Hooray For Monday

At Inspired Teaching, we believe a thoughtful teacher can use any activity to teach any skill. Your goal shapes the way you teach an activity, and it shapes the skills and content students learn. As you plan the what of community building this fall (and see below for some great activities to try), remember to focus on the how as well. And even if you use some activities you’ve done many times before, remember, this is the first time you are engaging in this activity with this particular group of students. So be present. Listen authentically. Engage your curiosity, and invite students to engage theirs. Resources: Getting to Know You activities: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cvdHwHfIjRiS2IemC4xl5drRFTUm-cx-sKo2jyGQouY/edit?usp=sharing&mc_cid=3b6da67ab4&mc_eid=UNIQID&urp=gmail_link

The start of the school year offers an important moment to create expectations that will last the whole year. But how do you know if you are challenging your students…the right amount? Read the full issue here: https://inspiredteaching.org/the-power-of-might/ Resources: Finding the Zone of Proximal Development: https://inspiredteaching.org/finding-the-zone-of-proximal-development/ Making School Worth It toolkit: https://inspiredteaching.org/resources-for-teachers/making-school-worth-it-22-23/

When you reflect on your own “Why I became a teacher” story, where are the places you find your passion? Read the full issue here: https://inspiredteaching.org/what-inspired-you-to-teach/ Resources: One Word: https://oneword365.com/ Making School Worth It toolkit: https://inspiredteaching.org/resources-for-teachers/making-school-worth-it-22-23/

Just this past week, the January 6 hearings are wrapping up (or, at least, gearing up), Covid cases are back on the rise, and our country continues the painful struggle to come to some kind of agreement on how to protect ourselves from gun violence. What could be more important than teaching our young people how to engage in discourse – on issues large and small – with “grace,” “respect,” and “empathetic listening.” Read the full issue on our website: Speak Truth Guidebook: https://inspiredteaching.org/academy/speak-truth-guidebook-2/ Seeing with Different Eyes: https://inspiredteaching.org/seeing-with-different-eyes/ Listening with Someone Else's Ears: https://inspiredteaching.org/listening-with-someone-elses-ears/

This week’s Hooray For Monday – the 100th issue!! – explores the importance of wonder. What does a classroom look like when students are allowed to wonder without the obligation of mastery? What might the world look like? + four ways to have a wonder-full week and more information on upcoming professional development and youth program opportunities! Read the issue with full resources here: https://inspiredteaching.org/100-wonder-ful-weeks-hooray-for-monday/

Fun is an essential human need, but as busy, responsible adults, it's often the one we allow to fall by the wayside. This week's Hooray For Monday explores "Fun" and offers ways to help prioritize it for yourself this summer. This week's issue: Resources: Inspired Teaching July Institute: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/inspired-teaching-institutes-94779 Speak Truth Fellowship: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScw1zx_xYsn3mdvel01E_ktCLkvRP0HPxH4lUX9WIrYsWeCqw/viewform?usp=sf_link Real World History application: https://inspiredteaching.org/youth/real-world-history/

A new study highlights how when adults listen to students it impacts their academic success. This summer, what can you learn from reflecting on what you heard your students say this year? This podcast explores how Inspired Teaching's Observe, Plan, Instigate Teacher Cycle uses such reflection to shape instruction.

Being a reflective practitioner means being intentional about your choices as a teacher. As summer break begins, and you strive to slow down your own heartbeat, see if you can find some time to think about the whys, whats, and hows of your practice. Read the issue: https://inspiredteaching.org/being-intentional/ Resources: An Inspired Teacher Is... https://inspiredteaching.org/academy/ Ask so what? https://www.instigatorofthought.org/asksowhat What drives you? https://www.instigatorofthought.org/whatdrivesyou

As you support your students in cleaning out their desks and lockers, as you make sure they return their textbooks and overdue library books, I encourage you to carve out a few minutes to ask, “What are you taking with you?” Read the issue: https://inspiredteaching.org/what-are-you-taking-with-you/ Resources: Say Yet: https://www.instigatorofthought.org/sayyet?mc_cid=e7498c28a0&mc_eid=UNIQID What Drives You: https://www.instigatorofthought.org/whatdrivesyou?mc_cid=e7498c28a0&mc_eid=UNIQID Trusting Our Ability to Make Change:https://inspiredteaching.org/our-ability-to-make-change/?mc_cid=e7498c28a0&mc_eid=UNIQID Building Stamina: https://inspiredteaching.org/building-stamina/?mc_cid=e7498c28a0&mc_eid=UNIQID

As we look toward summertime, with the opportunities it offers to reflect on our practice, how might we see our students differently - as dancers, mathematicians, historians - and most importantly, as essential parts of our learning community? This Week's Issue:https://inspiredteaching.org/essential-community-members Resources Dance Clips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTsy16DQvik&mc_cid=86429b65ab&mc_eid=UNIQID Speak Truth Fellowship:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScw1zx_xYsn3mdvel01E_ktCLkvRP0HPxH4lUX9WIrYsWeCqw/viewform?usp=sf_link&mc_cid=86429b65ab&mc_eid=UNIQID Inspired Teaching Institutes: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/inspired-teaching-institutes-94779 Butterfly Garden: https://inspiredteaching.org/make-way-for-the-monarchs/?mc_cid=86429b65ab&mc_eid=UNIQID