Welcome to the Inspired to Enrich podcast!
In podcast episode 1, we are talking about what the definition of enrichment and why it’s so important for our students.
Enrich quite simply means “to make richer”. When you enrich something, you add to it. You make it more meaningful. You go deeper.
In terms of education, enrichment is all about how we can take students who are curious and creative and give them an outlet for their drive. We present them with new problems to solve, ideas to marinate on, feelings to unpack, opinions to pose, and more.
Connecting The Past To The Now- Why the Definition of Enrichment Matters
Think back to your experience in elementary school?
Were you challenged to solve real-world problems? Were you given the opportunity to not just read a book, but create something from your imagination to go with it? Were you given the freedom to explore, make mistakes, and, as my favorite fiction teacher Ms. Frizzle says, get messy?
It seems everyone has an opinion on education these days. Opinions of what students should know. Opinions of what teachers should teach. Opinions of what environments are best for learning… but what I don’t hear a lot of are the opinions of what we can do to help our kids fall in love with learning.
The idea of enrichment in many education circles is the idea of extra or more. Extra learning. More hands-on. Extra support. More expense. Extra work for teachers. More late days or weekend preparation. But in my circle, that goes against everything I believe about student learning and teacher.
What Led Me To Create A Podcast
As a kid, I enjoyed school. but, you could say, that was in my DNA. My grandmother was an elementary school teacher. My mom graduated a year early from high school. I was identified as gifted in 5thgrade.
But what I really loved was learning. The practice. The process of learning.
I would read ahead in my textbooks because I wanted to know what we were studying next in social studies. I spent summers reading and taking notes from my grandmother’s old science books because I was curious about anatomy. I created journals and wrote in notebooks all the time. And when someone asked me “what will you be when you grow up?”, my answer was always changing.
My curiosity and love of learning have lead me to amazing places like Washington DC and New York City. But, they’ve also lead me to feel bored when I don’t have space to be creative or when I don’t feel mentally challenged.
My Definition Of Enrichment
Enrichment is deeper learning, not more or extra. Enrichment is facilitation, not extra work or more preparation time. Most importantly, for me, enrichment is about richer lessons for all students, not extra opportunities for a select few. If creativity is the bones of this podcast, then inspiration is the heart and enrichment is the brains.
My goal is to use what I’ve learned, tried, and experienced to guide you to in igniting a love of learning for a kid in your life.
