Aleta Margolis
Founder and President
Aleta Margolis founded Center for Inspired Teaching in 1995, and served as the organization’s Executive Director until 2016, when she assumed the role of President. As President, Aleta focuses on amassing public support for transforming school from a place that prizes compliance to one that promotes engagement. Previously, Aleta worked first as a public school teacher, then as a professor of education at American University. In 2001, Aleta was awarded a Fellowship from Ashoka: Innovators for the Public. Aleta holds a BA in Theatre Arts from Brown University, and an MS in Education and Social Policy from Northwestern University.
What is your favorite lesson to teach?
The Math Dance! I originally developed it for my 6th grade students, and now engage teachers in the challenge of choreographing a dance with parallel and perpendicular lines; acute, right, and obtuse angles; concentric circles; odd, even, and prime numbers; and many more mathematical concepts.