At Inspired Teaching, we believe a thoughtful teacher can use any activity to teach any skill. Your goal shapes the way you teach an activity, and it shapes the skills and content students learn.

As you plan the what of community building this fall (and see below for some great activities to try), remember to focus on the how as well. And even if you use some activities you’ve done many times before, remember, this is the first time you are engaging in this activity with this particular group of students. So be present. Listen authentically. Engage your curiosity, and invite students to engage theirs. 

Resources:

Getting to Know You activities: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cvdHwHfIjRiS2IemC4xl5drRFTUm-cx-sKo2jyGQouY/edit?usp=sharing&mc_cid=3b6da67ab4&mc_eid=UNIQID&urp=gmail_link

August 15, 2022: Beyond Box-Checking

Over more than 260 issues of Hooray For Monday, Inspired Teaching has featured the voices of leading activists, educators, and changemakers. Revisit those conversations in the Action & Advocacy playlist today: https://soundcloud.com/inspiredteaching/sets/action-advocacy/s-fAXv2NEd0Gu?si=7182f89e945849b2ba7941b06af5cba2&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing 

October 13, 2025: Inspiration to Action

Revisit Inspired Teaching's October 2024 conversation with Rebecca Winthrop, author of The Disengaged Teen, to understand how young people engage--and how to support them in doing so authentically. 

October 20, 2025: (From the Archives) What Does Engagement Look Like?

Jenna and Aleta discuss cultural traditions around, personal experiences with, and classroom approaches to navigating death and loss. 

Subscribe to the Hooray For Monday newsletter to receive weekly resources and updates on Inspired Teaching programming and events: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

October 27, 2025: Dia de Los Muertos: A Beautiful Way to Talk with Kids About Death

Cosby Hunt, Inspired Teaching's Director of Instructional Design and a long-time history teacher in Washington, DC, speaks with Jenna Fournel about teaching history in this city, at this moment in time. He shares his advice for centering student voice and experience.

Sign up for the Hooray For Monday newsletter to receive weekly resources and updates on Inspired Teaching programming and events: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

Mentioned in this episode: 

Mikva Challenge: https://mikvachallenge.org/
Speak Truth: https://inspiredteaching.org/youth/speak-truth/
Looping: https://inspiredteaching.org/looping/

November 3, 2025: Teaching in this Moment

Even with the long list of instructional objectives you need to address, each day you spend with your students is just one day out of a whole year of learning. And the whole year you spend with your students is just one out of over a dozen years those students will spend in school.

Subscribe to the Hooray For Monday newsletter for weekly resources and information on Inspired Teaching programs and events: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

November 10, 2025: Operationalizing Curiosity

Each week at our Inspired Teaching staff meeting, we begin with a brief exercise. This past week, each of us responded to the question: “What are you curious about?” The question connects directly with Inspired Teaching’s work to promote the kind of teaching that fuels—instead of stifles—curiosity.

Conversation with Helanius J. Wilkins on curiosity: https://soundcloud.com/inspiredteaching/january-26-2023-curiosity-is-everything

Subscribe to the Hooray For Monday newsletter for weekly resources and information on Inspired Teaching events and programs: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

November 17, 2025: (From the Archives) The Opposite of Curiosity

As you celebrate Thanksgiving, consider the many unique traditions around the country--and celebrate that diversity, as well!

Subscribe to the Hooray For Monday newsletter for weekly resources and updates on Inspired Teaching programs and events: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

November 24, 2025: Thankful for Our Differences

Curiosity bridges divides among us, enables us to implement AI productively, and fuels student engagement. This means fueling curiosity should be high on your priority list.

Join the Inspired Teaching Curiosity Challenge: https://inspiredteaching.org/curiosity-challenge-2025/

Subscribe to the Hooray For Monday newsletter: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

December 1, 2025: Are We Curious Yet?

Aleta speaks with journalist, professor, and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism Dr. George Miller for his insight into watching, reading, and listening to the news today.

Subscribe to Hooray For Monday for weekly resources and updates on Inspired Teaching programs and events: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

December 8, 2025: It's All About Exploration

Jenna and Aleta reflect on what they've observed in the classrooms of Inspired Teaching Fellows this fall, and how those lessons can apply to classrooms everywhere.

Subscribe to Hooray For Monday to receive weekly resources and updates on Inspired Teaching programming and events: https://inspiredteaching.org/subscribe-hooray-for-monday/

December 15, 2025: What Our Teachers Are Teaching Us

Hooray for Monday is an award-winning collection of resources from Center for Inspired Teaching, shared at the start of every week. These resources feature questions, ideas, reflections, and actions we can all take to remodel the school experience for students. Hooray for Monday challenges teachers to hone their skills as Instigators of Thought©, includes instructional ideas from our #Inspired2Learn collection, and provides links to other useful tools and opportunities.

About Us
Creating radical change in the school experience — away from compliance and toward authentic engagement. Center for Inspired Teaching envisions a future in which every person is prepared to thrive in and contribute to our complex and rapidly changing world, through an education that teaches students how to think, not what to think.

August 15, 2022: Beyond Box-Checking

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