Inspired Teaching Teacher Activities
A collection of lessons and activities from Inspired Teaching to foster authentically engaging learning with students and deepen teachers' understanding of their role in the classroom.
Whether you teach early childhood or calculus, these award-winning lessons and activities—informed by 30 years of work with thousands of educators—authentically engage, spark curiosity, build community, and support academic success in your classroom. The self-led teacher assessment tools challenge you to shift your role from deliverer of information to Instigator of Thought, providing small steps with big payoff for reinvigorating your practice and rediscovering your why.
Track the Questons You Ask
What kinds of questions do you ask? Are your questions effectively spurring students’ learning? Track your questions and look for opportunities to insert more-powerful questions into your teaching.
Take a Break and Move
How much movement do your students get during the school day? Do they get to move their bodies at times other than recess or PE? Inspired Teachers know that students’ brains and bodies need to move throughout the school day.
Share Questions With Family
Inspired teachers know that building partnerships with students’ families is an integral part of our practice. We also know family engagement includes regularly talking at home about what children are doing and learning in school.
See With Fresh Eyes
Now that you are into the school year, ask yourself: What do I know about my students so far?
Scribe’s Record
By capturing what your students most want to remember learning, you can accomplish a number of goals that support an Inspired Learning Environment.
Walk the Walk
Count how many times your class walks down the hall each day. Have you ever thought about these walks as not just a necessary part of getting from place to place, but an opportunity for creative movement that enhances learning?
Share Your Voice: Snap Inspiration
Say ‘Share your voice!’ instead of ‘Speak up’ or ‘We can’t hear you’ when a student speaks softly and you’d like her/him to speak up.
What Drives You?: Snap Inspiration
Think about the last time you learned a new skill or dug into finding out about a new topic–just because it mattered to you.
Prep to Music: Snap Inspiration
Have you ever noticed how music can change the way you feel, or guide your thinking?
Poster Analysis
Analyze the posters on your classroom walls. What are the unintended or implicit messages to your students?
Profile Pages
Profile Pages is a simple activity that helps you learn more about your students, make sure introverts and extroverts alike feel heard and valued, and strengthen connections between peers.
Say “Yet:” Snap Inspiration
Have you ever noticed the power of yet? Yet transforms “I can’t” into “I am still learning, and I will figure it out!”
