A few years ago I enrolled in a Master of Arts in Education.

I was not looking for a career change or a promotion. I was looking for answers. I had been teaching inquiry-based learning for several years, in international schools, with students from dozens of different countries and educational backgrounds, and something was not adding up.

The theory was compelling. The research was clear. Inquiry-based learning, done well, produces more motivated, more critically engaged, more independently minded learners than directed instruction. I believed that. I still believe it.

But the gap between what inquiry promised and what I was seeing in my classroom was real. Students who froze when given freedom. Students who could follow an inquiry I had designed but collapsed when asked to direct their own. Students who had never been taught how to ask a question worth pursuing, how to evaluate a source, how to build an argument from evidence rather than just reporting what they had found.

I wanted to understand why. So I went back to the research.

What the Study Found

My research focused on teachers implementing inquiry-based learning in a private international school — a school genuinely committed to inquiry as its primary pedagogical approach. I surveyed multiple educators across international schools, drawing on over a decade of experience teaching in diverse school communities around the world. I asked them about the challenges they faced, the benefits they observed, and the strategies that helped.

What they told me was largely what the existing literature predicted. Lack of time. Lack of resources. Insufficient professional development. These were the expected barriers and they were real.

But one theme emerged that I had not anticipated, and it stopped me.

Teacher after teacher, in different words and with different examples, pointed to the same underlying problem. Their students were not ready for inquiry.

Not because the students were incapable. Not because they were unwilling. But because they had arrived from educational systems where the teacher asked the questions, provided the resources, directed the thinking, and assessed the conclusions. The freedom that inquiry offered felt, to many of them, not like liberation but like being lost.

One teacher put it simply: some of my students are not yet ready to participate fully in the inquiry due to their lack of foundation knowledge and poor independent study skills.

Another described the difficulty of managing the space and autonomy given to students over long periods of time — not because the students were badly behaved, but because they genuinely did not know what to do with the freedom they were given.

Student readiness. That was the gap. And it was the gap nobody was directly addressing.

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Why This Matters

Most books and courses about inquiry-based learning assume a certain baseline. They assume students who can generate meaningful questions, evaluate sources critically, collaborate productively, and reflect honestly on their own thinking. They describe what inquiry looks like when it works and offer frameworks for making it work better.

What they rarely address is the student who has never been asked to think independently before. The student who has spent their entire school career waiting for instructions. The student who, when handed the compass, does not know which way is North. That image is not accidental — it is the central metaphor of my book, The Inquiry Expedition: A Field Guide to Student Readiness, which grew directly from this research.

That student is not an edge case. In my experience, and in the experience of every teacher I spoke to in my research, that student is the majority. Particularly in schools where students arrive from diverse educational backgrounds, where some have experienced rich inquiry-centred learning and others have experienced nothing but directed instruction, the range of readiness in a single classroom can be enormous.

And yet we tend to design inquiry units as if every student arrives equally prepared.

What I Did About It

The research did not give me a complete solution. Research rarely does. But it gave me the right question to pursue.

Not: how do I implement inquiry-based learning?

But: how do I prepare students for it?

That question became the foundation of everything I have been building since. The provocations that ignite curiosity before the teaching begins. The surface to deep questioning framework that gives students the language to ask questions worth pursuing. The curiosity journals that build a daily habit of wondering. The Expedition Trail that maps where students are and where they are heading. The scaffolding strategies that support without taking over.

All of it is designed to answer the question my research identified as the most important and most overlooked in inquiry-based learning. How do we get students ready for the journey before we ask them to begin it?

That is what The Inquiry Expedition: A Field Guide to Student Readiness is about. And that is what this newsletter is about.

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A Question for You

Before I go — I am genuinely curious. In your own experience, what is the biggest barrier your students face when you try to implement inquiry-based learning?

Is it the questioning? The independent research? The collaboration? The willingness to commit to a position and defend it? Something else entirely?

Hit reply and tell me. I read every response and I am always looking for what to write about next.

Leave a comment

The Inquiry Expedition: A Field Guide to Student Readiness is coming soon. Join the waitlist at expedition.fletchucation.com.

Free resources — including the Question Starter Stems Card and Surface to Deep Transformation Worksheet — are already available in previous posts.

If this post was useful, forward it to one teacher who might need it.

Follow @fletchucation on Instagram and Threads for more.

I had asked my class to generate their own inquiry questions. We had spent a lesson on the provocation. The curiosity journals were open. The room had been buzzing. And now it was time to see what they had come up with.

A student raised his hand confidently. He had clearly thought about this. He read his question out loud.

Is Ralph a good leader?

The class waited. I waited. Then another student said, quietly but audibly: Yes. Obviously.

And that was it. The question was dead before the inquiry had begun.

The student who asked it was not lazy or disengaged. He had genuinely tried. He had looked at the text, identified something relevant, and formed a question about it. But the question he had asked could be answered without thinking. And a question that can be answered without thinking is not an inquiry question. It is the end of one.

I have seen this moment play out in classrooms many times. Students who have spent years being asked questions with right answers do not automatically know how to ask questions without them. They need to be shown.

That is what this post is about.

The Problem With Surface Questions

Most students arrive in our classrooms having spent years in an environment where questions have right answers. Where the purpose of asking is to demonstrate knowledge, not to generate it. Where the safest question is the one you already know someone can answer.

That environment produces surface questions — questions that can be answered without genuinely thinking. A single word, a yes or no, a recalled fact. They close down thinking rather than opening it up. And once you have the answer, there is nowhere interesting to go.

Surface questions are not wrong. They are often necessary starting points. But they are not the engine of inquiry. They are the foyer, not the room.

The room is where the deep questions live. And getting students into that room requires explicit teaching.

What Makes a Question Deep?

A deep question cannot be answered without thinking. It requires interpretation, judgement, or analysis. It connects to something that genuinely matters — to the student, to the subject, or to the wider world. It opens outward rather than closing down.

And perhaps most importantly: it makes the person asking it genuinely want to know the answer.

That is the test. Does this question make you curious? Does it pull you forward? If the honest answer is no — if the question feels like something you are supposed to ask rather than something you actually want to know — it needs to go deeper.

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From Surface to Deep: The Process

Here is the process I teach students. Work through it once with me using a real example.

Our surface question is: Is Ralph a good leader?

It is the kind of question that appears in classrooms everywhere. And it is a surface question — not because it produces a list, but because it can be answered without thinking. Yes or no. Done. There is nowhere interesting to go from there.

That is the test for a surface question: can it be answered without genuinely thinking? If yes — a single word, a yes or no, a recalled fact — it is surface. Keep going.

Step 1 — Identify why the question stays shallow.

Is Ralph a good leader? invites a judgement but closes it down immediately. Yes or no. It does not ask what kind of leader, why leadership matters, what leadership reveals, or what we are assuming when we call someone good.

Ask yourself: what is this question not asking that it should be?

Step 2 — Pick a question starter and use it to rewrite the question.

To push a surface question deeper, try starting your new question with one of these:

- Why… (causes)

- How might… (perspectives)

- What would happen if… (possibilities)

- Whose voice is missing from… (perspectives)

- In what ways… (connections)

- Is it always true that… (assumptions)

- What if… (possibilities)

- How does… connect to… (connections)

- What are we assuming when… (assumptions)

The full Question Starter Stems Card — five categories, fifteen stems, designed for classroom display — is available free at the end of this post. Download it and keep it. It is the tool behind everything in this post.

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Pick one starter and apply it directly to your surface question. Here is what happens when we try three different starters on Is Ralph a good leader?

Using What are we assuming when…

What are we assuming when we call Ralph a good leader?

Using How might…

How might Ralph’s leadership look different through Piggy’s eyes?

Using What would happen if…

What would happen if Jack had been chosen as leader from the very beginning?

Three completely different deep questions. All from the same surface question. All using a starter directly.

Pick the one that makes you most curious. That is your improved question.

Step 3 — Push it outward by connecting beyond the text.

Ask yourself one of these:

- How does this connect to something I already know or have studied?

- How does this connect to the real world today?

- How does this connect to my own experience?

- How does this connect to another text I have read?

Using our example:

What are we assuming when we call Ralph a good leader?

becomes

What are we assuming when we call Ralph a good leader, and does the novel ever let him be one?

That is a deep question. It requires thinking, not recall. It opens outward rather than closing down. And it makes you genuinely want to find the answer.

Now Use the Stems to Generate Brand New Questions

The same stems that helped you improve a surface question can also help you generate entirely new inquiry questions from scratch — not improving what you have, but creating what you do not yet have.

Take Lord of the Flies as your starting point. Use one stem from each category and write a fresh question. Do not worry about whether they are perfect. Just generate.

Here is what that looks like:

• How does the breakdown of authority change each character in Lord of the Flies?(causes and effects)

• How might this novel read differently to someone who has experienced real conflict?(perspectives)

• In what ways is the society the boys create similar to political systems we see in the world today? (connections)

• Is it always true that children are more innocent than adults? (assumptions)

• How might the novel end differently if the boys had been rescued in the first week?(possibilities)

Five deep questions. Generated in minutes. Using the same stems.

Putting It Together: The QFT

The Question Formulation Technique brings everything above into one structured classroom process. I wrote about this in a previous post below.

Students start with a provocation. They generate questions freely — surface and deep, everything, without judgement. They use the steps above to improve their surface questions. They use the stems to generate new deep questions they had not thought of before. Then they prioritise — which question matters most? Which one, if they could answer it, would change how they see everything else?

That final question becomes their driving question. And it belongs entirely to them.

That is when the real learning begins.

How I Use This in Class

I introduce the two skills separately and in sequence.

First, the transformation. I put a surface question on the board — always one that students will recognise from their own experience of school — and we push it together. What is the question behind the question? We try it two or three times as a class until students can feel the difference between a surface question and a deep one.

Then, the five moves. I give students a topic or provocation and ask them to generate deep questions using each move. We share what we produce and notice which moves produced the most interesting questions for this particular topic.

After a few weeks of practising both skills, something shifts. Students start doing it automatically. They write a surface question, recognise it, and push it further before they have even finished the sentence.

That is the goal. Not a lesson about questioning. A habit of questioning.

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The Free Download

Two tools in one download — both free:

The Surface to Deep Transformation Worksheet — a one page student worksheet that walks through the three step process with space to practise. Use it as a class activity, a warm up, or a homework task at the start of an inquiry unit.

The Question Starter Stems Card — the full five category framework with all fifteen stems, designed for classroom display or to give to every student at the start of a unit.

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A Note on Paid Subscriptions

If you are finding these posts useful and want to support Fletchucation, paid subscriptions are now open.

Paid subscribers receive a free ebook copy of A Book of Provocations: Volume 1 — fifty thought-provoking images across five categories, each with discussion questions and predictive prompts ready to use in class, worth $18 USD.

Every subscription also helps keep this newsletter going. And if I am being completely honest, it helps sustain a coffee habit that the Bavarian espresso scene has made significantly worse.

The surface to deep questioning framework is explored in depth in The Inquiry Expedition: A Field Guide to Student Readiness, coming soon. Join the waitlist at expedition.fletchucation.com or subscribe here.

If this post was useful, forward it to one teacher who might need it. That is genuinely the best thing you can do to help Fletchucation grow.

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Look at the image above for thirty seconds before you read on.

Do not analyse it. Do not rush to conclusions. Just look.

What do you notice? What does it make you think? What do you want to know?

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The image is called Tomorrow’s Classroom. It comes from a book I published called A Book of Provocations: Volume 1 — a collection of fifty thought-provoking images across five categories, each one designed to spark genuine discussion and inquiry in the classroom.

This particular image sits in the Human Ingenuity category. And it raises questions that I think matter enormously for every teacher reading this right now.

Now Try This

Write down every question this image raises for you. Do not edit them. Do not judge them. Just write.

Go. Gvive yourself 7 minutes.

You probably have a list now. Some of those questions will be what I call surface questions — immediate, factual, answerable with a quick search:

Is this what classrooms will actually look like? What subject is being taught? Are the students engaged?

These are fine questions. They are the starting point. But they are not the questions worth inquiring into.

Now look back at your list and ask yourself: which of these questions opens into something bigger? Which one, if you pursued it, would take you somewhere genuinely interesting?

Push those questions further. What is the bigger, harder, more important question hiding underneath?

A surface question like will robots replace teachers? becomes something far more interesting when you push it: what is it that only a human being can offer a learner, and how do we know?

What subject is being taught? becomes does it matter what is taught if how it is taught has fundamentally changed?

Are the students engaged? becomes what does genuine engagement actually look like, and can a machine ever produce it?

These are the questions worth sitting with. These are expedition questions.

The Tool Behind This: The QFT

What you just did — generating questions freely and then pushing them deeper — is the foundation of a structured technique called the Question Formulation Technique, developed by the Right Question Institute.

The QFT gives students a framework for doing exactly this, step by step:

Step 1: Generate questions freely from a provocation. No editing. No judging. Just write.

Step 2: Categorise them. Which are closed — answerable with yes, no, or a single fact? Which are open — requiring exploration and interpretation?

Step 3: Transform. Take your closed questions and rewrite them as open ones.

Step 4: Prioritise. Which question matters most? Which one, if you could answer it, would change how you think about everything else?

Step 5: Reflect. What did you notice about how your questions changed as you pushed them further?

The image above is a perfect QFT starting point. And so are the other forty-nine images in A Book of Provocations: Volume 1.

Two Books, One Journey

A Book of Provocations: Volume 1 gives you fifty images like this one, organised into five categories, each with three predictive questions and ten discussion questions per image. It is a ready-made scaffold for getting students talking, wondering, and beginning to question. It is a great resource I personally used with my DP English B students in preparation for the oral examination.

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You can get it here: A Book of Provocations: Volume 1

And when your students are ready to go further — to move from discussion questions into genuine self-directed inquiry — that is where my upcoming book The Inquiry Expedition: A Field Guide to Student Readiness picks up.

One of the core frameworks in The Inquiry Expedition is what I call the surface to deep questioning spectrum. It gives students a concrete way to understand the difference between questions that close down thinking and questions that open it up — and a practical process for moving from one to the other. The QFT sits at the heart of that framework, alongside curiosity journals, concept mapping, and a complete unit opening sequence that takes students from their first provocation all the way to a driving question that belongs entirely to them.

Think of A Book of Provocations as the spark. The Inquiry Expedition as the trail that follows.

A Note on Supporting Fletchucation

If you are finding these posts useful and want to go deeper, consider becoming a paid subscriber.

Paid subscribers get an ebook copy of A Book of Provocations: Volume 1 — fifty provocations, five categories, three predictive questions and ten discussion questions per image — worth $18 USD, yours as a thank you for your support.

Every paid subscription also helps keep this newsletter going. And if I am being completely honest, it helps sustain what has become a fairly committed coffee habit. The Bavarian countryside is beautiful but the espresso is not going to drink itself.

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The Inquiry Expedition: A Field Guide to Student Readiness is coming soon.

If this post was useful, forward it to one teacher who might need it.

Follow @fletchucation on Instagram and Threads for more.

Welcome to Fletchucation. I’m Matt — a secondary English teacher, MA researcher, and someone who has spent over a decade trying to figure out what genuinely great inquiry-based learning looks like in a real classroom. This is a new beginning, and I want to start with a story.

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I remember the lesson clearly.

It was a Year 12 English class. IB Diploma. The kind of class that, on paper, should have been thriving in an inquiry-based learning environment. The school was committed to it. The curriculum was built around it. I had planned what I genuinely believed was a strong, student-centred lesson.

About twenty minutes in, a student put up her hand.

She was bright, hardworking, and genuinely invested in doing well. She looked at me with an expression I have thought about many times since, somewhere between frustration and confusion, and said something I was not expecting.

“Can we just focus on what we need to know for the exam? All this questioning and exploring — I don’t really see the point of it.”

The room went quiet.

And honestly? In that moment, I did not have a good answer.

I had been teaching in international schools for several years by that point. I had attended the workshops, read the research, and genuinely believed in what inquiry-based learning promised. I was doing everything I was supposed to be doing.

But that student had identified something I had been too close to see.

I had been asking my students to inquire without ever truly preparing them for what inquiry required of them. I had given them the questions without giving them the tools. I had opened the door to the expedition without teaching them how to navigate the terrain.

She did not need less inquiry. She needed better preparation for it.

That moment stayed with me for years. It was one of the reasons I eventually undertook a Master of Arts in Education, researching the challenges teachers face when implementing inquiry-based learning in practice. And what my research kept pointing back to, quietly but consistently, was the same gap that student had named in that Year 12 classroom.

Student readiness. It was the missing piece.

Not the curriculum. Not the resources. Not even the professional development, though that matters enormously. The missing piece was that nobody had systematically equipped students for the experience of genuine inquiry. We assumed that if we built the environment, the thinking would follow.

It doesn’t. Not automatically. Not without preparation.

That realisation is what led me here.

Over the past year, I have been writing a book. It is called The Inquiry Expedition: A Field Guide to Student Readiness, and it is the book I wish I had had in that Year 12 classroom.

It is built around a framework I call the Inquiry Compass — four cardinal points that together map everything students need to be genuinely ready for inquiry-based learning:

North — Navigate. Sparking curiosity, building powerful questioning skills, and developing the daily habits of wonder that sustain an inquirer over time.

East — Explore. Building the collaboration skills, independent research tools, and scaffolded confidence students need to venture into the terrain of inquiry.

South — Synthesise. Equipping students with the thinking routines and argument-building frameworks that turn gathered evidence into genuine understanding.

West — Weave. Helping students share their learning authentically, reflect deeply, and set their compass for the next expedition.

Every chapter is practical. Every strategy has been tested in real classrooms. Every tool is downloadable free at expedition.fletchucation.com.

And the book is coming soon.

I want to be honest about something before I go any further, because I think it matters and because I have read too many books about inquiry-based learning that do not say it clearly enough.

This is hard.

Getting students genuinely ready for inquiry takes time, patience, and a willingness to sit with uncertainty. There will be lessons that do not land the way you planned. There will be students who resist the invitation to take ownership of their learning. There will be moments where the effort feels disproportionate to the outcome.

But here is what those years of research and classroom practice have consistently shown me: when students are genuinely prepared for inquiry, the quality of their thinking, their engagement, and their academic performance is transformed. The student who asked me to just help her pass the exam went on to do extraordinarily well in her IB Diploma. She was always capable. She just needed the tools.

That is what this book is for. And that is what this Substack is for.

Every fortnight, I will share:

• Practical strategies from the book you can use immediately

• Classroom stories from over a decade of inquiry teaching

• Honest reflections on what works, what does not, and what I am still figuring out

• Updates on The Inquiry Expedition series as it grows

It is free. It is for teachers. And it is built on the belief that the best professional development happens in conversation between practitioners who are genuinely trying to do right by their students.

If that sounds like you, I am glad you are here.

The expedition is just beginning. 🧭

The Inquiry Expedition: A Field Guide to Student Readiness is coming soon. Visit expedition.fletchucation.com to learn more or subscribe here and be first to know when it launches.

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Follow Me on social media: @fletchucation

Dear friends,

It’s been a while since a new episode of The Inquiry Teacher hit your feed. Life and work have a way of filling up the calendar, but the wait is almost over.

To build some momentum before the new episodes release, I’m resharing one of our most popular conversations. Join me and the incredible Trevor MacKenzie as we dive deep into the heart of inquiry-based learning. Whether you’re hearing it for the first time or the fiftieth, Trevor’s insights are the perfect fuel for the new season ahead.

Have an idea for a great guest for the podcast? Let me know in the comments or send me a message.

Leave a comment

Enjoy!

Best,

Matt

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If there is one thing every teacher knows, it’s that the administrative side of teaching can sometimes eat up more time than the teaching itself. We’ve all been there—staring at a blank seating chart, trying to remember who can’t sit next to whom, or trying to track a Socratic seminar while simultaneously facilitating it.

I wanted a better way to handle these daily tasks without juggling five different paid subscriptions or clunky apps. So, I built one.

I am thrilled to announce the launch of SortdClass, a completely free suite of classroom management tools designed to make your life easier.

What can SortdClass do?

I designed this to be a “Swiss Army Knife” for the classroom. It runs right in your browser—no downloads, no logins, and no paywalls. Here is what this version currently includes:

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• 🪑 Smart Seating Charts: This is the flagship feature. You can build your room layout by dragging and dropping “pods” of tables. Import your roster, set specific rules (like “Student A cannot sit with Student B”), and let the algorithm automatically generate the perfect seating plan for you. You can even lock specific students in place before shuffling the rest!

• 💬 Discussion Mapper: Inspired by the brilliant work of Alexis Wiggins on Spiderweb Discussions, this tool visualizes your classroom dialogue. It creates a map of your students where you can click to track who is speaking, record when the discussion is getting out of hand(Chaos), and moments of silence. It draws lines between speakers to show the flow of conversation—perfect for giving students concrete data on their listening and communication skills.

  Thanks for reading Fletchucation! This post is public so feel free to share it.

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• 🎡 Name Picker Wheel: A quick, fair, and fun way to pick students for answers or tasks.

• ⏱️ Classroom Timer: A simple, high-visibility timer for activities and transitions.

• 🎲 Dice Roller: Handy for probability lessons or gamified classroom activities.

• 📖 Word of the Day/Week: A fun little activity to build vocabulary with definitions and activity prompts. I wrote about my word of the week activities that were a hit with my classes in a previous post.

  

Why did I build this?

I wanted something clean, modern, and functional that didn’t hide essential features behind a “Pro” version. SortdClass is 100% free to use.

I Need Your Feedback!

This tool is a labor of love, and it is still in its early stages. I built it to solve my own problems, but I want it to solve yours too.

Subscribe now

I would love for you to give it a try in your classroom this week. If you spot a bug, have an idea for a new feature, or just want to tell me how it worked for you, please reach out via the comments on social media.

Click here to try SortdClass now

I would appreciate it if you would like to give some feedback via a google forms survey too, alternatively, you can shoot me me message on Substack, or social media.

Let’s get sorted!

Follow SortdClass on Instagram and Threads

Matt Fletcher
Fletchucation

Support and Stay Connected

Although I create and share these resources freely, there are ways to support if you find value in them:

Get 10% off forever

• 👉 Take out a paid subscription on Substack to support future work

• Buy me a coffee. Support the hosting of Sortdclass.

• 🤝 Share this post with colleagues and teaching communities

• 📲 Tag me on Instagram @fletchucation or visit mtfletcher.com

• 🗣️ Let me know how you’re using it in your classroom—I’d love to hear from you

We often talk about “texts” in the IB classroom, and thankfully, the definition has expanded well beyond dusty novels and static poetry. For a while now, I’ve been using the stunning platformer GRIS as a Body of Work for my Language A students. It’s a masterclass in visual storytelling, color symbolism, and the non-literary exploration of the Global Issue of Mental Health and Resilience.

But recently, I’ve been thinking about how this same “text” can be pivoted for our English B learners, specifically within a unit on The Power of Games (connecting to the themes of Human Ingenuity or Experiences).

If you aren’t familiar with it, GRIS is a dialogue-free game where a young girl navigates a fading world to restore color to her life. It is widely interpreted as an allegory for the Five Stages of Grief. Because it lacks dialogue, it forces students to rely entirely on visual cues, music, and atmosphere—making it a perfect equalizer for mixed-ability language classes.

Here is how I am bridging the gap between these two courses, and some resources you can use to do the same.

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For Language A: The Body of Work

For my Lang & Lit students, GRIS serves as a rich non-literary text. We treat the gameplay experience as a “reading.” We analyze:

• Symbolism: The recurring motif of the statues and the black ink representing depression.

• Color Theory: How the shifting palette (from monochrome to red/anger, green/bargaining, etc.) dictates the narrative arc.

• Global Issues: It is a goldmine for discussing Culture, Identity, and Community (specifically the isolation of grief) or Beliefs, Values, and Education (emotional healing).

(Note: I have already created a comprehensive worksheet for this, which breaks down the visual techniques scene-by-scene. You can download that below!)

This game goes alongside a novel I teach, Kitchen, Banana Yoshimoto. Some students have found that these two texts align well for their individual oral assessment.

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For English B: The Power of Games

For English B students, the focus shifts from deep literary analysis to communication, description, and interpretation. GRIS provides a low-stakes, high-engagement environment to practice complex vocabulary without the barrier of difficult reading comprehension.

Here is how it fits into the English B themes:

• Experiences: discussing life stories, overcoming struggles, and emotional journeys.

• Human Ingenuity: exploring artistic expression through technology and how video games can be art.

Activity Idea: The “Walkthrough” Writer

Have students play (or watch a play-through of) a specific level, such as the “Anger” (Red) stage. Their task is to write a blog post or review describing the atmosphere. This pushes them to move beyond basic adjectives like “sad” or “mad” and use more precise language like frustrated, hostile, intense, or overwhelming.

Resources to Download

To help you bring this into your classroom, I’ve put together a few resources.

1. The “Gamer’s Toolkit” Vocabulary Sheet

I’ve created a downloadable PDF that categorizes vocabulary essential for discussing GRIS and video games in general. This is great for scaffolding oral activities.

• Descriptive Adjectives: Ethereal, monochrome, jagged, fluid, oppressive, vibrant.

• Abstract Nouns: Resilience, grief, isolation, restoration, metaphor.

• Verbs of Movement: Glide, plummet, scramble, ascend, transform.

Download Here

2. Language A “Body of Work” Worksheet

(Link to your existing worksheet) - This guides students through the semiotic analysis of the game’s opening sequence.

Download Here

3. English B (SL) Individual Oral Prompt

For Standard Level students, the IO requires a visual stimulus. GRIS frames are paintings in motion, making them ideal for this. Below is a sample prompt setup I have used.

English B SL Internal Assessment: Sample Visual Stimulus

The Image: (Insert a screenshot here from the “Red/Anger” stage of the game—specifically a moment where the character is struggling against the strong winds or the jagged red architecture.)

The Prompt: Theme: Human Ingenuity / Experiences Topic: The Power of Games & Storytelling

Look at the image provided. It is a screenshot from the video game GRIS.

Describe the image and relate it to the theme of Human Ingenuity (or Experiences).

In your presentation, you should wish to include:

• A description of the atmosphere and colors used in this scene.

• How video games can tell stories without using words.

• Your own opinion on whether video games should be considered “art.”

Final Thoughts

Whether you are dissecting the semiotics of grief in Language A or debating the artistic merit of gaming in English B, GRIS is a text that meets students where they are. It validates their interests while demanding high-level critical thinking.

Have you used video games in your IB classroom? Let me know in the comments!

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Support and Stay Connected

Although I create and share these resources freely, there are ways to support if you find value in them:

Get 10% off forever

• 👉 Take out a paid subscription on Substack to support future work

• 🤝 Share this post with colleagues and teaching communities

• 📲 Tag me on Instagram @fletchucation or visit mtfletcher.com

• 🗣️ Let me know how you’re using it in your classroom—I’d love to hear from you

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A brief introduction

I’ve been thinking a lot about the strange little things that shape us — a hometown you barely remember, a meal that became a ritual, a place that holds a story you didn’t realise you were writing at the time. They’re the sorts of memories that feel like postcards you meant to send but never quite did: snapshots of who you were, who you’re becoming, and the moments in between.

So I’m starting a new series called Postcards I Meant To Send. Each piece will be a short, reflective essay — part memoir, part history, part cultural curiosity.

Nothing too grand. Nothing too tidy. Just:
Here’s something that shaped me. Here’s why it matters. And here’s something unexpectedly fascinating tucked inside it.

I’ll eventually turn them into short podcast episodes, but the essays come first. Writing them helps me understand the memory; sharing them helps me understand why it stayed.

Before I dive in, I’d love to know what you think:

Would you like these “postcards” to be part of this newsletter — mixed in with English teaching, inquiry learning, and education talk — or would you prefer them as a separate publication so you can choose what you read?

Your thoughts genuinely help, and your presence here means a lot — thank you.

Series Introduction
This is a small catalogue of the places, tastes, and quiet moments that shaped me. Not a guidebook, not a travel diary, not anthropology — just the things that lodged themselves somewhere between memory and meaning. Each essay tries to follow a simple rhythm: here’s something from my life, here’s why it matters, here’s a story that grew around it, and here’s something curious you might not know. Think of these as postcards written years after the journey ended — the ink a little smudged, the details softened, but the feeling still warm.

HOTPOT

The first time I had hotpot with my wife wasn’t in Chengdu, the undisputed capital of spice, swagger, and Sichuan peppercorn bravado. It was in Zhejiang province, of all places — land of mild broths, fresh seafood, and people who believe your mouth shouldn’t go numb during a meal. My wife told me several times, with the authority of someone who grew up in the Southwest, “This isn’t Sichuan hotpot.” As if I might accidentally confuse the two and embarrass her in public.

This particular restaurant was an all-you-can-eat buffet tucked between two equally unremarkable shops. A conveyor belt of seafood drifted past us like a slow-moving parade: prawns, clams, scallops, crabs — each one waiting for its brief finale in the bubbling pot. It cost under 50 yuan per person.1 I remember thinking there must be a catch, because nothing that fresh has the right to be that cheap. The catch, it turned out, was my own inexperience.

In those early days, I treated the pot as if it were a polite British soup. I dunked things cautiously. I checked if they were cooked. I followed the rules. My wife, meanwhile, moved with the confidence of someone who knew the choreography by heart: swirl, scoop, dunk, wait, rescue. She looked like she’d been hotpotting professionally for years.

I liked to believe this was the first time she realised she might need to teach me many things: how to eat properly, how to use chopsticks correctly, how to stop asking the waitress if the prawns were “definitely safe to eat,” and — eventually — how to become a decent husband.

But everything changed when we moved to Chengdu.

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Chengdu: Where Hotpot Levels You Up

If Zhejiang was the gentle introduction, Chengdu was the full immersion — the kind where the water is already boiling before you realise you’ve stepped in.

Chengdu hotpot is not simply a meal. It is a challenge. A test of courage. A rite of passage. The broth is a swirling cauldron of red oil, crushed garlic, bean paste, and Sichuan peppercorns designed to make your entire nervous system question its life choices.2

My wife, born and raised on that kind of fire, was delighted. I was… less delighted. I spent the first few months in Chengdu sweating through my shirt, pretending that my tongue wasn’t going numb, and assuring everyone at the table, “This is great, honestly,” while secretly praying my stomach wouldn’t stage a protest later.

But something changed after a while. I learned that Sichuan peppercorns don’t merely burn — they buzz. They create a soft electric hum that lingers on your lips. I learned that dipping raw beef into a boiling vat of red oil feels like an act of bravery. I learned the art of finding the perfect balance in the dipping sauce: sesame paste, coriander, garlic, spring onions, a splash of vinegar, and enough oil to offend my former self.

And I learned that the joy of hotpot isn’t really the pot itself — it’s the community built around it.

Hotpot tables are round on purpose. They force conversation. They slow you down. You share food, stories, and occasionally, gastrointestinal consequences. You learn to fight for the last slice of beef. You learn that every friend has a different opinion on the correct level of spice. You learn that hotpot is the great equaliser: everyone leaves smelling faintly of chilli and triumph.

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A Taste That Became Home

After a few years in Chengdu, hotpot became one of our constants — a weekend treat, a way of welcoming visitors, a celebration meal, a comfort ritual after a long week.

And somewhere along the way, I stopped being the cautious vegetable-dunker and became someone who could navigate the chaotic pot without hesitation. I could identify tripe by sight. I could judge exactly when potato slices reached peak tenderness. I stopped sweating profusely (most of the time). I stopped asking if the prawns were safe.

In Chengdu, hotpot was no longer something I did — it was something I belonged to.

It became part of my marriage, my friendships, my understanding of what it means to share a life in a new place. It’s funny how food does that — how a boiling pot of oil and chillies can become a symbol of belonging. But it did.

A Few Things You Might Not Know

Hotpot has a longer history than I expected. The earliest form is believed to date back over 1,700 years, when soldiers cooked meat in helmets filled with broth over campfires.3
In Sichuan, the modern style emerged on the docks of the Yangtze River, where labourers cooked leftover cuts of animal offal in spicy broth to mask the strong flavours.4 Over time, it became mainstream, then iconic, then the universal answer to the question, “What shall we eat tonight?”

There are regional variations everywhere in China — from the mild mushroom broths of Yunnan to the buttery, beef-tallow soups of Chongqing. And yes, many locals will tell you that Chongqing hotpot is the real deal, not Chengdu hotpot — a rivalry I wisely chose not to take sides in, given that I still value my life.

And here’s a small fact I love: the phrase “ma la” (麻辣), meaning “numb and spicy,” is so deeply tied to Sichuan identity that scholars say it represents not just a flavour, but an entire worldview — one that embraces contrast, surprise, and resilience.5

Which, in a strange way, describes my Chengdu years perfectly.

Why It Still Matters

Now that I live far from China, hotpot has become something else entirely: a portal. The smell alone pulls me backwards — to late-night meals with friends, to New Year gatherings, to birthdays, to rainy Chengdu evenings, to quiet conversations with my wife over a pot of bubbling red oil.

Hotpot is messy, dramatic, and occasionally painful. But it’s also generous. Social. Comforting. It taught me more about community than many books ever did.

It shaped who I became.
It shaped who we became.
And it reminds me that the most meaningful moments often happen around a table — preferably a round one, preferably loud, preferably filled with steam and laughter and the constant clatter of chopsticks fishing for something good.

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Footnotes

After a whirlwind summer of relocating, I’ve now settled into life in Germany and begun at my new school. It’s been a period of transition for my family and me, but also a chance to reset professionally and think about the year ahead with fresh eyes.

The move itself was both exciting and daunting. Uprooting from a place where you’ve taught and lived for years means leaving behind familiarity, colleagues, and routines. At the same time, starting fresh offers that rare opportunity to reflect, re-evaluate, and reimagine your practice. For me, it has been energising to walk into a new context with the mindset: What kind of teacher do I want to be here, now, with these students?

Professional Growth Through Triads

One of the most exciting initiatives I’ve stepped into at my new school is the use of Triads—a model of peer coaching and professional development that pairs teachers across disciplines.

Each triad contains three rotating roles: coach, mentor, and mentee. Together, we cycle through observation, feedback, and reflection.

The purpose of these triads is not simply accountability, but growth.

What makes this particularly rich is that we aren’t just grouped within subject departments. My triad includes colleagues from other disciplines, which means I’m constantly seeing pedagogy through fresh eyes. A science teacher might notice patterns in how I structure student questioning, while I might comment on how they scaffold extended writing. It breaks down the silos we sometimes fall into and helps us see our practice in wider, transferable ways.

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Our Shared Inquiry

Our collective focus this year is on embedding inquiry-driven pedagogy into the curriculum. We are framing our conversations and experiments around a guiding question:

To what extent does scaffolding inquiry with visible thinking routines deepen students’ connections between lessons?

The phrasing is deliberate. It acknowledges that inquiry can’t just be left open-ended; it needs structure, otherwise students may drift or feel lost. At the same time, it pushes us to consider how those structures—the scaffolds—either help or hinder the connections students make.

For me, this has meant leaning more heavily into Harvard Project Zero Thinking Routines. I’ve used them before, but this year I’m making a conscious effort to bring them to the forefront of my teaching. They’re deceptively simple tools, but they offer consistent ways of helping students surface their thinking, reflect on their learning, and make visible what might otherwise remain hidden.

First Steps: Connect – Extend – Challenge

The first routine I’ve trialled is Connect – Extend – Challenge.

At its heart, the routine has three prompts:

• Connect: How does this new idea connect to what you already know?

• Extend: How does it extend your thinking in new directions?

• Challenge: What puzzles or questions does it raise for you?

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Putting It Into Practice: Dystopian Worlds

I brought this routine into a Grade 9 English unit on dystopian fiction. The unit is designed to explore the recurring themes and characteristics of dystopian worlds, and at this stage we were focusing on the idea that citizens are under constant surveillance.

Some students were grasping this well, but others were struggling to move beyond surface-level examples from the texts. They could spot the dystopian trope, but they hadn’t yet internalised what it really meant, or why it mattered.

So I decided to create a hook that would bridge the gap between fiction and reality. The lesson centred on a passage from Fahrenheit 451—the section introducing the Mechanical Hound. This eerie, programmed creature embodies the theme of surveillance and control in Bradbury’s novel. To make the parallels more vivid, I paired the reading with a short clip and news image about contemporary surveillance systems, including China’s social credit system and everyday CCTV tracking.

The Warmer: Connect – Extend – Challenge

Before diving into the reading, I asked students to complete the Connect – Extend – Challenge routine in response to the real-world examples. I played this video from youtube and got them to jot down some ideas using this template.

• Connect: Students quickly linked the surveillance clip to things they already knew—apps that track locations, cameras in shops, even their own school’s use of ID cards. A few drew connections to games and films they’d seen. They also connected to elements that appeared in the book.

• Extend: Once they began reading about the Mechanical Hound, they started noticing how fiction extended their thinking. “It’s like CCTV but scarier because it doesn’t forget,” one student remarked. Another suggested it extended the idea of control: if a machine can track you relentlessly, you can never escape.

• Challenge: This is where the richest discussion emerged. Some students asked whether surveillance is always a bad thing. “If it’s there to protect us, why should we worry?” one argued. Others pushed back, raising the tension between safety and freedom.

Even though I only used the routine in the warmer, its ripple effects were felt across the whole lesson.

Deepening the Lesson

From there, the lesson unfolded in stages:

• Mini-reading & annotation: Students highlighted what made the Hound frightening and how Bradbury communicated surveillance.

• Group inquiry: They compared the Hound to the modern surveillance example, filling a T-chart with “How surveillance works” and “Impact on people.”

• Discussion: We moved into a spiderweb discussion around the debatable question: Does surveillance make society safer or more dangerous?

• Exit ticket: Students ended by writing one similarity or difference between Fahrenheit 451 and today’s surveillance.

The earlier Connect – Extend – Challenge routine had set them up beautifully. They weren’t just reading Bradbury’s description; they were making conceptual links, challenging each other, and carrying insights across tasks.

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Reflections on Impact

What struck me most was how quickly the routine raised the level of discourse. By starting with personal connections, students who might normally stay quiet had something to say. The extension step gave others a chance to build on the fiction with more abstract ideas. And the challenge step ensured we didn’t just stop at agreement but leaned into debate.

Even though I only used the routine in the warmer, it gave depth and energy to the rest of the lesson. Students referred back to their “challenge” questions during the discussion, and some even echoed them in their exit tickets. It was a vivid reminder that a short, well-structured routine at the beginning can shape the entire inquiry.

Looking Ahead

This experience has reinforced for me how vital scaffolding is in inquiry-driven classrooms. Inquiry doesn’t mean leaving students to figure everything out alone. It means giving them the structures and routines that allow their thinking to deepen, their voices to surface, and their learning to connect across lessons.

As I continue with this triad cycle, I’ll be documenting other thinking routines—See, Think, Wonder, Claim, Support, Question, and more—and reflecting on how they play out in different contexts. My aim is not just to try them, but to ask: What difference do they make to student outcomes?

Moving to Germany has given me a fresh start in many ways. Settling into a new country and a new school can be overwhelming, but it has also provided me with the motivation to refine my practice, take risks, and embrace inquiry more fully.

If my first steps with Connect – Extend – Challenge are anything to go by, this year promises to be an exciting journey of both teaching and learning.

Support and Stay Connected

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At the end of every school year, something small always catches me by surprise. It’s rarely part of the curriculum or a major assessment. More often, it’s a conversation in the corridor, a student lingering after class, or a handwritten note left quietly on the desk.

This week marked my final days at the school I’ve called home for the past four years. Like many educators, I’ve come to realise that leaving a school is never just a logistical transition. Over time, we build far more than units and lesson plans. We build relationships, establish routines, and settle into a rhythm that becomes part of who we are.

What stays with me most are those relationships. The students who stop by quietly to say thank you, often unsure how to say it but wanting to say it all the same. The cards tucked into your bag at the end of the day, filled with scribbled reflections or inside jokes from lessons you forgot they even remembered. Some write just a line or two. Others hand over longer letters that stop you in your tracks, where they’ve taken time to explain what the class meant to them, or how something you said changed the way they thought about themselves, or the world.

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Sometimes it’s the students you least expect — the quiet ones at the back, or the ones who never quite seemed fully engaged — who surprise you the most with their honesty. When they tell you they’ll miss you, or that something about the class stayed with them, it lands differently. It reminds you that even when students don’t show it outwardly, they’re taking things in. They’re learning. They’re being shaped.

It’s these small moments that remind me of the real work of teaching. Not the outcomes we log or the objectives we map, but how we show up. How we listen. How we respond to students not just as learners, but as people. And when they take a moment to acknowledge that, in their own quiet or expressive way, it makes the long hours and invisible effort feel entirely worth it.

After four years at this school, and thirteen years living and teaching in China, I’ve been reflecting more deeply on what lingers. We pour time and energy into preparing lessons, redesigning units, and crafting feedback. That work is important. It shapes learning. But when students look back, they tend to remember something else: how they felt. Whether they felt seen. Whether they felt challenged in a way that was safe, supported, and real.

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We spend a lot of time in education talking about innovation, rigour, and measurable impact. And those things matter. But at the heart of every meaningful learning experience is something far more fundamental: relationship.

Not performative positivity, and not classroom management disguised as rapport, but genuine, earned connection. The kind that invites students to trust you, question you, laugh with you, and take risks in front of you. The kind that helps students feel known.

If I’ve learned anything in the past decade, it’s that learning doesn’t happen in isolation. It needs trust. And trust is built through consistency, care, and curiosity. Not just routines and expectations, but a willingness to show up, human to human.

As I prepare to begin a new chapter in a new country, this is what I’m carrying with me. I’m thinking about how to keep those relationships at the core of everything I do. How to continue creating classrooms where students can take intellectual and emotional risks. How to stay grounded in the work that matters, even while exploring new methods or contexts.

There’s always more to learn, more to build, and more to refine.

There’s no such thing as a perfect teacher, only one who keeps striving to perfect their craft.

And what drives that growth, more than anything, is a commitment to the students in front of us. Because learning thrives when they feel they are being taught by someone who truly sees them, believes in them, and is willing to walk beside them.

Leaving is rarely easy. There is much I’ll miss. But I leave with a sense of clarity and renewed purpose, and with the voices of students echoing in my mind, reminding me again and again that teaching is never just about content. It’s about connection.

To everyone I’ve taught, worked with, and learned from in China: thank you. You’ve shaped the educator and person I’ve become.

And to those I’ll meet next, I can’t wait to see what we create together.

🌍 Looking Ahead

I’ll be quieter over the summer as I prepare to relocate and settle into life in a new country (to be revealed soon). I’ll still be teaching within the IB curriculum and look forward to sharing more once the summer draws to a close.

To all my fellow educators reading this: congratulations on the work you’ve done, the care you’ve shown, and the impact you’ve made this year. Rest well. You’ve earned it.

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In some classrooms, vocabulary is still approached passively—highlighted in a reading, briefly explained, and then set aside. However, both research and classroom experience suggest this approach is insufficient. Vocabulary acquisition requires deliberate, repeated, and contextualised engagement. For English language learners, in particular, developing a broad and usable vocabulary is essential not only for academic achievement but also for confident, meaningful communication across settings.

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The Role of Vocabulary in Language Learning

Vocabulary underpins every aspect of language development. Without sufficient word knowledge, learners struggle to comprehend texts, follow classroom discussions, express themselves in writing, and participate fully in conversation. In fact, vocabulary size is frequently identified as one of the strongest predictors of reading comprehension and overall academic success (Clenton & Fraser, 2021).

The Bell Foundation describes vocabulary as “a key predictor of success” and notes that students with a limited working vocabulary are at greater risk of falling behind, particularly as curriculum content becomes more abstract and subject-specific.

Importantly, effective vocabulary acquisition involves more than memorisation. Learners need multiple, meaningful exposures to words across different contexts. Repetition, usage, and personal relevance are critical factors in helping students internalise new language.

The Value of Personal Word Banks

One highly effective yet low-cost strategy is the use of a personal word bank. This may take the form of a vocabulary notebook, a shared digital document, a voice note collection, or an app. The key idea is to support students in actively recording and organising the words they encounter.

Personal word banks offer several advantages:

• Active engagement: Students make choices about which words are important to them and how to record them.

• Deeper processing: Writing definitions, example sentences, or drawing visuals enhances understanding.

• Ownership: The word bank becomes a learner-driven resource rather than a teacher-imposed list.

• Metacognition: Learners become more aware of their language development and areas requiring further review.

The Bell Foundation recommends that students include definitions, example sentences, subject-specific contexts, and bilingual equivalents where useful. This method encourages learners to make connections between vocabulary, classroom content, and real-world use.

Download Free Word Bank Resource

This is an easy way for students to store newly acquired vocabulary. Simply print these off and keep them available in your classroom at all times.

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Tools and Routines That Support Vocabulary Growth

To be effective, vocabulary strategies need to be embedded into classroom routines and supported consistently. A few recommended approaches include:

• Weekly review activities: Ask students to select words from their word banks and use them in a short paragraph, dialogue, or creative piece.

• Quizlet: Encourage students to create their own digital flashcard sets, or develop shared class decks. The built-in games and revision tools support regular retrieval practice.

• Collaborative Padlets: Use shared boards for students to post new words, “Word of the Week” entries, or examples of vocabulary in use.

• Word of the Week: Highlight a high-utility or subject-specific word in class, explore its meaning and usage together, and challenge students to apply it in different contexts.

• Word Walls: Maintain a physical or digital display of current vocabulary. Group words by topic or function and update them regularly with student contributions.

• Cross-curricular reinforcement: Encourage teachers across subjects to prompt students to refer to and update their personal word banks when encountering key terms.

When these tools and strategies are used consistently, vocabulary learning becomes more visible, purposeful, and engaging for learners.

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Final Reflections

Vocabulary acquisition plays a critical role in the academic and communicative development of English language learners. While apps and lists can be useful, it is the structured, active, and personalised work of building a vocabulary bank that often has the most lasting impact. Supporting students to take ownership of their language development in this way builds confidence, promotes metacognitive awareness, and lays the foundation for long-term success.

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📚 Further Reading

• Bell Foundation. (n.d.). Building Vocabulary: Great Ideas. Retrieved from: https://www.bell-foundation.org.uk/resources/great-ideas/building-vocabulary/

• Clenton, J., & Fraser, S. (2021). The Role of Vocabulary in EAL Reading Comprehension. ERIC.

• Conti, G. (2025). What Really Matters in Vocabulary Acquisition? A Ranked Analysis of Key Influencing Factors.

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As the school year winds down, my English language and literature students are deep in their free inquiry projects—a space where they take ownership of their learning, choose the questions they want to explore, and decide how best to communicate their findings. To support their inquiry, each week I spotlight one or two ATL skills and I design a fun, low-stakes learning experience that allows students to practice these skills in a focused way before applying them to their free inquiry projects. Most recently, we zoomed in on communication, and what better way to explore its nuances than through a playful but surprisingly powerful lesson: Emoji Storytelling.

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Why This Lesson?

This activity wasn’t just about decoding smiley faces and pizza slices. It was about recognising that communication is layered, complex, and often richer when we combine different media. In the context of the ATL skill ‘use a variety of media to communicate with a range of audiences.’ I challenged students to retell a short story using only emojis—then reflect on the experience. To deepen their thinking, I asked questions like: What was the most difficult part of translating a story into emojis? What did your version communicate most clearly—and what might have been misunderstood? How did using visuals instead of words change the way you thought about tone, theme, or character? These questions encouraged students to think critically about their creative choices and consider how audience interpretation plays a vital role in effective communication.

This exercise reminded us as a class, that meaning isn’t only made with words. Images, symbols, structure, tone, and even silence all contribute to how we express understanding. By removing words and working within a shared visual language, students had to be both precise and imaginative in how they translated plot, character, and theme.

The Lesson in Action

We began with a warm-up Kahoot! quiz (link at the end of this article) centred around guessing famous book titles using only emojis. No instructions, no context—just a screen full of symbols. Titles like The Hunger Games (🍞🏹🔥), Harry Potter (⚡🧙‍♂️🏰), and Charlotte’s Web (🕷️🐖📖) appeared on screen, and students had to guess the book being referenced. This immediately sparked curiosity, laughter, and a flurry of whispered guesses. The absence of explanation was intentional, it provoked wonder, and subtly set the tone for the lesson to come: Can meaning really be made with symbols alone?

From there, students read a 100–250 word short story in pairs or small groups. Their task: summarise the key events, tone, and themes using only emojis. This wasn’t as straightforward as it seemed. Emojis are ambiguous, and consensus wasn’t always easy to reach. Was 💔 too obvious? Did 🌪️ convey both chaos and change? These discussions deepened their engagement and pushed them to think about the precision of language, visual or otherwise.

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Instead of traditional presentations, we created a class Padlet. Each group posted their emoji story, and students (in groups) were invited to respond to other groups’ emoji sequences by guessing the story and explaining their interpretations. This approach offered multiple advantages: it gave all students a voice (especially those who are shy or still developing language skills), created an instant gallery of peer work, and shifted the focus from performance to interpretation.

The final phase was perhaps the richest: each group read the responses to their emoji sequence and discussed whether their intended meaning had been understood. If someone guessed incorrectly or misunderstood a key moment, groups debated why! Was it a confusing emoji? Was something vital missing? These moments of miscommunication were not failures; they were opportunities for reflective learning.

What Students Learned

In their reflections, many students were surprised by how much they assume when reading or writing. One group noted that using only emojis forced them to “get to the point” and strip away unnecessary details. Another group realised that what seemed obvious to them was interpreted completely differently by others. This sparked rich discussions about audience awareness, intended meaning, and the importance of clarity when using visual or symbolic forms of communication.

To close the loop, we used a few key reflection questions:

• What did you learn about communication today?

• Was anything lost—or gained—by translating the story into emoji?

• How else could you use different forms of media to communicate your ideas more clearly?

The biggest takeaway? Multimodal communication isn’t a distraction from academic rigour, it’s a bridge to deeper understanding. In an inquiry-driven classroom, where students synthesise knowledge across disciplines, the ability to communicate clearly, creatively, and thoughtfully is essential. When students experiment with new modes of expression—whether it’s visuals, data, movement, or sound—they begin to see their learning in new ways and consider how best to share that learning with others.

💬 Final Thoughts

As educators, we’re always looking for ways to help students see their own thinking. Emoji storytelling did just that. It also created space for laughter, curiosity, and connection, things we all need more of, especially at the end of a busy academic year.

If you’re guiding students through inquiry, consider building in space to pause and practise specific ATL skills in playful, purposeful ways. These short, focused experiences offer students the tools they need to express their learning with depth and creativity.

Which ATL skill are you focusing on with your students this week? I’d love to hear what you're trying in your classroom.

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Free Resources

Download the simplified lesson plan here

Access to the kahoot warmer activity (also in the simplified lesson plan)

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One of the most common questions I hear from English educators is this:

“How do I bring inquiry into grammar instruction?”

It’s a fair question. Grammar—unlike theme or character or big ideas—is often taught through rules, drills, corrections, and repetition. While those elements have value, they don’t always invite students to think about grammar. More often, they’re asked to memorise it.

A few years ago, one of my students—let’s call her Sara—was stuck. No matter how many times we reviewed sentence structure or revised her writing, she couldn’t seem to apply what she’d learned about run-on sentences. The rules blurred together, the worksheets felt disconnected, and the feedback just wasn’t landing. She began to doubt her ability, and her confidence in writing started to dip.

So, I tried something different.

Instead of explaining the rule again, I asked her to choose the one grammar concept that frustrated her most and turn it into a question: Why do my sentences keep running on, and how do I fix them?

Then I gave her time and tools: a research log, access to grammar websites, and even permission to ask ChatGPT for help. She explored definitions, examples, and common errors. She discovered that she often used too many conjunctions, or none at all. She designed a simple visual chart to explain what a complete sentence looks like. Then, as part of a class activity, she taught a mini-lesson to a classmate using the chart she had made.

By the end of this process, something had changed—not just in her writing, but in her approach. She had gone from passive recipient to active investigator. She felt proud. She understood the rule not because I told her, but because she discovered it. A few weeks later, she repeated the process with comma splices—entirely on her own.

That experience reminded me: grammar doesn’t have to be a chore for both teachers or students. It can be an inquiry.

That’s exactly the idea behind The Grammar Expedition — a new, free mini-unit designed to help students investigate grammar through structured, inquiry-based learning.

What Is the Grammar Expedition?

The Grammar Expedition is a student-led project that allows learners to:

• Reflect on their own writing

• Identify a grammar rule they want to understand

• Turn that into an inquiry question

• Research and make sense of the rule using appropriate tools

• Teach the rule to their peers through a short lesson

• Reflect on what they’ve learned and how it helps their writing

It’s simple, purposeful, and empowering—and it treats grammar as something worth thinking deeply about.

Why Use Inquiry for Grammar?

We often associate inquiry with big ideas in literature or global issues in language acquisition. But inquiry isn’t about the topic—it’s about the approach.

Using inquiry with grammar can:

• Help students build metalinguistic awareness

• Connect grammar to real writing needs

• Encourage more ownership and motivation

• Promote better retention through research and peer teaching

• Foster ATL skills like research, organisation, and communication

Instead of asking students to memorise a rule, we’re asking them to explore a challenge—to question, discover, and explain. That’s real learning.

The Four-Part Framework

The Grammar Expedition follows my Expedition into Inquiry model, which maps student learning across four clear stages:

• 🧭 NORTH — Navigate: Students define grammar in their own words and identify where they struggle.

• 🌐 EAST — Explore: They research the grammar rule using sources like Grammarly, YouTube, Cambridge Dictionary, or even ChatGPT.

• 🔄 SOUTH — Synthesise: Students create a visual explanation and a 5-10-minute “flash teaching” activity.

• 🪢 WEST — Weave: They reflect on their learning and explain how it will support future writing tasks.

It’s structured, student-led, and easy to adapt for different age groups and ability levels.

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What You Get (Free)

• A fully designed student project booklet

• Grammar research log and note-taking templates

• Peer teaching activity planner

• Final reflection prompts

• Space for ATL skill development and metacognition

• Editable format for adapting to your context

This is ideal for:

• MYP Language & Literature / Language Acquisition

• DP English B

• IGCSE or upper KS3 grammar support

• Writers’ workshop extension tasks

• Independent or small group grammar interventions

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📥 Click here to download The Grammar Expedition Workbook.

It's completely free to use and adapt.

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Support and Stay Connected

Although I create and share these resources freely, there are ways to support if you find value in them:

• 👉 Take out a paid subscription on Substack to support future work

• 🤝 Share this post with colleagues and teaching communities

• 📲 Tag me on Instagram @fletchucation or visit mtfletcher.com

• 🗣️ Let me know how you’re using it in your classroom—I’d love to hear from you
  

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As the academic year winds down, it’s tempting to shift straight into holiday mode. After all, there are grades to finalise, classroom walls to clear, and students to farewell. But before we rush ahead, there’s an essential habit worth carving out time for: reflection.

Reflection—both for teachers and students—isn’t an optional extra. It’s a habit that drives meaningful learning, sustainable teaching, and stronger outcomes year after year. In inquiry-based classrooms especially, reflection helps us anchor growth, recognise patterns, and make more informed decisions for the future.

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Why Reflect?

• To identify what worked
  Not every lesson lands. Reflection helps us pinpoint which strategies engaged students and why.

• To improve future planning
  Lessons learned now can shape better scaffolding, sequencing, and pacing next time around.

• To model metacognition
  When educators reflect aloud and ask students to do the same, it fosters a growth mindset culture.

• To acknowledge growth
  Looking back reveals just how far students—and we—have come. That deserves recognition.

Below are two practical tools you can implement right away: one for teacher reflection, and one for student reflection in the final days of class.

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Tool 1: Teacher Reflection Snapshot

Use this quick template after teaching a unit or at the end of the year to capture key insights. Simply copy and paste this into google docs or a word processor of your choosing.

1. What went well?

• Which lessons or activities were most engaging?

• Did assessments accurately reflect learning?

• What routines or strategies supported success?

2. What were the challenges?

• Where did students struggle, and why?

• What didn’t go to plan?

• Were there classroom management issues?

3. What surprised me?

• Any unexpected student responses or ideas?

• Changes in engagement I didn’t anticipate?

4. What will I do differently next time?

• Pacing, scaffolding, or differentiation?

• Sequence of content or assessment design?

5. What evidence supports this reflection?

• Samples of student work

• Assessment results

• Observational notes

• Feedback from students

Tip: Keep these notes organised by unit in your planning files to revisit before next year.

Tool 2: Student End-of-Year Reflection Prompts

Invite students to reflect on their own learning journey with these short but powerful prompts.

You can adapt them by year level or subject, or turn them into written journals, slide presentations, or audio recordings.

1. One thing I’m proud of this year is...
2. A challenge I overcame was...
3. The most interesting thing I learned was...
4. Something I would do differently next time is...
5. One goal I have for next year is...
6. A classmate or teacher who helped me this year was...
7. I want my next teacher to know that I...

Encourage students to keep a copy of their reflections to revisit at the start of the next year—it’s a great way to anchor continuity in learning.

Reflection as an Ongoing Practice

Reflection doesn’t need to be lengthy or polished. It simply needs to be honest, intentional, and captured somewhere. Whether it’s scribbled in a notebook or formalised in a shared drive, those small moments of review can translate into meaningful growth—for educators and for learners.

As we close one chapter and look ahead to the next, let’s make time to pause, process, and prepare. The best classrooms aren’t perfect—they’re reflective.

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As the academic year winds down, I often find myself asking: What will students remember? Not just which texts we studied or which essays they submitted, but what questions stayed with them. What did they truly connect with?

This year, I want to end differently. I don’t want to review for the sake of it, or squeeze in a mini-unit no one would remember. I want to give students the chance to look back on everything they’ve learned and use it to follow a passion. Something they were curious about. Something theirs.

That’s how the Free Inquiry Project was born — a short, purposeful unit rooted in reflection, creativity, and student voice. It invites learners to draw on all their thinking from the year and channel it into an inquiry of their own making. Literature, film, genre, theme, technique — all of it is fair game.

A Shift in My Teaching

Earlier this year, during a unit on The Giver, a student asked, “Why do some authors leave the ending open, while others tie everything up?” It wasn’t part of the lesson. But it was the kind of question we hope students will ask — the kind that reveals genuine engagement.

That moment reminded me how powerful it is when students feel ownership over their thinking. So I set out to build a structure that could support that kind of autonomy, without leaving them adrift.

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My Expedition into Inquiry Model

For those of you who read my posts or have followed my work, you’ll know that I often use the Expedition into Inquiry framework. I’m still developing the book that outlines this method of inquiry-based learning, but I hope this mini-unit offers a clearer insight into how it can be used meaningfully in the classroom.

The Free Inquiry Project is structured around a four-stage framework I developed: Expedition into Inquiry. Each stage aligns with a direction — a metaphorical compass to guide the process. Although the following outlines the project to be used for an English literature class, the content can totally be changed for any subject.
Feel free to download the images and use them in your classrooms:

Navigate (North)

Students begin by identifying an idea, theme, character, or technique that truly interests them. Through brainstorming routines like I See / I Think / I Wonder and Question Starts, they craft a rich, open-ended inquiry question. The only rule? It must matter to them.

Explore (East)

Here, students dive into research and discovery. They rewatch scenes, reread passages, dig into reviews, compare texts, listen to podcasts, annotate — anything that helps them investigate their question from different angles. One student compared coming-of-age themes in Spirited Away and Catcher in the Rye; another explored how silence builds tension in horror films.

Synthesise (South)

Students begin connecting the dots. They group ideas, sketch mind maps, build outlines, draft claims, and start forming their interpretations. This stage is all about making meaning from the mess — finding patterns, shifts, contradictions, and insights.

Weave (West)

Finally, they create something. A podcast. A video essay. A storyboard. A performance. An article. A digital gallery. The format is up to them, as long as it clearly communicates their inquiry and thinking. They also reflect on their journey — what surprised them, challenged them, changed them.

A Class Full of Explorers

The first time I ran this unit, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But within a few days, my classroom transformed. Students were moving with purpose, each pursuing a different inquiry. One was storyboarding a modern adaptation of Macbeth. Another was analysing the villain arc in Marvel films. Another built a visual essay on the role of memory in dystopian fiction.

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The work wasn’t just good — it was authentic. It reflected who they were as learners, thinkers, and individuals. And when the projects were shared — through a mini exhibition and presentation day — their pride was clear. This was work that belonged to them.

🧰 Two Free Resources to Help You Launch It

To help you try this in your own classroom, I’ve created two free, easy-to-use resources:

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🧭 1. The Expedition Portal

A digital guide for students and teachers that walks through each stage of the inquiry. It includes templates, reflection prompts, thinking routines, and examples — all clearly organised for independent or supported use.

🎒 2. A Kick-Off Presentation

A ready-to-go Google Slides deck to introduce the project to your class. It sets expectations, outlines the journey, offers sample questions and product ideas, and sparks early thinking.

💡 Why Try It Now?

This isn’t a filler project or an afterthought. It’s a summative celebration — of skills, voice, growth, and independence. It’s an opportunity for students to show what they’ve learned in a format that suits them, on a topic that excites them, in a structure that supports them.

And at this point in the year, that’s exactly the kind of learning that sticks.

Let’s end the year not just with grades and reviews — but with questions, creativity, and voices that deserve to be heard.

📬 Want to Use It?

If you’d like access to the Expedition Portal and Kick-Off Presentation, just use the links above. I don’t charge for posts on my substack page, but I do offer subscriptions where you can get a free copy of my book. If you have found the content useful, you can help me out by taking out a paid subscription. If not, no worries, just share where you got these freebies from.

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Let me know how your students enjoy this mini-unit in the comments below. It would be great to hear how you got on!

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Last week, I had the privilege of accompanying our Year 11 and 12 students on a service learning trip to one of China’s most remote and culturally rich communities: Huanggang Dong Village, located in the misty mountains of Guizhou Province.

This wasn’t just an educational trip. It was an invitation into a way of life—rooted in tradition, community, and harmony with nature. Over the course of our visit, we worked side by side with locals, helped build a sustainable rice-fish-duck pond, and engaged in cultural exchange through music, stories, and play. It was one of those experiences that transforms not only how you see the world, but how you see education itself.

Huanggang Dong Village: A Living Heritage

Huanggang Dong Village lies southeast of Shuangjiang Town, in Liping County, Guizhou, nestled within the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture. First established during the Song Dynasty, the village has thrived for more than 800 years and is now home to over 1,800 people. Its isolation has helped preserve a way of life that feels almost untouched by time.

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The village is built entirely from wood. Five magnificent drum towers—each representing a different clan—anchor the community. Surrounding them are traditional stilt houses, wind-rain bridges with carved dragons and phoenixes, and dense forests that seem to embrace the village on all sides. A small stream winds through the village beneath the “flower bridges,” flowing gently all year round.

Most striking of all is the village’s commitment to its cultural traditions. Huanggang is known as the “Hometown of Male Voice Grand Songs of the Dong Ethnic Group.” These hauntingly beautiful polyphonic songs—now recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity—are how history, values, and wisdom are passed from generation to generation, since the Dong people have no written language. As the locals say, “Food nourishes the body, but songs nourish the soul.”

Building a Pond, Growing a Future

Our primary service activity was helping the village construct a new sustainable pond—one that would serve as a rice paddy, fish pond, and duck pond simultaneously. While it may sound simple, this kind of system is anything but basic. Known in some agricultural circles as the “Rice-Fish-Duck” model, it is a brilliant example of ecological farming. Each component plays a role: fish help fertilize the water and eat mosquito larvae, ducks provide natural pest control and contribute additional nutrients through their droppings, and rice benefits from the enriched, aerated soil.

The Dong people have used such sustainable practices for generations, and being part of the process offered our students an embodied understanding of systems thinking, environmental science, and agricultural sustainability.

But more than that—it helped them experience agency. They weren’t just learning about solutions in a textbook. They were literally digging them out of the earth with their own hands.

Singing, Smiling, Sharing: Human Connection Through Culture

he learning continued well beyond the pond. We visited the village school, where our students shared songs and games with Dong children. There was laughter, curiosity, and the kind of play that requires no common language—just joy.

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Later, we met with elders from each clan, exchanging stories and songs from our cultures. Our students were deeply moved by the Grand Songs, performed in harmonious layers, filling the wooden halls of the drum tower. These weren’t just songs—they were living history.

We came away from those exchanges reminded of the three treasures of Dong culture:

1. The Drum Tower – a symbol of unity and strength within clans

2. The Wind and Rain Bridge – a literal and symbolic shelter for community

3. The Dong Chorus – the voice of a people without a written language, carried across time

What Service Learning Really Teaches

Service learning, when done right, does far more than tick a box for curriculum requirements or community hours. It builds empathy. It transfers concepts from the classroom into real-world, tangible experiences. It teaches resilience, initiative, and collaborative problem-solving.

Cathryn Berger Kaye’s The Complete Guide to Service Learning has been instrumental in shaping how I design these experiences. She outlines a five-stage process—Investigation, Preparation, Action, Reflection, and Demonstration—that helps educators ensure that service learning is structured, meaningful, and transformative. During our trip, each of these elements came to life:

• Investigation: Students explored the challenges of rural agricultural life and the importance of sustainable practices.

• Preparation: They researched traditional farming systems, learned about Dong culture, and planned their contributions accordingly.

• Action: They worked shoulder-to-shoulder with local villagers to build the pond and prepare the area.

• Reflection: Through journaling, discussions, and debriefs, students made connections between the experience and their academic learning.

• Demonstration: They are now preparing presentations to share their insights with the wider school community—ensuring the learning ripples outward.

What Berger reminds us is that good service learning doesn’t just benefit the community—it develops student capacities in lasting ways. She writes:

“Service learning combines academic content with empathy and active participation. It invites young people to become thoughtful contributors to the world they live in.”

More Than a Trip: A Turning Point

As educators, we often talk about “21st-century skills”—collaboration, critical thinking, intercultural understanding—but these are not always easy to teach in a classroom. On this trip, our students lived them.

They navigated cultural differences, adapted to new environments, took initiative, asked thoughtful questions, and demonstrated compassion. More than anything, they learned that the world is complex—but that small, sustained contributions do make a difference.

This trip has reaffirmed my belief in the power of service learning. It’s not an add-on. It’s not a bonus. It is an essential part of helping students become the kind of people our world so urgently needs—curious, humble, capable, and kind.

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Further Reading & References

1. Kaye, Cathryn Berger. The Complete Guide to Service Learning: Proven, Practical Ways to Engage Students in Civic Responsibility, Academic Curriculum, and Social Action. Free Spirit Publishing, 2010.

2. Rice-Fish-Duck Symbiosis System – WINS Solutions.

https://www.winssolutions.org/rice-fish-duck-symbiosis-system

• An overview of how this traditional integrated farming method supports sustainable agriculture and biodiversity.

3. Facts and Details: Dong People in China.

https://factsanddetails.com/china/cat5/sub30/entry-8461.html

• Useful background on the culture, lifestyle, and customs of the Dong ethnic minority.

4. China Exploration – Dong Festivals and Folklore.

https://www.chinaexploration.com/ChineseCulture/Festival-and-folklore/dong-people-folklore-in-guizhou.html

• A deeper dive into the festivals, beliefs, and oral traditions of the Dong community.

What have been some of your favorite service learning trips? I’d love to hear how it changed both you and your students’ perspectives.

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At the heart of every great inquiry-based classroom lies the essential skill of navigating—the first cardinal point in our journey toward deep, student-driven learning. This stage isn’t just about beginning; it’s about setting a course, charting the unknown, and establishing a culture where curiosity and wonder thrive.

Navigating is more than an introduction—it’s a deliberate practice in maneuvering through ideas, making sense of diverse materials, and fostering an environment where students feel empowered to explore. Establishing effective routines from the outset ensures that inquiry is not just a method but a mindset, woven into the fabric of the learning experience.

In this article, we’ll explore key strategies and tools to support students as they embark on their learning journeys. From sparking initial curiosity to guiding question generation, this stage is about laying the foundation for meaningful exploration. I’ll share practical resources—question generation templates, curiosity journals, and structured activities—that help students develop habits of inquiry, making their learning visible and dynamic.

By refining how we navigate these early stages, we set the tone for inquiry that is both purposeful and student-driven. Consider this your starting point in the Inquiry Compass, a framework that will unfold over a series of explorations into the core elements of inquiry-based learning.

Charting the Course: Navigating Inquiry-Based Learning

In the vibrant landscape of inquiry-based education, the Navigating stage serves as a crucial starting point—the moment when curiosity takes the lead and students embark on their journey of discovery. This phase isn’t just about beginning; it’s about setting an intentional course, fostering a sense of wonder, and equipping learners with the tools they need to explore meaningfully.

At the core of Navigating is the ability to spark curiosity. This is the moment when doors open, pathways emerge, and questions begin to form. It’s where learners’ inquiries take shape—guided by their interests, teacher-led provocations, and early explorations of a topic. The formulation of these initial questions is a defining step, shaping the entire inquiry process and influencing research, critical thinking, and deeper understanding.

But Navigating isn’t just about setting out—it’s about setting out with intention. A successful inquiry doesn’t happen by chance; it requires a thoughtful structure that allows for flexibility, exploration, and discovery. As educators, our role is to create an environment where curiosity thrives and inquiry is nurtured from the outset.

Provocations: Igniting Inquiry Through Engagement

One of the most powerful tools for fostering curiosity is the use of provocations—thought-provoking experiences that stimulate discussion, inspire questions, and challenge students to think deeply. Among the many forms of provocations, media blasts stand out as an especially engaging way to immerse students in an idea and spark meaningful inquiry.

I was first introduced to the concept of a media blast in 2012, when a colleague suggested using short, engaging media snippets to provide English language learners with a common ground for discussion. This simple but powerful strategy has since become a staple in my teaching practice, now widely recognized as an effective method for launching inquiry in a dynamic and interactive way.

Provocations aren’t just about engaging students—they create entry points into inquiry. By exposing students to compelling images, film clips, artifacts, or scenarios, we invite them to observe, analyze, and question in ways that deepen their understanding. These experiences lay the groundwork for more profound exploration and encourage students to see, think, and wonder about the world around them.

Using “See, Think, Wonder” to Deepen Inquiry

A structured approach to engaging with provocations can significantly enhance students’ learning experiences. One effective method is from the Harvard Thinking Routines, See, Think, Wonder, a simple yet powerful tool that helps students break down their observations and develop critical inquiry skills.

• See: Students begin by observing a selected media clip, image, or artifact, noting key details and describing what they notice.

• Think: They reflect on the significance of what they see, discussing possible meanings, interpretations, and connections.

• Wonder: Finally, they articulate their questions, speculating on deeper themes and broader implications.

By incorporating See, Think, Wonder into classroom discussions, we provide students with a structured yet open-ended way to engage with inquiry. A downloadable worksheet can help guide students through this process, ensuring they take full advantage of their observations.

Download the worksheet here.

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Real-World Applications of Provocations

I’ve used media blasts and other provocations across a range of topics, from natural disasters to historical periods, each time witnessing the transformative power of these experiences.

Example 1: Exploring Natural Disasters

During a unit on humanitarian responses to natural disasters, I introduced my students to the opening scene of the 90s film Twister. As the tornado roared across the screen, my students sat captivated—absorbing the chaos, the destruction, and the human reaction to disaster.
We then applied See, Think, Wonder, leading students to reflect on the real-world implications of extreme weather events and the role of emergency responders. The experience sparked a flood of questions, shaping their inquiries into how different communities prepare for and recover from disasters.

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Example 2: Stepping Into the 80s

In another instance, I designed a time-travelling provocation for my advanced English students exploring cultural shifts in the 1980s. The classroom transformed into a time capsule—filled with cassette tapes, classic video games, 80s movie posters, and vintage books.
Students stepped into the era and explored its cultural artifacts, using structured worksheets to make connections between the decade’s media, social movements, and literature. The experience didn’t just inform—it immersed them, making history tangible and inquiry more meaningful.

Choosing Effective Provocations

Selecting the right provocation can make or break the early stages of an inquiry. When designing these experiences, I ask myself the following guiding questions:

✅ What artefact, image, or media will spark curiosity?
✅ How does it connect to the concept we’re exploring?
✅ What unexpected elements might surprise or challenge students?
✅ How can I guide them toward deeper analysis and discussion?
✅ How can I connect this to real-world contexts to make learning more meaningful?

If you’re looking for a structured approach to choosing provocations, I’ve put together a provocation selection worksheet to help refine the process.

Download the worksheet here.

Final Thoughts: The Power of Inquiry Begins with Curiosity

Whether through media blasts, artefacts, or immersive classroom transformations, Navigating is about setting the right conditions for deep and meaningful inquiry. It’s the moment when curiosity takes hold and students begin forging their own paths of exploration.

This is just the beginning of our the Expedition into Inquiry series—where we explore each stage of the inquiry journey in depth. In the next installment, we’ll dive into the next cardinal point, Engage, where students learn how to refine their inquiry questions and shape their research.

Stay tuned, and let’s keep the expedition into inquiry moving forward.

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What’s Next?

What are your favourite provocations to spark curiosity in the classroom?
Let’s continue the conversation—share your experiences and insights in the comments below!

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Expedition into Inquiry

Embarking on the expedition of inquiry-based learning is akin to setting off on an uncharted journey, both for educators and their students. For me, as a new inquiry teacher navigating the complexities of this dynamic pedagogy, it felt like stepping into a vast, unknown wilderness. Just as an explorer relies on their compass, map, and toolkit to traverse unfamiliar terrain, educators and students require a similar set of tools and strategies to navigate the rich landscape of inquiry learning. This analogy is not merely poetic but practical, serving as the foundation upon which this series is built.

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The concept of an expedition perfectly encapsulates the essence of inquiry-based learning. It is an adventure, a deep dive into the unknown, fueled by curiosity and a desire to discover. Just as no two expeditions are the same, each inquiry journey is unique, shaped by the interests, questions, and interactions of those who embark upon it. This series uses the elements of an expedition not only as a metaphor but also as a concrete toolkit designed to transform your classroom into an environment ripe for inquiry.

For my students and me, remembering to employ specific strategies at each stage of the inquiry process is vital, just as it is crucial for explorers to remember to use their tools at key points in their journey. This book is structured around these stages, providing a guide for educators to facilitate and participate in the inquiry process effectively. By viewing the classroom as a landscape to be explored and the learning process as an expedition, we invite a shift in perspective that can significantly enhance the educational experience.

The journey of becoming adept at inquiry-based learning, for both teacher and student, is full of challenges and discoveries. It requires patience, resilience, and a willingness to venture into the unknown. Yet, the rewards of this journey are immeasurable. It leads to a deeper understanding, heightened engagement, and an empowered classroom where learners take ownership of their educational voyage. Through the metaphor and toolkit of an expedition, this series aims to equip you with the strategies and insights needed to embark on this transformative journey, making inquiry-based learning a profound and integral part of your teaching practice.

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The Inquiry Compass: Guiding the Journey of Discovery

Crucially, one of the first tools in the kit for any expeditioner is that of a compass.
This instrument, symbolic of guidance, direction, and the ability to navigate through the unknown, serves as a perfect metaphor for the inquiry compass. Just as a physical compass provides bearings in the natural world, the inquiry compass offers direction and support as you and your students embark on your educational expeditions, ensuring you can navigate the sometimes challenging but always rewarding landscape of inquiry-based learning.

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The exploration of inquiry-based learning culminated in the innovative development of the 'inquiry compass,' a strategic tool designed to navigate the complexities inherent in the practical implementation of inquiry-based learning across diverse educational landscapes. The inquiry compass emerges as a beacon for educators, offering a navigational aid through the intricate process of integrating inquiry-based learning into their pedagogical repertoire. It seeks to demystify and streamline the approach, addressing pivotal concerns such as curriculum alignment, resource allocation, and student readiness for inquiry-based learning environments.

Each of the compass's cardinal points—North, East, South, and West—represents a crucial stage in the inquiry process, offering a structured approach to fostering a culture of curiosity and deep learning.

North is for Navigating

This cardinal point emphasizes the importance of setting the direction for inquiry, helping educators and students formulate meaningful questions that spark curiosity and drive the exploration forward.

East is for Engaging

Engagement is crucial in inquiry-based learning, and this point focuses on the active involvement of students in their learning process, through collaboration, exploration of resources, and hands-on activities.

South is for Synthesizing:

At this stage, the focus shifts to analyzing and synthesizing the information gathered, encouraging students to draw conclusions, make connections, and construct new knowledge.

West is for Weaving:

The final cardinal point emphasizes the integration of learning, where students weave together their discoveries and insights into cohesive presentations or projects, culminating in a reflective celebration of their journey.

This compass not only serves as a metaphor for the journey of inquiry but also as a practical toolkit, with each cardinal point offering specific strategies, tools, and resources to navigate the stages of inquiry-based learning.

A Vision for the Journey Ahead

In the forthcoming posts, a comprehensive exploration of the Inquiry Compass will unfold. Delving into its foundational principles, components, and operational guidelines, the objective is to equip educators with a thorough comprehension of its application and potential impact. This discourse aims to illuminate the pathways through which the Inquiry Compass can mitigate previously outlined challenges, thereby enhancing the efficacy and enjoyment of inquiry-based learning for both educators and students alike.

While this series is primarily aimed at educators seeking to enhance their pedagogical practices through inquiry-based learning, it also serves as a valuable companion for students on their learning journey. The tools, strategies, and insights shared within these posts are not only applicable in the classroom but can also empower students to take ownership of their learning and embark on their own inquiry expeditions.

Educators will find the resources within this series adaptable to various educational settings and subject areas, fostering a culture of inquiry that transcends disciplinary boundaries. Likewise, students can utilize the inquiry tools and techniques presented here to deepen their understanding, hone their critical thinking skills, and cultivate a lifelong love for learning.

As you engage with the content of this series, you will discover that the skills and mindsets cultivated through inquiry-based learning are transferrable beyond the classroom walls. Whether navigating complex challenges in their academic pursuits or exploring the world around them, the principles of inquiry empower individuals to approach problems with curiosity, creativity, and resilience.

By embracing inquiry-based learning as a collaborative endeavor between educators and students, we pave the way for transformative learning experiences that extend far beyond the confines of traditional education.

Part 1 - North is for Navigating - available next week…

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I hope this message finds you well. I wanted to take a moment to apologize for the lack of updates recently. I’ve taken some time off to recalibrate, reflect, and set goals for the year ahead. The good news is, I’m back and ready to post regularly again starting next week!

In the meantime, I’m thrilled to share some incredible discounts on my books to support both students and teachers as the DP exams approach:

• Kindle editions: Only £2.99 each – perfect study guides for students!

• Paperback editions:

• It’s Alwrite!: Now just £5.99

• A Book of Provocations: Volume 1: £8.99 (black & white) | £13.99 (color edition)

These discounts will run until the end of April, so it’s the perfect time to grab a copy or share with your students and colleagues.

Just search for my name, Matt Fletcher or the titles of the books to find them on your Amazon store. The books are discounted across all Amazon sites, not only the U.K.

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Your support means so much to me, and I’d greatly appreciate it if you could help spread the word. If you’ve already purchased a book, I’d love to hear your feedback! Reviews on Amazon are incredibly helpful and make a big difference—thank you in advance for leaving one if you can.

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Looking ahead, I’m excited to share how I’m staying organized for 2025, along with some free materials to help you implement the Million Word Reading Challenge in your classrooms and schools. Stay tuned for that in next week’s post!

Thank you for your continued support, and I can’t wait to reconnect with you all.

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Warm regards,

Matt

The DP English B Standard Level Oral Examination is a rite of passage for IB students, requiring a blend of linguistic skill, critical thinking, and thematic exploration. Here’s how it works: students step into the examination room and are presented with two visual stimuli. These images, carefully curated, correspond to two of the five course themes: Human Ingenuity, Social Organisation, Identities, Experiences, or Sharing the Planet. Students choose one image and then have 15 minutes to prepare up to 10 bullet points to guide their presentation.

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The exam unfolds in three distinct stages:

1. Presentation: Students speak for 3–4 minutes, describing the image and analyzing its relevance to the selected theme.

2. Stimulus Discussion: The examiner poses questions for 4–5 minutes to delve deeper into the ideas expressed in the presentation.

3. General Conversation: The focus shifts to another theme not covered in the visual stimulus, allowing students to showcase their knowledge across the course syllabus. Suggested timing here is also 4-5 minutes.

This format is both challenging and rewarding, offering students a chance to demonstrate not just their English proficiency but also their ability to think critically and make connections between themes.

A Book to Help Students Succeed

Preparing students for the Oral Examination can feel daunting, but I’ve found ways to make it engaging and effective. My book, A Book of Provocations: Volume 1, was designed with the English B Oral Examination in mind. It’s packed with high-quality visual stimuli and thought-provoking questions across all five course themes. The visuals invite analysis and discussion, helping students practice their descriptive and analytical skills in a way that mirrors the actual exam.

To give you a taste, I’ve included a sample image and accompanying questions below. Feel free to use these for your oral examination practice. You’ll also find downloadable PDFs that you can use directly in your classroom to simulate the Oral Examination experience.

For a limited time, readers of my newsletter can sign up for a paid subscription with 20% off and receive a FREE digital copy of my book ‘A Book of Provocations: Volume 1’.

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Top Tips for Preparing Students

1. Practice Time Management: Encourage students to use their 15-minute preparation time wisely. They should jot down bullet points, focusing on describing the image, linking it to the theme, and preparing potential responses to questions.

2. Foster Critical Thinking: Guide students to look beyond the surface of the image. Ask them to consider the cultural, social, or ethical dimensions of the visual stimulus. It is imperative to connect it to a target culture to get top marks.

3. Diversify Practice Stimuli: Use visuals that represent a wide range of contexts and cultures to ensure students are comfortable with diverse themes and ideas.

4. Rehearse All Sections: Don’t just practice the presentation. Simulate the discussion and general conversation segments to help students gain confidence in responding spontaneously.

5. Use Provocations: Stimuli and questions from A Book of Provocations are excellent tools for sparking meaningful discussions. By practicing with these resources, students become adept at engaging with visual and thematic material critically.

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Using Visual Stimulus from ‘A Book of Provocations’

Identities

Students and images may want to focus on these points when presenting on the visual stimulus for the English B oral examination.

Describing the Image

1. Visual elements:

   • A group of four individuals, dressed in punk-inspired clothing, sitting on steps outside a building.

   • Spiked hairstyles, leather jackets with studs, and bold accessories dominate their appearance.

   • Torn jeans, plaid patterns, and combat boots add to the edgy aesthetic.

   • Background features posters on the wall, possibly advertising music or events, emphasizing the subcultural vibe.

2. Mood and tone:

   • The atmosphere suggests rebellion, self-expression, and defiance.

   • The group appears to be posing casually, possibly indicating confidence or nonconformity.

Making Inferences

1. Lifestyle and values:

   • The attire and setting suggest the individuals are part of the punk subculture, emphasizing values like individuality, anti-establishment attitudes, and freedom of expression.

   • The attention to detail in their clothing and hairstyles may reflect a shared identity and group belonging.

2. Connection to music:

   • The posters and their style may link the group to punk rock music, known for its raw, rebellious themes and grassroots origins.

   • They might be musicians, fans, or advocates of the punk movement, which historically criticizes societal norms and consumerism.

3. Youth and defiance:

   • The setting (urban environment) and the group's appearance might indicate youthful resistance to mainstream culture, a hallmark of the punk ethos.

Connecting to Culture

1. Historical context:

   • Punk culture emerged in the 1970s in reaction to political and social tensions, particularly in the UK and the US.

   • The clothing, hairstyles, and accessories reflect anti-mainstream sentiments and a desire for self-expression in a post-industrial society.

2. Cultural significance:

   • This image represents an ongoing legacy of punk as a subculture, highlighting its evolution into fashion, art, and music.

   • The group's style could be seen as a cultural artifact, representing how younger generations critique societal norms and carve their own identity.

3. Global relevance:

   • Punk culture has transcended borders, influencing fashion and music globally while retaining its core values.

   • Students could explore how this subculture adapts in different countries, connecting it to themes like globalization or cultural appropriation.

Experiences/Human Ingenuity

Students and images may want to focus on these points when presenting on the visual stimulus for the English B oral examination.

Describing the Image

1. Visual elements:

   • A classroom filled with young students sitting at desks, looking toward the front.

   • The teacher is a humanoid robot, sleek and futuristic, with glowing blue eyes.

   • The blackboard is a digital display featuring futuristic graphics, including maps, charts, and robotic schematics.

   • The classroom is bright and modern, with large windows showcasing a clear, sunny day outside.

   • The walls are adorned with colorful student artwork and photos, adding warmth to the futuristic setting.

2. Mood and tone:

   • The scene blends a sense of curiosity and innovation with a warm and inclusive learning environment.

Making Inferences

1. Role of the robot:

   • The robot likely represents advancements in artificial intelligence and its integration into education as a teacher or assistant.

   • Its posture and gestures suggest engagement and interaction, mimicking human teaching styles.

2. Impact on education:

   • The digital blackboard and robot teacher imply a future where technology plays a central role in learning.

   • Students might be learning STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) topics or preparing for a tech-driven world.

3. Classroom dynamics:

   • The children appear attentive and engaged, suggesting a level of comfort and adaptability to technology in this context.

Connecting to Culture

1. Technological culture:

   • This image reflects a culture deeply intertwined with technological advancement, where AI and robotics are integral to daily life.

   • It suggests a future where education prioritizes tech literacy and adaptation to a rapidly changing world.

   • Could be connected to the US and Silicon Valley.

2. Globalization and inclusivity:

   • The diverse group of students indicates inclusivity and equal access to advanced educational resources worldwide.

   • The classroom setup bridges the gap between traditional schooling and futuristic innovations, making it globally relatable.

3. Ethics and innovation:

   • The image raises questions about the role of technology in shaping education and societal values.

   • It sparks a discussion on how humanity can ensure technology complements, rather than replaces, human interaction and creativity.

Exclusive Giveaway

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Let’s Connect!

How do you prepare your students for the English B Oral Examination? Have you tried using A Book of Provocations or similar resources in your teaching? I’d love to hear about your experiences, strategies, and any questions you have. Let’s collaborate to make the Oral Examination a meaningful and successful experience for all!

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