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Last summer, after an Internet search revealed a last-minute opening for an activities director, I found myself in Memphis working aboard the Mississippi Queen steamboat. When I first boarded, I felt the way my students and clients must feel when the task or the environment seems too new and challenging. I was in a form of shut-down.
Suddenly, I heard a mysterious sound. Not music or a boat horn, it was both melodious and cacophonous. As I wondered what it was, I was suddenly energized for adventure.
The sound was a steam organ called a calliope. Since I could not see, though, I wondered. It was like being a child again! The experience validated the importance I place on wonder in everyday living and learning.
Wonder sparks a search though mental files to compare or contrast information and make connections. The energy seems to get channeled away from negative or defeating attitudes, helping us work harder, explore more enthusiastically, push past pain or anxiety, or simply wake-up and pay attention. When the "wonder" section of the brain lights up, learning happens. Below are just a few of the ways learning is a multi-sensory adventure enhanced by wonder:
Vestibular activities-where in space?
Obstacle courses-how to get through this?
Suspense-what will the surprise or reward be?
Projects and experiments-how this will turn out?
Tactile activities-what will this feel like?
After my steamboat summer, I was researching Walt Disney World for Advance [see cover story on page 14]. I suddenly paid attention to the steamboats. I found them in many places: "it's a small world," the Hall of Presidents, parades, Main Street U.S.A., Fulton's Crab House, Port Orleans Resort, as you leave the parking area, and Frontierland.
I see steamboats everywhere now, even in my dreams! This is the same "hook" I try to find for my students so they'll take the love of the subject with them, and also the "hook" I find built into many of Disney's educational attractions.
Excitement and interest creates the neophyte expert. I'm no mechanic, but since I studied that massive paddlewheel churning and spitting droplets into the air, I can tell if a paddlewheel is real or just for show. I have a new memory file for recognizing related images and comparing and contrasting, and I am full of the motivation and desire to do so. I won't tell you about Disney's two steamboats and spoil that mystery.
I also counsel clients and parents of clients to find their little respite or wonder breaks at school, in the office, or at home when "special needs" symptoms arise. These needs can include sensory overload, stress, burn-out, boredom, attention-focusing problems, physical and mental symptoms, lack of inspiration or creativity, and immobilization.
I believe everyone needs a dose of wonder now and then. Ignite "wonder" and you'll see more learning and progress.
To turn wonder moments into teaching moments, create a transition to the task at hand by incorporating the distraction into the activity. I had one student who could give me an extra 10 minutes of focused work if I sprayed my Hawaiian air freshener, played hula music, and placed my mini palm tree beach scene on the desk.
Happy traveling!
Sandra Bostwick, MA, OTR/L, RMT, is owner of Creative Learning Studios, LLC, in Morris County, NJ, offering private practice OT and music therapy consulting services.
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