“Boredom is a choice.” My mother is a woman of few words. Considering how wise she is, the few she says are well-remembered by her children.

We learned the “boredom is a choice” lesson thoroughly very early on, and it is one of the life lessons I aspire to share with my students. Of course, she reinforced the lesson with lightning quick consequences. Should we dare to say, “I’m bored,” she “unbored” us immediately, since the beans always needed picking and the bathroom always needed scrubbing. Without the assistance of video games, we found endless pursuits to fascinate us, from tracking wildflowers to building forts to perching on a tree branch with a treasured copy of Anne of Green Gables.

Our class just completed a two week nonfiction strategy unit featuring the Iditarod sled dog race, and while the main objective was literacy skills, we also talked about the wonders surrounding us.  Knowing the details of mushing was not the point, but being “unbored” was.  The Lord has created a world full of intriguing things to learn about and has given us questioning minds full of curiosity.  Watching my students jump and clap, singing, “I did, I did, I did the Iditarod Trail!” made me smile my secret teacher smile every day these two weeks.

So stay tuned, for there is more “unboredom” to come.  Hopefully, that thought gives your brain the same zinging tingle it gives mine.