Investing in Teachers to Transform Schools

Our society is facing some big problems right now, including global conflicts, racism and bias, political polarization, climate change, an epidemic of loneliness, and a national mental health crisis.

Is school providing the 74.6 million children under the age of 17 in the United States with the learning experiences they need right now to address these challenges? Are adults listening to youth voices as we search for solutions?

At Inspired Teaching, we're tackling these issues head-on. We believe curiosity is the antidote to assumption and prejudice, the highest form of respect, and the best starting point for learning everything from chemistry to writing to history.

 Here’s an overview of Inspired Teaching’s progress this fall in building curiosity, and making school a better place:

We began the school year with a series of live-streamed conversations on the importance of building and nurturing school connectedness. Joined by experts on education, community, and asset framing, Inspired Teaching explored practical ways teachers, school leaders, and parents can create connections in the classroom and beyond.

We also kicked off the ‘23-24 Inspired Teaching Institute, Real World History, and Speak Truth programs. From interactive professional development for educators everywhere to student-led programs for DC-area high school students, Inspired Teaching continues our commitment to shifting education from compliance-based to engagement-based and fueling curiosity in students and their teachers.

In addition to staying busy locally, Inspired Teaching recently announced the launch of a multi-year project to bring the Inspired Teaching Approach to teachers and school leaders in Ukraine alongside Osvitoria, the leading education NGO in Ukraine. Beginning in August with a three-day online Institute for over a thousand Ukrainian teachers, we will continue to bring the Inspired Teaching Approach to educators as they navigate war and build the foundation for the future of education in Ukraine.

And, in between leading professional development programming in Washington, DC; connecting with education leaders around the world; and sharing insights, resources, and activities every week in Hooray For Monday; I was thrilled to head to Helsinki in late October for the HundrED Innovation Summit. There, Inspired Teaching and our ABCDE of Learner Needs framework was honored as part of the HundrED Global Collection 2024.

As the calendar year nears its end and we focus our curiosity on 2024, I hope you too have time to reflect on your accomplishments — and prepare for all the learning to come!

At Inspired Teaching, we have been diving deep into our own curiosity, connecting with new people and exploring new ideas. From the three-day kick-off program of our year-long fellowship, Teaching with Improvisation, to our Hooray For Monday podcast series on curiosity featuring experts in truly fascinating fields, we are energized by the new information, perspectives, and insights we encounter.

A Focus on School Connectedness

Inspired Teaching is taking an explicit focus on school connectedness that builds on the work we’ve done for decades. The CDC recently identified school connectedness as a powerful antidote to the loneliness, isolation, and overwhelming mental health crisis young people are facing. Increasing school connectedness, by building stronger relationships and ensuring instruction is meaningful, is at the core of Inspired Teaching.

Increasing school connectedness and the importance of improvisation are key messages in our outreach to DC area schools, which we are accomplishing both via the programming and resources listed above, and via engaging in-person professional learning inside schools. This year we have completed 30 school visits to pre-K - 12 schools across the region, including Tyler ES (DC), Jefferson MS (DC), The Rosemount Center (DC), Rockville HS (MD), Thurgood Marshall Academy (DC), E.L. Haynes HS (DC), West Potomac HS (VA), and more. These visits include conversations about our programs, sharing our calendar of resources, observations and feedback on implementation of programs like Speak Truth, needs assessment and gathering data for upcoming school partnerships, and presentations to recruit participants for Real World History. This on the ground engagement is particularly important given the turnover that so many schools in the DC area have experienced during the pandemic. We need to get to know our new colleagues who lead, and teach at, our community’s schools. 

Teaching with Improvisation Summer Session

Improv has been at the heart of Inspired Teaching since our founding. However, this year we are practicing what we preach and elevating our voices, just as we have encouraged students and teachers to elevate their voices for the past 28 years. Our work has always been about building strong relationships and mutual respect between teachers and students, and infusing joy into the classroom. 

Inspired Teaching had the privilege to work with more than two dozen teachers from Washington, DC schools during our in-person Teaching with Improvisation program in late June 2023. 

Program participants had an in-depth introduction to Inspired Teaching during the three-day program, which functioned as a kick-off to a year-long fellowship. Each day was filled with the engaging, joyful, creative, and challenging activities and strategies that are the foundation of our improvisational approach to teaching and learning. Participants came away with the insights and skills to bring Inspired Teaching into their own school communities. 

During the ‘23-24 school year, our cohort of teacher-leaders will receive hands-on support from Inspired Teaching. We look forward to visiting their classrooms and facilitating future professional development sessions alongside them!

The Instigator of Thought Challenge wins an Anthem Award

The Inspired Teaching Instigator of Thought Challenge, an innovative, educator-created tool that offers teachers powerful activities that teach them to replace outdated compliance-based methods with authentic, engaging, student-led learning, won Bronze at this year’s Anthem Awards.

You can see the winning entry here:

https://www.anthemawards.com/winners/list/entry/#!education-art-culture/product/instigator-of-thought-challenge/1980/30647/387965

What Are You Curious About? A Hooray For Monday Podcast Series

We’re inviting interesting and knowledgeable people from different fields to talk about the role curiosity plays in their life and work. These conversations are designed to offer Hooray For Monday subscribers new ways to tap into their own curiosity and new ideas for how to nurture curiosity in their students.

Real World History ‘22-23 Recap

As always, the Real World History class of ‘22-23 ended the school year on a high note! 

“Real World History has been transformative for [our child]. We are so appreciative of all that you do.” - Parent of a Real World History student, May 2023

Internships at the Phillips Collection, the DC Archives, the White House Historical Association, and the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center — among others! — were met with praise from supervisors. Two students were also awarded first place in their respective categories during the city-wide National History Day contest in Washington, DC. 

The success of the Real World History students in the “doing” of history remains a powerful example of what Inspired Teaching looks like in action. We look forward to welcoming and learning with next year’s class!

Speak Truth & The First Step
Inspired teaching was thrilled to offer a unique Speak Truth event to DC-area high school students in late June. Following a screening of the documentary film, The First Step, student participants then led discussion — alongside the film’s producer and director, Lance and Brandon Kramer — about its themes. Conversations on social justice, prejudice, and the divides we see in a polarized country were filled with the respectful insights and thought-provoking questions that make the Speak Truth program so powerful.