Wild Curiosity

Erik Shonstrom has worked in education for nearly two decades. He has taught students while clinging to cliffs in Joshua Tree National Park, swimming frigid rivers in the High Sierra, snorkeling jellyfish infested waters off Mexico, paddling tippy kayaks amid the orcas of Puget Sound, trudging up narrow trails in the Adirondacks, and—occasionally—in the classroom. He has worked for charter, independent, public, and experiential education-based schools. The words “you’ll need to know this because it’s going to be on the test” have never passed his lips. Currently, Erik is a professor of rhetoric at Champlain College. He has published a number of articles on education in The Chronicle Review, Children & Nature Network, and Education Week, among others. To learn more about Erik please check out http://www.erikshonstrom.com/.

Dedication
Acknowledgements            
Author’s Note
Chapter 1: Introduction: Song of the Sirens                                                                  
Chapter 2: Resurrecting the Cat                                                                      
Chapter 3: Hardwired for Adventure                                                                                             
Chapter 4: Inside Bad, Outside Good                                                                              
Chapter 5: Some Awe is Awesome
Chapter 6: Empathy, Conflict, and Getting’ to Know Ya
Chapter 7: “Call me Ishmael”                                                            
Chapter 8: Finding Our Direction (with or without the GPS)      
Chapter 9: Snorting Lines of Ed Tech                              
Chapter 10: Paying Attention Without Trying
Chapter 11: Learning as Journey                                     
Chapter 12: Impulsivity and The Need to Know
Chapter 13: Curious Failures
Chapter 14: Stop Daydreaming and Get Creative         
Chapter 15: Tapping Into Flow
Afterword: To Build a Fire                                                                 
Bibliography         
About the Author