→ Why is curiosity foundational to everything that happens in the classroom?

→ How can simple micro-inquiry tasks at the beginning of a lesson set up direct instruction to follow?

→ How can teachers use AI as a collaborative thought partner to amplify student thinking?

Welcome back to the Teachers on Fire Podcast, airing live on YouTube most Saturday mornings at 8am Pacific, 11am Eastern. My name is Tim Cavey, and my mission here is to warm your heart, spark your thinking, and ignite your professional practice.

Today’s Teacher on Fire is Olivia Odileke. Olivia is an educator, author, instructional technology leader, and founder of Kampus Insights CC, where she helps schools design engaging, curiosity-driven learning experiences. With over 15 years of experience in Title I schools, she has trained thousands of educators and is passionate about helping teachers spark student thinking before delivering content. Olivia is also the creator of the Spark Curiosity EDU experience, a movement designed to help educators rediscover wonder, joy, and purpose in teaching and learning.

You can connect with Olivia Odileke

on LinkedIn, 

on X @KampusCoach,

on Instagram @fearless.educator, and

at her website, sparkcuriosityedu.com.

[You’ll also find helpful resources from Olivia related to this conversation at ai.sparkcuriosityedu.com, app.leadsparkteam.com, and fearlesseducator.com.]

Timestamps from This Episode

0:00:00 - Olivia Odileke is an education author, speaker, and teacher trainer

1:51 - Curiosity is NOT just an extra, it's everything

4:55 - Micro-inquiry tasks at the beginning of the lesson

9:26 - The Spark Curiosity EDU "anti-conference" in Austin

19:24 - The Spark Curiosity GPT Coach

26:25 - What's killing curiosity in our classrooms today

29:29 - Olivia's AI-generated music for educators

34:20 - The AI tools she uses for her music

37:11 - Unleashing Curiosity, Olivia's most recent book

41:39 - How and where to connect with Olivia online

Visit the home of Teachers on Fire at https://teachersonfire.net/.

Song Track Credit: Tropic Fuse by French Fuse - retrieved from the YouTube Audio Library.