Hooray For Monday: Saying “Thank you”

By Aleta Margolis, Founder and President, Center for Inspired Teaching

Hooray for Monday is a new blog series we’ll be posting each week with questions, ideas, reflections, and actions we can all take to remodel the school experience for students.

This weekend I celebrated with my dear friend, mentor, and former middle and high school teacher, Judy White, as she marked a milestone birthday. During the course of a nearly three hour zoom call, Judy’s friends, former students, and family members voiced their love, shouted and sang birthday wishes, and expressed their gratitude and thanks. This past week I also took some online yoga and dance classes. At the end of each class, along with the other students, I unmuted myself and said ‘Thank you!’ to the teacher.

These experiences got me thinking about the power, and importance, of saying thank you to teachers.

Expressing appreciation for another person is a form of feedback, particularly when the thanks are specific. “Thank you for reaching out to that family about how to access tech support, I heard they called right away,” is a way of saying, “I see you. I acknowledge the effort you’re putting in to go above and beyond in this work. You matter.”

Such recognition compels us to keep doing good and giving such feedback feels good. The myriad benefits of gratitude for both the thank-er and the thank-ee have been scientifically documented. Expressing thanks strengthens relationships, improves physical and psychological health, enhances empathy and reduces aggression, helps us sleep better, improves self-esteem and fosters resilience.

In our current context, what might saying “thank you” look like in action?

School leaders: How would your week change if you made a commitment to say thank you, personally, to every one of the educators in your school? What would you look for during staff meetings or professional development sessions? What would you focus on when you sit in (virtually or in person) on your teachers’ classes? How would you track the anecdotes and data that point to the successes of each teacher? Would you thank teachers only for their successes, or would you also thank them for the times they stepped outside their comfort zones and tried something unfamiliar, regardless of the outcome? Would you thank them for the times they handled dropped internet connections or frustrated students with grace?

Teachers: If you were to make a commitment to yourself to say thank you to each of your students on a regular basis (daily, weekly), how might that affect your attention and focus during class? Would you focus on the contributions each student makes to the group, even those students who don’t always contribute positively? Would you look a little bit harder for something worth appreciating in each student’s participation?

Parents: Consider asking your children, “If you made a commitment to yourself to say thank you to your teacher after every class, where would you focus your attention during class? Would you try and figure out what the teacher might have done to prepare? Would you wonder if they had customized the lesson based on your interests or the interests of your classmates? Would you think about which aspects of the lesson resonated with you the most, so you could let the teacher know after class?”

At a time when it’s easy to feel dismayed by the state of the world and our complicated place within it, we could all use more “thank yous.”

I’ll start: Thank you for the work you do each day.

Micaiah Anderson

Community Outreach Specialist

As a Community Outreach Specialist, Micaiah is responsible for program promotion and outreach support for Inspired Teaching events and workshops. Micaiah has a passion for collaborating with community members to build-power and connect. She is an educator with a heart for youth and has experience supporting students fight injustices within their schools and communities. She has a BA in Political Science from, the real HU, Hampton University & anticipates graduating in May 2024 with a Masters of Arts degree in Educational Policy Transformation from Georgetown University.

AUTONOMY

"I want to have a say in what happens to me."

Autonomy is the need for independence; the ability to make choices, to create, to explore, and to express oneself freely; to have sufficient space, to move around, and to feel unrestricted with opportunities to exercise free will.

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.