October 21, 2024
By Aleta Margolis, Founder and President
Prefer audio? Listen to Aleta on the Hooray For Monday podcast!
Last week I attended services for the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, a day of atonement, a day of reflection, and a day of learning. Synagogues often invite guest speakers to engage the congregation in meaningful learning. Imagine my delight when I learned that the speakers at my synagogue would be Lin-Manuel Miranda and his father Luis Miranda!
Lin-Manuel and his father Luis spoke about the importance of community, and how they are engaging in and supporting their communities, in particular working to end gun violence and canvassing for the upcoming Presidential election. They also spoke about the many problems facing our communities and our nation.
Someone in the audience asked Lin Manuel if he is motivated by anger about the injustices in our world when he creates his scripts and music. I was particularly struck by his response. No, he said, “I don’t write from anger. I need joy and love to animate the thing I’m making.”
Hearing this made me wonder: What if we taught our students based in the assumption that they, like Lin-Manuel Miranda, need joy and love in order to animate the things they’re making? What if we invested our energy in ensuring there is enough joy and love in our classrooms to fuel every child’s learning?
Lin-Manuel went on to explain that he has two ingredients in his artist’s toolbox: research and empathy. This week we’re exploring Intellect, the first of Inspired Teaching’s 4 I’s, as it relates to engaging with people who hold differing views. Empathy and research fit right in!
Just as Lin-Manuel described using research to investigate and understand the characters he creates, students of Inspired Teachers adopt a curious mindset and spend much of their time researching both questions presented by the curriculum and questions they themselves devise.
And empathy — a deep curiosity about the lived experience of another person and an equally deep respect for that person — is at the core of what we want our children to learn in school.
This week’s issue contains a lot of concrete strategies to help you strengthen research and empathy in your toolbox. Subscribe to find…
- three activities to help students understand their own feelings and the feelings of others;
- two activities for teachers, to help you build your own research and empathy skills; and
- free workshops and even a happy hour!
These resources and opportunities will help you incite Intellect in your classroom, for your students and yourself.
Wishing you a joyful week fueled by empathy and curiosity.
For additional insights, resources, and information on Inspired Teaching teacher and youth programming, subscribe to the Hooray For Monday newsletter!