Telling Versus Teaching- Hooray for Monday

November 14, 2022

By Aleta Margolis, Founder and President of 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.

You can now listen to Hooray for Monday on Spotify! Check out our podcast here.

For the past few weeks, we’ve shared the voices and stories of Inspired Teachers. These teachers are using feedback to inspire their students, giving students the gift of their full and undivided attention, and using questions to build children’s love of language.

In a recent episode of my favorite podcast Clear + Vivid, host Alan Alda described the difference between scientists who put their work out there in hopes that someone will receive it, and scientists who are truly communicators. The former exhibit a mindset of “I’m here to tell you.” The latter embrace the mindset “I’m here to excite you.”

As you reflect on your own practice, what are you here to do?

Teachers are often expected to take on the “I am here to tell you” mindset, to put the information out there and then leave it up to the students to “absorb” it, or not. But Inspired Teachers know better. When we step into the classroom, we don’t think, “I am here to tell you.” We think, “I am here to engage you. I am here to inspire you.”

The educators we’ve profiled these past few weeks demonstrate what it looks like to engage and inspire. Principal Hakim Johnson offers tangible feedback that teaches students far more than any grade or test score ever could. Montessori teacher Kulsum Omer uses focused observation to fuel students’ joy in each new discovery. And preschool teacher Lacey Head builds rich language skills in her students by shifting her questions from the expected (“What’s your favorite color?”) to the meaningful (“What colors do you love?”).

A list outline of Inspired Teacher traits, outlining the capabilities for teaching students respectful discourse

What will you do this week, and in the weeks ahead, to go beyond telling? How will you engage your students?

The resources in this week’s issue are here to help you answer that question. And if you’d like to share your answers with us, as always, we welcome your stories.

Share How You're Engaging Students this Week

Wishing you a joyful week of engaging in learning alongside your students.

3 Ways to Engage Learners

1. Start at the beginning.
From the minute your students enter the classroom, you create a space that focuses on telling or engaging. What happens as students cross the threshold? Do you ask a question when class begins, or do you administer an assignment? This resource offers 4 ways to welcome students in the door that tap their curiosity and engage their minds.

2. Use the senses.
All of our senses are working all the time. These activities heighten our sensory awareness. The more learners notice and understand how their body receives and responds to stimuli, the more self-awareness and control they will cultivate. These activities invite a pause, a deep breath, and a grounding – all of which can be quite engaging.

3. Find the zone of proximal development.
Challenging students to spend time in their zones of proximal development means helping them identify their capabilities and competencies, and then stepping just far enough outside of their comfort zones to stretch toward what might be possible. That’s a space of excitement, inspiration, and yes, engagement!

Listen to This Issue of Hooray For Monday

InspiredTeaching · November 14, 2022: Telling vs. Teaching

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.