Preserving Memories: Hooray for Monday - Center for Inspired Teaching

May 31, 2021

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.

It’s Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer. This is the day when neighborhood pools open for the season, the smell of barbecue permeates the air, and we all get one final three-day weekend to catch our breath before the end of the school year.

For much of my childhood, my mother was the chief judge for the Rockville, MD Memorial Day Parade. I have many memories of sitting in the stands cheering the floats and high school marching bands as they paraded by. Once I even got to march in the parade as a baton twirler!

Memorial Day holds personal memories for many of us – of family traditions, the day we could start wearing white (though that fashion rule is changing), and more. Most importantly, Memorial Day brings us together as a country to remember and honor those who gave their lives while serving in our country’s military.

According to Webster’s Dictionary, memorial means “serving to preserve remembrance.” Preserving remembrances is an intentional act shaped by personal experience, and by those who write the stories to be remembered. Most of the time, stories are memorialized by adults. But the stories of young people, and the ways in which they see the events of the world unfold, have great value.

As educators, we have an important role to play in elevating the voices of our students in preserving the memories of this momentous school year. Let’s work alongside them to memorialize hurdles we jumped and unexpected adventures we encountered along the way. Let’s find ways to let our students twirl the baton in the exit parade.

Here are a few ways to make that happen:

As mentioned in a recent Hooray For Monday post, work with students to write a history book chapter for this year.
Have students plan and execute an end-of-year parade complete with music, dance, floats, flags, and more.
Talk with students about all the ways we memorialize people, events, and moments in history, (statues, holidays, monuments, printed money, etc.). Have them think up and create a way to memorialize this COVID year.
Create a time capsule of the year with your class and place it somewhere students could come back to, and open it in 10 years.
Create a collective piece of art that includes representation from each member of the class such as a photo collage, t-shirt design, audio recording, video montage, or book of collected writings celebrating lessons learned, obstacles overcome, values reinforced, etc.

There is power in remembering, and in storytelling. There is also healing to be found in recognizing challenge and sacrifice and the incredible ability of the human spirit to survive through both.

Wishing you a happy Memorial 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.