Not Ready for “Sorry” | Hooray for Monday - Center for Inspired Teaching

March 21, 2022

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

Hooray for Monday is a weekly blog filled with questions, ideas, reflections, and actions we can all take to remodel the school experience for students.

This week I spoke with my longtime friend and colleague, Cosby Hunt. In addition to teaching teachers and young people at Inspired Teaching, Cosby is currently a full-time AP US History teacher at Thurgood Marshall Academy in Anacostia in Washington, DC. He’s busy! He’s also deeply committed to ensuring all of his students experience Mutual Respect.

This week, and for the next four weeks, I’ll be exploring Inspired Teaching’s 5 Core Elements: Mutual Respect; Student As Expert; Purpose, Persistence, and Action; Joy; and Wide-ranging Evidence of Student Learning. Inspired Teachers strive for the 5 Core Elements in all aspects of their teaching, in all their interactions with students. If you want to build the 4 I’s in students – Intellect, Inquiry, Imagination, and Integrity – you start with the 5 Core Elements.

At Inspired Teaching, Mutual Respect means everyone’s voice matters: every student, every teacher, every parent or guardian, every school leader, every staff member, every custodian, everyone. Here’s our full definition.

I asked Cosby what Mutual Respect looks like in his classroom, and he immediately said, “Inclusion,” which he defines as “trying to give the students what they need when they need it.” Something as simple as letting a student choose to write a test by hand, instead of on the computer, is an example of inclusion, and of Mutual Respect. Cosby pointed out that mutual means students respect teachers too; and he gave a recent example of a time he’d missed his lunch break and asked the students to give him a few minutes to eat his sandwich at the start of class.

I asked Cosby how he challenges the common I-make-the-rules-and-you-follow-them definition of respect, and implements authentic Mutual Respect in his classroom. He explained, “I need to get to know them…so that this learning thing can happen.” Cosby described a process he engages in with his students at the start of each school year in which students create a personal museum, including a description of their family before they were born, their connection to DC, what they’re good at, and more. Here’s a clip of Cosby describing how he does it. And here’s a link to Inspired Teaching’s Museum of Me, the activity upon which Cosby is building.

Cosby and his students co-create classroom rules, acknowledging non-negotiables (i.e. school rules around uniforms, hall passes, etc.) and finding many places where there is room for negotiation. The result is an agreed-upon Classroom Constitution, which governs both students and teacher.

Cosby also spoke about how he navigates situations when students break the rules. He’ll often begin by asking, “What’s it going to take for you to get back to this agreement that you made?” Sometimes this simple reminder is enough to reconnect students with their commitment to the Class Constitution. In this case, students can be quick to apologize for their actions and work to remedy them.

But, as Cosby points out, “Sometimes they’re not ready for that ‘sorry’ part; they’re still mad.” In this case, Mutual Respect means giving students space and time to process their feelings, to reflect. It may also mean giving the teacher time to sit one-on-one with the student and get to the bottom of the issue.

Cosby spoke about the importance of Mutual Respect in supporting students’ social emotional learning (SEL). “We can’t learn if we don’t feel safe. And if we don’t feel respected, we don’t feel safe.” Cosby shared the age old saying, “I don’t care what you have to say until I know that you care,” making the point that Mutual Respect is a critical component of academic learning, as well as SEL.

The idea of Mutual Respect is easy to embrace. No one would argue against the importance of respect in a school setting. However, it takes work to put it into practice. But the rewards are well worth the effort.

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.