needs of our Learners really hooking them in each of our classrooms. And so inquiry absolutely allows us to explore curiosity. I think a big challenge for an inquiry teacher is to look at our curriculum and and have those really enticing engaging entry points into our curriculum speak to each student in our room. And again, that's kind of the heart of my work. You know, how could we inquiry isn't an either/or? It's either we do inquiry we don't Ooh our curriculum or we do the our curriculum that we don't do inquiry. It's an overlapping I laying over top each and and inquiry would be the framework that allows us to explore our curriculum through a really creative lens and that looks like many things. It looks like many things depending on who you're teaching and what you're teaching and where you're teaching but at the heart of it Tim I couldn't agree more. It's definitely a zest for curiosity. If you will, let's talk about the framework just a little bit more you've expanded on it here and obviously anyone Who really has a serious interest in following IBL and moving into an inquiry model needs to take a look at Trevor's books. Both of them are valuable. But I think of the famous sketch note that has made the rounds on edgy Twitter. I'm sure you've shared it out and I've certainly seen many other sharing it and that is the one of the swimming pool showing the different levels of guided inquiry and they are structured controlled guided all the way up to free. So I'm thinking of those teachers Looking to dip their toe in the pool of inquiry if you will, how can they get started perhaps in their very next unit next term next semester. How can they take that very first step? What's a micro step into inquiry for them? Yeah. That's it. That's a great question and just a little bit of context, you know, I've done a lot of research over the years around successful implementation of inquiry and and by and far the research states that inquiry is really confusing because there are so many different definitions. Of inquiry and and that in and of itself is just going to lead to chaos in the classroom both chaos in terms of teachers collaborating to unit design but also chaos for students, you know, if we're talking about teaching and learning in a different way from class to class. It's going to lead to students feeling much more anxious than they need to be. So the swimming pool graphic and then analogy really allows teachers to understand the four types and and there's a structured end a shallower end to the swimming pool which kind of represents more of a teacher directed inquiry and teacher-led inquiry and then the deeper side of the swimming pool the guided and the free inquiry side. That's much more student directed where the teacher becomes much more of a facilitator, you know, I work with a lot of schools long-term, you know, two three four years in the making and we start out in the shallow end together and my goal and our first year working together is that all teachers plan and Implement strong structured inquiry units so that as a culture of learning in the school Our students are all hearing the same language and they're seeing a similar framework so that when they start to take on more agency over learning they not only feel more confident but more specifically they have the skills and understandings necessary to be successful that type of agency over learning. So for the listeners at home, I'd encourage you to start in the shallow end of course and start with a unit of study that you perhaps already taught or already designed and you're going to implement it may be again in the next couple weeks or months. And I'd encourage you to frame your unit of study in that big overarching ungoogleable question and make that question like front and center in your classroom. It should be something that all of your students can see and speak to at any time and that way as you're going through the research and you're unpacking resources and students are grappling with content. They're making connections to that big overarching ungoogleable question and there are a lot of elements embedded in an inquiry unit provocations. That's what I mentioned earlier, you know, those really rich Engaging entry points into those questions. You know what we choose as an engaging provocation and how we roll that out how we get students to engage with that propagation will lead to kind of side paths. If you will where students go down. I've been a rabbit hole, but it's always tied back to that big overarching question, you know, and also that structured side allows the teacher to choose the product the summative piece and so it's really as a teacher directed inquiry. It allows teachers to feel that inquiry isn't super nebulous or uncertain. It's something that they can take on and they can be successful in and then slowly we begin to add in those other types over time and some some teachers are really a lot sooner than others. They want to get going on the controlled inquiry in the guided and even the free but I'd always encourage teachers not to go to the deep end first. I was guilty of that as well early in my career that the free side could be. So inspiring when students are doing something where they're highly passionate about and curious in but you know without those skills and Endings those competencies that were referring to students will feel overwhelmed and you know, their well-being has to be at the heart of what we do and what we plan for and so I encourage listeners to start with structured side at my website tried Mackenzie.com. We have a bunch of free resources and one resource we have is a structured unit planning template where you can just look at your unit design that you already have planned and back and fulfill it into this template and then they're going to be some areas that you're going to have to kind of hash out and reframe based on what the template is calling for you to do but in a nutshell Google Google that you know that that swimming pool analogy. You'll find it right away print it off. I use it in my classroom as a teaching tool, you know, I refer to it often in learning to give my students Direction and agency over learning and I encourage lizard listeners to start in the structured side the shallow and Tim now, you mentioned summative assessment Trevor and that's where I wanted to go next because I feel like some of the first push back that I know you must hear is from Educators who have concerns. Turns around assessment. They feel that inquiry learning somehow makes things more slippery and less rigorous perhaps or whatever just more uncertain in general. And so I have a feeling that you're going to push back on that and talk about how I BL actually improves the quality and maybe the frequency of feedback for students. Can you talk about that? Yeah, you know and letting the cat out of the bag here. I'm currently writing a third book and really it's going to focus on assessment in my classroom and how I assess. With an inquiry lens and that's not going to be out for about six months to eight months. But you know and I speak to that because the book is a result of the questions that I'm answering in my Consulting and in my working with schools. And so I just want to remove that barrier for teachers who are really interested in implementing inquiry and that's that, you know that the push my inspiration for this third book is to better meet the needs of teachers out there. So, you know, I think assessment was always something early in my career I used to take With me quite frankly. I used to pack up, you know assignments and put them in my English teacher kind of briefcase and take them home and and I give my students all this really rich formative feedback and I give them a mark and then I come in the next day and and I'd ask them to read the feedback and of course teachers around the world know this to be true that they never look at the feedback. They turn directly to the number and then rather than look at the feedback after the number they turn to their friend beside them and they say hey, what's your number? And it really what I learned over time is what I was doing. Is really promoting and and nurturing a sad tragic comparative culture and assessment where rather than look at your own learning you are comparing your learning against others and it was really having a negative impact on how my students were seeing themselves, right? They were seeing themselves defined by the number I gave them and what their friends got on an assignment and so slowly what I started to do was have assessment be something that I did in class and no longer. Would it be something that I take home with me? Assessment has to be a verb it has to be something an action that we do together and and you know, all assignments can't be done this way. But the vast majority of the assignments I do are done in class and that looks like many things and that's not a teaser to wait for the book but it really does it looks like many things. It looks like, you know one really amazing hack was I just refused to put numbers on assignments anymore? You know, I put them in my grade book and everything that is students. He's on assignment in my class. It's all formatives. It's all. Feedback and I asked them to spend maybe 10 minutes 15 minutes at most reading the feedback and looking at Arco design rubric. Whatever that assessment tool is that we've built out together and I asked them to figure out the number, you know, if my feedback is on point and it's rich and clear and it's aligned with the co-designed assessment tool. My students should be able to get the number the exact number I have in my grade book, right and and in that they're not turning to the number. They're not turning to their friend next door. They're turning to what is best for their learning what I've suggested could improve their learning what I've suggested they've done really well and then they come up after that 10 or 15 minutes and they tell me the number that they feel I've written in my grade book or the feedback has told them they have and so really just tweaking some of the things I've always valued and assessment but really having them be embedded in student voice and you know at the end of the year if my students aren't leaving with a clearer understanding of who they are as learners. Hours, and as people that I feel like I've done them a disservice and I always felt like I was really strong in my assessment practice. Like I know all my kids and I know what they need you to get, you know do next and how to get them to that next point but my my students didn't know that and that is my fault and how I spent time in class and how I embed their voice in our assessment practice how I make assessment a verb and that's really forced me to rethink how I want to spend time with kids, you know, maybe I don't spend three weeks or Weeks unpacking Shakespeare, but maybe within those six weeks. I spend a little bit less time unpacking the content and I have assessment Infuse that content so that the content is much more meaningful and relevant to the kids because hand in hand. They're getting to know themselves better as Learners. So, you know, your questions of big ones him out. You know, I think we can have a series of podcasts on assessment alone. And I think you know in a nutshell assessment has become something that it has to happen in my class with my students. It's so that they know themselves better. And in that inquiry in and of itself is a personalized learning pathway and if assessment is a personalized that we truly aren't doing powerful sustained authentic inquiry. We're just doing something that at the end of the day the teacher is assessing and so we really want to flip that a little bit and and when I say flip that a little bit it's all about a balance, you know, I never suggest that we are in free inquiry the deep side of the pool where it's student agency. 100% of the time that that's just not realistic I do propose that there's always a balance between the teacher directed and the student centered and that that's the same for our assessment. You know, there's some assessments. I need to take home and spend some time unpacking because perhaps some the assessment expert with that piece and a lot of the stuff the vast majority. I really do believe that it could be done in class with students if you will, I think assessment experts around the world are applauding I think of my friend Aaron Blackwelder teachers going gradeless. And so any others who are absolutely loving what you just had to share their I wanted to ask you about a tweet that you sent out a year ago that basically broke edgy Twitter at this point. You've already spoken to a so, I just want to read it you tweeted. I just spent the last two days writing my report cards with my students. I ask them about their strengths. I asked them to share a future learning goal. We looked at their body of work and we selected a grade together. Why haven't I been doing this? My entire career and that got about seven thousand likes and that was a year ago so I can only imagine why it's at at this point. I will make sure to embed the tweet in the show notes. But to me that just speaks to the power of conferencing to solve some of these lingering questions around the role of assessment in IBL. And at the same time give our students just such a tremendous sense of ownership and agency in the assessment process. And so I don't know is there anything more that we need to add to that power of Of the conference. Well, you know, I think what seems like a really nebulous or kind of, you know, gray area way in terms of assessing with students ended up being really practical and really helpful both for me and the students, you know, literally I opened up my grade book on my computer and as we are conferencing I was describing their words and their thoughts directly into the report card and then I would read back what they shared and ask them for approval and you know the response and the subsequent. X was just mind-blowing. I think this this was the greatest impact for me and that students actually went home and advocated they beg their parents to read their report card and at the high school level they that never happens right like sometimes report cards don't even make it home. Let alone return to school when teacher or parents are supposed to sign them. Right but kids were going home and they were literally there are tapping their parents on the shoulder saying can you read that comments and could you look at that grade and the parent would say well why and they said because hi actually co-wrote that or that's a grade that I had a voice in choosing and that could be really, you know Troublesome for some teachers. You know, what does that look like? And what does that sound like and and you know, how do parents feel about that? How do students feel about that? And and you know, I just beg of you to hold tight, you know, feel free to answer or send me any questions that you have butthole type for that next book because that's really where I explain, you know, all the challenges I faced in this process. I've gone through with kids and with parents as well as how I've overcome those challenges and how it It worked for me and at the end of the day again, I really want my students to leave their time with me understanding themselves better and understanding that they're more than a number or letter grade on a page because of course in 20 years those letter grades and those numbers. They don't Define who these people grow into meaningless. Sadly the yeah, it's meaningless and sadly though at the high school level and we see it slowly begin to creep up as our students go through our elementary school slowly. They see these numbers and these a grades as being a part of their identity and they slowly start to see themselves as well. I'm AG student or I'm not a math student and that's just heartbreaking like my ten-year-old. He's exceptionally curious. He's like really really unique. He's really into you know unique things and I want that to be honored. I don't want that to be squelched. Like I want to teach her to see him and recognize those really cool things about my son and honor them and I'm so fortunate that for the listeners who have been a part of my children's An education they've all done an amazing job. They are expert teachers who are really, you know at the Forefront of meeting the needs of my children in the schools here in British Columbia. So I've got no qualms or no worries that my kids are in great hands, but I think across the world. This is something that we need to be focusing on is how can we make sure that our kids are feeling good about themselves and feeling good about learning, but of course being stretched and challenged through some rigor so they can leave us better than when they came in in terms of having. Being skills and competencies sharpened if you will, I love that connection you met with the fixed mindset and I'll tell you mindset by Carol dweck and I read that book in my viu program, by the way, and that really led to the launch of this podcast and I can't underline enough what you just said about the role that traditional assessment plays in defining who we are and who we are not and that's such a tragedy when that takes place. I think one more question Trevor. I've got A Sneak this one in why aren't schools and jurisdictions. In their professional development around the IBL model in the words of Mike Washburn over at on education most prodi sucks. So that's the way he puts it. So we feel this push even my last guest Andrew Revel. Oh is making a push for personalized prodi. Why aren't we bringing this out more? We know there are at camps around but we aren't seeing much of them yet. So what are your thoughts? You know, I'm sure this is cross your mind. Yeah, you know, wow, that's a loaded question. I love that you've teed me up. Up with that one. You know, I think sadly PD for teachers sometimes more often than not it's not designed by teachers. It's designed by administrators or people at a leadership level and and really, you know, when you attend PD that's designed by teachers in the classroom. I think you experienced something that's really applicable. It's really relevant and achievable is full of those Rich takeaways that could be implemented in the classroom right away and sure there's some Theory there but teachers know that we need Where the rubber hits the road we need something that's going to impact our kids right away and sadly if you're not having a teacher at the table planning that PD then I think a lot of that experience tends to be overlooked. And so, you know it my events where I go and I support a school or you know, I was just in Pennsylvania and it was amazing. It was 350 teachers every middle school and high school teacher in the district. This was the first time in the history of the district were all those teachers were doing a single day of learning together and it was a day where they Perience inquiry wasn't sit and get for seven or eight hours. It was they were moving. They were collaborating they were building out things together. And that's exactly how I want them to go back and implement this in their classroom where they're not just at the front of the room with 30 kids. They're getting their kids take on that ownership and that heavy lifting and that building go to something and so I think you know part of the answer to your question and that challenge that we're seeing around the world as we need teachers taking some agency over their PD and I say this again, In any time I speak on the topic if we're talking student agency that has to go hand-in-hand with teacher agency. And and I see I see some amazing authors Consultants Educators doing amazing things with having to be highly relevant and Hands-On, but I think sadly if it's not facilitated or you know plan by teacher at that planning table exactly right away. I think there's a disconnect between what is applicable and achievable and relevant and timely something that we can take back to our classroom. Early on the Monday after that PD right? It has to be something we can do and I think that's something that's missing in the global PD kind of landscape. And again, that's a broad stroke. I see some amazing things some amazing teachers doing great things with PD, but definitely it's not the norm. It's more more the outlier if you well I should clarify and say I get amped up for professional development. I am one of those learning Geeks and and I definitely will also say from firsthand experience that Trevor definitely models the God G and practices that he preaches he walks the walk but yeah, I think there is definitely some room and I hear you agreeing with that that we need to make sure that teachers have a voice in the process. Well, let's move outside of inquiry Trevor we could as you said go all day on that but as you look across your pln and your own practice, is there something else that is setting you on fire about education today? Yeah, you know, I've gone down a really meaningful relevant kind of personal rabbit hole if you will into cultural responsiveness, you know. No, unpacking racism and how its kind of systemically embedded in what we teach and how we assess looking at allyship and allyship not is a destination but more of a process like I'm always trying to figure out how I could be an ally to teachers and Educators and parents and Learners that aren't the white Caucasian self that I am when I walk into my classroom. And so that's been something, you know exploring identity unpacking my own biases in front of my kids in front of my students and that could be really Really demonstrating some vulnerability and some honesty but what I'm trying to do is gently help them understand their own identity and intern understand kind of societies hand and what we value and how we treat one another and so that's been kind of, you know, looking beyond my classroom something that I'm definitely on fire over, you know Educators that Meyer that are part of this conversation that is inspiring me. I'm a big fan of Gary gray Junior. If you don't know Gary Gray, he's kind of an international teacher he's currently in Nila he's a Canadian from the East Coast but I love what he's speaking about Liz kleinrock is another one. I'm a big fan of hers and not just with regards to unpacking racism but really looking at identity and the language we use when we're talking about who we are and what we call ourselves and I love cornelia's minor. He's another one and those are just a few Educators that have me really fired up on that topic and I think that you know that goes hand-in-hand it with inquiry to kind of loop back to what we've been talking about the whole time, you know. If I want my students to truly understand themselves as Learners and as people as human beings as they leave our Educational Systems, you know, I want them to understand all those influences and sometimes there are biases or barriers trying to keep them compartmentalize and if we can understand those systems, I think we can kind of free ourselves of those systems if you will and that's a bold statement but like come on, why are we in education and for not trying to change, you know how our young people see themselves in the world around them rate? So yeah. Gary great Junior Liz kleinrock corny Cornelius minor those would be three teachers that I think teachers that are listening to go find and follow if they're not already amazing amazing stuff. Well Trevor congratulations on recently completing your master's degree. I know that was a long journey for you and and I must have been sort of a constant burden in the background with everything else you're involved in you've already shared that kind of your next big professional goal is the publication of your next book and we look forward to that. Side of Education what's another area of learning for you? What is it that ignites your passions when you leave the classroom in the education space and brings you alive as a human being I love teaching teachers and I love teaching students. Right? And so I'm trying to find the balance between both, you know being in the classroom and visiting these schools around the world, you know in the next ten months. I'll be oh goodness Luxembourg Hall in London Stockholm South Africa Hong Kong. It's just these schools around the world that are really a part of this Global conversation. Ation around moving from that over standardized curriculum towards a more personalized one. And so for me, it's you know, how can I continue to do both, you know teachers but also teach students and and when I'm in the classroom with my kids, you know really being responsive to the needs that I'm facing in my classroom like really being in the moment and being present and I think there are so many things in our schools that distract us from being present right whether it's the dozens and dozens of emails we get in our inbox whether it's announcements or Checking our mailbox in the office. They're all these things that kind of you know, if we let them can distract us from just being present with our kids. And so I think those are a few professional goals for me. You know, how can I continue to do both and do both really well and then when I'm in the classroom with my students just really being in the moment and not trying to do things too fast really slowing down and being as present as I can be and that sounds really nebulous. But I think you know the most powerful teachers that I've seen do what they do. They're just so so, you know agile and how they do it, right? They tend to see the landscape in their room and they tend to go to places that maybe they didn't anticipate that they go to and and in that it's an incredible responsiveness that I really hold dear in my practice and it's something that I definitely try to enter my classroom and with each and every day is how can I just be present and mindful of what's happening before me such an important message now thinking about learning and passions outside of Education Trevor. You mentioned that your Outdoor Enthusiast over here on the mainland. I'm big into paddle boarding and Hiking what does that look like for you? You know, I'm an avid cyclist. So yeah, I'm up early and I'm on the bike out the door and I tend to get home before my kids are awake. So that kind of is a little bit of a lens into how early I wake up in the morning. But I love I love being on the road. Yeah, I race bikes and I have a strong community of guys that we race bikes with and that's kind of a little bit of the competitiveness in the if you will but also that that need for you know, No community and collaboration as I mentioned at the onset of the podcast, you know, I really love being a part of something greater than myself whether it's a school Community a class Community or on the bike with a group of guys. So definitely cycling's what gets me going and fired up and keeps me healthy and sharp, right? And I think if we're not taking care of ourselves, we certainly aren't doing our best for taking care of others. So definitely got to feed myself first and the day and and then I'm kind of set for taking on the challenges that we face in the classroom throughout the rest of the day. Well, you can't pick a better place in the world to Do that road biking with mountains on one side and ocean on the other so that does not surprise me. And then finally before we get into your Quick Picks Trevor share about a personal habit or a productivity hack that contributes to your success. You just talked about being present in the moment. Is there an app or a daily routine that really helps you get it all done. Yeah. Listen, I'm at 5 a.m. Guy, you know even earlier on some days and I value that hour and a half two, maybe two and a half hours before, you know, the family's awake and be and before the The world's awake. I listen to this one author years ago talk about her routine to writing novels and she used to get up at three in the morning and she spoke about how the world was just still there is no no current no electricity. It was just quiet and and that's where her artistic kind of height came in throughout the day and and for me, you know getting up at 5 a.m. It's having a cup of coffee. It's you know getting down to some of the planning for the day and look at the checklist of what I want to accomplish that day and maybe firing off a few of those. Just to go pieces whether it's emails or you know tweets or reading an article that I've been meaning to read for a number of days, but then sometimes it's getting some writing done and again, you know with productivity and being a father and a teacher and a consultant. I don't have days and days and days where I could just sit down and write, you know, what a lavish lifestyle that would be. I'm big on kind of these to our Windows of productivity right and if I could sit down and get an hour and a half to two hours and two hours is my Max like I can't sit still for longer than two hours. I don't know how our students do it. And so I tend to get a lot done at 5 a.m. And and the occasional kind of afternoon session whether it's after school or on a weekend, but that 5 a.m. Is kind of probably the greatest addition to you know, my lifestyle both in terms of being active and healthy, but also being productive that I've adopted throughout the course of my teaching career that's music to my ears and makes me think of a book called Miracle morning for writers and that one was suggested by Lynn Merrick. Loan another guest of the program. So if you are digging Trevor's morning routine, make sure you keep that book in mind. We'll just before we continue. I do want to share an important message from the teach better team. Are you looking to reach more students innovate your instruction and teach better than join the teach better team on November 8th and 9th in Northeast Ohio for the first ever teach better conference joined Dynamic Educators such as Dave Burgess tall tale Thompson, Adam, welcome and more register now at teach better conference.com and when you do Be sure to use discount code fire 52 say $50 on either of the two day registration options. Are you ready to be better? We'll all right Trevor. It's time for your quick picks and here we want to know the education voices and resources that are shaping your practice and inspiring your thinking today. So I know this first one is a tough one for those that have such a large following as you do but starting at Twitter tell us about someone we need to follow there and share why they've been inspiring you lately. Yeah. That is a really tough. One but I have to talk about the Merrill's edu. That's at the Merrill's edu. And this is a married couple Joe and Kris in their out of Florida. They're both Elementary School teachers, and I'm just so in awe of the stuff that they do in their classroom with their Littles, you know, Joe just tweeted out something today about him doing a little green screen math activity where he draped this greens, you know t-shirt over his face, but then he put his glasses over top of the sheet and it made him look like a ghost right? And so he did this whole math lesson, you know that he recorded and and it was like the students were interacting with a ghost these recordings and and that sounds pretty novel but it's really engaging when you're talking about a six-year-old seven-year-old grappling with boring math concept that typically is taught by a worksheet or you know drilling kill. This is Joe Merrill doing something really kind of funny and Humane and interactive. So the Merrill's edu, they're doing some crazy cool. And I really geek out on their Twitter account their Instagram account for sure point us to an ed Tech Tool or an app that you currently love using in your classroom or somewhere else in your professional practice. Yeah. This is an easy one. I am a huge foot good fan. I will kind of follow them wherever they go, you know and really because they've impacted my assessment practice so dramatically the last couple of years, I love that they've gone free and it's an equitable platform for all young people any user around the world can access flipgrid unlimited for free but it's just made such a big shift in terms of my students confidence how they share voice in the classroom and there's such a Vibrant Community there. So yeah, I love sharing my love for flipgrid and that would be definitely the edtech tool that I'd like to share with this audience. Yeah recommend one book, maybe one that you've been reading lately or one of your all-time faves that really shaped your thinking and tell us why you recommend it. Yeah, you know, you mentioned, you know, Carol dweck's mindset. I think that's a huge one. I think you know it innovators mindset. I love George's Erica and talking about how we see our students and how we see ourselves and interacting with them. You know, I think oh goodness. That's such a hard question. I'm a big fan of Jay mctighe and Grant Wiggins work around understanding by Design and essential questions. I love Dan Rothstein and loose antenna make just one change and the question formulation technique and then you know, I love trading books with other authors around the world that I meet. And so, you know, it's this lovely little book club where I'll send them my my books and they'll send me there so I'm always reading something and so but you know, those are a few that I've read in the last couple of years or that have shaped some sharpening of my educational practice. If you will Trevor, I have no idea if you are a podcast listener, but if you are tell us about one that you've been enjoying lately and maybe why we need to subscribe. Yeah. Well, I'm a little late to the game so don't judge me, but I'm really breezing through cereal, you know, it's that crime real crime narrative and So when I travel when I'm on a plane, I love that one and I also am a big fan of that white fragility. I just think that's so powerful. So those are two that I've been eating up the episodes as of late. Okay? And again, I don't know if you're a YouTuber, but tell us about a YouTube channel that you enjoy and why we need to subscribe. Yeah, Gary great Junior Gary gray again, you know, I referenced him in what I'm really digging right now in education and cultural responsiveness and and Gary is an amazing videographer. He creates these amazing little tutorials. That really just show you how he talks about identity and culture in the classroom and and I could just spend time, you know as much time as I can looking at Gary's Channel and Gary's a busy guy. He's a full-time teacher. So when he does post something I'm just really happy to go check it out and see what he's chewing on with his students. The last one Trevor is just for fun. What are you watching on Netflix these days? Yeah again, I'm so busy that you know judgment from the audience that I'm only getting to this now, but again, I've Breeze through the series. I'm on the last few episodes. Stranger things. I'm just totally loving it and the last couple weeks. I breezed through series or season one and season two and I've got a couple more episodes in season 3 and definitely loving us stranger things right now. No, I know your crew at home is a little on the young side are can they handle stranger things or no? No, not yet. You know my eldest. He's ten and his big interest right now is World War Two wow and and World War Two history. So we actually watch some World War Two documentaries together on Netflix and then my youngest my Seven year olds as all you Canadians know and are Americans are kind of angry with us. If you will my youngest he's got Raptor fever, you know, the Raptors had such a successful run in the playoffs that it really created a lifelong player, I think and so in the morning, you know, I'm watching World War Two documentaries on one TV, and then I go and check in on my seven-year-old and he's watching, you know plays of the week or highlights from the night before from the Raptors. So it's a beautiful thing being a parrot right? I used to think that you know, my kids are so unique. Different and and we raised them the same and we found the same but we don't we really are you parent differently depending on who your little people are and and if they demonstrate a passion or they're really curious about something you tend to stoke that and you nurture that and you know, I begin to talk about my kids in a different light and that, you know, we are responsive to who they are and there's some base values and beliefs we have in our household but really, you know, I think that they're incredibly different kids because we parent them differently. As we should with our students you should teach differently depending on who your kids are right Trevor. This has been absolutely amazing. You've brought full value in all of the and I've put a lot of questions to you, sir. So thank you so much. What are the best ways for the listeners to follow you in and connect with inquiry-based learning and find out more? Yeah. I'm really active on Twitter at Trev underscore Mackenzie. I and with that, you know, we've got two hash eggs, hashtag dive into inquiry and hashtag inquiry mindset and there's a community of teachers around the world. Who are Contributing to those hashtags, you know what it looks like in their classroom and what they're doing and questions that they have and if you're at all ever, you know questioning inquiry or you want to connect with teachers out there just tag me in a tweet and that's just, you know, a little bit of a subtle message for me to retweet you and connect you with my community that you know, I've nurtured so by all means find me there. I love Instagram, you know, you'll see a lens into my day-to-day life as well as my teaching and what I'm passionate about what's got me ticking and that's at TNT McKenzie and then my website Trevor mcann See.com you know bunch of free resources. I love blogging I love sharing what's happening in my travels and my classroom and and yeah, definitely. Those are the three most active spaces for me Twitter Instagram and the website that sounds great Trevor. Thank you so much again for sharing your time with the podcast today. This has been a conversation. I've been looking forward to for quite some time. And I'm so glad that we finally connected you are such an important voice in my view in the education space and continued to bring about the change and start. Those hard conversations around education districts across the world really and to do that great work. I can't wait to see what's coming our way in terms of assessment. That's another such a critical conversation. Thank you again Trevor and have a great school year. Thanks Tim. It's had been a pleasure. Thanks for having me on I appreciate it. Before we sign off today. I'd like to share some highlights from around the teachers on fire Community this week. The first stop is on Twitter where dr. Christine ho-young husband at Christine YH tweets about her recent work. Walk through her city of Prince George and she also mentions that she quote listen to at teachers on fire during my walk episodes 104 and 105 with doctor will and Miss ought loved it. And she also tags. Kylo underscore rain. Thank you for that. Christine next my last guest Andrew raveloe at Game Boy Drew tweeted everything I do is for my community in this episode. I share the vision I have for lifting my stakeholders the Calls a faced and how I'm inspiring my students to chase their dreams. Thank you for having me at teachers on fire. And he also tweeted quote you are doing incredible things with your podcast friend. Thank you for allowing me to share my voice. Really. You don't know how much that means to me. My mom and dad both listened. Well that last part probably means the most I really like the idea that Andrews parents both listened and if you did hear the episode, you know that Andrew shout it out his dad Greg Arevalo for his amazing career that I think is still well under way and he is much loved by his community there in Southern California. So thank you for a tremendous Legacy of education. And I love what it is bringing about in your family Greg Arevalo. Awesome next on Twitter Julia flips at Julia fliss tweeted quote. Wow, your commitment to community growth reflection Innovation putting yourself out there and the Importance of re-envisioning ourselves as resources on the planet Legacy is one of the most inspiring and authentic Testaments to education. I've heard. Thanks for the uplift and Julia, of course is also referring to the episode. I published with Andrew raveloe next up on Twitter Sarah Thomas at Sarah Des teacher tweets. Many. Thanks Tim. I loved your episode with Dan listen to that this morning next Kelly Kristofferson at Kelly W. Chris tweeted. Added learning isn't always about the new by revisiting something and approaching it from a different path or with a different mindset. We can see what might be every day is a PD day hashtag my PD today and dr. Kelly Kristofferson, or I think the doctor it may be underway is researching social media and its uses in our pln's and of course, I just completed a master study on the very same thing. So I love that connection and I agree podcasting is the new PD and You are listening to this podcast. You probably agreed to next up on Twitter Genet Fest noshed at JM Fass NAC HT and I'm probably butchering your last name. So apologies Janet, she tweeted terrific episode from one of my favorite podcasts. Thank you and teachers on fire at Game Boy Drew hashtag for ocf pln. And that's a reference to the four o'clock faculty, which I believe is another great. Education podcast next up boss underscore teach at GI BSO a Ellie tweeted in reference to my last episode with Andrew raveloe. This will get me through the week traveling to work and back now triple exclamation marks. The someone was very excited to listen to Andrew raveloe and he is again one of the nicest guys you'll meet in education Brian Carpenter at Brian car tweeted at game. Drew shares his presenter origin story taking a pee hit to grow his pln and inspires teachers. He's on his way to affecting change in his hometown and Beyond listen to him on at teachers on Fire episode 106, hashtag fresh air at five cool two degrees are now ready for Monday. Hashtag balance El AP and then later Brian also tweeted. Listen up pln at Game Boy. Drew has a great message. He's on his way at teachers. On fire. Well, thank you for the kind words. Brian Brian's been a faithful supporter of the show. And if you are interested in those early mornings get up with Brian at five o'clock, wherever you are in whatever time zone you may find yourself and go for a walk. Listen to some podcasts PD and join in with Brian at the hashtag fresh air at five next Janelle McLaughlin. Also a former guest of the show at Ms. Underscore Mac for tweeted. I'm Only halfway through this at teachers on fire podcast with at Game Boy Drew OMG. Loving the future city project Andrew. So exciting. I want to talk to you more about this and some other things. I've already heard in the interview well to all of the people I've mentioned here. Thank you so much for the encouragement. And if you have read replied liked or retweeted my content on Twitter. Thank you from the bottom of my heart podcasting is my passion and it feels incredible to know that listeners are finding value in what I'm sure. Sharing you truly are the fuel to my fire. I will also invite you to check out the teachers on fire Magazine on medium where this week. We featured a story by Tammy bright wiser at tlb. REI t-- on Twitter called how far back to books go for you Tammy talks about the connections between our earliest reading experiences and our reading and learning as adults and she gets into a little bit of an anecdote about her. Very first Scholastic Book Fair, which brings back memories for many Us I think next Caitlin Giordano at mrs. Underscore Giordano on Twitter wrote skills specific writing conferences. Caitlin is really combining two areas of keen interest for me. And those are grading conferences and writing feedback Kaitlyn is a master in both of these spaces. So make sure you give that article a look. Well if you're wondering well, how do I find the teachers on fire magazine? It's a medium publication and you'll find it over on medium.com or on the medium app if you're Already an education blogger consider joining our growing writing team there. You can continue to publish content on your own blog and you keep full credit and ownership of your content on medium message me at teachers on fire on any social media platform for more details. Well teachers on fire. I will leave you with this quote from my reading it comes from a book called professionally driven and power every educator to redefine PD by Gerald Boorman and you'll find him on Twitter. @jj Borman, that's jbo RM ann3 and he writes Thomas Gus key reminds us that the sole purpose of professional development is to have a positive effect on learner outcomes. So my question for you administrators and education leaders is this is your professional development having direct and positive effects on learner outcomes. If we can't answer a firm yes to that question. Maybe we need to rethink how we are designing and constructing. In our professional development opportunities. And again, I'm excited about this medium and other mediums in the way professional development may be changing and evolving. It's a slow-moving ship takes time to turn it around, but I think we are getting better at our professional development and Trevor touched on that in this conversation. Well again, I'm your host Tim KV, and I'm so grateful that you decided to spend some of your day listening to this podcast. I hope that in some way the content you heard today from Trevor. Ever Mackenzie ignited your thinking and inspired your practice. I'll meet you next week right here on the teachers on fire podcast. Take care and have a great week.
TREVOR MACKENZIE is a learner, teacher, speaker, consultant, and outdoor enthusiast. He is regarded by many as the preeminent voice on inquiry-based learning today, authoring Dive into Inquiry: Amplify Learning and Empower Student Voice (https://amzn.to/33fGvZE) and co-authoring Inquiry Mindset: Nurturing the Dreams, Wonders, and Curiosities of Our Youngest Learners (https://amzn.to/2JNgjhs). In our conversation, Trevor recalls the challenges of his first years in the profession. He defines inquiry-based learning, describes how educators can take their first steps into the inquiry swimming pool, and answers the questions many educators have around assessment in an inquiry model. Trevor goes on to talk about what else is setting him on fire in education today, his next big professional goal, a productivity hack that he holds dear, and a personal passion completely outside of education. As we close, he also shouts out some of the voices and resources that shape his thinking and inspire his professional practice. You can connect with Trevor ... On Twitter @Trev_MacKenzie On Instagram @TNTMacKenzie At his website: https://www.trevormackenzie.com/ Visit https://teachersonfire.net/ for all the show notes and links from this episode! Connect with the Teachers on Fire podcast on social media: On Twitter: https://twitter.com/TeachersOnFire On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teachersonfire/ On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeachersOnFire/ On LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/TimWCavey On The Teachers on Fire Magazine: https://medium.com/teachers-on-fire On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFDPjkAn7lZb-rahyVDttKA Song Track Credits Intro: Easy (by Mike Cosmo -- license purchased at https://taketones.com/) Outtro: Bluntedsesh4 (by Tha Silent Partner, courtesy of FreeMusicArchive.org)  ---   Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/teachersonfire/support 