Hooray For Monday

When we increase the occasions in which our students experience moral beauty, we build our collective capacity to feel and create awe and joy. As teachers we have the opportunity to nurture the moral beauty that already exists within every child, and every adult as well. Written Version: https://inspiredteaching.org/moral-beauty/ Resources Jenna's Source of Curiosity: Origami Heart Design: https:/...

Young children have a lot to teach us about concentration, about focus, about how to be fully present. Yes, we can turn to apps and books and other more “sophisticated” tools. Those certainly have their place in teaching us how to be present. And, we can sharpen our curiosity muscle and wonder about what it’s like to be a young child, a true master of being in the moment. Written version: https://...

Each week at our Inspired Teaching staff meeting, we begin with a brief exercise. This past week, each of us responded to the question: “What are you curious about?” The question connects directly with Inspired Teaching’s work to promote the kind of teaching that fuels - instead of stifles - curiosity. Written Version: https://inspiredteaching.org/the-opposite-of-curiosity/ Resources: Random Walk:...

On Thursday, January 26th, Center for Inspired Teaching will host a special, online, Speak Truth event. Speak Truth is a student-led series of respectful conversations, themed around both current events and larger social issues. Student-facilitators work with teachers to prepare, and then each Speak Truth session is run for and by students. Adults are welcome to attend - to observe, listen, and le...

It’s comforting to have people agree with us. And this desire to “be right” leads to motivated reasoning which ultimately leads to finding comfort in our own bubbles. Internet search engines and social media algorithms have been fine tuned to feed into this aspect of human psychology.  But there is value in intentionally seeking out people with different viewpoints. We grow, intellectually and emo...

It takes a lot of people to create and sustain a movement. And Hooray For Monday is part of Inspired Teaching’s movement to create a radical shift in the school experience for every child, away from compliance and toward engaging, curiosity-based learning. Written Version: https://inspiredteaching.org/gratitude/ Resources: Games that Build Student Expertise Institute Resource Guidebook: https://si...

Children spend a lot of time with us in schools. One of the most useful things we can teach them is how to build the skill of turning worry into action. Written Version: https://inspiredteaching.org/action-as-antidote-to-worry/ Resources: Making Re-Solutions: https://inspiredteaching.org/making-re-solutions/?mc_cid=bc2ce5ac0f&mc_eid=UNIQID Make Way for the Monarchs: https://inspiredteaching.org/ma...

For many of us, the New Year is a time when we make resolutions – promises or commitments to ourselves or to others toward positive change. The word resolve means determination to get something done, and that’s an important goal for all of us to take into the New Year. But if you add a beautiful hyphen, the word resolve becomes re-solve, and that means to solve something again. And the word resolu...

There’s something about the end of the year - holidays filled with dazzling light, reflections on months gone by and the new beginnings that lie ahead - that stirs our emotions. This stirring can be complicated, but also awe inspiring. Written Version: Resources: Speak Truth: Talking Across Dividing Lines registration https://forms.gle/aPAHP1cC2B5L8yjy7?mc_cid=8cce182e7e&mc_eid=UNIQID Hooray For 2...

When we have the opportunity to step away from a challenge – whether it’s a word puzzle or a lesson that’s not clicking or a student who’s hard to reach - we tend to come back to it refreshed. Time away offers the gift of new eyes that help us see solutions we couldn’t when we were in the thick of things. Written Version: https://inspiredteaching.org/vacation-and-brain-incubation/ Resources: "Why...

What might happen if we asked our students to define the words interesting, important, and useful? What might happen if we asked our students to list things that are interesting, important, and useful in their lives right now? Link to Blog Post: https://inspiredteaching.org/makeup-space-exploration-politics/ Link to Activity: https://inspiredteaching.org/interesting-important-useful/

Imagine engaging students in a lesson that is so compelling, that sparks their curiosity so deeply that they find it stirring! Written Version: https://inspiredteaching.org/stirring-up-curiosity/ Resources: Tap into the Senses: https://inspiredteaching.org/building-sensory-awareness/?mc_cid=672ff055e9&mc_eid=UNIQID Consider Different Perspectives: http://%20https//inspiredteaching.org/zoom-out/ Mo...

In anticipation of Giving Tuesday, we take a moment in this post to reflect on what it means for an organization to have an impact. How does an organization know if it's helping? This reflection is similar to what Inspired Teachers do when thinking about the impact they have on their students. Blog Post: https://inspiredteaching.org/hooray-for-helping/ Donation Page: https://inspiredteaching.org/d...

What if we taught our students with the expectation that they have the capacity to access everything they need to succeed in our classes? Written Version: https://inspiredteaching.org/accessing-our-strength/ Resources: Finding the Zone of Proximal Development: https://inspiredteaching.org/finding-the-zone-of-proximal-development/?mc_cid=dd057faf69&mc_eid=UNIQID Say Yet: https://www.instigatoroftho...

What will you do this week, and in the weeks ahead, to go beyond telling? How will you engage your students? Written Version: https://inspiredteaching.org/telling-vs-teaching/ Resources: 4 Ways to Welcome Students in the Door: https://inspiredteaching.org/4-ways-to-welcome-students-in-the-door/?mc_cid=68f9a1904d&mc_eid=UNIQID Use the Senses: https://inspiredteaching.org/building-sensory-awareness/...

We need stories about how effective teaching and learning work, so the public gets more invested in creating policies and providing funding to keep it working. When we raise our voices, we don’t have to point fingers at everything that is wrong. Instead, we need to elevate stories of what we’re doing right, how we make that happen, and what is required to take good work to scale. Every time we put...

This week, Jenna speaks with Hakim Johnson. Hakim is principal at Inspired Teaching Demonstration Charter School in Washington, DC and shares with us his insights into the power and importance of feedback. Written version: https://inspiredteaching.org/grades-dont-provide-much-feedback/ Resources: 5 Closing Activities for Student Feedback: https://inspiredteaching.org/5-closing-activities-to-give-y...

In this week's episode, Jenna Fournel (Director of Teaching and Learning) speaks with Kulsum Omer. Kulsum is a long-time teacher who shares her insights into the power of observation in the classroom. Resources: https://inspiredteaching.org/observing-instrinsic-joy/ Written version: https://inspiredteaching.org/observing-instrinsic-joy/ 21 Ways to End School Days: https://inspiredteaching.org/insp...

This week, guest host Jenna Fournel speaks with Lacey Hunter. Lacey is a PreK3 teacher at Inspired Teaching Demonstration School in Washington, DC. She shares with Jenna her approach to classroom interactions, which means using open-ended questions and helping students learn how to think, not what to think. Read this issue here: https://inspiredteaching.org/colorful-language-hooray-for-monday/ Res...

Teaching has always been social and emotional. The good news is we don’t have to choose between teaching students’ heads and teaching their hearts. As thoughtful, respectful, engaging teachers, we can teach their whole selves. Resources: 4 Ways to Start Class with Breathing and Mindfulness: https://inspiredteaching.org/4-ways-to-start-class-with-breathing-and-mindfulness/?mc_cid=64775ab0cb&mc_eid=...

Cultivating curiosity is one of the most important things we do as teachers. Read this week's issue here: Resources Graffiti Wall: https://www.instigatorofthought.org/graffitiboard?mc_cid=cb1f7f1652&mc_eid=UNIQID Yes, But vs. Yes, And: https://inspiredteaching.org/yes-but-vs-yes-and/?mc_cid=cb1f7f1652&mc_eid=UNIQID

“Enjoyment appears at the boundary between boredom and anxiety, when the challenges are just balanced with the person's capacity to act…The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.” Resources: Make Way for the Monarchs: https://inspiredteaching.org/make-way-for-the-monarchs/?mc_cid=e33...

When we stop delivering information and start asking more questions, we begin putting children in charge of their own learning. That's vital to their success beyond our classroom, and it opens up space for our students to teach us. Full issue: Resources: The Surprising Power of Questions: https://hbr.org/2018/05/the-surprising-power-of-questions?mc_cid=aa27864b10&mc_eid=UNIQID Track the Questions...

If we commit to incorporating movement into the learning process – for our students and ourselves – we’ll be taking a great step forward in increasing learning and well-being. And we’ll make school a better place to be for all of us. Read the full issue here: Resources: 25 More Math Explorations: https://inspiredteaching.org/25-more-math-explorations/?mc_cid=08440fb1e8&mc_eid=UNIQID Hands and Feet...

We want our students to be right, do things the right way, and get the answer right. But can being right get in the way of learning? For the full text, read the issue here: https://inspiredteaching.org/making-good-mistakes/ Resources: "Where Am I?" Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLqzYDZAqCI&mc_cid=aef1adfa25&mc_eid=UNIQID Building a Paper Tower: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/educato...