Looking Closely and Noticing by Pam Taylor

As a “lifer” in Kindergarten, I’ve learned to look closely at the world around me. I look closely when I am observing 4 and 5 year olds in their play. I teach students to look closely at natural materials. I ask them to notice the finer points of their structures and look for ways to improve what they have built. And we spend time talking, laughing and learning as we search to find the good, the compassion and the strengths in ourselves and each other. 

Although I am great at looking closely at my students and at noticing and naming the learning that I see each day through our play based learning in Kindergarten, I struggle to find a way to notice my own strengths and weaknesses. Sure, I know that I am great at knitting and crocheting, but lousy at karate. I can remember where my eldest son left his headphones, but I can’t remember 5 things on a grocery list. I am a fantastic problem solver - as long as that problem doesn’t impact me directly.

I have noticed, over the years, that I have a desire to be a writer. But my struggle to write consistently comes from the fact that writing takes time, practice, determination and time. (Yes, I said it twice).  I envy those who can create a blog post every day and sound eloquent, intelligent and put together. I struggle to get my thoughts down on a monthly basis. But I am noticing that I am becoming more attuned to my ideas of sharing my professional journey. I am noticing that I feel like I don’t have to be eloquent all the time. I just need to share more often.

My writing has started to change. I had a blog about 2 years ago that I thought would revolutionize inquiry based learning and make everyone sit up and take notice. I tried to be witty and knowledgeable in every blog post. I wrote 5 posts before I burned out. So I gave up. But the embers of that burn out continued to smolder. I read more blogs by people I admire. I started to notice that not everyone had something life-altering to say in each post. It was more about sharing and getting ideas on “paper” (virtual, but paper nonetheless).  So, another blog was started. And this one feels…better. More authentic. And for me, that’s something worth noticing.


Pam Taylor is a Kindergarten teacher and Makerspace facilitator in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. At almost 20 years of experience in the classroom and as a literacy consultant, Pam continues to find the love and humour in the smile of 4 and 5 year olds each day. She can be found on Twitter with the handle @TayloredInquiry.  Her blog can be found at mindfulmakers.weebly.com