(Explosion)

（爆炸聲）

All right, all right.

沒事、沒事

So more than just explosions,

不僅出現在爆炸

chemistry is everywhere.

化學現象隨處可見

Have you ever found yourself at a restaurant spacing out

你是否曾經發現自己會在餐廳心不在焉地

just doing this over and over?

一再做這個動作？

Some people nodding yes.

有人點頭了

Recently, I showed this to my students,

最近我做了這個實驗給學生看

and I just asked them to try and explain why it happened.

請他們動手嘗試並解釋其中原因

The questions and conversations that followed

之後學生提出的問題和討論

were fascinating.

十分精彩

Check out this video that Maddie

請觀賞這部由 Maddie

from my period three class sent me that evening.

我第三堂課的學生當晚寄給我的影片

(Clang) (Laughs)

（砰）（笑聲）

Now obviously, as Maddie's chemistry teacher,

顯然，身為 Maddie 的化學老師

I love that she went home and continued to geek out

我很高興她回家後會認真練習

about this kind of ridiculous demonstration

我們在課堂上示範過的

that we did in class.

這個相當有趣的實驗

But what fascinated me more is that Maddie's curiosity

但令我更感興趣的是 Maddie 的好奇心

took her to a new level.

提升了她的視界

If you look inside that beaker,

如果你們觀察燒杯內部

you might see a candle.

會發現一根蠟燭

Maddie's using temperature to extend this phenomenon

Maddie 利用溫度賦予這個現象

to a new scenario.

嶄新的面貌

You know, questions and curiosity like Maddie's

你們知道，Maddie 擁有的這種疑惑和好奇心

are magnets that draw us towards our teachers,

像磁鐵般讓拉近了學生和老師間的距離

and they transcend all technology

勝過所有教育方面的技巧

or buzzwords in education.

或新潮術語

But if we place these technologies before student inquiry,

但如果我們在學生發問前就展示這些技巧

we can be robbing ourselves

我們會讓自己失去

of our greatest tool as teachers: our students' questions.

老師擁有的最佳工具：學生的疑惑

For example, flipping a boring lecture from the classroom

例如，利用行動裝置的銀幕

to the screen of a mobile device

來講授一堂沉悶的課程

might save instructional time,

或許能節省教學時間

but if it is the focus of our students' experience,

但若是這成了學生主要的學習體驗

it's the same dehumanizing chatter

這只是冰冷而無人性的嘮叨

just wrapped up in fancy clothing.

外頭披了件華麗的外衣罷了

But if instead we have the guts

然而，如果我們有骨氣

to confuse our students, perplex them,

使學生困惑讓他們摸不著頭緒

and evoke real questions,

激發他們內心的疑惑

through those questions, we as teachers have information

身為老師的我們可以利用這些疑惑取得資訊

that we can use to tailor robust

用以調整教學方針

and informed methods of blended instruction.

從中習得混合式教學的方法

So, 21st-century lingo jargon mumbo jumbo aside,

因此，別理會 21 世紀那些莫名其妙的術語

the truth is, I've been teaching for 13 years now,

事實上我從事教職已有 13 年

and it took a life-threatening situation

有個生死攸關情況

to snap me out of 10 years of pseudo-teaching

讓我從10年來的「偽教學」中驚醒

and help me realize that student questions

幫助我瞭解學生的疑惑

are the seeds of real learning,

能培育出真正的學習態度

not some scripted curriculum

而非某種照本宣科的課程

that gave them tidbits of random information.

那只能提供學生瑣碎而隨機的資訊

In May of 2010, at 35 years old,

2010 年 5 月35 歲的我

with a two-year-old at home and my second child on the way,

有個 2 歲大的孩子第二個孩子即將出生

I was diagnosed with a large aneurysm

診斷結果顯示我長了個大動脈瘤

at the base of my thoracic aorta.

位於胸腔主動脈

This led to open-heart surgery. This is the actual real email

這表示我必須做開心手術這是當時醫生寫給我的

from my doctor right there.

電子郵件正本

Now, when I got this, I was -- press Caps Lock --

當我收到這封信時我 -- 以下為粗黑體 --

absolutely freaked out, okay?

完全嚇壞了，明白嗎？

But I found surprising moments of comfort

但令人意外地我卻感到慰藉

in the confidence that my surgeon embodied.

因為我的醫生展現出的自信

Where did this guy get this confidence, the audacity of it?

這個傢伙的自信從何而來？因為大膽嗎？

So when I asked him, he told me three things.

因此當我請教他時他告訴我三件事

He said first, his curiosity drove him

他說，第一，好奇心驅使他

to ask hard questions about the procedure,

預設手術過程可能出現的一些棘手問題

about what worked and what didn't work.

何種方法可行而何種不可行

Second, he embraced, and didn't fear,

第二，他勇於面對，而非畏懼

the messy process of trial and error,

反覆試驗與挫敗的繁瑣過程

the inevitable process of trial and error.

無法避免的反覆試驗過程

And third, through intense reflection,

第三，謹慎思考

he gathered the information that he needed

並收集所需的資訊

to design and revise the procedure,

藉此設計及修正手術流程

and then, with a steady hand, he saved my life.

最後，懷著堅定的信心他救了我一命

Now I absorbed a lot from these words of wisdom,

這些睿智的話語令我獲益匪淺

and before I went back into the classroom that fall,

那年秋季回學校任職前

I wrote down three rules of my own

我寫下自己的三原則

that I bring to my lesson planning still today.

直到今天依然用於我的教學計畫中

Rule number one: Curiosity comes first.

第一項原則：好奇心是首要之事

Questions can be windows to great instruction,

利用疑惑是卓越教學的手段

but not the other way around.

但不可本末倒置

Rule number two: Embrace the mess.

第二項原則：勇於面對繁瑣過程

We're all teachers. We know learning is ugly.

我們都是老師我們知道學習過程惹人厭

And just because the scientific method is allocated

只因為有系統的讀書方法寫在

to page five of section 1.2 of chapter one

第一章第一節之二的第五頁

of the one that we all skip, okay,

正好是我們略過不講的章節，對嗎？

trial and error can still be an informal part

試誤法仍是

of what we do every single day

我們每天會在聖心天主教學校

at Sacred Heart Cathedral in room 206.

206 教室使用的不成文法則

And rule number three: Practice reflection.

第三項原則：反覆思考

What we do is important. It deserves our care,

我們的作為十分重要理應小心謹慎

but it also deserves our revision.

也理應不時修正

Can we be the surgeons of our classrooms?

我們能否成為課堂中的外科醫生？

As if what we are doing one day will save lives.

彷彿我們的所作所為某天將救人一命

Our students our worth it.

學生值得我們付出

And each case is different.

因材施教

(Explosion)

（爆炸聲）

All right. Sorry.

好，抱歉

The chemistry teacher in me just needed to get that

身為化學老師的我必須發洩一下

out of my system before we move on.

才能繼續講課

So these are my daughters.

她們是我女兒

On the right we have little Emmalou -- Southern family.

右邊是小 Emmalou 是南方家族名字

And, on the left, Riley.

左邊是 Riley

Now Riley's going to be a big girl in a couple weeks here.

幾週後Riley 將成為大女孩

She's going to be four years old,

她即將邁入四歲

and anyone who knows a four-year-old

任何瞭解四歲孩子的人都知道

knows that they love to ask, "Why?"

他們喜歡問「為什麼？」

Yeah. Why.

是的，為什麼

I could teach this kid anything

我可以教這個孩子任何事

because she is curious about everything.

因為她對任何事都感到好奇

We all were at that age.

我們在那個年紀皆是如此

But the challenge is really for Riley's future teachers,

但這對 Riley 未來的老師而言是極大的挑戰

the ones she has yet to meet.

她尚未謀面的老師

How will they grow this curiosity?

他們會如何培養這份好奇心？

You see, I would argue that Riley is a metaphor for all kids,

你們知道我以 Rildy 比喻所有孩子

and I think dropping out of school comes in many different forms --

我認為輟學有許多不同原因：

to the senior who's checked out before the year's even begun

例如學期開始前就輟學的高中生

or that empty desk in the back of an urban middle school's classroom.

或市區中學的教室後排空著的座位

But if we as educators leave behind

但如果身為教育者的我們跳脫

this simple role as disseminators of content

知識傳播者這種單一的角色

and embrace a new paradigm

採取嶄新的教學方式

as cultivators of curiosity and inquiry,

栽培出好奇心與探索能力

we just might bring a little bit more meaning

我們或許能為他們的學校生活

to their school day, and spark their imagination.

帶來更多意義激發他們的想像力

Thank you very much.

十分感謝

(Applause)

（掌聲）