Say "Yes! And..." | Hooray For Monday

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. Prefer audio? Listen to the Hooray For Monday podcast! Available on your favorite platforms here.

September 25, 2023

By Jenna Fournel, Director of Teaching and Learning

In our September Inspired Teaching Institutes, we presented the 5 Rules of Inspired Teaching Improvisation, and as teachers engaged in each of the activities, we discussed how the rules play a role. The rule Say “Yes! And…” showed up over and over again. In our “Yes! And…” activity, scene partners build on each others’ ideas as they imagine a scenario that requires their cooperation.

For an example of what that sounds like in action, listen to this week’s Hooray For Monday podcast episode. I’ve included the transcript here:

David: Jenna, I need to ask you a favor. I need to move this weekend, can you help me?

Jenna: Yes! And you know what, I have one of those rolly trolly things that I could bring over, would that be helpful?

David: Yes! And I can ask my neighbor for his pickup truck and that can make it much easier to move things in the truck.

Jenna: Oh, yes! And that will be fantastic because you know I’ve actually been practicing driving pickup trucks so I am definitely your girl for driving that truck. Is your neigbor’s truck a stick shift?

David: Yes! And it has huge wheels so everyone will see you driving.

Jenna: Oh yes, that will be amazing. And maybe we could put some flags up there to draw attention and I’ll feel like a truck driver in a parade.

David: Definitely, yes! And we can put a banner that says, “It’s moving day! David is moving!”

As David and I played, our voices and movements became more animated as we were both envisioning this joyous scene. It feels great to hear someone say yes to your ideas. It feels great to say yes to someone else’s ideas. And after we all had a chance to play, we talked about how this connects to the classroom.

Grace, a high school math teacher, noted that often the constraints of time push teachers to take a “no” approach. “Students sometimes volunteer things to do in class and as a teacher you have a lot of things to do… So we cut them off and say, “Not today, let’s move on.” And now I’m doubting that.”

Cecile, an elementary French immersion teacher, shared how she uses a “Yes! And…” approach when her students do projects that deviate in some way from the structure of the assignment. This enables her to celebrate their creative approaches rather than point to this as a flaw. “It’s about giving them confidence when they have a hard time doing something or doing it the way it was asked to be done by the teacher.”

“Yes! And…” is a fun game to play, and it’s also a productive way to live. This week, challenge yourself to think of all the places in your days when you might adopt this approach.

Could you take a student up on their zany idea?
Could you build on a colleague’s suggestion and make it even better?
Could you try something completely new and encourage your friends or family to do it with you?

Life looks very different when we shift our mindset away from “no” or “but.” A whole new world of possibilities opens up when we challenge ourselves to start with YES!

For additional insights, resources, and information on Inspired Teaching teacher and youth programming, subscribe to the Hooray For Monday newsletter!

Hooray For Monday is an award-winning weekly publication by Center for Inspired Teaching, an independent nonprofit organization that invests in and supports teachers. Inspired Teaching provides transformative, improvisation-based professional learning for teachers that is 100% engaging – intellectually, emotionally, and physically. Our mission is to create radical change in the school experience – away from compliance and toward authentic engagement.

Listen to This Issue of Hooray For Monday

InspiredTeaching · May 22, 2023: Disrupting the Egg Carton

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.