Building School Connectedness

Thank you for joining Inspired Teaching for our LinkedIn Live on the importance and urgency of creating connection in our school communities.

Hooray For Monday

Inspired Teaching’s award-winning collection of resources and insights, shared via inboxes and podcast platforms every week. See below for our recent issues with a specific focus on building school connectedness.

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Safe and Happy and Healthy April 24, 2023
Can AI Bring Us Together? April 17, 2023
To, Not, For, WITH April 10, 2023
You Are Not Alone April 3, 2023
We Find Connection in the Process March 27, 2023
Don’t Know How? Your Students Might! March 20, 2023
Create Connection by Sharing Student Expertise March 13, 2023
Curiosity and School Connectedness March 6, 2023
The Urgent Need to Increase School Connectedness February 27, 2023

Activities for Building Connection

Inspired Teaching offers an array of easy-to-implement strategies and activities for building connection in your classroom. We’ve highlighted a few below and encourage you to learn more about our Inspired2Learn and Instigator of Thought Challenge resource collections.

Sometimes

Sometimes one person can have lots and lots of feelings — different from each other. This activity encourages students to explore that experience.

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Zoom Out

Considering the size of our problems in relation to larger context can help us understand the nature of the issue better, and sometimes even makes the problem seem less huge

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Inside/Outside

In a moment when the world is especially fraught with change and uncertainty, we are all struggling to observe, name, and adjust to the flood of feelings around and within us. This activity was created in response to that reality.

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4 Ways to Start Class with Breathing & Mindfulness

Starting class with stillness, attention, and deep breathing can set a peaceful tone for your day.

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Coloring Our Emotions

Talking about feelings is vital to building mutual respect in the classroom. Considering feelings in a visual way can deepen that discussion.

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Professional Development

Professional learning that is fun and engaging is also effective! Join us for our monthly Inspired Teaching Institutes for a unique, joyful professional development experience that will help you build connection with your practice, your students, and your school community.

PD to promote a “Yes! And…” Mindset

In this article in Kappan magazine’s May 2023 issue, Aleta shares in-depth insights and research into how — and why — to create relevant and engaging professional development opportunities for teachers.

Read the article here.

ONLINE: Monday, May 8 | 3:45 PM ET

ONLINE: Wednesday, May 17 | 7 PM ET

May: 10 Ways to End the School Year with Joy

As the school year winds to a close there is joy in the completion but there is also cause for celebration in the journey. In this Institute, participants will explore 10 different year-end activities that range in duration from 10 minutes to several days. Each activity keeps the learning going and makes use of the community you’ve built over the course of the school year. These activities are applicable to multiple grade levels and subject areas.

This summer Center for Inspired Teaching invites teachers of all subjects and grade levels at schools in Washington, DC to an invigorating learning experience grounded in the art of improvisation and the 5 Core Elements that lead to an engagement-rich classroom. Join us June 27-29 to build creative teaching practices using improvisational techniques. Lunch will be provided daily and participants will receive a stipend. The application deadline is May 15. Space is limited; apply today at the button below!

Apply

Brady Maiden

Outreach Coordinator

As the Outreach Coordinator, Brady helps maintain Inspired Teaching’s social media presence and supports the organization’s mission to connect with DC community leaders, educators, and parents. Brady has her Master’s in Public Policy from George Mason University and her BS in Political Science from Northern Arizona University. She is passionate about community, equity, and coalition building recognizing that learning and growing with the community at large is how we continue to be impactful.

What brings you joy in life?

I find joy in spending time with my friends and family and meeting new people. I like going to concerts and festivals, and finding new books to read.

The Learner’s Cycle, Wonder-Experiment-Learn, and the Teacher’s Cycle, Observe-Plan-Instigate, comprise Inspired Teaching’s approach to engaging students in inquiry-based learning.

When they are engaged in the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, students are immersed in learning. They take the lead in designing authentic learning experiences around their own interests and their school’s standards of learning. Each discovery leads to a new question which in turn leads to more wondering and more learning. In the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, Learn is not a destination or an endpoint; it is a deeper understanding, leading to a deeper wondering and new possibilities that create new entry points to further exploration. The cycle continues because what students have learned generates more wonderings that require more experiments that foster more learning – and on and on.

The Observe-Plan-Instigate Cycle is the work of an Inspired Teacher. While a student is expected to follow the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, the teacher joins them on the learning journey while following their own cycle of Observe-Plan-Instigate. This cycle ultimately serves to ensure an inquiry-based atmosphere is at play in the classroom.

Jaqueta Abbey

Teaching and Learning Specialist

Jaqueta is the Teaching and Learning Specialist for Inspired Teaching. In addition to her current role with Inspired Teaching, Jaqueta is a first-grade teaching assistant. Her background features a variety of traditional and non-traditional experiences in the field of education, including working as an adjunct professor, teaching summer reading programs to children and adults, and tutoring children in the foster care system. Jaqueta earned a B.A. in Communication Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an M.A. in Interactive Media from Elon University.

What brings you joy in life?

Creative self-expression! In addition to my passion for storytelling, I love dancing of all kinds. I've studied belly dance, bachata, and Brazilian Zouk among other styles. I also enjoy glass fusing, crocheting, photography, and cross stitching. These art forms allow me to express myself and build connections with other people at the same time. I think life would be a lot less vibrant without artists and storytellers!

Michelle Welk

Communication & Marketing Specialist

As Communications and Marketing Specialist, Michelle is responsible for finding and creating new ways to highlight Inspired Teaching and promote its programs in order to expand and deepen the organization's impact. Michelle has worked in communications in an array of settings, from creative agencies to state politics to national nonprofits. She has a BA in Journalism from Temple University in Philadelphia and is passionate about education, access, and equity.

What brings you joy in life?

My son, the beach, making a persuasive argument and good food!

Max Peterson

Real World History Assistant Teacher

Max received his Bachelor’s degree in History and African American Studies from Boston University in May 2016. He has worked in museum curation at the Museum of the White Mountains in New Hampshire and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Max has worked with young people of varying ages from young children to young adults transitioning to college.

Feedback and Accountability

We grow through feedback and an understanding that the quality of our work is a reflection of what we are learning, but the shift to remote learning this spring disrupted a lot of the tools teachers were used to using to evaluate student growth. How might we do things differently this fall? Participants in this workshop will explore ways to bring meaningful assessment into the virtual and/or socially-distanced classroom and approaches to student feedback that strengthen motivation, and build relationships and achievement.