School Partnerships

Bring Inspired Teaching to Your School

Center for Inspired Teaching provides transformative, improvisation-based professional learning for teachers that is 100% engaging – intellectually, emotionally, and physically. We teach teachers how to build a practice where students are empowered to be empathetic critical thinkers, prepared to tackle the complex issues of today and tomorrow, while addressing standards and meeting goals.

a teacher wearing a gray shirt with orange words that say intellect, inquiry, imagination, and integrity, is working with a young student.

We create customized experiences for groups of teachers, administrators, parents, and/or whole schools. Sessions can be done both in-person and online. Sessions can be designed to:

Infuse curiosity-driven learning into the school culture
Increase motivation through vibrant and engaging activities
Meld social skill building with creative content instruction
Identify and address learners’ social and emotional needs
Rebuild communities after turnover

How we work with schools:

Submit the form at the button below and our Director of Teaching and Learning Jenna Fournel (jenna@inspiredteaching.org) will reach out to you to discuss your needs and share our process.
Review, refine, and approve a workshop proposal.
Set dates for professional learning. Communicate about sessions to participants using materials provided by Inspired Teaching.
After sessions are complete, meet with Inspired Teaching to provide feedback and discuss follow-up recommendations.

Inquiry Form

Click the image for a PDF with more information on working with Inspired Teaching. Share it with colleagues and school decision-makers today!

What Participants Can Expect
Inspired Teaching sessions are high-energy, full-participation experiences. Attendees will not be sitting and listening to a lecture or watching a slide presentation. Even if the workshop is online, participants will be on their feet, interacting with peers, wrestling with fun challenges and big ideas, and trying things they’ve never tried before. Regardless of the focus and topic of your customized workshop, you can expect participants to leave with:

Meaningful activities they can replicate with their students
A common language for engaging instructional approaches
Deeper connections with their colleagues
A shared experience that will renew their joy in this work

Inspired Teaching Rates
(Our rates are the same for both in-person and online sessions – though in-person sessions requiring travel may have additional expenses.)

$2500 for up to 3 hours
$4000 for a full day

Rates reflect a meeting size of approximately 25 participants and may be higher if we are working with a larger group that requires additional facilitators. For long-term engagements, we work with your team to determine scope and cost. We offer a sliding scale for schools serving students in low-income communities.

Inquiry Form

“The most helpful part of the training was feeling part of a bigger, more expansive movement that’s helping public education and public service grow in healthy, vibrant ways. And part of that is sharing observations about how to go about the work of changemaking.”

Teacher Participant

Center for Inspired Teaching also offers additional professional development resources and programs at no cost to teachers, thanks to the generous support of our corporate, foundational, and individual supporters.

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.