Parenting Resilient Children - Center for Inspired Teaching

By Jaqueta Abbey

In early June Inspired Teaching hosted a “Parenting Resilient Children” workshop that shifted our innovative, tried-and-true approach from the classroom to home. We explored how parents can foster fun and creative experiences while allowing their children the room to find solutions to their own problems.

After a crash course in Inspired Teaching’s five core elements (Mutual Respect, Student As Expert; Purpose, Persistence, and Action; Joy; and Wide-ranging Evidence of Student Learning), we engaged in an activity that encompasses all of them: Learning Content Through Interests.

In this activity, we asked parents to think of an interest their child has. One parent shared that their child enjoyed picking up trash. We then crowdsourced some questions that could be asked to encourage the child to share their expertise about the topic or encourage them to learn more. Example questions included things like: Whose responsibility is it to pick up the trash? Where do you think trash goes after you throw it away? What makes something valuable to one person but makes another toss it out?

We also introduced the idea of asset-framing: shifting our perspective so that our impressions come from a place of strength. In the spirit of inquiry, each of us asked ourselves two questions about the past year: What have my aspirations been? What have my contributions been? After reflecting on the answers, we asked the same questions about our children: What have my child’s aspirations been? What contributions has my child made?

We begin with asset framing as a means of grounding ourselves in the good but in this workshop we also acknowledged that there are plenty of times when things are not good. Conflicts arise, challenges present themselves, what do we do then? At times like this, the ABCDEs of Learner Needs are a useful tool to identify which of your children’s needs aren’t being met and how you could meet them. One example we discussed was a child who didn’t want cereal for breakfast and acted out. We identified Autonomy as their unmet need and brainstormed solutions like offering a choice or having the child help create the grocery list.

At the end of the workshop, Aleta presented Inspired Teaching’s Resilient Summer Handbook. This guide contains resources and activities designed to bolster social and emotional well-being compiled from almost three decades of work Inspired Teaching has done with teachers and schools.

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.