At Center for Inspired Teaching, the 2023-2024 school year was filled with teacher and student programming that celebrated the power and importance of finding joy in learning. Highlights include:
- The 2024-2025 Teaching with Improvisation Fellowship, with support from the DC Commission on Arts and Humanities, kicked off with an intensive hands-on, whole-body Institute in June. 32 teachers from Washington, DC schools — and one from Ukraine! — were selected from a record number of applicants to begin a year of professional learning, growth, and joy. These Fellows will join teachers from the ‘23-24 cohort in bringing Inspired Teaching to dozens of school communities across DC.
- Thousands of educators in DC and beyond connected with the Inspired Teaching Approach — our always-growing, always-accessible library of digital resources; twice-monthly professional development Institutes provided both in-person and virtually; weekly Hooray For Monday publication and podcast; and contributed articles in leading education magazines.
- Students from 21 high schools in Washington, DC and from schools across the country expanded their empathy and strengthened their communication and critical thinking skills during monthly Speak Truth sessions — vital lessons ahead of the 2024 Election.
- Teachers from around the globe participated in our monthly online institutes.
Teaching with Improvisation Fellowship
The 2024-2025 Teaching with Improvisation Fellows jumped right into their year of joyful learning at the summer Institute, held in June at the Inspired Teaching Demonstration School in Washington, DC. Teachers of all backgrounds joined together for an in-depth exploration of the Inspired Teaching Approach.
From raucous rounds of Red Ball to reflecting and connecting during the Me Museum activity, Fellows deepened their understanding and appreciation of their practice and their colleagues. Visitors from the Inspired Teaching community, including the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, DC Collaborative, the Share Fund, and OSSE, also had the opportunity to witness Inspired Teaching’s unique approach to professional development first-hand — and participate in some of our learning exercises!
In the school year ahead, Fellows will continue their journey with ongoing professional development, Inspired Teaching classroom visits, and the opportunity to lead professional learning workshops in their own school communities.
Online Webinars Make Our Resources Globally Accessible
Inspired Teaching will continue to provide monthly online institutes. These webinars focus on essential resources for teachers and are directly linked to our monthly professional development topics, covering areas such as thriving in action, teaching empathy, building learner confidence, and more. We have been thankful to provide these online sessions for people who are local to the United States as well as internationally from countries such as Dubai, Brazil, and South Africa.
Speak Truth America
We held a special session of Speak Truth America on June 12 at George Washington University in partnership with National History Day. Our student participants hailed from Montana, Missouri, Georgia, Washington, Idaho, North Dakota, California, and Oregon. We engaged them in a Speak Truth seminar about the film The First Step (which is at the core of Speak Truth America). Students explored the role young people can play in creating policy change, the ways in which connecting with people whose lives are different from your own expands your understanding of shared issues, and the ways in which educational systems may well be the most effective levers for positive social change.
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